Yes, I usually reserve discussion posts for weekends, but why not start the weekend a little early this week?

Anyway, what I want to talk about this week is strong female characters, particularly in YA.  Sometimes you encounter a genuinely strong female character that can fall in love and yet not depend on her man to solve all of her problems.  Other times, not so much.  You end up getting a Faux Action Girl who is always described as tough by the author and other characters but never actually does anything.  Well, except get rescued by the male lead.

My latest favourite strong female character is QuiTai from The Devil of Ponong series by Jill Braden.  She isn’t physically strong, but she uses her wits to help her conquered people and stay one step ahead of the Thampurians.  I don’t want to spoil too much, but let’s just say that when it comes down to a choice between a man and the livelihoods of her people you aren’t in much doubt as to what she’s going to choose.  QuiTai was awesome in the first book, The Devil’s Concubine and even better in the second book, The Devil Incarnate.  She’s definitely taken a well-deserved place among my favourite heroines.

So my question for you guys this week is: What makes a strong female character?  Who are your favourite heroines?  Why?

As always, discussion posts are posts where you’re absolutely free to engage with myself and/or other commenters.  My Commenting Policy still applies, but that just encompasses what I like to call “basic human decency”.