🏷️ Strong Female Lead
372 entries tagged with this trope
The Cruel Prince
Holly Black · 2018
Jude is a mortal raised among the cruel, beautiful Fae. Prince Cardan despises her. She refuses to be afraid of him. The power games between them are addictive.
It Ends with Us
Colleen Hoover · 2016
Lily thought she'd never end up like her mother. Then she meets Ryle — and Atlas comes back. This book will make you angry, sad, and hopeful all at once.
Circe
Madeline Miller · 2018
The witch of Greek mythology gets her own story. Circe isn't powerful or beautiful like other gods. But she finds her own magic, on her own terms. Quietly devastating.
Ninth House
Leigh Bardugo · 2019
Galaxy 'Alex' Stern is the most unlikely member of Yale's freshman class. She's given a full ride — not for her grades, but because she can see ghosts. Yale's secret societies practice real magic, and Alex is supposed to keep them in line.
Throne of Glass
Sarah J. Maas · 2012
Celaena is an assassin freed from a death camp to compete for the king's crown champion. It starts YA-ish but the series goes HARD. By book 5 you won't be sleeping.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
Epic standalone fantasy with dragons, queens, dragonriders, and an f/f romance. Multiple POVs spanning continents. If you want ACOTAR scale without the series commitment, this is it.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin is the daughter of Chang'e, the moon goddess. She's hidden her whole life. When her secret is discovered, she must fight for everything. Chinese mythology meets lush romantasy.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with a dark secret. Indian-inspired epic fantasy with f/f romance, political scheming, and magic that costs. Gorgeous worldbuilding.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her seven marriages. But the real story is the woman she loved through all of them. Glamorous, tragic, and one of the best love stories ever written.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid · 2019
Emira is a Black babysitter accused of kidnapping her white charge at a grocery store. Her employer Alix tries to 'help' in the most cringe white-savior way possible. Sharp, uncomfortable, brilliant social commentary.
The Assassin's Blade
Sarah J. Maas · 2014
Celaena Sardothien's story before she became an assassin. Five prequel novellas follow her through betrayal, heartbreak, and the missions that shaped her into the deadliest killer in Adarlan.
Crown of Midnight
Sarah J. Maas · 2013
Now the King's Champion, Celaena must carry out his orders — hunting down rebels who threaten the throne. But her loyalty is tested when she uncovers a conspiracy that changes everything she thought she knew about herself.
Heir of Fire
Sarah J. Maas · 2014
Celaena travels across the sea to train with the Fae. Broken and alone, she must confront her past and embrace her power. Meanwhile, new threats rise and unlikely alliances form.
Queen of Shadows
Sarah J. Maas · 2015
She's back. With a new name and deadly purpose, Aelin returns to Adarlan to save her cousin and take down the king. Old bonds break, new ones form, and the queen inside her finally emerges.
Tower of Dawn
Sarah J. Maas · 2017
Chaol Westfall journeys south to the healers of the Torre Cesme. Broken in body and spirit, he finds an unlikely ally in Yrene Towers — who has every reason to hate him. A love story wrapped in politics and war.
Kingdom of Ash
Sarah J. Maas · 2018
The final battle for Erilea. Aelin is captive. Her court scattered. Every thread from seven books comes together in a 980-page finale that will wreck you and put you back together.
A Court of Silver Flames
Sarah J. Maas · 2021
Nesta Archeron is drowning in rage, alcohol, and self-destruction. Cassian is the only one stubborn enough to stay. Their story is a brutal, spicy, deeply emotional redemption arc. The spiciest SJM book by far.
House of Earth and Blood
Sarah J. Maas · 2020
Half-fae Bryce Quinlan's best friend is murdered. She teams up with a fallen angel named Hunt Athalar to find the killer. Urban fantasy meets murder mystery in a world where humans live alongside Fae, angels, and demons.
House of Sky and Breath
Sarah J. Maas · 2022
Bryce and Hunt try to live normally. It lasts about five minutes. A rebel network, mysterious disappearances, and an ending that will make you throw the book across the room. That crossover moment? IYKYK.
Hideaway
Penelope Douglas · 2017
Banks is a ghost. Damon is a monster. Together they're gasoline and a match. The most emotionally complex Devil's Night book — Banks' story hits different.
Outlander
Diana Gabaldon · 1991
Claire touches a stone in Scotland and wakes up in 1743. She meets Jamie Fraser. The rest is 850 pages of history, war, medicine, and one of the greatest love stories ever written. An absolute unit of a book.
Daughter of No Worlds
Carissa Broadbent · 2020
Tisaanah is a former slave who fights for her freedom in a magical tournament. Max is a disgraced war hero drowning in guilt. Their partnership evolves into one of the most earned romances in the genre.
Atmosphere
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2025
A historical fiction novel about Joan Goodwin, one of the first women to train as a NASA astronaut in the 1980s. TJR delivers another stunning exploration of family, identity, and love that will make you cry.
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls
Grady Hendrix · 2025
A group of teens at a home for pregnant girls discover witchcraft. Grady Hendrix's signature blend of dark humor and supernatural chaos. Think Carrie meets The Craft.
Death of the Author
Nnedi Okofor · 2025
A disabled Nigerian American woman writes a successful sci-fi novel and must deal with the consequences of newfound fame. Nnedi Okofor at her most personal and powerful.
Bringing Down the Duke
Evie Dunmore · 2019
Annabelle is sent to Oxford to influence a powerful duke. What she doesn't expect is to fall for her target—or for him to fall back.
The Once and Future Witches
Alix E. Harrow · 2020
In 1893 New Salem, three sisters reunite to bring back witching. Their fight for women's rights becomes a battle for the soul of magic itself.
Spinning Silver
Naomi Novik · 2018
A moneylender's daughter boasts she can turn silver to gold. When the Staryk king takes her seriously, she must make good on her claim or die.
The Goose Girl
Shannon Hale · 2003
Princess Ani can speak to birds but struggles with people. Betrayed and stripped of her identity, she must find her voice to reclaim her throne.
The Bear and the Nightingale
Katherine Arden · 2017
In medieval Russia, Vasya can see the household spirits that protect her village. When Christianity threatens the old ways, she must choose between safety and magic.
Educated
Tara Westover · 2018
A woman's quest for knowledge leads her from a survivalist Mormon family to Harvard and Cambridge. A stunning memoir about education, family, and the cost of loyalty.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens · 2018
Kya grows up alone in the North Carolina marshes. When a murder occurs, she becomes the prime suspect. Nature, isolation, and the power of love collide.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Reclusive Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally decides to tell her story. But why has she chosen unknown journalist Monique Grant to write it?
The Glass Castle
Jeannette Walls · 2005
A journalist's unflinching memoir of growing up with brilliant but deeply flawed parents. Poverty, neglect, and unconditional love collide in this devastating story.
The Fifth Season
N.K. Jemisin · 2015
On a world of seismic catastrophes, Essun searches for her daughter while the world literally falls apart around her. Power, oppression, and survival collide.
Trail of Lightning
Rebecca Roanhorse · 2018
Maggie is a monster hunter in a post-apocalyptic Southwest where Navajo gods and creatures have returned. Urban fantasy meets indigenous mythology in a flooded world.
Parable of the Sower
Octavia E. Butler · 1993
In 2025, teenage Lauren creates a new religion while navigating a climate-devastated America. Butler's prescient dystopia feels more relevant than ever.
The Bear and the Nightingale
Katherine Arden · 2017
In medieval Russia, Vasya can see household spirits. As Christianity spreads, old magic fades—but ancient dangers still threaten her village.
Daughter of No Worlds
Carissa Broadbent · 2021
A former slave with no magic enters a tournament alongside a reclusive, powerful mage. Their partnership is begrudging at first — then it's everything. Underrated romantasy gem.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
Queens, dragonriders, pirates, and an ancient evil. Four women on different continents whose fates are connected. It's basically a standalone Game of Thrones with better female characters.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
Shannon Chakraborty · 2023
A retired pirate queen in the medieval Indian Ocean gets pulled back for one last job. Think Ocean's Eleven meets Sinbad with a middle-aged mom protagonist. Absolute blast.
