It’s time for you to read a book with a strong female lead! Whether you’re craving adult fantasy, romantic comedy, or YA contemporary, I’ve got a recommendation that you’ll love!
I love reading. I love reading books with women in them. I especially love reading books with a super strong female lead! I’m not talking about the stereotypical “I’m not your average girl” characters. What I mean is either a protagonist who exudes confidence and courage, a leading lady who has searing emotions that end up becoming her strength, or a surprising spitfire that you grow to love.
As you read through some of my suggestions, you may come across stories that surprise you! Some of these badass babes begin as the villain or antihero, like in Into the Heartless Wood, but I still think they’re incredibly written and have merit. Other titles, such as The Falconer or Three Dark Crowns include a full cast of bombshells and I’m totally here for it! If you’re looking for the best books with a strong female lead, then you’re going to love this list.
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Romance Books to Read Based on Titles You Already Love // Adorable Romance Books to Read Immediately // How to Become a More Efficient Reader
The Best Stories That Include a Strong Female Lead
You can find a synopsis of each book below, along with links to buy a copy for yourself! Make sure to follow me on The StoryGraph to read my reviews and bookstagram to see my aesthetic photos of these titles and more.
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Do you have any favorite books with especially badass female characters?
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Oh my goodness, I’m ashamed that the only ones of these I’ve read is the Flatshare and Hunger Games, although a Song of Wraith and Ruin is nearing the top of my TBR pile right now. The covers and the fact that they have strong female characters means I definitely want to check out all of these now – thanks for the recommendations!
Don’t be ashamed! Those are excellent picks to begin with. I’m so glad that you’re planning to read A Song of Wraiths and Ruin. I hope you love it as much as I do. It’s fantastic!!
I just downloaded ACOTAR because there was a Kindle Deal yesterday! I’ve seen The Sound of Stars more than once, now, so I’m tempted!
Haha! I hope you enjoy it. That first book is an absolute doozy and I hate it with a fiery passion, but it gets better after that
I have read so many of these!! I feel super proud haha. Recently, I’ve read Lolly Willowes by Sylvia Townsend Warner with a strong female lead. It’s a highly feminist novel that I strongly recommend if you’re looking for some girl power and a bit of fantasy.
Great article as always! Keep writing! xx
Oooh I haven’t heard of that one prior to your suggestion, so I’ll need to check it out! Thanks for the recommendation, friend!
I need to try the Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo- and I’ve heard so much about it! Thank you for sharing these recommendations, I love a strong female lead x
You definitely need to check it out! It’s definitely one of my favorites and I wrote a whole review on it
I’m so happy to see Evelyn Hugo appear on this list – she’s definitely such a strong lead and really vivid character that’s still with me even though I read the book over. year ago now! So happy to see Rise of Kyoshi and Sound of Stars on this list too as I really want to pick them up soon!
YESS! I loved it (which is why it got a solo review a couple of weeks ago!) And I’m so glad you’ve even heard of Rise of Kyoshi and The Sound of Stars. Those are great books – The Sound of Stars was one of my favorites last summer!
I’ve read so many of the books on this list and I love them. The flat share was one of my favourite isolation reads during lockdown last year. Loved this post x
That makes me happy! I’m glad you enjoyed The Flatshare. It’s one of my favorite contemporary romance novels
SOO Many of these are on my TBR right now, and I’m hoping to get to them in 2021! One of my favorite female leads is Helen in Happiness for Beginners!
Ooh I haven’t read that one but I’ll definitely need to add it to my list. Thanks for the recommendation!
I’ll have to add some of these to my TBR! I just finished The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo yesterday and it was incredible. Such a thrilling read.
It seems like right now is a super popular time to read it because I’ve had several friends finish it within the last couple of weeks! It’s such a good book!
What an amazing round up of books! The Hunger Games was always one of my faves! All of these sound incredible!
Lizzie
http://www.lizzieinlace.com
I mean, Katniss is such a classic “leading lady” that I just HAD to include that trilogy!
I love Elizabeth Acevedo. She is so fantastic.
Agreed!!! I’ve loved everything I’ve read by her, but these two certainly stood out to me the most. I specifically adored The Poet X because I listened to the audiobook and it was narrated by Elizabeth. She did a phenomenal job performing!
