I’ve really missed doing Friday Favorites, and since no one was currently hosting it, Cait @ Functionally Fictional decided to jump into the gap. Each week, she provides a prompt, and I get to talk about my favorite books that fit the topic. Feel free to join in – the more the merrier!

This week’s topic is about side characters, and it’s such a good prompt because so often the side characters add a lot to the story. I love all kinds of side characters, so it’s naturally difficult to just select a few, but here’s what I came up with:

1. Priya Kapoor from the Edinburgh Nights series by T.L. Huchu. This girl is a powerful witch, incredibly smart girl, and just all-around kickass, plus she’s in a wheelchair. I loved her in the books.
2. Lady Reiko Yamato from the Gargoyle Queen series by Jennifer Estep. She’s such an interesting character, and I enjoyed how she’s got her own stuff going on and isn’t just fluff.
3. Ruhn Danaan from the Crescent City series by Sarah J. Maas. As if I’d forget about him—he’s such an awesome character and shows so much growth over the first two books.
4. Oliver from Funny You Should Ask by Elissa Sussman. Ollie came so close to stealing the show so many times, and he’s just an irresistible charmer. He’s handsome, smooth, a great dancer, and somehow always knows the right thing to say in every situation.
5. Natasha Forge from the DI Callanach series by Helen S. Fields. She’s smart, funny, and isn’t scared to tell it just like it is, which makes her the kind of friend I think everyone needs one of.
6. Gallowglass from The All Souls series by Deborah Harkness. I’m honestly hoping we get to hear his story at some point, because he’s such an interesting character and I didn’t think I got to see nearly enough from him.
7. Benedikt and Marshall from These Violent Delights by Chloe Gong. Yeah, I adore these two, and in my mind they definitely come as a matched pair.
8. Orion from The Scholomance series by Naomi Novik. I couldn’t help but want to learn more about him, especially after the cliffhanger in the last book!
9. Gigi from the Brown Sisters series by Talia Hibbert. She sounds like such a fun and exciting character—there’s always something going on in her life, yet nothing seems to faze her, so naturally I need more.
10. Rémy from The Belles by Dhonielle Clayton — he was such an adorable yet mysterious character in the first book, and always managed to surprise me. I can’t wait to see what he gets up to in the next book.

Who are some of your favorite side characters?