Inspired by Sarah and Elyse’s podcast episode on rage and romance heroines, we want some recommendations from the Bitchery. What we’re looking for are complicated and even angry heroines, ones who aren’t passive and may even embrace their angry side.
I’m sure you’re all tired of hearing me recommend A Promise of Fire, but reading the book made me look at the romance genre and how it can often be progressive, but also still rather stifling of women’s emotions. I thought it was refreshing seeing the hero act as the healing force in the romance, rather than the typical roles of a caring heroine and a broody, tortured hero.
Author Bree Bridges had a great tweet thread on book recs a while ago, so I’ve compiled them with Storify into a slideshow.
Sarah: Dragon Actually ( A | BN | K | G | AB ) and the sequels – anything that mentions Anwyl. She’s my rage heroine favorite.
And the Crows series, obviously – the entire world is built on the idea that they a guided by rage, and they have zero remorse for it.
I also think there are varying levels of rage and badassery. For example, I’m listening to Lord of Scoundrels ( A | BN | K | G | AB | Au ) and while Jess doesn’t have rage and revenge like the characters I just mentioned, she loses her temper and is unafraid to be honest when she’s angry. Too often women are taught to suppress any negative feelings and always act and enforce the idea that everything’s ok (which… no). When she loses her temper, she expects some kind of consequence for it, but she doesn’t castigate herself unnecessarily for it, either. Anger and losing her temper are normal, though she knows they aren’t considered “ladylike.”
@Cordy I second @Crystal’s suggestion of Eve Dallas in JD Robb’s In Death series. She has a pretty traumatic back story that has shaped her into an extremely tough and tenacious homicide detective. She’s very smart, but has a lot of anger. Most of the anger is directed outwards, but she takes some of it out on herself and as a result doesn’t get enough sleep, food, ect. The hero, Roarke, is an enigmatic billionaire (of course!) who grew up in the Irish slums. Although very powerful in his own right, he also falls into the role of care-giver with Eve, making sure she gets sleep and food and R&R. I’m only on book four of the series…which seemingly goes on forever (45 books and counting), but I’m excited to see how their relationship develops.
Like a lot of other readers, I turn to paranormal for my angry and tough heroines (Kate Daniels, Elena Deveraux) Though for some series the romance element is less pronounced (Jane Yellowrock, Anita Blake).
For Sci-fi, I really enjoyed the Paradox series by Rachel Bach. The heroine is a mercenary with high tech body armor (praise the ability of technology to equalize physical ability!). She’s confident and doesn’t take crap from anyone. The series has strong romantic elements, but is more about the adventure.
Sharon Shinn has some lovely heroines whose anger is a little more subtle. I love Rachel in Archangel, and the world in this series is incredible! Humans and genetically altered humans with wings (aka angels) live on a new planet but have lost all knowledge of the technology that brought them there. In Mystic and Rider, Senneth is a powerful magician who is holding onto a lot of righteous anger. Shinn closes the door on sex scenes, so start these if you’re in the mood for character and relationship development!
Lots of wonderful recs here! I would like to add a couple of items:
Princess Lissar in _Deerskin_, by Robin McKinley. She has a lot to be angry about, as she was raped and impregnated by her own father (and later miscarried). In some ways she may be more traumatized than angry, but she owns her past and her anger in a way that is truly marvelous.
Alicia DeVries in _Path of the Fury /In Fury Born_ by David Weber. _Path of the Fury_ *starts* with the property of Alicia’s family getting attacked by raiders and _her entire family_ getting killed. She, of course, in the spirit of true mil-SF, kills off all the attackers, despite being thoroughly outgunned. After that, things start getting interesting. Alicia is a true SF Fury! *snickers*
In Fury Born is David Weber revisiting Alicia DeVries, and adding a lot more wordage. Path of the Fury is basically the second half of this book. In Fury Born is included in the Hell Hath No Fury on the Baen CD website. (This is NOT a pirate site, the downloads are legal!) http://baencd.thefifthimperium.com/
Ia in Jean Johnson’s _Theirs Not to Reason Why_ series. Ia may be more desperate than furious, but then she has reason. She has god-level precognition (I don’t usually like god-level magic or psi or whatever, but this series is an exception), and basically cheats herself through life in order to ensure humanity’s survival about 300 years down the line. There is a low-level romance between Ia and another character, but that’s not the main focus of this series.
I just finished Sarina Bowen’s Bitterweet who has a kind heroine but who is really, rightfully pissed at her mother and there is a great telling off moment.
Her Naughty Holiday by Tiffany Reisz has a wonderful heroine who finnally lets her anger fly at her family as well.
