Reading was my one true refuge in a childhood marked by uncertainty and chaos, which was also my gateway to writing; I wanted to create the kinds of stories that also saved me, and I found the novel to be my form. Fortunately, I grew up a feral GenXer in Northern California in the 70s and 80s, before computers and video games were handheld, with plenty of time to dream. I was drawn to fierce and outspoken characters, girls and women standing up against powerful forces, and parallel or alternate realities where bad guys are beaten. I hope you’ll find power and inspiration in the badass protagonist of these books!
I loved this book because what woman doesn’t want to know what it’s like to live in a world where women have more power than men for a change? As women around the world discover a latent organ that makes them more powerful than men, almost overnight, the entire structure of civilization upends itself.
I literally ached to have such an organ myself. While I found it cathartic to explore a world where women are in charge without fear of men, I also loved the honest look at women’s abuse of power. An unforgettable read.
WINNER OF THE WOMEN'S PRIZE FOR FICTION ONE OF BARACK OBAMA'S BEST BOOKS OF 2017
'Electrifying' Margaret Atwood
'A big, page-turning, thought-provoking thriller' Guardian
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All over the world women are discovering they have the power. With a flick of the fingers they can inflict terrible pain - even death. Suddenly, every man on the planet finds they've lost control.
The Day of the Girls has arrived - but where will it end?
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'The Hunger Games crossed with The Handmaid's Tale' Cosmopolitan
'I loved it; it was visceral, provocative and curiously pertinent . . . The story has stayed…
I guess we have a theme because this second book is also a story in which a woman discovers unusual powers and must use them to outsmart a cunning man who seeks to dominate her. It’s hard not to be taken by protagonist Anyanwu, who learns to navigate her shapeshifting and mindreading abilities, not for ill intent.
Yet, like many stories of powerful women, she ultimately must use her wiles and intelligence to play the long game against her foe. It’s full of gripping plot, harrowing scenarios, beautiful writing, and a powerful protagonist you won’t ever forget.
The dragons of Yuro have been hunted to extinction.
On a small, isolated island, in a reclusive forest, lives bandit leader Marani and her brother Jacks. With their outlaw band they rob from the rich to feed themselves, raiding carriages and dodging the occasional vindictive…
What woman hasn’t desired justice for some horrible crime that a man has gotten away with? What mother wouldn’t want revenge for something done to her child?
These are the kinds of questions that swept me up in the believable “fantasy” of an underground group of women taking justice into their own hands when law enforcement and civil society fail. It’s the kind of book where I cheered for people to do very bad things for vigilante justice and only felt slightly bad about it later. It’s also a taut thriller full of believable characters. I loved every dark minute of it.
"Chilling...this terrific novel is...propelled by an iron-tight plot that becomes increasingly tense." --New York Times Book Review
"It’s a nerve-shredding, emotionally harrowing ride. Don’t miss it.” —Megan Abbott, New York Times bestselling author
The USA Today bestselling and Edgar Award–winning author of Never Look Back and If I Die Tonightasks how far a grieving mother will go to right a tragic wrong in this propulsive novel of psychological suspense.
Camille Gardener is a grieving—and angry—mother who, five years after her daughter’s death, is still obsessed with the privileged young man she believes to be responsible.
I’m just a sucker for books where characters who don’t seem to have power or agency within their society wind up sneakily subverting power for their own ends while letting the “power-hungry” think they are in charge.
In this case, women once again have figured out a way to get what they want and essentially take down patriarchy (in a dystopian setting) without using the tools of the aggressor. It’s a surprising, potent, and beautiful book (though there are some outdated concepts/ideologies, given that it was published in 1988).
THE GATE TO WOMEN'S COUNTRY tells of a society that exists three hundred years after our own has nearly destroyed itself. Now, male warriors are separated from women at an early age and live in garrisons plotting futilely for the battles which must never be fought again. Inside the women's towns, education, arts and science flourish. But for some like Stavia, there is more to see. Her sojourn with the man she is forbidden to love brings into sharp focus the contradictions that define their lives.
And when tragedy strikes, Stavia is faced with a decision she never thought she…
Twelve-year-old identical twins Ellie and Kat accidentally trigger their physicist mom’s unfinished time machine, launching themselves into a high-stakes adventure in 1970 Chicago. If they learn how to join forces and keep time travel out of the wrong hands, they might be able find a way home. Ellie’s gymnastics and…
Witches and women and underground societies? Yes, please! I love this book, which explores the idea that the very qualities that often make women so special—their sensitivity, empathy and ability to connect to nature and others—is often seen as a threat by men in power.
Disagreeable, independent, outspoken women have long been called witches—what would it look like if they actually were? That kept me reading until my eyes were red and sandy and rooted for the protagonist who fears her own power as much as she craves it.
'For fans of Margaret Atwood' Elle 'Thoughtful...wry, magical' Guardian 'brimming with wonder' Raven Leilani, author of Luster
Josephine Thomas has heard every conceivable theory about her mother's disappearance. That she was kidnapped. Murdered. That she took on a new identity to start a new family. That she was a witch. This is the most worrying charge because in a world where witches are real, peculiar behaviour raises suspicions and a woman-especially a Black woman - can find herself on trial for witchcraft.
But fourteen years have passed since her mother's disappearance, and now Jo is finally ready to let go…
Journalist Justine Goodman’s professional curiosity turns to obsession with Project Nemesis, a group of women eco-anarchists determined to topple a ruthless energy giant and its corrupt CEO. Just as Justine infiltrates their inner circle, tragedy derails her mission.
Meanwhile, Zoe Rasmussen, clinging miserably to her marriage to the corrupt CEO for her daughter’s sake, is torn between fear and fascination when grief-driven Justine confronts her with an ultimatum. Though well-intentioned, their actions ignite dangerous forces, pulling Zoe’s teenage daughter, Hannah, into peril. As these three women speed toward an explosive collision, each must choose to protect a corrupt status quo or risk everything to do what's right.
This is the fourth book in the Joplin/Halloran forensic mystery series, which features Hollis Joplin, a death investigator, and Tom Halloran, an Atlanta attorney.
It's August of 2018, shortly after the Republican National Convention has nominated Donald Trump as its presidential candidate. Racial and political tensions are rising, and so…
“Rowdy” Randy Cox, a woman staring down the barrel of retirement, is a curmudgeonly blue-collar butch lesbian who has been single for twenty years and is trying to date again.
At the end of a long, exhausting shift, Randy finds her supervisor, Bryant, pinned and near death at the warehouse…