House of Flame and Shadow
Sarah J. Maas · 2024
Bryce is trapped between worlds and the stakes have never been higher. SJM brings ALL her series together in this one and the crossover moments are genuinely unhinged.
The Last Thing He Told Me
Laura Dave · 2021
Her husband disappears, leaving a note: 'Protect her.' She doesn't even get along with her stepdaughter. Now they're on the run together uncovering his secrets.
Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver · 2022
David Copperfield retold in Appalachian America. A kid born to nothing fights through foster care, addiction, and a system designed to fail him. Won the Pulitzer for a reason.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
1974 Alaska. A Vietnam vet moves his family to the wilderness. The scenery is beautiful. The isolation is terrifying. Hannah writes survival — physical and emotional — like a gut punch.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
1960s chemist Elizabeth Zott can't get taken seriously in the lab, so she accidentally becomes America's most beloved cooking show host. She teaches chemistry through recipes. Iconic energy.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is obsessed with slasher movies. When deaths start happening in her small lake town, she's the only one who recognizes the pattern. A love letter to horror that IS horror.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel Earths where your counterpart is dead. Cara is dead in 372 of 380 worlds, which makes her invaluable. Then she discovers why she keeps dying.
Translation State
Ann Leckie · 2023
Three characters navigate alien biology, diplomatic crises, and identity in Leckie's Imperial Radch universe. What does it mean to be a person? Leckie's answer is unsettling and beautiful.
System Collapse
Martha Wells · 2023
Murderbot is back and having what is essentially a robot anxiety spiral while trying to save colonists from a corporation. The most relatable non-human character in all of fiction.
The Mountain in the Sea
Ray Nayler · 2022
Octopuses have developed their own civilization. A marine biologist is sent to make first contact. It asks what consciousness IS in the most beautiful, haunting way possible.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and one of the most powerful women in New York — and she was secretly Black. A true story of brilliance, deception, and survival.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park during WWII — a debutante, a socialite, and an eccentric genius. They crack codes together, then one cracks the group apart. Quinn's best work.
The Women
Kristin Hannah · 2024
Frankie McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam. What she sees there changes her. Coming home changes her more. Hannah writes the women Vietnam forgot with devastating power.
The Lioness of Boston
Emily Franklin · 2023
Isabella Stewart Gardner builds her Boston palace-museum against every convention of Gilded Age society. A fierce woman who collected art, scandals, and zero apologies.
The Marriage Portrait
Maggie O'Farrell · 2022
Renaissance Italy. Lucrezia de' Medici realizes her husband brought her to a remote villa not for a holiday — but to kill her. O'Farrell makes 16th-century marriage the most terrifying horror.
Olga Dies Dreaming
Xochitl Gonzalez · 2022
A Brooklyn wedding planner and her congressman brother navigate gentrification, family secrets, and their radical mother who abandoned them for Puerto Rican independence. Sharp, political, and deeply human.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist epic fantasy with dragons, queens, and a world where women hold the power. Four women across different kingdoms fight to save their world. Standalone. No cliffhangers. Just vibes.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic in a crumbling empire inspired by India. Sapphic enemies-to-lovers with lush worldbuilding and political teeth.
The Bone Shard Daughter
Andrea Stewart · 2020
The Emperor controls magical constructs powered by shards of his citizens' bones. His daughter Lin has no memories and suspects he's hiding something. Asian-inspired fantasy with killer magic system.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly the maid finds a dead body in a hotel room and becomes the prime suspect. She's neurodivergent, sees the world differently, and is determined to solve the mystery herself. Cozy thriller done right.
The Last Thing He Told Me
Laura Dave · 2021
Owen disappears leaving a note: 'Protect her.' Hannah must figure out who her husband really was while bonding with his sixteen-year-old daughter who wants nothing to do with her.
Run, Rose, Run
Dolly Parton & James Patterson · 2022
A young singer-songwriter arrives in Nashville chasing a dream and running from a dark past. Dolly Parton wrote this with Patterson and it's exactly as fierce and country-gritty as you'd hope.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí receives a desperate letter from her cousin in a decaying mansion in 1950s Mexico. The house is wrong. The family is wrong. Everything is wrong. Gothic horror at its most gorgeous and terrifying.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is obsessed with slasher films. When bodies start appearing in her lakeside town, she's convinced she's living inside one. Part horror love letter, part Indigenous coming-of-age. Wild ride.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel worlds where your counterpart is dead. Cara is valuable because she's died on 372 of 380 worlds. Then she discovers why. Multiverse sci-fi with class commentary that slaps.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett · 2020
Twin sisters from a small Black community grow up to live in different worlds — one passes as white, the other doesn't. Decades later, their daughters' lives collide. Identity examined with surgical precision.
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee · 2017
Four generations of a Korean family in Japan, from the 1900s to the 1980s. Sunja's choices echo through decades. An epic about identity, sacrifice, and belonging that feels like living inside a century.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her seven marriages — and the love story none of them were. Sapphic old Hollywood glamour with a gut-punch ending.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in WWII France — one joins the resistance, the other survives occupation. Both fight in their own way. This book will make you ugly cry on public transport.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women codebreakers at Bletchley Park during WWII. A friendship forged in secrecy, broken by betrayal, and tested by one final code. Quinn makes history feel alive.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and one of the most powerful women in New York. She was also secretly Black. True story that reads like a thriller.
The Four Winds
Kristin Hannah · 2021
Texas, 1934. Dust Bowl devastation forces Elsa to choose between the land she loves and her children's survival. Hannah writes women's resilience like no one else. Bring three boxes of tissues.
The Exiles
Christina Baker Kline · 2020
A governess convicted of theft, a pregnant Irish girl, and an Aboriginal woman — three women in 1840s Australia whose lives intertwine in a penal colony. Sweeping historical fiction.
The Book of Night Women
Marlon James · 2009
Jamaica, 18th century. Lilith is born into slavery with green eyes that mark her as different. She discovers a conspiracy of women planning rebellion. Marlon James writes with fire.
Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2021
Four famous siblings throw an epic Malibu party in 1983. By morning, the house is on fire. Reid rewinds through their family drama to show you how they got here. Summer vibes with emotional weight.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s who accidentally becomes the star of a cooking show. She approaches recipes like equations. Her dog is named Six-Thirty. Absolutely delightful.
One Last Stop
Casey McQuiston · 2021
August meets Jane on the Q train in NYC. Jane is gorgeous, charming, and stuck in the 1970s. A sapphic time-travel rom-com with the warmest found family vibes.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo tells the story of her seven marriages. But the real love story is the one she hid from the world. A bisexual love story wrapped in Old Hollywood glamour.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist epic fantasy with queens, dragons, and a sapphic love story woven through matriarchal world-building. Shannon built an entire world without the male gaze. Massive and magnificent.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
An imprisoned princess and a maidservant with dangerous magic. Indian-inspired epic fantasy with a sapphic enemies-to-lovers that burns slow and hits hard. Gorgeous prose.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin is the secret daughter of Chang'e, the Moon Goddess. She grows up hiding in the heavens, becomes a warrior, and falls for someone she shouldn't. Chinese mythology retelling with gorgeous world-building.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly is a hotel maid who loves order and cleanliness. When she finds a dead body in a guest's room, she becomes the prime suspect. Cozy mystery meets whodunit with a wonderfully unique protagonist.