As for heroines, who are always fierce, yes most of Laurenston for the win,
Dream a Little Dream (Chicago Stars, #4) by Susan Elizabeth Phillips
Kiss of a Demon King (Immortals After Dark #7) by Kresley Cole
Kinked (Elder Races, #6) by Thea Harrison
The Last Hour of Gann by R. Lee Smith
Silver Lining by Maggie Osborne
Hunting (Return of the Nine, #6) by Viola Grace
Just Good Friends (Escape to New Zealand, #2) by Rosalind James
I see a lot of people have got in there before me with Jennifer Crusie and I totally agree. Her heroines are always either unafraid to express annoyance and anger or they learn how to express it. In Agnes and the Hitman, Agnes really has specific anger issues which are dealt with with humour and empathy by Crusie.
Someone else mentioned Anne Stuart – I’d recommend her Ice series (which I have read repeatedly and obsessively) for that, particularly Ice Storm. It’s the first one I read and it reeled me into the series. The heroine is icy-cool, calm and collected but there’s a lot of rage roiling underneath. The Ice series often tricks you into a bit of a rage of your own because the male heroes can act like dicks sometimes, but it’s usually resolved, or if it’s not, it’s in a way that impressively acknowledges that in reality, things are not always simple or neatly solved.
@Rebecca – North & South (the book) sounds right up my alley! That’s exactly the thing I always hope for, that the male lead respects and engages with the heroine’s anger. Instead I very often find that the male lead is amused and charmed by it, and thinks things like “What a sexy furious kitten” to himself, which… oof.
Juliet Marillier’s fantasy series Blackthorn and Grim stars Blackthorn an angry, spiky woman seeking revenge against the man who got her family killed. Instead she’s compelled to become a village healer, which doesn’t help her temper. She’s also no girl, being in her late thirties.
CJ Cherryh’s Signy Mallory is one badass, angry lady. It’s cold rage, but it’s rage. She’s in Downbelow Station, mostly.
@qqemokitty – I am interested in reading Moonshadow but I see it is set in the author’s Elder Races world – can it be read as a stand alone or do I really need to start with the Elder Races series?
I love this prompt! As a couple others have mentioned, I think what passes as ‘anger’ in a heroine has changed over the years. Now it’s a lot more acceptable for them to be outright angry and show that to others, before it was more of a quiet rage… I’m listing some of my favorites below that haven’t been mentioned yet. Happy reading!
The Hellion by Loretta Chase – How can anyone not love Lydia’s take no prisoners anger? She uses a horse whip on people!
Your Scandalous Ways by Loretta Chases – Francesca is angry and owns it. This is not my favorite Chase, but I do love that she was pushing the boundaries before it was acceptable.
Untie My Heart by Judith Ivory – Emma wants revenge!
The Lady’s Tutor by Robin Schone – This borders on erotica territory, but the reason’s why she seeks out the hero are 100% rage.
Lothaire by Kresley Cole – Many of Cole’s heroines are angry and unrepentant, but I really liked Ellie. Also If You Deceive is great if you prefer historicals.
A Lady’s Lesson in Scandal by Meredith Duran – More revenge!! I also like Written on Your Skin’s angry heroine.
Lastly, I don’t know if everyone will agree, but I always read Maddy from Flowers in the Storm as extremely angry. It’s more of a trapped, powerless anger but I think it counts!
I agree with many of these – especially the Crusie and Milan recommendations- and would add Jennifer Estep’s Spider series (paranormal about an assassin who kills a lot of people and can literally kill people with her rage that comes out through her elemental powers).
Adding Beautiful Wreck by Larissa Brown, heroine time travels from the future to 1100s (IIRC) Iceland
I love angry heroines passionately – being a rather angry person myself – but I couldn’t seem to come up with much adult fiction so mostly YA it is!
Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – Bryn expresses her (extremely justified) anger and frustration at the rather patriarchal werewolf world throughout the trilogy. I must warn you all though that there is no romantic HEA at the end of the trilogy – bring tissues!
Shazi in The Wrath And The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (Fantasy romance) starts the book filled with vengeful rage at the murder of her best friend.
Aerin Dragon-Killer in Robin McKinley’s Hero and the Crown (Fantasy w/romantic elements) is famed for her hot temper and spends a lot of the book angry and frustrated at not fitting in.
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (Fantasy w/romance) has Sophie, who is shy and timid until she gets cursed to be old (it makes sense in context) and then realizes she can let go and be as angry and nosy and bossy as she has always secretly wanted.
Sarah J Maas’s Throne of Glass series (fantasy w/romantic elements) is fun to read because the heroine has a lot of character flaws that are usually given to male characters: arrogance, competitiveness and a violent temper, for example.
