I don’t read very often but I want to get into it. I noticed one of the things that turned me away from fiction, especially fantasy, was how the female lead would be slaying and then suddenly she’s in love with some dude she just met and the whole thing is ruined.
I’d prefer if she didn’t really fall in love or at the very least, just fell in love with a woman. Or had weird tension. Like I can do some minor enemies to lovers but not when they actually like each other right off the bat. The “I just met this dude, had tension for like 2 chapters, and now I love him” thing just pisses me off.
Just a book where the female lead(s) can go crazy without romance taking over the entire plot line.
by Scoute248
7 Comments
I who have never known men. There are men in the very beginning but then the whole book is only women. I found it to be fascinating!
Sisters of Jade by James Downe doesn’t have one female protagonist. It has FOUR female protagonists, and they’re all badasses. Fantasy adventure. Zero romance. Note that there are cool male characters as well, but the book is entitled Sisters of Jade for a reason 🙂
The Steerswoman by Rosemary Kirstein. One of the best female friendships in fiction.
Daughter of Mystery by Heather Rose Jones. f/f fantasy romance with badass swordswoman.
The Water Outlaws by SL Huang. Badass women outlaws in China.
Fire Logic by Laurie J. Marks. The main character ends up in a f/f relationship. Lots of queerness in the worldbuilding.
Frostflower and Thorn by Phyllis Ann Karr.
Small Game by Blair Braverman – four strangers on a survival reality TV show have to actually survive when the TV crew disappears.
Matrix by Lauren Groff- the story of a woman sent to a 12th century convent and slowly rising through its ranks and learning how to hold against outside forces; way more exciting than the story of a nunnery sounds from the outside!
Impostor Syndrome by Kathy Wang- a young woman working at a top Silicon Valley company begins suspecting that its female founder is a Russian spy
The Final Revival of Opal & Nev- a female journalist is recruited to cover the reunion of a famous British rock duo, Opal and Nev, and discovers there’s much more to their story
Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin- two friends create a video game together at college; the story of their lives after it becomes a hit. (Among the top books I’ve ever read, and I don’t like video games)
Great Circle by Maggie Shipstead – dual plotlines about an Amelia Earhart-esque pilot in the early 1900s and the actress playing her in a movie in the modern day. There is romance and relationships, but it is not the focus of the book, and a lot of the plot is driven by wanting to have independence outside of both.
If you like science fiction, anything by Becky Chambers! I particularly love “To Be Taught, If Fortunate.”
The Dream Quest of Vellitt Boe by Kij Johnson
*A Certain Hunger* by Chelsea Summers and *Maeve Fly* by CJ Leede are horror books that I think fit the bill. *Convenience Store Woman* by Sayaka Murata is more literally fiction about an autistic woman who has to reckon with expectations that she get married.
Some good fantasy books that have little romance and strong female leads are *Godkiller* by Hannah Kaner and *The Fireborne Blade* by Charlotte Bond.