The Last Thing He Told Me
Laura Dave · 2021
Hannah's husband disappears, leaving a note: 'Protect her.' Her stepdaughter Bailey is the only one who might know the truth. A thriller about identity and the lies we tell to survive.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid · 2019
Emira is a Black babysitter accused of kidnapping her white employer's child at a grocery store. What follows is a razor-sharp examination of race, privilege, and performative allyship.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to a decaying mansion in 1950s Mexico to rescue her cousin. The house is alive. The family is worse. Gothic horror with a fierce Latina protagonist who wears glamorous dresses to fight evil.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Grady Hendrix · 2020
90s suburban housewives realize the charming new neighbor is a vampire. Their husbands don't believe them. So they handle it themselves. Desperate Housewives meets Salem's Lot.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is obsessed with slasher movies. When bodies start dropping in her small Idaho town, she realizes she's living inside one. Horror-nerd protagonist who is unforgettable.
All Systems Red
Martha Wells · 2017
A security robot hacks its own governor module and just wants to watch soap operas. But it keeps accidentally saving humans. Murderbot is the anxious introvert hero we all needed.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens · 2018
Kya is the 'Marsh Girl' — abandoned, self-taught, brilliant. When the popular boy turns up dead, everyone suspects her. Part murder mystery, part love letter to the natural world.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett · 2020
Twin sisters grow up in a small Black community. One stays. One passes for white. Their daughters' lives eventually collide. Bennett writes identity and family with devastating clarity.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a brilliant chemist in the 1960s. No one takes her seriously. She accidentally becomes the star of a cooking show and uses it to teach science. Also her dog is a genius.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One fights in the Resistance. One fights to keep her family alive. Hannah writes WWII fiction that will break you open. Bring tissues. Many tissues.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene is JP Morgan's personal librarian — one of the most powerful women in New York. She's also secretly Black, passing as white in early 1900s America. Based on a true story.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women codebreakers at Bletchley Park during WWII. A debutante, a spinster, and an East London girl. Years later, one is in an asylum with a coded letter only the other two can crack.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
A family moves to 1970s Alaska to start fresh. The wilderness is brutal. The father is worse. Leni grows up between survival and a love that might save her. Hannah writes impossible situations beautifully.
The House on Mango Street
Sandra Cisneros · 1984
Esperanza grows up in a Chicago barrio, dreaming of a house all her own. Told in poetic vignettes. Every sentence is a jewel. It's short enough to read in an hour and stays with you for years.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist standalone epic fantasy with dragons, queens, and a sapphic love story that spans continents. If you want ACOTAR's scope but with more political weight, this is it.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic form an alliance that could topple empires. South Asian-inspired fantasy with a sapphic romance at its heart. Gorgeous prose.
The Adventures of Amina al-Sirafi
Shannon Chakraborty · 2023
A retired lady pirate in the medieval Indian Ocean gets pulled into one last heist. Djinn, sea monsters, and a middle-aged heroine who takes no nonsense. Pure swashbuckling joy.
The Rage of Dragons
Evan Winter · 2019
Tau watches his father die and vows to become the greatest swordsman alive. African-inspired epic fantasy with a protagonist fueled by pure rage. The fight scenes are cinematic.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin's mother is Chang'e, the moon goddess imprisoned for stealing the elixir of immortality. Xingyin hides in the Celestial Kingdom to free her. Chinese mythology retelling that's lush and epic.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly the maid finds a dead body in a hotel room. She's neurodivergent, meticulous, and the prime suspect. A cozy mystery with a heroine you'll root for desperately.
The Last Thing He Told Me
Laura Dave · 2021
Hannah's husband disappears, leaving only a note: 'Protect her.' 'Her' is his teenage stepdaughter who hates Hannah. Together they unravel who he really was. Page-turner that's also deeply emotional.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí receives a frantic letter from her cousin begging for rescue from a crumbling mansion in the Mexican countryside. The house has secrets. The walls might be alive. Stunning gothic horror.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade Daniels is a slasher-movie-obsessed outcast who realizes her small lakeside town is in a slasher movie. Meta-horror that's both a love letter to the genre and genuinely scary.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
Multiverse travel is possible — but only if your counterpart is dead. Cara is valuable because she's died in 372 of 380 worlds. A survival story wrapped in sci-fi wrapped in class commentary.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her seven marriages. The real love story hiding beneath is devastating. One of those books that ruins you and you thank it.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in 1960s America. When she becomes the host of a cooking show, she treats it like a chemistry class. Feminist, funny, and the dog narration chapters are perfection.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
1974. A family moves to Alaska for a fresh start. The wilderness is brutal. The father is worse. Leni grows up in a world where nature and human violence compete to destroy you. Kristin Hannah devastation.
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee · 2017
Four generations of a Korean family in Japan. Begins in 1911, spans the entire 20th century. An epic about identity, sacrifice, and the impossible choices of immigrants. Changed how I think about history.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One collaborates to survive. One joins the Resistance. Both are heroic. Both are devastating. This book makes you ugly-cry on page 400 and never recover.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
1947: A pregnant American girl teams up with a drunk British ex-spy. They're hunting for someone who disappeared in Nazi-occupied France. Dual timeline. Female spy networks. Absolutely riveting.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park break codes, break rules, and break each other's trust. Dual timeline with the 1947 royal wedding. Kate Quinn's best — and that's saying something.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid · 2019
Emira is a Black babysitter accused of kidnapping her white charge in a grocery store. Her employer Alix wants to 'help' in the most white-savior way possible. Sharp social commentary disguised as a page-turner.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett · 2020
Twin sisters from a small Black community — one passes as white. Decades later, their daughters meet. A novel about race, identity, and the lives we choose vs. the ones we're given. Stunning.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
Four women across four nations must stop an ancient evil from rising. Dragons, sapphic romance, matriarchal magic systems. A standalone epic that rivals Tolkien in scope.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin grows up on the moon, hiding from the gods. When her mother's secret is exposed, she must enter the Celestial Court. Chinese mythology meets epic romance.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic. South Asian–inspired fantasy with sapphic enemies-to-lovers that burns slow and hits hard.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly is a hotel maid who sees things in black and white — literally. When she finds a dead guest, she becomes the prime suspect. Cozy mystery meets neurodivergent heroine.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to rescue her cousin from a crumbling English mansion in 1950s Mexico. The house has mold. The family has secrets. The walls might be alive. Lush, terrifying gothic perfection.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is a slasher-movie obsessive who's convinced a slasher is happening in her small lakeside town. She might be right. Meta-horror that loves the genre as much as you do.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Grady Hendrix · 2020
Suburban housewives in the '90s discover their charming new neighbor is a vampire. Nobody believes them. So they handle it themselves. Desperate Housewives meets Salem's Lot.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
Multiverse travel is possible — but only if your counterpart is dead. Cara is worth a fortune because she's dead in 372 parallel worlds. Then she discovers why.
An Unkindness of Ghosts
Rivers Solomon · 2017
A generation ship recreates the antebellum South in space. Aster lives in the lower decks. She investigates her mother's death and uncovers the ship's darkest secrets. Unflinching and brilliant.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett · 2020
Twin sisters from a small Southern town choose different lives — one passes as white, the other stays. Decades later their daughters' lives collide. Identity, race, and the lies we build lives on.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One fights with the Resistance. One survives by keeping quiet. Both are heroes. You will ugly-cry. Multiple times.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
1947: Charlie wants to find her cousin lost during WWII. 1915: Eve is a spy in a female espionage network. Their stories collide in a revenge road trip. Based on a real spy ring.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene built J.P. Morgan's legendary library. She was also a Black woman passing as white in Jim Crow America. A true story more thrilling than fiction.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park break codes and break rules during WWII. Then one of them is locked in an asylum. A betrayal at the heart of it all. Quinn's best WWII novel.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells her story. Seven husbands. One true love. None of them are who you'd expect. The twist hits like a truck. TJR's masterpiece.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s. Nobody takes her seriously. So she becomes the star of a cooking show and teaches women they're capable of anything. With a dog named Six-Thirty.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
Standalone epic fantasy with queens, dragonriders, and a sapphic love story woven through a world on the brink of destruction. The scope is massive. The women are magnificent.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic. Indian-inspired fantasy with lush worldbuilding and a slow-burn sapphic romance that crackles with tension.
