Romantic ships can be great, but I was delighted recently to see some book bloggers listing their favorite fictional groups of friends. (I think I first saw it on ForeverAndEverly? Can’t find the post now, though, naturally.) So I’m stealing the idea! Here are a few books featuring groups of friends that I love.
The Amateurs series by Sara Shepard — Seneca, Aerin, Maddox, and Madison are brave, complicated people fighting their own demons but also being there for each other. And solving mysteries.
Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling — Gotta love the Golden Trio! It’s not easy staying best friends when one of you is the Chosen One, one is a slightly neurotic brainiac, and one is just a steadfast pragmatist trying not to get an inferiority complex. Still, these three manage, and save the world at the same time.
In Other Lands by Sarah Rees Brennan — Elliot, Luke, and Serene-Heart-in-the-Chaos-of-Battle are an unlikely but surprisingly well-balanced and accepting trio who weather all kinds of challenges, from cultural misunderstandings to actual warfare to Elliot’s nonstop snark, which could honestly sink some friendships all by itself. And their banter is fantastic.
The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater — Blue, Gansey, Ronan, Adam, and Noah are all rough around the edges. (Except for Gansey, who is polished and shiny around the edges, like everywhere else.) They’re all wonderful in their own ways, but I actually like their friendship even more than I like most of them individually.
Sword Art Online: Girls’ Ops manga by Neko Nekobyou — Rika, Keiko, Suguha, and Hiyori (and, by extension, their online avatars, who are the real stars in most of this manga) are sweet and supportive friends. I especially like how they defy stereotypes: they’re girls who game together and are equally likely to strategize over a mission or to squeal over a cute in-game outfit. Guess what? You can do both!
This was kind of tough for me! I read a lot of YA, and friendships seem to take a backseat to romances in a lot of them. In some other books, there might be just one best friend (not a whole friend group), or conversely, the group might be too big for me to have a real sense of all the characters and their relationships. But while I didn’t come up with a lot of examples, the ones I did list are ones I love!
What fictional groups of friends do you like?
Edit: I found the post that inspired me to write this one! It’s this post on favorite couples, friendships, and squads in fiction from The Bookish Actress.