Wow! So many greats on this list. And the best part is I haven’t read all of them. Adding a bunch to my list. Thanks!
I’m glad that I can provide some new recommendations!
I love this. Definitely saving this to keep coming back to x
That makes me so happy to hear. I hope you can find some new favorites from the list
The Flat Share was my favourite read of last year and I like the sound of these other books too! x
Lucy | http://www.lucymary.co.uk
The Flatshare is such a great book! I know a lot of people love it too – and for good reason. It’s a phenomenal contemporary romance and Tiffy is such a strong woman!
Love this list, I’m expanding my reading list, so will definitely add some of these!
That’s great to hear! I hope you can find some inspiration from this list
YES! Thank you so much for posting this list. I realized about five years ago how important it is for me to fill my mind, head and ears with the voices of strong women! Avatar is incredible! I’m not sure if there is a graphic novel for this one but have you watched the show Stephen Universe? It is uber progressive and made up of ALL FEMALE superheroes. Oh my gosh. I could cry just thinking about it! My favorite show ever!
Again, thanks for the post!
I’m so glad that you liked this post! It’s great that you’ve been incorporating that kind of entertainment into your life! I have watched Stephen Universe, but it’s not something I regularly watch – in fact, as a whole, I don’t watch a ton of tv (as I’m so busy reading books haha)
I haven’t read any of these yet but I definitely added some to my list! Thanks!
Oh wow! None of them?! I hope you do get a chance to read some of them!
I have read a few you have on here and adding others to my list. The Bookish Life of Nina Hill was one of my favorite reads the year before.
❥ tanvii.com
That will forever be one of my favorite books. It’s like Abbi wrote it about me haha.
I have a few of these on my bookshelf waiting to be read! I’m excited to read them now.
That’s so exciting to hear. I can’t wait to find out what you think once you’ve read them
Thank you soooo much for this list. My wishlist has grown enormously
I also love book with strong women, the last one I read was Heresy by Melissa Lenhardt : a group of women who decided to live by themself in the far west time
That’s so awesome to hear! I hope you thoroughly enjoy lots of these titles in the future
I haven’t heard of that book before. I’ll have to check it out. Sounds fascinating!
Yess I am so happy that you have created this post, I need more famle heavy books to read!
Rosie
That’s awesome to hear! I hope this inspires you to pick up some new titles!
This is a great idea for a blog post. I am wanting to read more this year and always looking for book recommendations. Thank you for sharing this list.
Lauren http://www.bournemouthgirl.com
Well, my blog is always gonna have new book ideas for you if you need suggestions
wow what a great compilation of books. i love them because, for a change they have great female leads. will definitely read a few of these over the weekends
There are definitely plenty of books with female leads, but I think some of them are stronger than others. These are just my favorites!
Oh you know I am all for anything with a strong female lead! yaaasssss! I’m pinning this so I can keep coming back to it when I need new book ideas! I have three on my list right now (just started the first) but am adding some of these after that!
Heck yes!!! I can’t wait to hear what you think if you do read any of these. Which are the three on your list right now?
I always love a novel with a strong female lead. Thanks so much for sharing this awesome list!
Me too, clearly! I know these are all over the place, genre-wise, but they’re just some of my favorites!
Feel so guilty because I only have 5 of these books on my list! I’ve heard about The Rise Of Kyoshi before but I haven’t read the books yet. Thanks for the recommendations x
Oh gosh, there’s no need to feel guilty!! It’s an extensive list and several of them are series! There’s plenty of time for all the books you want to read
Rise of Kyoshi is a great place to start – especially if you like AtLA!
What a great list!! I feel like lately I have been picking up books with amazing female leads. I don’t know if I naturally gravitate towards them or not but it is rare for me to find a book with a male lead haha.
http://www.rdsobsessions.com
That’s so awesome! I don’t think I read many books with male leads in general, but sometimes the female leads aren’t as strong, if that makes sense. Like, sometimes they’re just described as “different from other girls” but the only difference is that they like to wear sneakers and no makeup. It’s important to me that they actually have good character arcs!
What a great list! I’m still on the waitlist for Evelyn Hugo and I so want to read that! I also just got on the waitlist for Addie LaRue per your recommendation! Can’t wait to read them!
