Reading Recommendations: Fierce Heroines

A new month means another batch of reading recommendations! March’s theme is Fierce Heroines as it’s Women’s History Month. Here are reads with memorable heroines that I’ve enjoyed and recommend to you.

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Bacchanal

Abandoned by her family, alone on the wrong side of the color line with little to call her own, Eliza Meeks is coming to terms with what she does have. It’s a gift for communicating with animals. To some, she’s a magical tender. To others, a she-devil. To a talent prospector, she’s a crowd-drawing oddity. And the Bacchanal Carnival is Eliza’s ticket out of the swamp trap of Baton Rouge.

Among fortune-tellers, carnies, barkers, and folks even stranger than herself, Eliza finds a new home. But the Bacchanal is no ordinary carnival. An ancient demon has a home there too. She hides behind an iridescent disguise. She feeds on innocent souls. And she’s met her match in Eliza, who’s only beginning to understand the purpose of her own burgeoning powers.

Only then can Eliza save her friends, find her family, and fight the sway of a primordial demon preying upon the human world. Rolling across a consuming dust bowl landscape, Eliza may have found her destiny.

A mysterious traveling carnival, unseen supernatural forces, and a twist of fate are all powerful elements of this fantasy historical fiction novel. It’s gripping and suspenseful as readers know that something sinister is lurking under the surface. Readers will root for Eliza who is tasked with solving the mystery along with discovering the power within. She is a strong heroine whose journey is full of obstacles. This book can be challenging and uncomfortable at times (with the subject matter discussed). The multiple viewpoints give the story some multilayers. I thoroughly enjoyed the audiobook.

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Love in The Age of Dragons

Two years ago, a wormhole opened and ushered vicious dragons into the world. The dragons burned Earth’s cities to the ground and sent its inhabitants scattering for cover–and since then, Ayanna Grace, a seventeen-year-old Black girl, has been scratching out a life in an abandoned subway system, part of an extensive underground community.

Underground, medicine runs short and outbreaks of disease spread uncontrollably. The water supply is low, uprisings occur frequently, and dragon attacks are imminent. But those aren’t the only challenges Ayanna is facing: she’s also busy wrestling with her feelings, torn between Richard, who she’s known all her life, and Jackson, a mysterious newcomer. Worse, her mentor, the community’s only doctor, is dying from a failing heart.

This overall novel is action-packed and tense with drama as the characters try to navigate their lives. Ayana is a heroine who is kind, and vulnerable, and puts on a brave face when others need support. She is so skilled in times of danger and quickly puts together plans to evade tricky situations. She’s the main character that people can root for. I admired her growth and as well as her ability to move forward even though times get incredibly difficult. (Review)

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Savvy Sheldon Feels Good As Hell

Savvy Sheldon spends a lot of time tiptoeing around the cracks in her life: her high-stress and low-thanks job, her clueless boyfriend and the falling-apart kitchen she inherited from her beloved grandma—who taught her how to cook and how to love people by feeding them. But when Savvy’s world starts to crash down around her, she knows it’s time for some renovations.

Starting from the outside in, Savvy tackles her crumbling kitchen, her relationship with her body, her work–life balance (or lack thereof) and, last but not least, her love life. The only thing that doesn’t seem to require effort is her ride-or-die squad of friends. But as any home-reno-show junkie can tell you, something always falls apart during renovations.

I love the way Savvy grows on her journey to not only better herself but to do all the things she wants to do on her own. The breakup is hard on her no doubt, but she uses this reinvention to not only heal her spirit but her heart. Plus, the charming Spencer that waltzes into her life is very cute. It’s the spark that Savvy needs in her life after being in such a long relationship. This story also sends an important message about self-care and putting yourself first. You’re no good to anyone if you’re running ragged. (Review)

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The Well

Li-Zhen’s life on the archipelago is simple. Known to friends and family as Lizzy, she takes care of her grandfather and their goats, she flirts with the woman who helps row the ferry, and she stays away from the fog that comes in the night—and the monsters hiding within it.

But Lizzy’s life comes apart when she steals a handful of coins from a sacred well to cover a debt. The well requires repayment, but it doesn’t deal in coins. It needs wishes, and its minions will drown Lizzy in its depths if she doesn’t grant them. Lizzy finds herself on a quest to uncover hidden memories, bestow great wealth, and face the magical secrets that nearly destroyed her family—and are now returning to threaten everything she has ever known.

The Well is a whimsical and magical story that will surely appeal to fantasy readers. The illustrations are stunning and the attention to detail and world-building whisks readers off into a faraway place. In her journey, Li-Zhen develops personal growth as she is faced with the horrors and unforeseen twists of trying to fulfill each wish. The story has an aura of suspense and hints of danger as dangerous creatures lurk in every corner. She learns that each wish is more layered than it seems and has multiple consequences. This is such a grand adventure story that I highly recommend.

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Stand Up, Yumi Chung!

On the outside, Yumi Chung suffers from #shygirlproblems, a perm-gone-wrong, and kids calling her Yu-MEAT because she smells like her family’s Korean barbecue restaurant. On the inside, Yumi is ready for her Netflix stand-up special. Her notebook is filled with mortifying memories that she’s reworked into comedy gold. All she needs is a stage and courage. As this case of mistaken identity unravels, Yumi must decide to stand up and reveal the truth or risk losing her dreams and disappointing everyone she cares about.

Stand Up, Yumi Chung is a beautiful and empowering middle-grade novel that not only weaves together a tale of immigrant struggles but also is a message about loving yourself. I think many readers (myself included) can relate to Yumi’s struggles of following the path she wants and fighting against the decisions that have been made for her. She’s kind, comical, and has a bright spirit even though she deals with many obstacles in her life. Because of feeling like an outsider at school, she uses her journal full of comic material to escape and find solace. (Review)

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Heroine Complex

Evie Tanaka is the put-upon personal assistant to Aveda Jupiter, her childhood best friend and San Francisco’s most beloved superheroine. She’s great at her job—blending into the background, handling her boss’s epic diva tantrums, and getting demon blood out of leather pants.

But everything changes when Evie’s forced to pose as her glamorous boss for one night, and her darkest secret comes out: she has powers, too. Now it’s up to her to contend with murderous cupcakes, nosy gossip bloggers, and supernatural karaoke battles—all while juggling unexpected romance and Aveda’s increasingly outrageous demands. And when a larger threat emerges, Evie must finally take charge and become a superheroine in her own right… or see her city fall to a full-on demonic invasion.

I love a good urban fantasy series and this one hit all the marks for me. I enjoyed getting acquainted with the characters and seeing all of their superpowers at work. Being a superhero seems like is not all glamorous work as it seems on the outside. As we see through Eva and Aveda’s eyes there’s a lot that goes into being a protector of the city and having to constantly uphold an image.  I think my favorite character would have to be Evie and I liked how her character developed over the story. She’s someone who is so ashamed of the great powers that she has and struggles to accept them as a part of her. (Review)

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That concludes my reading recommendations for books with fierce heroines! What books do you recommend or what are your favorites? Comment below!