Holly
Stephen King · 2023
Holly Gibney investigates a missing persons case that leads to a seemingly perfect couple with a horrifying secret. King at his most restrained and creepy. The slow reveal is masterful.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to a creepy mansion in the Mexican countryside to rescue her cousin. The house has mold, mushrooms, and secrets. Gothic horror meets Latin American folklore. Gorgeously unsettling.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is a slasher-obsessed outcast who's convinced her small town is about to become a horror movie. She's right. Love letter to the slasher genre wrapped in sharp social commentary.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel worlds where your counterpart is dead. Cara is dead in 372 of 380 worlds, making her invaluable. The social commentary is razor-sharp and the twists are excellent.
System Collapse
Martha Wells · 2023
Murderbot is having what humans would call a mental health crisis. It still has to save a colony from corporate exploitation. Anxiety-ridden robot who just wants to watch soap operas. We are all Murderbot.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s who becomes the reluctant star of a cooking show. She approaches recipes like lab experiments. The dog narrates sometimes. Feminist and furious and funny.
Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver · 2022
David Copperfield retold in Appalachian America during the opioid crisis. Demon's voice is electric — funny, angry, heartbreaking. Kingsolver's Pulitzer winner deserves every award.
All Fours
Miranda July · 2024
A woman sets out on a road trip and only gets thirty minutes away before checking into a motel for weeks. What follows is a midlife unraveling that's funny, uncomfortable, and devastatingly honest.
The Women
Kristin Hannah · 2024
Frankie McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps and ships out to Vietnam. The war changes everything. Coming home changes it again. Kristin Hannah's most powerful book since The Nightingale.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene ran J.P. Morgan's personal library and became the most powerful woman in the New York art world. She was also secretly Black. Based on the incredible true story.
Great Circle
Maggie Shipstead · 2021
Two women a century apart — Marian Graves, a pilot who vanished trying to circumnavigate the globe pole to pole, and Hadley Baxter, the actress who plays her. Epic in scope, intimate in feeling.
James
Percival Everett · 2024
Huck Finn retold from Jim's perspective. Except Jim is brilliant, educated, and performing ignorance to survive. Everett turns a classic inside out with razor wit and devastating commentary.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
Four women across different continents fight a dragon apocalypse. Epic feminist fantasy with a sapphic romance woven in. If you want a standalone that feels like an entire trilogy, this is it.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic form an alliance that could topple an empire. South Asian-inspired epic fantasy with a sapphic enemies-to-lovers that takes its time. The world-building is gorgeous.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin is the secret daughter of the Moon Goddess. She trains as a warrior, falls for the wrong prince, and faces impossible choices. Chinese mythology meets YA fantasy in the best way.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly is a hotel maid who sees things in black and white. Then she finds a dead body in a guest room. A cozy mystery-thriller with an autistic-coded protagonist who is impossible not to root for.
Holly
Stephen King · 2023
Holly Gibney investigates a missing girl and uncovers horrors hiding behind a pleasant suburban facade. King's most underrated character gets her own book and it's slow-burn dread at its finest.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to check on her cousin at a decaying English mansion in 1950s Mexico. The house is alive. The family is worse. Gothic horror with a glamorous protagonist who refuses to be a victim.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is a horror-movie-obsessed outcast who's convinced her town is about to become a slasher film. She might be right. A love letter to horror that IS horror. Meta, bloody, and brilliant.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel earths where your counterpart is dead. Cara is dead in 372 of 380 worlds, making her the perfect traverser. The class commentary hits hard. The identity crisis hits harder.
All Systems Red
Martha Wells · 2017
A security robot hacks its own governor module so it can watch soap operas instead of killing people. Then it accidentally starts caring about the humans it's protecting. Murderbot is the most relatable character in sci-fi.
Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver · 2022
David Copperfield retold in Appalachian foster care. Demon's voice is so alive you forget you're reading. Kingsolver turns the opioid crisis into Dickens and it won the Pulitzer for a reason.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian — and one of the most powerful women in New York. She was also secretly Black. Based on a true story that should be way more famous.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park crack codes during WWII. Years later, one is in an asylum and the other two must figure out who betrayed them. Female friendship + espionage + betrayal. Kate Quinn never misses.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in 1960s America who accidentally becomes a cooking show host. She teaches housewives chemistry. It's feminist, funny, and has the best dog character in literary history.
The Women
Kristin Hannah · 2024
Frankie McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam. She comes home to a country that doesn't want to know what she saw. Kristin Hannah makes you feel every page. Bring tissues. Bring the whole box.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France choose different paths of resistance. One hides people. One becomes a spy. The question 'In love we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are' will haunt you.
Daughter of Wisdom
Sir_Prise · 2016
Annabeth-centric retelling that gives her the POV she deserved. Percabeth through her eyes — the strategy, the fear, the love. For everyone who always knew Annabeth was the real hero.
Daughter of Wisdom
AthenasOwl · 2018
The Lightning Thief from Annabeth's POV, with expanded lore and a Annabeth who is more fleshed out than canon. For everyone who wished we'd gotten her perspective from the start.
A Court of War and Ruin
cassiansfavoritehuman · 2020
Nesta and Cassian during the war, filling in the gaps SJM left. Nessian's dynamic is volcanic — she pushes, he holds, they combust. If ACOSF wasn't enough Nessian for you, this delivers.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
Four women across different lands, dragons that actually matter to the plot, and a sapphic romance woven into epic worldbuilding. The feminist fantasy epic you've been waiting for.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic. South Asian-inspired fantasy with sapphic enemies-to-lovers that burns slow and hits hard.
The Poppy War
R.F. Kuang · 2018
Rin tests into the most elite military academy in the empire. Then war comes. Inspired by Chinese history, this starts as dark academia and becomes a brutally honest war epic.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin is the hidden daughter of Chang'e, the moon goddess. When her secret is discovered she flees to the Celestial Kingdom. Chinese mythology meets epic fantasy romance.
Babel: Or the Necessity of Violence
R.F. Kuang · 2022
Oxford, 1836. Translation is magic — literally. Robin Swift is brought from Canton to the Royal Institute of Translation, where silver-work powers the British Empire. A love letter to language and a furious indictment of colonialism.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to a crumbling English mansion in the Mexican countryside to rescue her cousin. The house is wrong. The family is wrong. Everything is wrong. Gothic horror perfection.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Grady Hendrix · 2020
A charming stranger moves to a Southern suburb. The housewives of the book club notice something's off. Nobody believes them. Steel Magnolias meets Salem's Lot.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can visit parallel earths — but only if your counterpart there is dead. Cara is valuable because she's dead in 372 of 380 worlds. A multiverse thriller about privilege, identity, and survival.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett · 2020
Identical twin sisters from a small Black community — one passes as white, one stays. Their daughters' lives collide decades later. A devastating exploration of race, identity, and the lies we tell to survive.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One shelters enemies. One fights in the Resistance. Both are braver than they know. Will make you ugly cry on public transport.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and one of the most powerful women in New York. She was also secretly Black in a white world. A true story stranger than fiction.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park during WWII break codes and keep secrets. Years later, one is in an asylum and only the others can free her. A puzzle-box thriller wrapped in wartime sisterhood.
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee · 2017
Four generations of a Korean family in Japan, starting with a forbidden pregnancy in 1911. Lee makes you feel the weight of every choice across decades. An epic about what it means to belong nowhere.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s. Nobody takes her seriously. Then she gets her own cooking show and uses it to teach chemistry. The dog, Six-Thirty, deserves his own novel.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her seven marriages. The real love story is the one she's been hiding. The twist at the end reframes EVERYTHING.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid · 2019
A young Black babysitter is accused of kidnapping her white employer's child. The employer tries to 'help.' It gets so much worse. A razor-sharp novel about performative allyship.
