#internationalwomensday
As a feminist author, I love to read and write strong and vulnerable leading and supportive characters in fantasy fiction. I believe we truly need more of these young women, especially for the world of young adults. Aside from the girl who uses her power for a man or whose powers are given to her by men, I love females whose autonomy and agency are not bound to the male…or even better, ones where they challenge patriarchal stereotypes and toxic masculinity and rescue themselves – rescuing males subplot works, too. (Note: this list is meant to be more on the young adult side. Only one crosses into adult territory.)
GRACELING:
Kristin Cashore is timeless. I remember first reading Graceling when I was still in high school. I loved the unique power gifts known as Graces and how Katsa’s power happens to be the power of killing. And how she has no desire to fall in love, settle down, and raise a family. Katsa discovered her Grace as a little girl when she killed a relative who tried to assault her. All her life, she works to control her Grace but inevitably becomes a weapon for her tyrannical uncle, though she rebels in little ways, longs to protect the innocent, and seeks to escape. Katsa is both proud and vulnerable. Cashore balances her epic novel with showing Katsa’s power as a gift and a curse and incorporates romance and sexual tension with the addition of a prince. But ultimately, Katsa never loses her strength. And Cashore was writing enemies to lovers falling for one another in the midst of angry physical training long before SJM.
TRIBE OF DAUGHTERS
What I loved most about Kate L. Mary’s work, Tribe of Daughters, is how she has portrayed a matriarchal society that is not a reverse harem book. This book combats real and raw issues of masculinity and femininity, of the clash off cultures, and the meaning of sexual empowerment. Though this is more of a dystopian in technical terms, it definitely has a fantasy feel, so I’ve included it. In Tribe of Daughters, Wilderness is the main character who is set to become the next leader of her tribe – a society loosely inspired by the Mosuo tribe of China. There are no wives. There are only husbands.
The book opens when a few men are brought in for the daughters of marrying age to select as husbands. The men in this tribe help with this endeavor, but it’s clear the women are the strong leaders of this primitive, organic society who hunt and train and do hard labor. Wilderness chooses a man named Jameson to be her husband. The story is told in shifting perspectives between the two from Jameson’s outrage at being abducted and brought to this place against his will to Wilderness’s love for her people and desire to become their elder and her sexual empowerment and vulnerability of following the matriarchal tradition of inviting Jameson into her home. This couple comes from two very different backgrounds, but it doesn’t take long for Jameson to find Wilderness’s society intriguing and to soften to her village, which is far better than any patriarchal society he’s experienced. And he begins to love his new wife. Jameson and Wilderness struggle to overcome much conflict in their relationship but ultimately work toward love, respect, and equality and not just for them but for all the men and women and children.
THE GLASS ARROW
A fantasy-like dystopian, Aya lives in a world where men auction off breeding rights of females to the highest bidder. For years, 15-year-old Aya, alongside a strong group of women, has carved out a nomadic existence beyond this cruel world. Unfortunately, Aya is caught by Trackers in the opening and brought to the Garden. Aya may be a badass, but she is also impulsive and free-spirited. Her flaws are relatable and realistic. Aya is adaptable, which is a unique quality for teen fiction. Her survival skills may set her apart in her world-scape, but it’s what she learns during her captivity that is compelling for readers. Aya is willing to be open and vulnerable and to share a bond with others around her. During her ten months of imprisonment, she forms friendships and builds trust with a wolf pup and a mute Driver boy named Kiran. What is perhaps the best plot arc of The Glass Arrow is Aya’s simple motivation to survive. She’s not here to join a rebellion or start a war or overthrow a corrupt regime. She is simple a teenage girl who has the desire for survival and relationships just like any other. She’s not special or chosen. She simply desires freedom!
Above all, The Glass Arrow showcases a masterpiece of feminist fiction for teenagers with a heroine we can aspire to.
