You read the blurb: features a strong female protagonist.
You read the book. Where is the strength?
Strong female characters usually land on a spectrum between aggressively uptight and annoyingly passive.
The books on my list feature heroines whose strength is obvious from page one. I did not include obvious picks like The Hunger Games or the Red Queen series.
Read on to discover five books with strong female protagonists who will save the day. Who knows? They might even fall in love along the way.
Vespertine by Margaret Rogerson
Artemisia trains to become a Gray Sister: a nun who cleanses dead bodies so that they can safely pass into the afterlife. When she’s forced to become the host to a powerful revenant demon, Artemisia struggles to heal from her past and control its powers.
Margaret Rogerson is one of my favorite authors. Sorcery of Thorns ties with Vespertine for my favorite of Rogerson’s books.
I love that Vespertine doesn’t have a romance. There’s something refreshing about walking with a heroine who isn’t thinking about a romantic relationship.
Artemisia is the kind of heroine who is happy in the shadows. She is an introvert who shoulders immense responsibility as she struggles to heal from her past and face her future.
Highlights:
Emotional healing
No romance
Friendship
Gothic-inspired worldbuilding: gargoyles, statues, and a deeply religious culture that borders on superstitious.
Monsters Born and Made by Tanvi Berwah
Koral is a lowly Hunter. She sheds her blood capturing and breeding sea monsters for the nobles’ Glory Race.
When a medical emergency threatens Koral’s family, she enters the Glory Race to win the prize money. Koral faces the nobles’ wrath in a competition never intended for lowly Hunters.
The nobles have taken everything else. The Glory Race belongs to Koral.
Koral is one of the strongest heroines on this list. Taming monsters is the tip of the iceberg. She faces down everyone from cruel elites to her own family.
My favorite part of this story is Koral’s streak of intense pride. Pride is the only thing that the nobles haven’t stolen from her.
Highlights:
Beast-taming heroine
Broken romance (not an HEA)
South Asian-inspired world: islands, muggy heat, sea monsters, and steep class divides.
The Lady Rogue by Jenn Bennett
Theodora loves puzzles. Right now, the main puzzle is how to survive in Istanbul after her governess abandons her.
Things get worse when Theodora’s first love (and the last man she wants to see again) shows up with news that her father was kidnapped.
Theodora struggles to solve an ancient mystery that spans Europe’s misty reaches before her father dies.
I love that Theodora is a brain. Her intelligence is a refreshing reminder that not all strong heroines have kill counts.
The Lady Rogue is more suspense than adventure. The story unfolds in gothic settings that will send chills down your spine.
Highlights:
First love, second chance
1930s worldbuilding: train travel, elaborate clothes, and slightly creepy European settings. It feels like the kind of world with constant drizzling rain, noir hats, and sipped coffee.
Strong romance
Mystery and suspense
Little Thieves by Margaret Owen
Vanja is an imposter. Fed up with nobles treating her like worthless property, Vanja did what she does best: steal. She stole a lady’s identity. Now, Vanja robs unsuspecting nobles to buy herself a new life in a distant country.
Things get messy when an irritatingly handsome detective starts asking questions. Vanja struggles to escape a cat-and-mouse game as her past choices finally catch up with her.
Vanja is a lovable menace. She grew up as little better than a slave. I couldn’t help but sympathize with her because the nobles she robs are truly awful people.
At the same time, Vanja really is a menace. She’s determined to escape justice even though she earned the consequences.
Emeric is the kind of straight-laced love interest who sparks perfect conflict with Vanja. Vanja sees thievery as her only weapon in a world that never loved her.
Highlights:
Cat-and-mouse romance
Smart, sassy heroine
Thievery! Vanja uses enough sleight-of-hand trickery to make Kaz Brekker proud.
Folklore worldbuilding: splintered princedoms, warrior culture, and Germanic mythology.
Warrior of the Wild by Tricia Levenseller
Rasmira trained her whole life to become the next village chieftain. Her father banishes her from the village when she fails the warriors’ test.
She has one chance at redemption: kill a god. Rasmira struggles to hunt down and kill the evil god who terrorizes her village.
Rasmira is a classic warrior heroine. She strives to follow in her father’s footsteps. Failure hit Rasmira really hard because she struggles to value herself for more than her warrior abilities.
This story centers on Rasmira’s struggle to kill the evil god without becoming his next victim.
Highlights:
Family strife
Truly evil villain (seriously, can he die now?)
Isolated world: this village has been isolated by an evil god for many years. The wilderness surrounding the village is basically uncharted.
It’s hard to find strong female protagonists who are also smart, sympathetic, and not totally insufferable.
I hope that one of these books will knock your socks off. Until next time, happy reading!
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