Survival Is a Talent
ShanaStoryteller · 2017
Draco is sorted into Gryffindor. Everything changes. ShanaStoryteller rebuilds canon from the ground up with a Draco who chose differently. The political maneuvering is brilliant.
Daughter of No Worlds
Carissa Broadbent · 2022
A former slave with broken magic teams up with a mysterious scholar to reclaim her power. The magic system is intricate and the slow burn is devastating.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic. Inspired by Indian history and mythology. The political intrigue is as compelling as the romance.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist epic fantasy with dragons, forbidden magic, and queens who don't need kings. Four women across different nations converge to fight an ancient evil.
The Sword of Kaigen
M.L. Wang · 2019
A mother who abandoned her warrior past must take up the sword again when war comes. Japanese-inspired fantasy that hits like a truck emotionally. The family dynamics destroy you.
Holly
Stephen King · 2023
Holly Gibney investigates a missing person case that leads to a retired professor couple with very dark secrets. King at his most unsettling — the horror creeps in slowly.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí travels to a decaying English mansion in the Mexican countryside to rescue her cousin. The house has secrets in its walls — literally. Lush, creepy, and unforgettable.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only visit parallel Earths where the other you is dead. Cara is dead in 372 out of 380 worlds, making her invaluable. Then she discovers why she keeps dying.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s. When she becomes a cooking show host, she teaches housewives chemistry instead of recipes. Feminist, funny, and furious in the best way.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
An aging Hollywood icon tells the truth about her seven marriages. The real love story underneath them all will shatter you. One of those books that changes how you see love.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
A family moves to the Alaskan wilderness in the 1970s. The father's PTSD makes the isolation deadly. A story of survival, resilience, and the wild that's as beautiful as it is brutal.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in WWII France take wildly different paths of resistance. One shelters a Nazi officer's family. The other saves lives on a dangerous mountain route. Both will destroy you.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
Two women across two world wars — a spy in WWI and a socialite searching for her cousin after WWII. Their paths converge in a story of vengeance and resilience.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene became JP Morgan's personal librarian — one of the most powerful women in New York. Her secret? She was a Black woman passing as white. Based on a true story.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women codebreakers at Bletchley Park during WWII. When the war ends, a traitor among them threatens everything. Kate Quinn makes WWII espionage feel urgent and personal.
The Women
Kristin Hannah · 2024
Frankie McGrath enlists as a nurse in Vietnam, full of idealism. What she finds there — and what waits at home — will shatter everything she believed. Hannah at her most powerful.
Someone Else's Shoes
Jojo Moyes · 2023
Two women accidentally swap gym bags. One pair of designer shoes changes both their lives. Moyes does what she does best — makes you laugh, cry, and cheer for ordinary women.
Yesterday Upon the Stair
PitViperOfDoom · 2016
Izuku can see ghosts. This changes EVERYTHING about the MHA storyline. The worldbuilding is richer than canon and the emotional beats hit harder. One of the most acclaimed BNHA fics for good reason.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist epic fantasy with dragons, secret queens, and a world on the brink. Three women across different continents hold the key to survival. No male savior in sight.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic in a South Asian-inspired empire. Political revolution meets sapphic slow burn. Gorgeous prose.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin grows up on the moon hiding from the Celestial Emperor. When she's discovered, she must enter his army and fight to free her mother. Chinese mythology brought to vivid life.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid · 2019
A Black babysitter is accused of kidnapping her white employer's child. The employer tries to 'fix' it and makes everything worse. Razor-sharp social commentary that's also wildly readable.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí travels to a decaying English mansion in the Mexican countryside to rescue her cousin. The house is alive. The family is wrong. Gothic horror with a sharp Latina protagonist.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is obsessed with slasher movies. When a real slasher cycle begins in her small lake town, she might be the only one who recognizes the pattern. Horror-nerd protagonist done right.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel worlds where your counterpart is dead. Cara is dead in 372 of 380 worlds, making her invaluable. Then she discovers why she keeps dying.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
1974. A damaged Vietnam vet moves his family to Alaska. As winter closes in, so does his violence. Leni must survive both the wilderness and her father. Kristin Hannah at her most gripping.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s who becomes the unexpected star of a cooking show. She approaches recipes like lab experiments. Her dog understands over 900 words.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her seven marriages. The real love story? None of them. A bisexual love story wrapped in Old Hollywood glamour.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park during WWII break codes and keep secrets. Years later, one is in an asylum, and a royal wedding brings them back together. Historical fiction at its finest.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France resist in different ways — one through quiet endurance, the other through dangerous defiance. Will make you cry for days. Not an exaggeration.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian — and she was secretly a Black woman passing as white in early 1900s New York. A true story of brilliance and impossible choices.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
A female spy from WWI and a young American searching for her cousin after WWII join forces. Dual timeline historical thriller about women who refuse to be sidelined.
The Island of Sea Women
Lisa See · 2019
Two friends on Jeju Island, Korea — haenyeo (women divers) whose friendship spans Japanese colonialism, WWII, and the devastating 1948 massacre. Female friendship as epic as any romance.
Olga Dies Dreaming
Xochitl Gonzalez · 2022
Olga is a bougie Brooklyn wedding planner with a revolutionary mother who abandoned her. Set against Hurricane Maria and Puerto Rican politics. Family drama with teeth.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A standalone epic fantasy with dragons, matriarchal empires, and a sapphic love story woven through world-ending stakes. The scope is breathtaking.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic form an alliance in an India-inspired empire. Sapphic fantasy with teeth.
Spinning Silver
Naomi Novik · 2018
A Rumpelstiltskin retelling set in a frozen Russian-inspired world. Three women's stories interweave as they face down kings, ice demons, and expectations. Novik at her best.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly the maid finds a dead body in a hotel room. She's the prime suspect. But Molly sees the world differently than everyone else, and she's going to solve this her way. Cozy mystery perfection.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to check on her cousin at a crumbling English mansion in 1950s Mexico. The house has a personality. The walls breathe. And the family is hiding something in the earth.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Grady Hendrix · 2020
Suburban moms discover their charming new neighbor is a vampire preying on the neighborhood. Nobody believes them. So they handle it themselves. Desperate Housewives meets Dracula.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel worlds where your counterpart is dead. Cara has died in 372 out of 380 worlds, making her invaluable. Then she discovers why she keeps dying.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
An aging Hollywood icon tells the story of her seven marriages. But the real love story was never about any of her husbands. TikTok was right about this one.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens · 2018
Kya grows up alone in the North Carolina marshes. When a local man turns up dead, she's the prime suspect. Part coming-of-age, part murder mystery, entirely absorbing.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s. When life derails her research, she becomes a cooking show host who teaches chemistry to housewives. With a dog named Six-Thirty who understands 984 words.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in occupied France during WWII. One fights in the resistance. One fights to survive at home. Both redefine what courage means. Will wreck you completely.
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee · 2017
Four generations of a Korean family in Japan. It starts with a pregnant woman making an impossible choice in 1911 and spans nearly a century. Sweeping, devastating, essential.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park during WWII. Codebreakers, secrets, and a betrayal that fractures their friendship. The dual timeline between war and royal wedding is masterful.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict, Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene was J.P. Morgan's personal librarian — and a Black woman passing as white in early 1900s New York. Based on a true story of brilliant deception.
Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2021
Four famous siblings throw an epic Malibu party in 1983. By morning, the house is on fire. The family secrets that surface over one night are devastating and cathartic.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid · 2019
A Black babysitter gets racially profiled while watching her white employer's child. What follows is a razor-sharp examination of performative allyship and privilege. Uncomfortably brilliant.
