Dark Sparkles...Women In Fiction

“Isn’t it time to acknowledge the ugly side? I’ve grown quite weary of the spunky heroines, brave victims and soul-searching fashionistas that stock so many books. I particularly mourn the lack of female villains – good, potent female villains. Not ill-tempered women who scheme about landing a good man and better shoes (as if we had nothing more interesting to war over), not chilly WASP mothers (emotionally distant is not necessarily evil), not soapy vixens (merely bitchy doesn’t qualify either). I’m talking violent, wicked women. Scary women. Don’t tell me you don’t know some.” Gillian Flynn.

Vixens…

Mare - The Red Queen (Victoria Aveyard)

Charm - The Bone Orchard (Sara A Mueller)

Lanore - The Taker (Alma Katsu)

Cherry Pye - Star Island (Carl Hiaasen)

Lyra - Secret Life Of Church Ladies (Deesha Philyaw)

Sunja - Pachinko (Min Jin Lee)

Addie - The Invisable Life Of Addie LaRue (V.E. Schwab)

Circe – Circe (Madeline Miller)

Ballbusters…

Sister Holiday - Scorched Grace (Margot Douaihy)

Celaena - Throne Of Glass (Sarah J. Maas)

Wren Connolly – Reboot (Amy Tintera)

Victoria McQueen – NOS4A2 (Joe Hill)

Anna - Hench (Natalie Zina Walschots)

Annie Wilkes – Misery (Stephen King)

Olive - Olive Kittridge (Elizabeth Strout)

Jessa-Lynn - Mostly Dead Things (Kristen Arnett)

Rebels…

Nova - Renegades (Marissa Meyer)

Hwa - Company Town (Madeline Ashby)

Chelsea - The Violence (Deliah S Dawson)

Martha - The Future (Naomi Alderman)

Jo Kuan - The Downstairs Girl (Stacey Lee)

Flo & Clara - Plain Bad Heriones (Emily Danforth)

Jane - Bad Monkeys (Matt Ruff)

Cora - Underground Railroad (Colson Whitehead)

Mavericks…

Jude - The Cruel Prince (Holly Black)

Hestia - Hestia Strikes A Match (Christine Grillo)

Finlay - Finlay Donovan Is Killing It (Elle Cosimano)

Carmen - Secret Identity (Alex Segura)

Audrey - Nosy Parker (Lesley Crewe)

Lore - Lore (Alexandra Bracken)

Kallia - Where Dreams Descend (Janella Angeles)

Ada - Outlawed (Anna North)

Trailblazers…

Loretta & Hamara - Chain Gang All Stars (Nana Kwame-Adeji)

Nova - Zero Sum Game (S.L. Huang)

Duchess - We Begin At The End (Christ Whitaker)

Ivy - Magic For Liars (Sarah Gailey)

Gwendy - Gwendy Button Box (Richard Chizmar & Stephen King)

Marie Laure - All The Light We Cannot See (Anthony Doerr)

Ximora - Poet X (Elizabeth Acevedo)

Offred - The Handmaids Tale (Margaret Atwood)