Hello! I’ve gotten into reading fantasy books again and honestly I feel like all the main characters were so similar to each other, in a “Not like the other girls” kind of way. They’re scrappy, impulsive, loud-mouthed, uninterested in fashion but probably also the most beautiful girl in the universe. It’s not really my thing unless done really well like in Serpent and Dove by Shelby Mahurin.
I want to read about a woman who’s cunning or composed or just doesn’t feel interchangeable with any other female MCs in other books. I recently read a book called The Shadows Between Us by Tricia Levenseller and the MC is a scheming floozy and I utterly love her.
If you have any books that come to mind, that would be awesome! Thanks!
by kookybear
7 Comments
Try Vita Nostra maybe?
Try *Circe* where she’s actually just depressed, clever, and kind of deadpan. Assuming mythology interests you, though, and not just high fantasy.
Sabriel and Lirael in their eponymous books by Garth Nix. Both very composed and resourceful characters though if I remember Lirael was shy and reserved.
Orka, the female MC in John Gwynne’s “The Shadow of the Gods” (Book 1 of a new trilogy) is one of the strongest female leads I’ve seen in long time.
The Fifth Season by Jemisin. You may be uncertain about my rec early on; I suggest reading to the end if you like the book at all.
The “final” (it wasn’t) Earthsea book, Tehanu, is about one of the characters from earlier books. She is now old and widowed, and is looking back on her life.
You might enjoy the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, the eponymous main character never struck me as particularly cookie cutter but as ever YMMV.
Also, anything involving Granny Weatherwax / Tiffany Aching from the Discworld series could fit the bill.
Possibly “godkiller” by Hannah Kaner – can’t say for Definite though as I’m not really far enough into it and keep stopping and starting so I haven’t yet fully grasped all the characters. But I am hoping one of the 2 main females may fit the bill