My Favorite Women-Centric Books!

Hey hi hello friends, and welcome back to my blog! 

Happy International Women's Day, to all my lovely ladies out there. I'll be honest, I didn't realize that was today until about an hour ago, when I went on Google to look something up. Thank you, Google, for always advertising holidays and events on your home page. 

I thought I would just come on here and give you guys a short list of some of my favorite books that are about women, written by women, or hype up women in general. I love women, I think they're great (and yes, you can take that in any context, as I am a raging bisexual). 

As a disclaimer, some of these books are not written by women, but feature amazing female characters that I think deserve the hype. 

Let's get into the books!

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The Priory of the Orange Tree

I have to start out strong here. Written by Samantha Shannon, The Priory of the Orange Tree is a massive epic fantasy following a queendom preparing for war with their arch enemies across the sea. The main relationship is f/f and features the monarch of said queendom, and a badass secret priestess sworn to protect her. They are messy and real characters, which I think is why I love them so much. Another main character is a dragon-rider from the rival country, also a woman, who has such an incredible friendship with this old creature of the sea. 

Obviously, I love this book. I've only read it once, because it's over 800 pages, but I flew through it when I did. I think I read it in a week? I was obsessed. As you know, I love dragons and any books that feature them, and when said dragon book features a f/f relationship at the forefront of the story? Sign me up. If Samantha Shannon were ever to decide to expand this universe, I would preorder whatever book in a heartbeat. 

The Raven Cycle

Blue Sargent. Need I say more? Blue freaking Sargent. A feminist firecracker that would sooner cut off all of her hair then submit to a man. But she's also emotional and vulnerable with people that she loves, and she probably loves deeper than any other YA character I've read about. Blue loves wholeheartedly and unabashedly. Of course, if she were to ever kiss her true love, they would immediately die, but ya know. Semantics. 

It's no secret that The Raven Cycle by Maggie Stiefvater is one of my, if not my most favorite YA series of all time. I've read it probably five times, in three years? Yeah, that sounds right. Sometimes I don't even read the whole book, or read them in order, but skip around and read my favorite parts when I need a pick-me-up. 

We Are the Wildcats

Everyone, make a note! I am talking about a YA contemporary! And it will never happen again!

Okay, jokes. But really, I love this book. We Are the Wildcats by Siobhan Vivian follows a high school girls field hockey team the night before their first scrimmage of the year, when they have a traditional sleepover and welcome the new players to the team. During the slumber party, the group of girls learn secrets about each other and their coach, some for the better and some for the worst. 

This is the ultimate girl-power book. All of the players love each other so much, it was so refreshing to read a book about a girls sports team and see no girl-on-girl hate. And they also all love field hockey, which I found fascinating. I was always terrified of field hockey as a kid because my older sister dislocated her pinky finger while playing, so I never wanted to try it for myself. (Plus, I had three other sports I was invested in, so there was no way I was adding a fourth.) But as I was reading, I recognized that love and competitive spirit that the characters had for the sport. It made me miss playing on a team myself. 

A disclaimer, this book does deal with gaslighting, questionable authority, and manipulation of a minor girl by a man. This book will make you angry. That's the point that Vivian was trying to make with it. Truly it's a fantastic read, and I would recommend it to anyone who knows that love for a sport. 

The Silence of the Girls

Another book that will make you angry. Pat Barker's The Silence of the Girls is a retelling of The Iliad from Briseis' point of view. In case you are not aware of the story, Briseis is a Trojan woman captured in the early years of the war, and is auctioned off as Achilles' war prize. She isn't talked about a lot in the original Homer (surprise, surprise) except when she is lamenting Patroclus, who is Achilles' right hand--and lover, I will stand by it--and also one of the only people who befriended Briseis. 

Pat Barker gives the women of the Trojan War a voice. Briseis is not a demure war-prize, but an angry, vindicated princess of Troy, and she will not be erased. It was so interesting reading this interpretation, and I loved that Barker also talked about the other women stolen from their homes to be bed-slaves to the Greek soldiers. 

Also side note, but of course I can't talk about the Trojan War without mentioning The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Her rendition of Briseis is beautiful as well, but definitely paints her as more of a cowed servant than a defiant slave. 

Fruits Basket

I couldn't have this list without adding at least one manga. Fruits Basket by Natsuki Takaya was the very first manga I ever read, and honestly I see so much of myself in Tohru. Although, I think it's because I read it when I was eight or nine and therefore modeled myself after her. 

Fruits Basket follows Tohru Honda, a high school student and recent orphan living in a tent in the middle of the woods. One day she stumbles across the Sohma house, where she is subsequently taken in by the family that lives there, a trio of male cousins--Yuki, Kyo, and Shigure Sohma. Following her adoption into the household, she learns that the Sohma family harbor a strange curse: A handful of family members are possessed by the animals of the Chinese zodiac. If they are hugged by a member of the opposite sex, or are physically weakened, they transform into the very animal they are possessed by. So, clearly, a girl living with a group of men, all of whom are zodiac members, brings about a ton of shenanigans. 

This manga is dark and twisted but also so soft and loving. Tohru is the embodiment of selflessness and purity. When she finds out about the curse, she immediately decides to help them break it. It's a 23-volume long manga, and also has a recent anime adaptation (the final season premieres in April). I highly, highly, highly recommend this story is you like love stories, because at its heart, that's exactly what this is. 

Percy Jackson and the Olympians

An honorable mention, considering Rick Riordan is decidedly not a woman. But he writes female characters so well, I had to include it. 

There are so many badass women in this series. We have the goddesses of course, but Sally Jackson, Annabeth Chase, Clarisse La-Rue, Silena Beauregard, Piper McLean, Hazel Levesque, Reyna Avila Ramírez-Arellano, and so many more. 

Of course, when I say Percy Jackson and the Olympians, I'm really talking about the entire Percy Jackson universe. So we can also include Sadie Kane, and Meg McCaffrey, and Alex Fierro (who is genderfluid and trans). All of Rick's characters have so much depth and, well, characterization. None of them bleed into the other. Each are easily recognizable and each are their own person. 

I could wax on and on about how much I love the women in the PJO universe, but we would be here forever, so I'll end with the best thing a middle grade series can give to young kids: role models for everyone reading. I guarantee you, whether your young or old, man or woman, you will find a character that you will aspire to be. This is my all time favorite middle grade series and I will defend it until the end. 

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Alright, that's all I have for today. I hope you guys found a new book/series to read, or recommend to someone else. And once again, happy International Women's Day. 

Until next time!