RED QUEEN
To be honest, I devoured this series. What I love most about the world of Red Queen is how there are multiple epic feminist examples from the main character of Mare Barrow to General Farley to Evangeline Samos to . The world of Red Queen, a fantasy dystopian series, the land is divided into different realms and class types of peoples – the red bloods who have no power and the silver elites who have power. Each territory realm boasts of a specific type of power. For ex: the lake realms belong to the water elementals. Into this world comes Mare Barrow, the lightning girl―a red blood who discovers she wields the incredibly mighty power of lightning. Mare Barrow winds up in the middle of a court battle, is thrust into an arranged engagement, a love triangle between two brothers, and inevitably joins a rebellion of red-bloods vs silver-bloods while discovering there are far more power red-bloods like her. What is great is how the love triangle is the subplot while the war is the focal. And how Mare is real and rich and gritty. Intelligent and powerful but uses her power for good and not evil. I also love her desire for healing and taking things slow and how she does not merely choose to auto-hook up with the love interest at the end of the war despite all the foreshadowing.
Evangeline Samos―a silver blood with the power to manipulate metal―happened to become my favorite character from her queer romantic relationship to her evolution of a character. Aveyard delivers on featuring strong females that extend far beyond the struggle over a man stereotype. Instead, women in this world are judged based on their power. Even in the world of red-bloods without power, we have a character like General Farley who loses her husband but is left pregnant and carves out her strength to leading an army and breastfeeding during battle strategies. We especially need more women like Farley.
Last but not least…MUSE OF NIGHTMARES
This was ultimately a struggle. For the purposes of this post, I narrowed down to my Top Five. But if I could, I’d include all of Laini Taylor’s works. She will always be my favorite author: her lyrical prose, her attention to world building details, her unique and relatable characters, her ability to script-weave themes of abuse and trauma and it’s damage that manifests in the form of rage or prejudice…all are downright earth shattering. She downright flambéed my fickle heart with the journey I took on of Nova and Kora’s story in Muse of Nightmares. These, at first, seemingly minor characters were but the spider silk that make up the complex and entrancing web of this sequel to Strange, the Dreamer. Muse gives us several amazing feminist icons to aspire to who are all different but equally compelling, including the central antagonist, Minya, who is the villain we hate to love and love to hate because her hatred is palatable as we feel it deeply through her lens of childhood trauma.
Sarai, Sparrow, Minya, Ruby, Nova, Kora, Azareen are all strong women with their own stories and childhood wounds. Overcoming, owning one’s scars, and healing from trauma and abuse are recurring themes in this masterpiece of Taylor’s. While tackling inner human complexities of pain, grief, horror, shame, we see a deep heartfelt desire through Sarai of her longing to heal and empower Minya. While her attempts fail again and again, she never stops trying in this endeavor. And the underlying theme becomes hope in the face of unspeakable tragedy, of beauty from ashes. And though the ladies take center stage for Muse, I love how this healing and redemption arc applies to the males and how positive masculinity and true love and respect that we see in Lazlo overshadows any patriarchal grapples for power or revenge. What is perhaps the greatest plot of Muse of Nightmares: there is no one central hero. How it takes a collective group to move beyond the intergenerational cycle of prejudices and evil of the past and work toward a better future. What is more feminist than that?
Other Feminist Books I Love:
The Woodlands
Rosa manages to carve out love in a cruel and dystopian society and what is more epic about her story is after she escapes a cruel facility where she was inseminated, Rosa joins a ragtag group of escapees and survives as a pregnant teenager in the wilderness while being hunted. Bonus: at least the boy she loves is with her…even if she is *SPOILER* carrying his baby.
Exquisite Captive
Heather Demetrios captures the slavery arc of Nalia’s capture and forced servitude as a jinn. And her choosing a rogue, resistance fighter in the midst of growing sexual tension with her master, Malek. But Nalia’s autonomy and agency and desire for freedom are beautiful plot arcs and how she inevitably achieves her freedom against all odds.
The Uncaged Series
Yes, I’m including my own in this. I’ve written multiple blog posts about Serenity and her struggle. The Aviary’s themes of identity and affirming the inner worth of oneself and others were some of my favorite tropes to write and continue throughout the series. Serenity begins as a naive, spitfire teenager and grows into a strong and powerful young woman determined to save her children in book five. And even though she faces extreme trauma and PTSD and loses herself to dissociation at times, she ultimately comes back fighting just as she does in every book. In book five, Serenity goes beyond her character arc of surviving and escaping and moves to reclaiming and reforming.