The Rising
MusicBloodMagic · 2016
AU where the war drags on. Katara and Zuko are on opposite sides until they're not. The worldbuilding expands ATLA in fascinating ways and the romance is earned through fire and water.
High Lady Training
readingaftermidnight · 2017
Post-ACOMAF. Feyre trains as High Lady. Political maneuvering, Illyrian warrior training, and Rhys being supportive husband goals. The Inner Circle dynamics are perfect.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
Four women across different kingdoms, a world-ending dragon threat, and a sapphic love story woven through epic fantasy. This is the feminist Lord of the Rings we deserved.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin grows up on the moon hiding from the gods. When her secret is discovered, she must fight to free her mother. Chinese mythology meets epic fantasy romance.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly is a hotel maid who sees the world differently. When she finds a dead guest in a room, she becomes the prime suspect. Cozy mystery meets whodunit with the most endearing narrator.
Holly
Stephen King · 2023
Holly Gibney investigates the disappearance of a young woman and uncovers a horror lurking behind a respectable suburban couple. King at his most unsettling — the evil is mundane and that makes it worse.
All the Sinners Bleed
S.A. Cosby · 2023
Titus Crown is the first Black sheriff in a Virginia town. A school shooting reveals a serial killer's trail that leads to the town's most powerful families. Southern noir at its best.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is a horror-obsessed outcast who's convinced a slasher cycle is starting in her small Idaho town. She might be the final girl — or she might be the monster.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Grady Hendrix · 2020
A charming stranger moves into a southern neighborhood. The book club ladies notice things. Nobody believes them. So they handle it themselves. Desperate Housewives meets Dracula.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel worlds where the other you is dead. Cara is alive in only eight — making her the company's most valuable traverser. Until she finds out why she keeps dying.
System Collapse
Martha Wells · 2023
Murderbot is back, dealing with corporate espionage, existential dread, and the challenge of caring about people. An anxious killing machine binge-watching TV shows is somehow the most relatable character in fiction.
The Women
Kristin Hannah · 2024
A young nurse volunteers for Vietnam in 1966. The war breaks her. Coming home breaks her more. Kristin Hannah makes you feel every page in your chest.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene curated J.P. Morgan's legendary library while hiding a devastating secret: she was Black, passing as white in early 1900s America. Based on a true story.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s. When she's forced out of her lab and onto a cooking show, she teaches housewives chemistry and accidentally starts a feminist revolution.
The Familiar
Leigh Bardugo · 2024
Golden Age Spain. Luzia is a scullion who hides her small magic. When she's discovered, she's thrust into a deadly tournament at the royal court. Bardugo does historical fantasy and it's gorgeous.
Someone Else's Shoes
Jojo Moyes · 2023
Two women accidentally swap gym bags. One gets designer heels that change her confidence. The other loses everything. Their lives intersect in unexpected ways. Feel-good with substance.
The House of Eve
Sadeqa Johnson · 2023
Two Black women in 1950s Philadelphia. One passes as white to attend an Ivy League school. The other is in a home for unwed mothers. Their stories collide around one child. Devastating and beautiful.
Daughter of No Worlds
Carissa Broadbent · 2020
Tisaanah is a freed slave with rare magic. Max is a disgraced professor. Together they enter a lethal tournament. The slow burn romance woven through the action is perfection.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a temple maidservant with hidden power form an alliance that becomes something more. South Asian-inspired epic fantasy with sapphic enemies-to-lovers. Gorgeous prose.
The Sword of Kaigen
M.L. Wang · 2019
A mother in a warrior village must protect her sons when war arrives. The fight scenes are jaw-dropping but the emotional devastation is what stays with you. Criminally underrated.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly the maid finds a dead man in a hotel room. She's the prime suspect. She's also neurodivergent, painfully earnest, and completely endearing. Cozy mystery meets social commentary.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to rescue her cousin from a decaying English mansion in 1950s Mexico. The house has secrets. The family has worse ones. Gothic horror with a sharp feminist edge.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is a slasher-movie obsessed outcast who's convinced a real slasher cycle is about to hit her lakeside town. She's right. Indigenous horror that reinvents the final girl.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel worlds where your counterpart is dead. Cara's counterpart is dead in 372 of 380 worlds, making her invaluable. Then she discovers why she keeps dying.
All Systems Red
Martha Wells · 2017
A security robot hacks its own governor module and just wants to watch soap operas. Then its humans are in danger and it has to actually care. Murderbot is the most relatable character in sci-fi.
Demon Copperhead
Barbara Kingsolver · 2022
David Copperfield retold in Appalachian America during the opioid crisis. Demon's voice is so raw, funny, and heartbreaking you'll forget it's literary fiction. Pulitzer winner for good reason.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s who accidentally becomes a cooking show star. She teaches women science through recipes. Her dog Six-Thirty steals every scene. Feminist icon energy.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
Alaska, 1974. A family moves to the wilderness. The father is volatile and the winters are brutal. Leni's coming-of-age against this backdrop is harrowing and beautiful.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene was JP Morgan's personal librarian — and she was secretly Black in early 1900s America. A true story about passing, power, and the price of ambition.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women codebreakers at Bletchley Park during WWII. Years later, one is in an asylum and the other two must solve a final cipher to free her. The friendship drama hits harder than the war.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in WWII France. One joins the Resistance. One survives occupation. Both are brave in different ways. The ending revelation will destroy you. Bring tissues. Many tissues.
The Women
Kristin Hannah · 2024
Frankie McGrath joins the Army Nurse Corps in Vietnam. What she finds there changes her forever. Coming home is even harder. Kristin Hannah's best work since The Nightingale.
Someone Else's Shoes
Jojo Moyes · 2023
Two women accidentally swap gym bags. One pair of designer shoes changes everything. A feel-good story about unlikely friendship and walking in someone else's shoes — literally.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A standalone epic fantasy with queens, dragonriders, and a sapphic love story woven through. Four women across different nations fight an ancient evil. Massive and magnificent.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic. South Asian-inspired fantasy with lush worldbuilding, political intrigue, and a slow-burn sapphic romance that simmers with tension.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin grows up on the moon hiding from the gods. When her secret is exposed, she must navigate the Celestial Kingdom to save her mother. Chinese mythology retelling with gorgeous romance.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí travels to a decaying mansion in the Mexican countryside to rescue her cousin from a sinister marriage. The house has a will of its own. Think Rebecca meets body horror with 1950s Mexican glamour.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade is obsessed with slasher movies. When new rich people come to her lakeside town and bodies start appearing, she knows exactly what's happening. Part love letter to horror, part actual horror.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can visit parallel Earths — but only if the other you is dead. Cara is dead in 372 of 380 worlds, making her invaluable. When she discovers why she keeps dying, everything unravels.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her seven marriages. The real love story underneath? Not with any husband. Gorgeous, sweeping, and the twist at the end is perfection.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
1974. A family moves to Alaska to start over. The wilderness is as beautiful as it is deadly. The father's PTSD makes home even more dangerous. Kristin Hannah writes survival like nobody else.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens · 2018
Kya is the 'Marsh Girl' — abandoned, wild, brilliant. When the local golden boy turns up dead, she's the prime suspect. Part coming-of-age, part murder mystery, all heartbreak.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s. Nobody takes her seriously. Then she accidentally becomes the star of a cooking show — and uses it to teach science. Her dog has opinions. You'll love the dog.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One fights in the Resistance, one fights to survive at home. Both are brave in different ways. You will ugly-cry. Multiple times.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
1947: An American socialite searching for her cousin. 1915: A spy in a network of women behind enemy lines. Their stories collide. Based on real female spies of WWI.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park crack codes during WWII. Years later, a betrayal threatens to destroy them. Kate Quinn's best. The friendship and the puzzle-solving are equally gripping.
Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2021
One epic Malibu party in 1983. Four siblings. Their famous father's shadow. By morning, the house is on fire. TJR does family drama with the intensity of a soap opera and the depth of literature.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett · 2020
Twin sisters from a small Black community in the South. One stays, one passes as white. Decades later, their daughters' lives intersect. About identity, family, and the lies we tell to survive.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid · 2019
A young Black babysitter is accused of kidnapping her white charge at a grocery store. Her employer's 'allyship' makes everything worse. Sharp, uncomfortable, and brilliantly funny.
The Mortal Queen
sarahviehmann · 2018
AU where Feyre never becomes Fae. She rules the mortal lands as a human queen. Rhysand must negotiate with her as an equal. The power dynamic shift changes everything. Brilliant alternate take.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A world divided between dragonriders and dragonslayers. Four women on different continents must find a way to save their world from an ancient evil rising from the sea.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin grows up on the moon, hidden from the gods who cursed her mother Chang'e. To free her mother, she must become a warrior in the Celestial Kingdom—and face impossible choices in love and loyalty.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic forge an alliance that could topple an empire. Sapphic romantasy inspired by the history and mythology of India.
The Bear and the Nightingale
Katherine Arden · 2017
In medieval Russia, young Vasya can see the spirits that protect her village. When a zealous priest arrives, the old magic begins to die—and something terrible stirs in the winter woods.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. Seven husbands. One great love. And a secret that changes everything.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí Taboada receives a desperate letter from her newlywed cousin begging for rescue from a crumbling English mansion in the Mexican countryside. The house has secrets that go deeper than its walls.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France take very different paths through the war. One fights with the Resistance. The other struggles to survive with her daughter. Both are unforgettable.
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee · 2017
Four generations of a Korean family in Japan, beginning in the early 1900s. A sweeping saga of identity, discrimination, and the sacrifices made for love and survival.
Circe
Madeline Miller · 2018
Circe, daughter of the sun god Helios, is banished to a deserted island where she hones her witchcraft. From Odysseus to the Minotaur, she encounters the most famous figures of mythology—on her own terms.
The House of Hades Alternative
Takara_Phoenix · 2013
A retelling of the House of Hades from both Percy and Annabeth's perspectives. Tartarus has never felt more terrifying or their bond more unbreakable. Fills in every emotional gap Riordan left.
Son of the Sea God
Sassenach082 · 2014
A complete reimagining where Poseidon raised Percy. He's more powerful, more dangerous, and less human. Annabeth is the anchor to his mortality. World-building that rivals the source material.
Wings and Wicked Things
Illyriantremors · 2017
Nesta and Cassian before ACOSF. The fire between them is scorching and neither will admit defeat. Illyriantremors captures their combative chemistry perfectly — every argument is foreplay.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her seven marriages—but the real love story is the one she hid from the world. Devastating and gorgeous.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist epic fantasy with dragons, a secret society, and a world on the brink of war. Four women across different kingdoms fight to save civilization. Standalone and massive.
The Last Thing He Told Me
Laura Dave · 2021
Hannah's husband disappears leaving a note: 'Protect her.' Her stepdaughter Bailey holds the key to uncovering his secret identity. A propulsive thriller about trust and family.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí receives a desperate letter from her cousin who married into a wealthy family in the Mexican countryside. The house is wrong. The family is wrong. Everything is rotting from the inside.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade Daniels is a slasher-movie-obsessed Indigenous teen who realizes her lakeside town is living out a real slasher plot. Part love letter to horror, part brutal social commentary.
The Space Between Worlds
Micaiah Johnson · 2020
You can only travel to parallel earths where your counterpart is dead. Cara is valuable because she's died in 372 of 380 worlds. Then she discovers why. Multiverse sci-fi with class commentary.
The Vanishing Half
Brit Bennett · 2020
Twin sisters from a small Southern town grow up to live in two different worlds—one Black, one passing as white. A multigenerational saga about identity, race, and the lies we build lives on.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One joins the Resistance, the other fights to survive at home. The most devastating WWII novel since The Book Thief. Bring tissues.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene was JP Morgan's personal librarian and one of the most powerful women in New York. She was also secretly Black. Based on a true story of brilliance and survival.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women codebreakers at Bletchley Park during WWII forge an unlikely friendship. Years later, one is in a mental institution and holds a secret that could change history.
Pachinko
Min Jin Lee · 2017
Four generations of a Korean family in Japan, spanning the entire 20th century. A sweeping saga about identity, belonging, sacrifice, and what it means to build a life in a country that doesn't want you.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
A female spy network in WWI and a pregnant American girl in 1947 searching for her missing cousin. Their stories collide in the most satisfying way possible.
The Four Winds
Kristin Hannah · 2021
The Dust Bowl. Texas, 1934. Elsa must decide: stay and starve, or go west to California. A brutal, beautiful story of survival and motherhood that feels horrifyingly relevant.
Daisy Jones & The Six
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2019
An oral history of a fictional 70s rock band and its explosive breakup. Told in interview format like a VH1 documentary. The chemistry between Daisy and Billy is ELECTRIC.
Malibu Rising
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2021
Malibu, August 1983. Four famous siblings throw an epic end-of-summer party. By morning the house is in ashes. TJR does family drama like nobody else.
Such a Fun Age
Kiley Reid · 2019
Emira is a twenty-something Black babysitter accused of kidnapping the white child she's watching. Her employer Alix tries to 'fix' things. The resulting social commentary is razor-sharp.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s who ends up hosting a cooking show. She teaches America about science, feminism, and self-worth—through recipes. Funny, smart, and deeply feminist.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A sprawling feminist epic with dragons, political intrigue, and a sapphic love story woven through a world on the brink of destruction. Think Game of Thrones but the women run things.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic form an alliance in a fantasy world inspired by the Mughal Empire. The tension—political and romantic—is exquisite.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
A glamorous socialite travels to a decaying English mansion in the Mexican countryside to rescue her cousin. The house has secrets. The walls have fungi. You will not sleep well.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
1960s chemist Elizabeth Zott becomes an unlikely cooking show host. She treats cooking like chemistry. America is not ready. Neither are you.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene, JP Morgan's personal librarian, was one of the most powerful women in New York. She was also secretly Black. The true story of passing in Gilded Age America.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon Evelyn Hugo finally tells the truth about her seven marriages. But the real love story isn't about any of her husbands.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
An epic feminist fantasy with dragons, queens, and a world-threatening evil. Four women across different lands hold the key to survival. The LGBTQ rep is glorious.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with forbidden magic forge an alliance that could topple an empire. South Asian-inspired fantasy with sapphic romance woven through political intrigue.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to check on her cousin in a decaying English mansion in 1950s Mexico. The house has mushrooms on the walls, a creepy patriarch, and something very wrong in the soil.
Kindred
Octavia E. Butler · 1979
Dana, a Black woman in 1976 LA, keeps getting pulled back to antebellum Maryland. Each trip gets longer, more dangerous, and more entangled with her own ancestry. Required reading.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
1974. A family moves to Alaska for a fresh start. The wilderness is beautiful and deadly. So is the father. Kristin Hannah writes survival — both literal and emotional — like no one else.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France survive the war in very different ways. One hides. One fights. Both are extraordinary. The kind of book that changes you.
Beloved
Toni Morrison · 1987
A formerly enslaved woman is haunted by the ghost of her dead daughter. The prose is poetry. The horror is American history. Morrison won the Pulitzer for this and it wasn't enough.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
A female spy network in WWI. A young socialite searching for her cousin after WWII. Their stories collide in a tale of revenge, resilience, and ruthlessness.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park during WWII crack codes and keep secrets. Years later, one is locked in an asylum, and the other two must figure out who put her there.
