Hi dear friends,

Last leg of our Hogwarts houses journey and this one will probably be the most difficult: finding five books fit for Slytherins!

Really Shanah I hate you a little (only a little) this week because when you read the Slytherin character’s trait here below you’ll see that I will have to find anti heroes!

According to Shanah, Great Priestess of the Top 5 Tuesday (and my current nemesis with this February Hogwarts theme) at bionicbookworm, Slytherin are:

SLYTHERIN TRAITS:

They are ambitious, driven, goal focused, determined, prepared, perfectionists, adaptable, realistic, self reliant, charming, assertive, and ruthless. They are highly selective with their loyalty, love positive attention and thrive on praise, care about the impression they give, demand respect, and can be disloyal.

Reading all this, especially the part with being disloyal I came to the conclusion that I needed to choose anti-heroes. People in all shades of grey. Characters so determined they could mow down opponents and turn coat if need be.

Great here I am perusing my read shelf again and vying for authors known to write about complex and a bit shaddy characters!

I found that mobster stories are probably perfect for that kind of topic but as not all of you read adult mobster stories I looked further to find YA books with characters betraying others.

Here is my selection for the day…

A Forest of a Thousand Lanterns for Xifeng!

Xifeng knows she is gorgeous. She is obsessed with her beauty as it is her best tool to fulfill her ambitious destiny. You could even compare Xifeng to the evil Queen in Snow White who scrutinize anxiously her reflection every day.=> she loves attention and thrives on praise

Xifeng does not want to save the world. She wants to rule the world, big difference! => she is ambitious!

Under the polished veneer feelings, hate, hunger are burning bright!

Xifeng is conflicted. She has two faces. This is confusing and conflicting for the reader. She does not hesitate to toy with her lover Wei => ruthless and disloyal.
“You have two faces. Two beings live within you, struggling for control. One has a heart of darkness and feeds in the pain of weaker souls. The other longs to stretch a hand to the light, to live and love as others do. Have you never sensed this?”

I think she would be a perfect Slytherin!

In adult books we have Raw by Belle Aurora because of its (anti) hero: Twitch

Twitch is a sociopath, used to have his way and take what he wants. He kills without remorse, he is cold, nearly clinically detached when doing something bad. The bad and the good are all messed up in his brain because of his childhood. He knows it and recognise his mind is sick.

In the beginning, he is stalking Lexi to hurt her. He is obsessed with her and wants to make her suffer. Twitch wants his revenge. He also needs to be in absolute control. He is all about control, obssession, ambition and does not hesitate to betray if it serves his interests!

He also is highly adaptable as he had to survive horror. I’d say he would make for a good Slytherin!

The Wicked Saints by Emily A Duncan

This book has not been released yet but it was a fantastic ARC! It has a gothic vibe, kind of like Leigh Bardugo’s books.

The Slytherin in the story would not be the female characters but both male “heroes”: one is her enemy, the prince who is invading her country. He is ruthless, ambitious, goal oriented and as the royal court if like a snake’s nest he has to be astute and if need be betray some of his family. Because he may be in power he also has to survive a king who feels threatened by his son.

The second Slytherin is “the boy with a monstrous secret who waits in the wings”. He also will be very secretive to serve his ambition and will also betray someone by the end. As he lived through horrors as a kid I’d say he is highly adaptable too.

I am sorry I can’t give you names or more specifics but it would spoil your read because this book being all in nuances, secrets and betrayals the surprise element is the best part of it!

But if I say so it is so right? LOL

Back to the adult stories: Monster in his eyes by JM Darhower because of Naz (Ignazio)

Naz (Ignazio Vitale) simply is. He does not try to please, he does not tell lies and does not care what others think about him. Mysterious, cold, detached he is all male and sheer strength. He wants Karissa and takes her. Knowing the monster he is, he sometimes feels guilt and offers her an out. But if she chooses to stay, she’ll be his forever. He’ll always come for her, even if she does not want him to. As a mobster he is ambitious (because in that world you’d better be at the top of the food chain) and he also is very determined to make Karissa “his”. Once she’ll agree he will do all to keep her in his power => see ruthless and ambitious above.

As a mobster boss he will of course plot and is always prepared. He also wants to be respected and won’t hesitate to punish anyone disloyal. He also is very selective in his loyalty. You have to prove that you are worthy of his loyalty!

Last but not least another perfect Slytherin: The Wicked King by Holly Black because of …Cardan!

Loves to be admired? Check

Charming? Oh he can be highly charming if it serves his purpose!

Ambitious? He may not appear so in the beginning but as he loves Faery and knows the land needs a better king than his brother I would say he is ambitious “by default”. And let’s not forget that once he’s got a taste of power he did not seem so prone to relinquish said power.

Adaptable? Of course because as a faery he has to adapt and play with words and well …be wicked because the world he lives in is complicated and unforgiving!

Disloyal? Well if you’ve read that book I don’t think I need to explain! Cardan aside plenty of characters betray others nearly all the time!

Ruthless? Jude is ruthless and that’s obvious but Cardan too even if he hides it!

That’s it! I did it! Finished my Hogwarts month! And that’s when I want to sing “Let it go, let it go” because I am FREE!

Now let me know what you think of my choices and maybe which books you’d have chosen!

Thanks for reading!

Sophie