Smart Chicks Get What They Want

originally published at Book Harbinger's Seven Days for Sevenwaters but I wanted to make sure it wound up in my archives too.

Thank you very much to Holly for inviting me to be a part of her fabulous Seven Days for Sevenwaters series! I'm all aflutter at the chance to be able to talk about my favorite Sevenwaters book. And which particular volume of deliciousness am I going to blabber on about today? Hmmm. It was a little over two years ago that I devoured read this unforgettable series for the very first time. Believe it or not Daughter of the Forest simply blew my mind. And how could it not? It's an utterly gorgeous book full of long-suffering patience and love and sacrifice! Not knowing quite what to expect with the sequels however, I steeled myself not to get my hopes up too much ... just in case.Well, I settled into Son of the Shadows (book 2 in the series) and right then and there it was alllll over for me. Truly. Son of the Shadows was positively perfect in all it's heartbreaking hopefulness that it just had to become my new shiny favorite. And today I have the enviable pleasure of explaining just why my heart beats a bit faster every single time I pick up that extraordinary book.

A quick warning ... If you haven't gotten around to reading Son of the Shadows (and why ever not?!), I really don't want to spoil it for you. Really. So be warned. Spoilers, dishing over the villains, the HEA, and all those delicious details will be contained herein.

Like many other Juliet Marillier novels, what truly cemented my love affair with Son of the Shadows is its standout cast of characters. In addition to one dark, brooding hero with a mysterious past and his band of Merry Painted Men, it happens to contain one of my all time favorite female leads: Liadan, daughter of Sorcha and Red from Daughter of the Forest. Liadan is smart, she's resourceful, she's an infinitely caring person and one who values family above all else. But never fear! Our Liadan would never be described as a pushover. She's the type who utterly refuses to back down when it counts. And what's more, she knows what she wants and then goes out and MAKES it happen.

Case in point: At this point in Son of the Shadows Liadan has not had the best day. She's just been unceremoniously released by Bran and is now headed home to Sevenwaters brokenhearted and humiliated when the Fair Folk appear and decide to drop this bombshell.


Fair Folk: You've sorta been making some stupid choices in the man department.

Liadan: Excuse me? Are you talking to me?

Fair Folk: Yes, you. We've decided you need to stay near Sevenwaters. Forever.

Liadan: Huh?

Fair Folk: Oh and you can never get married.

Liadan: Whaaa???

Fair Folk: Promise?

Liadan: Uh, no.

Fair Folk: But! But! You could mess up the prophecy!

Liadan: Don't care.

Fair Folk: Well then. Doom on you! DOOM on you!

Liadan: Really. Don't. Care.


Remember now, Bran has just basically dumped Liadan after learning who she really was. And like many bad breakups, he said some truly not-so-nice things to her and Laidan is pretty convinced she's never gonna lay eyes on the man she loves ever again. But instead of swearing off men forever like the Fair Folk demand, she hasn't given up hope and chooses instead to decide for herself. Think of it: in the face of so much pain she still has hope for the future!

I truly don't think I've ever encountered a character with more hope than Liadan. She refuses to let fate dictate her path and instead fights for her own future. When the Fair Folk come back later and demand she choose Bran or her son Johnny (I KNOW! You'd think they'd learn by now), Liadan once again flouts their decree and then goes on to keep BOTH. But not because anybody handed her her happily ever after on a silver platter. Oh no, she's a smart chick with a very strong view on how her life will turn out and a deep understanding that she has to fight for that happiness. And guess what? She does get it all: her man, her son, and the chicken dinner. I'll just leave it to you to find out exactly how...

Smart Chicks! Get Yer Smart Chicks!

I've mentioned, repeatedly, how much I adore Sarah Rees Brennan and her two lovelies The Demon's Lexicon and The Demon's Covenant. The woman is hilarious. And smart. What else would you expect from the someone who brought us not only the unforgettable Ryves brothers, Nick and Alan, but two of the smartest heroines, Mae and Sin, I've read in quite some time. Seeing as I can't sit down to reread her books every single day (well, I could but that would be a bit unproductive on my TBR pile), I get my periodic Sarah Fix by stalking following her around the internets - either on her journal or at the newly created Smart Chicks Tour Blog. Recently Ms. Brennan wrote about some of her favorite Smart Chicks from the books she loves. In her words, they are:

These are all very different ladies, with one thing in common: in a crisis, they tend to keep their head (just about, anyway. Usually. Just enough.) They have their own very strong views on things, and when they act, they act practically and decisively, using all the weapons they have to hand (brains, brawn, magic) to the very best of their ability.

Another thing they have in common is that I really, really love them.

I especially like that bit about them "usually or just enough" keeping their head in a crisis. At the end of her post, she asked her readers (that's me!) to put on their thinking caps and list our favorite Smart Chicks. Now, Sarah already mentioned a couple of ladies that automatically go on my top 5 list: Kate Daniels (clearly, she is a god) and Attolia (woman is like a machine, but a loveable one) so I won't include them here, because I'm just say amen to her reasoning and be done with it. Minus those two, these are the Smart Chicks that immediately came to mind.

Liadan from Son of the Shadows ~ Despite being handed a pretty raw deal by the fae, Liadan truly fights for everything she wants. The Fae say: choose between your son and the man you love. She says: Nope. Not gonna do it. And then she goes on to keep both.  She MAKES her own happily ever after come true and I love her so much for that alone.

Meg Powers from The President's Daughter series ~ I know I keep going on and on about how wonderful these books are, but it's because Meg truly is one of Smartest Chicks out there in YA lit. Even though she's suffered emmensly (emotionally and physically) due to her mother's elected office, Meg still refuses to back down. I'm sure she's up there on the genius level, but it's her clever yet snarky off-the-cuff remarks she's constantly spouting to basically everyone she meets that make me look up to her so.

Fire from Fire ~ Fire is an outcast. She'll always be mistrusted by society simply because of her heritage but Fire refuses to give up or turn into the monster her father was. Incredibly strong and forward-thinking, she's never once refused help to those in need or backed down from making the hard choice. Obviously she's someone who knows how to keep her wits in a crisis.

Do any of these Smart Chicks strike a chord with you too? Who would make your list?