S. J. Maas’s other series, (A Court of Thorns and Roses, Romantic Fantasy) also has a heroine that is often angry : at her family, at her enemies/the people who have betrayed her, and at the terrible state of the world she lives in. The first book includes elements of various fairytales/ballads such as Beauty and the Beast, East of the Sun, West of the Moon and the ballad of Tam Lin. Very good and my favourite of all the books in this list. I find S.J Maas’s books tend to be quite cathartic, anger wise.
In adult fiction:
Jane in The Duke Of Dark Desires by Miranda Neville (historical romance) is extremely angry about the betrayal of her family to the french revolution and (successfully) seeks revenge.
Deathless by Catherynne M Valente (Fantasy w/romantic elements) Marya Morevna ends up being gloriously angry with her husband, Koschei the Deathless – their relationship is …complicated.
I love angry heroines passionately – being a rather angry person myself – but I couldn’t seem to come up with much adult fiction so mostly YA it is!
Raised by Wolves by Jennifer Lynn Barnes – Bryn expresses her (extremely justified) anger and frustration at the rather patriarchal werewolf world throughout the trilogy. I must warn you all though that there is no romantic HEA at the end of the trilogy – bring tissues!
Shazi in The Wrath And The Dawn by Renee Ahdieh (Fantasy romance) starts the book filled with vengeful rage at the murder of her best friend.
Aerin Dragon-Killer in Robin McKinley’s Hero and the Crown (Fantasy w/romantic elements) is famed for her hot temper and spends a lot of the book angry and frustrated at not fitting in.
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones (Fantasy w/romance) has Sophie, who is shy and timid until she gets cursed to be old (it makes sense in context) and then realizes she can let go and be as angry and nosy and bossy as she has always secretly wanted.
Sarah J Maas’s Throne of Glass series (fantasy w/romantic elements) is fun to read because the heroine has a lot of character flaws that are usually given to male characters: arrogance, competitiveness and a violent temper, for example.
S. J. Maas’s other series, (A Court of Thorns and Roses, Romantic Fantasy) also has a heroine that is often angry : at her family, at her enemies/the people who have betrayed her, and at the terrible state of the world she lives in. The first book includes elements of various fairytales/ballads such as Beauty and the Beast, East of the Sun, West of the Moon and the ballad of Tam Lin. Very good and my favourite of all the books in this list. I find S.J Maas’s books tend to be quite cathartic, anger wise.
In adult fiction:
Jane in The Duke Of Dark Desires by Miranda Neville (historical romance) is extremely angry about the betrayal of her family to the french revolution and (successfully) seeks revenge.
Deathless by Catherynne M Valente (Fantasy w/romantic elements) Marya Morevna ends up being gloriously angry with her husband, Koschei the Deathless – their relationship is …complicated.
Dammit, I thought it hadn’t gone through, so I’ve posted my massive terrifying screed twice!
Deborah Coates’ Hallie Michaels spends a lot of time being generally pissed off and getting shit done. She’s a veteran who comes home from Iraq due to her sister’s death. She can also see ghosts after dying for a few minutes in combat.
Tanya Huff’s Torin Kerr series features sergeant Torin Kerr who get progressively angrier as the war she’s in progresses.
What’s interesting is how much of her anger is directed at the command on her own side….
There’s a little romance but mostly she’s just an awesome character.
@Sophie/FairytaleGirl: How could I have forgotten Deathless! Such a beautiful book and I definitely agree that “complicated” might be the best way to describe Marya and Koschei’s relationship.
I think a lot of the heroines in historical romance are angry in the “I’m mad as hell and I’m not going to take it any more!” way, though most of them don’t get violent about it. They just refuse o cooperate.
One who doesn’t seem to have been mentioned is Sidonie in Liz Carlyle’s Devil to Pay. She masquerades as the Black Angel to punish Men Behaving Badly.
Nice Girls Don’t Ride by Roni Loren
Not sure if this one counts for the kind of rage you are looking for or not, but I am going to throw out Nevada Baylor from Burn for Me by Ilona Andrews (and two more upcoming books in the trilogy). She seems to find a lot of the rules and norms of her society to be bullshit and lives only the way she wants to live. I guess I felt a lot of rage from her about her world’s power structure although maybe that is not how others see it.
I am anxiously waiting for the next two books in the series next year. I didn’t realize when I picked this book up that the romance would span three books – I thought the series would be different couples set in the same world and so I was left with a cliffhanger I wasn’t expecting!
Came across this one on a re-read and had to add it. City of the Lost by Kelley Armstrong. The first chapter alone would suffice.