Friday For Funsies || Pick a POV

Friday for Funsies is back, and this week, it’s with a new point of view.

If my jokes continue to be this bad (it’s possible, so sorry), feel free to stop me.

Anyways, for a lot of folks, the right point of view can make or break their experience with a book. Some people prefer first person exclusively. Others, like me, prefer third person, but won’t say no to a good first person book. And there’s a bunch of other folks, too, who like all POVs, or only books with multiple POVs, or even books with unconventional POVs.

And so, on this happy happy Friday, enjoy some book recs with varied POVs!

First Person

Want a story told from the main character’s perspective, straight from the source? Try Long May She Reign by Rhiannon Thomas!

I read this last year on a recommendation from a friend and had a wonderful time with it. The story follows an anxious scientist who suddenly ends up on her kingdom’s throne after the twenty-two people in line ahead of her die all at once. I loved Freya’s nervousness (same, honestly), not to mention her cleverness and empathy. This was such a fun read.

Third Person

Down for some sinister magic? Try Caraval by Stephanie Garber!

The atmosphere of this book is super incredible, and the whole creepy but beautiful circus vibe worked super well in third person. You do get a couple pages (just a couple!) of letters in first person from the main character, but let’s not count those, for the sake of the rest of the book totally fitting this category.

Single POV

Once upon a time, I was very tired of dystopian YA. But that changed with The Darkest Minds by Alexandra Bracken.

This is one of the only dystopians I’ve enjoyed in a long time because it does such a brilliant job confronting the fear that the main character faces in her shifting situation. Better yet, that single POV helps amplify that fear, because the reader is as unsure of the main character about who to trust and how to proceed. It just worked so wonderfully for the reluctant hero trope inside.

Multiple POVs

I’m going to guess a lot of folks have read this, but I have to recommend it. I have to. It’s Six of Crows by Leigh Bardugo!

I feel like everyone has probably read this by now given all the hype around it, but it’s so good. Do I say this because I love a heist narrative? Yes. Do I say this because I love the way it glides so smoothly between so many POVs? Yes. Do I say this because it’s positively delightful? Yes.

I think you know where I’m going with this. If you want multiple POVs done well, this is a phenomenal example.

 

“Hey, wait,” some of you are saying after all these recs. “What about second person?” The truth is, I’ve rarely read any books in second person because it’s so tricky to worth with. It’s hard to do second person right without making it super weird. But it is possible, I’m sure, so if you know of any second person books to fill this terrible gap in my knowledge, please! Hit me with it!

Or, y’know, less hitting, more suggesting it with exclamation points! in a comment. That would be much safer, I think.