Where the Crawdads Sing
Delia Owens · 2018
The Marsh Girl, abandoned at age 10, raises herself in the swamps of North Carolina. When the town golden boy turns up dead, she's the suspect. Nature writing meets murder mystery.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist epic fantasy with dragons, queens, and dragonriders. Four women across different continents must save the world. Standalone. No cliffhangers.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a maidservant with hidden powers. Indian-inspired epic fantasy with sapphic romance and intricate politics. Lush and fierce.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
1950s Mexico. Noemí visits her cousin at a decaying English manor. The house is wrong. The family is wrong. The mushrooms in the walls are very wrong.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade Daniels knows slasher movies inside and out. When real killings start in her lakeside town, she's the only one who recognizes the pattern.
The Sun Down Motel
Simone St. James · 2020
Viv took the night shift at a motel in 1982 and vanished. Thirty-five years later, her niece Carly gets a job at the same motel. Same ghosts. Same danger.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
1974. A family moves to Alaska for a fresh start. The wilderness is beautiful and deadly, but the real danger is inside their cabin. Kristin Hannah does not miss.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging movie star Evelyn Hugo reveals the truth about her seven marriages and one great love. The twist about why she chose this journalist will floor you.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist. In the 1960s. She accidentally becomes America's most beloved cooking show host. She teaches chemistry through recipes. And feminism through everything.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in WWII France. One shelters a downed Allied pilot. One joins the Resistance. In love and war, everyone must choose a side. Will wreck you.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene became J.P. Morgan's personal librarian and the most powerful woman in the art world. Her secret? She was a Black woman passing as white.
The Four Winds
Kristin Hannah · 2021
Texas, 1934. Dust Bowl is destroying everything. Elsa must decide: fight for the land or head west to California. A love letter to the strength of American women.
The Book of Night Women
Marlon James · 2009
Lilith is born into slavery in 18th-century Jamaica. She discovers a group of slave women plotting a revolt. Marlon James writes with fire. Raw, brutal, unforgettable.
A Caribbean Heiress in Paris
Adriana Herrera · 2022
Luz Alana arrives in 1889 Paris to launch her rum empire. She needs a husband to access her inheritance. A Scottish duke needs her money. A deal that was never supposed to involve feelings.
Daughter of No Worlds
Carissa Broadbent · 2021
Tisaanah is a freed slave with powerful magic she can't fully control. Max is a disgraced war hero. Together they unravel a conspiracy that could destroy them both.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A queendom threatened by ancient evil, dragon riders, secret societies, and an epic sapphic romance. A standalone fantasy that feels like an entire series. Massive and magnificent.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene ran J.P. Morgan's personal library and became one of the most powerful women in New York. Her secret? She was Black, passing as white. Based on a true story.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist epic fantasy with dragons, queens, and women saving the world without needing a man to do it. Sapphic romance woven into continent-spanning worldbuilding.
The Jasmine Throne
Tasha Suri · 2021
A captive princess and a servant with forbidden magic form an alliance that could topple an empire. Indian-inspired fantasy with gorgeous prose and sapphic tension that simmers.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí travels to a decaying mansion in the Mexican countryside to rescue her cousin. The house is wrong. The family is worse. Gothic horror that gets under your skin.
The Great Alone
Kristin Hannah · 2018
A family moves to Alaska in the 1970s to start over. The wilderness is beautiful and deadly. So is Leni's father. A survival story about escaping the monsters inside your own home.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One shelters the enemy. One joins the Resistance. Both are extraordinary. The ending will ruin you for days.
The Alice Network
Kate Quinn · 2017
Two women — a WWI spy and a 1947 socialite — team up to find someone who vanished in Nazi-occupied France. Based on a real spy network. Fierce, propulsive, and unforgettable.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three women at Bletchley Park — a debutante, a shop girl, and a crossword champion. The war bonds them. A traitor tears them apart. The royal wedding of 1947 brings the reckoning.
The Bear and the Nightingale
Katherine Arden · 2017
In medieval Russia, Vasya can see the spirits that protect her village. When Christianity arrives and the old ways fade, darkness creeps closer. Russian folklore brought to gorgeous, chilling life.
Spinning Silver
Naomi Novik · 2018
Miryem can spin silver into gold — literally. The Staryk king notices. Three women's stories intertwine in a Rumpelstiltskin retelling set in a frozen Russian-inspired world.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí receives a frantic letter from her newlywed cousin begging for help. She arrives at High Place, a decaying English manor in the Mexican countryside. The house has secrets in its walls.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One fights the resistance. One fights to survive at home. Both are extraordinary. Will make you ugly cry at least three times.
The Rose Code
Kate Quinn · 2021
Three very different women work as codebreakers at Bletchley Park during WWII. Years later, a secret threatens to destroy them. Kate Quinn at her absolute best.
The Island of Sea Women
Lisa See · 2019
On Jeju Island, Korea, women dive the sea for a living. Young-sook and Mi-ja are best friends — until history tears them apart. A story spanning decades of love, betrayal, and forgiveness.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict & Victoria Christopher Murray · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene is the personal librarian to J.P. Morgan. She's brilliant, powerful — and hiding the fact that she's Black in 1900s America. Based on a true story.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
A feminist epic fantasy with dragons, a queen under siege, and a world-spanning plot. Standalone. No male savior in sight.
Daughter of the Moon Goddess
Sue Lynn Tan · 2022
Xingyin grows up on the moon, hidden from the Celestial Emperor. When her secret is exposed, she must fight for her mother's freedom. Chinese mythology reimagined.
Spinning Silver
Naomi Novik · 2018
Rumpelstiltskin retold. A moneylender's daughter turns silver to gold and attracts the attention of the winter king. Three women, three threads, one stunning tapestry.
Mexican Gothic
Silvia Moreno-Garcia · 2020
Noemí goes to rescue her cousin from a crumbling English-style manor in 1950s Mexico. The house has secrets. The walls have something worse.
The Priory of the Orange Tree
Samantha Shannon · 2019
Four women across four continents fight a rising draconic evil. Standalone epic fantasy with sapphic romance and zero chosen-boy-savior energy.
Holly
Stephen King · 2023
Holly Gibney investigates a missing person. What she finds is a genteel couple hiding something monstrous. Classic King in detective mode.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires
Grady Hendrix · 2020
A charming stranger moves to a quiet suburb. The book club ladies realize he's a vampire. No one believes them. Steel Magnolias meets Dracula.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade Daniels is a slasher-movie expert. When a real-life slasher shows up, she's the only one who sees the pattern.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017
Aging Hollywood icon picks an unknown journalist to tell her life story. Seven husbands, one true love, and a secret she's kept for decades.
Lessons in Chemistry
Bonnie Garmus · 2022
Elizabeth Zott is a chemist in the 1960s. Nobody takes her seriously. Then she gets a cooking show and teaches housewives chemistry. Iconic.
The Personal Librarian
Marie Benedict · 2021
Belle da Costa Greene runs J.P. Morgan's personal library — while hiding that she's a Black woman passing as white in 1900s New York.
The Women
Kristin Hannah · 2024
Frankie McGrath volunteers as a nurse in Vietnam. Coming home is harder than war. Kristin Hannah does for Vietnam nurses what she did for WWII resistance.
The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah · 2015
Two sisters in Nazi-occupied France. One shelters the enemy. One fights with the Resistance. Both are unforgettable.
Great Circle
Maggie Shipstead · 2021
A female pilot disappears attempting to circumnavigate the globe pole-to-pole in 1950. Decades later, an actress plays her in the biopic.
The Calculating Stars
Mary Robinette Kowal · 2018
A meteorite destroys the East Coast. Elma York — mathematician, pilot, WWII vet — fights to get women into space before Earth becomes uninhabitable. Hugo & Nebula winner.
Matrix
Lauren Groff · 2021
Twelfth-century France. Marie de France is exiled to an English abbey. She transforms it into a place of power. Luminous, visionary, and unlike anything else.
The Signature of All Things
Elizabeth Gilbert · 2013
Alma Whiting's life spans the 19th century as a botanist and moss scholar. Gilbert writes science, love, and grief with equal brilliance. Deeply underrated.