Ooh that’s so awesome to hear! Definitely two of my favorites and I’m hopeful that you enjoy them as much as I did!
I’ve read most of these and I totally agree, these are all great examples of books with strong female leads. I should really get around to reading The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo one of these days. Thanks for sharing!
It’s so fun to know that you’ve read most of them! Great choices
I think you’ll love Evelyn Hugo. It’s a phenomenal story!
Oh wow, I haven’t read even half of them but added to my never-ending TBR! Just finished The Flatshare and totally loved Tiffy, Gerty and Rachel! Have A song of wraiths and ruin on my shelves and can’t wait to start that. Thank you for sharing x
Oh my gosh, The Flatshare is one of my forever favorite contemporary romances. It was just so well done!! I’m glad you enjoyed it
A Song of Wraiths and Ruin is FANTASTIC. Such a good story with so many emotional, thought-provoking moments.
Definitely need to add a lot of these to my TBR! Strong female leads are my favorite!
Me too! There are a lot of books with female leads that aren’t particularly fierce or admirable, but these books and series caught my attention!
That’s awesome that you compiled a book list with strong leading ladies!
This review list is epic! I loved into the heartless wood!
These look fantastic! I love finding books with strong female leads!
Some really awesome suggestion here. I’ve been meaning to read The Poet X for a while now and now I definitely read it next
As a huge Avatar fan, the Kyoshi novels look amazing! I didn’t know they had published books related to the show! One I read recently with a great female lead was “Mexican Gothic”. Thanks for the great recommendations!
I really enjoyed the lost apothecary now I want to discover theses others books.
I would love to read Shadow and bone since I enjoyed the tv show.
xx
Margot
https://troughthepasturesofthesky.com
Hy Stephanie, thanks for the wonderful collection list. I just ordered “into the heartless wood” for my girlfriend. Hope she would like it.
Though she is not an active reader, can you suggest me a easy to read book from the list? I want to give her 2 books.
I’m so glad to hear that. It’s my favorite book and I hope she really enjoys it! I would consider all of these to be pretty easy reads, but if you want something that’s lighthearted and quick, I’d suggest The Flatshare or You Should See Me in a Crown
I have only read few of these books. I will check out the rest.
xoxo
Lovely
http://www.mynameislovely.com
All for strong female leads and glad to already have read many of them and found plenty more to add to my list! I have The seven husbands of Evelyn Hugo on my TBR this month and really need to read Into the heartless woods and Crimson Cranes! x
I am always looking for more books to read. I have only read one of these books, that being hunger games. I will be adding these books to my reading list. Thank you for sharing.
Currently, I have 2 of these books in my possession and reading. Six Crimson Cranes holding my attention at the moment.
Away from these, The 7 Husbands of Evelyn Hugo keeps calling out to me.
Some popular titles here, and I thought many likely had strong female leads!
I am so jealous you have that signed copy of Into the Heartless Wood!
Thanks for all the recommendations! We’ve read a few of these.
I see so many books that i’ve enjoyed in this list! one from this in my tbr already is For the Wolf. ive been getting curious about fantasy romance which i generally don’t read but sounds great now. glad to hear it has a good lead!
I find that as it gets closer to spring those are exactly the type of books I crave: romance with a strong woman character in it.
Thank you for those suggestions!
Such a great idea for a post! I’m all about strong female leads and when I saw the title, I immediately thought of the The Hunger Games lol! One of my all-time faves! All of these sound worthwhile though and I love that many of them are quite new to me!
I’m so glad to see some of my favourite books on here – Shadow And Bone, The Invisible Life Of Addie and The Hunger Games are all firm favourites of mine! Quite a few of these are on my tbr too, I really want to Three Dark Crowns soon in particular. I read To Kill A Kingdom recently and I think that has a really strong female lead too! Thank you so much for sharing x
Oh my goodness, I absolutely ADORED Lila Bard in the Darker Shade of Magic trilogy. And I can see quite a few books on here that are in my shopping basket already. Have you read the Alice/Red Queen/Looking Glass trilogy by Christina Henry? I think you’d love them, Alice is FAB!
Oh yes so many great female leads in these books! Some of my favorites too!
Loving this list of amazing books all starring dynamic and interesting female leads! To see Kyoshi from Avatar: The Last Airbender make an appearance here too makes me so happy.