Your Favorite Feminist Themed Fiction

[Anonymous]

Great thread, OP!! Here are a few others:

The Power, by Naomi Alderman

Red Sparrow, by Jason Matthews (plus the two others in the trilogy - but skip the movie)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Steigg Larsson (plus the next two in the series)

Red Widow, by Alma Katsu (and the sequel, Red London)

And of course, the Hunger Games series, if you haven’t already read it.

[Anonymous]

A Fighting Chance, by Elizabeth Warren

I listened to this on audio back in early 2016, so before our current reality.

And though I’m sure it was written to help boost her political narrative etc., I found it surprisingly warm and personal. (Her audio narration helped, I’m sure.) Might be just the perfect boost for late 2024 . . . .

[Anonymous]

For something escapist and fun I recommend The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. Middle-aged mom is also a bad-ass captain of a pirate ship. There is magic. It is witty and engrossing and a bit sexy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Great thread, OP!! Here are a few others:

The Power, by Naomi Alderman

Red Sparrow, by Jason Matthews (plus the two others in the trilogy - but skip the movie)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Steigg Larsson (plus the next two in the series)

Red Widow, by Alma Katsu (and the sequel, Red London)

And of course, the Hunger Games series, if you haven’t already read it.

I would question any true "feminist" content of both the Stein Larsson and the Hunger Games books. If you could elaborate on what you found intrinsically "feminist" about either of them, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise they are about young women (one severely abused) who have to use violence to survive. That is not a feminist trope.

[Anonymous]

^^ Steigg. Spell check is bad.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread, OP!! Here are a few others:

The Power, by Naomi Alderman

Red Sparrow, by Jason Matthews (plus the two others in the trilogy - but skip the movie)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Steigg Larsson (plus the next two in the series)

Red Widow, by Alma Katsu (and the sequel, Red London)

And of course, the Hunger Games series, if you haven’t already read it.

I would question any true "feminist" content of both the Stein Larsson and the Hunger Games books. If you could elaborate on what you found intrinsically "feminist" about either of them, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise they are about young women (one severely abused) who have to use violence to survive. That is not a feminist trope.

I hear you. I chose to respond to this piece of OP’s request:

“strong female leads [who] kick everyone's butts”

If my suggestions are not your cup of tea, or if you feel they don’t match OP’s request, it’s all good, of course. They’re merely suggestions, not deep commentary on feminism or literature.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Great thread, OP!! Here are a few others:

The Power, by Naomi Alderman

Red Sparrow, by Jason Matthews (plus the two others in the trilogy - but skip the movie)

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo, by Steigg Larsson (plus the next two in the series)

Red Widow, by Alma Katsu (and the sequel, Red London)

And of course, the Hunger Games series, if you haven’t already read it.

I would question any true "feminist" content of both the Stein Larsson and the Hunger Games books. If you could elaborate on what you found intrinsically "feminist" about either of them, I'd love to hear it. Otherwise they are about young women (one severely abused) who have to use violence to survive. That is not a feminist trope.

I hear you. I chose to respond to this piece of OP’s request:

“strong female leads [who] kick everyone's butts”

If my suggestions are not your cup of tea, or if you feel they don’t match OP’s request, it’s all good, of course. They’re merely suggestions, not deep commentary on feminism or literature.

I like both sets of books actually, especially The Hunger Games. But the title of this thread is asking for "Feminist Themed Fiction" and they definitely are not that. Kick-ass yes!

[Anonymous]

It's not revenge fantasy or anything, but Rebecca Makkai's I Have Some Questions for You was terrific.

Circe by Madeline Miller, too

[Anonymous]

I recently finished Fleishman is in Trouble — it fairly brilliantly articulates the experience of women who desire more than to assuage the egos and needs of the men around them. It starts light and funny and very male, but it builds to a brilliant, unflinching look at the dynamics of being a woman in a world. I liked it, then LOVED it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I need to channel my devastation into reading. I'd love recommendations of books that have strong female leads kick everyone's butts. I'm not huge on fantasy, but would love historical fiction too. If it's light or funny, that's a HUGE bonus, but I realize what I'm asking might not tend toward either of things. So, what do you have?

Matrix by Lauren Groff is my suggestion. There's almost no men in the entire book, at least none with speaking roles. It's brilliant literature.

The Power by Naomi Alderman, a powerful novel imagining a world where women develop the ability to discharge electric jolts from their hands.

https://the-bibliofile.com/the-power/

[Anonymous]

If you're into science fiction, KB Wagers's Indranan War series is fabulously feminist.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:For something escapist and fun I recommend The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi. Middle-aged mom is also a bad-ass captain of a pirate ship. There is magic. It is witty and engrossing and a bit sexy.

+1 this was an excellent read and perfect for this moment!

[Anonymous]

Np here. I love Amina Al-Sarafi’s Daevabad seriies as well. But I came here to recommend Miss Benson’s Beetle. It’s such a great story and has female protagonists. (I’m about to finish binge listening to the audio book and my friend also binged it this week after I recommended it.)