Happy Thursday, bibliophiles!
Women’s History Month is here again in the U.S., and I figured I’d gather some more books to celebrate! Literature has always been an act of resistance, and it’s so important for readers—especially young girls—to see characters and narratives like their own to inspire change in our world. And as always, these books aren’t just for March—they’re for all year round; feminism doesn’t start and stop in March. My goal here is to uplift marginalized voices, and now is the perfect time to uplift those of women.
If you’d like to see my list from last year, click here!
Let’s begin, shall we?
FEMINIST YA BOOKS FOR WOMEN’S HISTORY MONTH
Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know, Samira Ahmed
GENRES: contemporary, historical fiction, romance
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Told in intersecting timelines between the present day and 19th-century. Paris, Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know is a love letter to all the women whose stories have been overshadowed and lost to history. Samira Ahmed is such a wonderful author!
GENRES: sci-fi, dystopia, romance, LGBTQ+, retellings
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Iron Widow is a fierce, fast-paced sci-fi tale that deftly explores themes of rape culture, institutionalized misogyny, and society’s treatment of women through the eyes of a spitfire pilot determined to tear down an empire. (DESTROY THE PATRIARCHY WITH ROBOTS! I said what I said.)
Squad, Maggie Tokuda-Hall and Lisa Sterle
GENRES: graphic novels, contemporary, paranormal, LGBTQ+, romance
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Squad presents a timely theme—when holding rapists accountable, where is the line between accountability and pure vengeance?—and puts a paranormal spin on it. If the premise of werewolf girls hunting down rapists doesn’t entice you, I don’t know what will.
GENRES: contemporary, fiction
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
Though this isn’t my favorite of Brittney Morris’ books that I’ve read (that title would go to The Cost of Knowing as of now), Slay was a wonderfully proud and feminist novel about gaming and Black pride.
The Mirror Season, Anna-Marie McLemore
GENRES: magical realism, fantasy, fiction, LGBTQ+, retellings, romance
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.25
Anna-Marie McLemore never misses a beat with their books, and The Mirror Season was no exception! All at once raw and beautiful, it presents a searing tale of love after trauma and the fight to hold rapists accountable.
The Good Luck Girls, Charlotte Nicole Davis
GENRES: alternate history, fantasy, paranormal, dystopia, LGBTQ+
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Through a blend of several different genres, Charlotte Nicole Davis presents the stories of five girls, bonded through sisterhood and trauma, who take control of their own fates and fight their fair share of patriarchy—and demons.
Juliet Takes a Breath – Gabby Rivera
GENRES: fiction, contemporary, LGBTQ+, historical fiction
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Juliet Takes a Breath is a fantastic, queer coming-of-age novel about sexuality, self-discovery, identity, and being a feminist. There’s an especially important discussion of the harm of “white feminism,” which, for a YA novel, is crucial to discuss.
A Phoenix Must First Burn, Patrice Caldwell et. al. (anthology)
GENRES: short stories/anthologies, fantasy, contemporary, paranormal, science fiction, LGBTQ+, romance, historical fiction
MY RATING: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
There’s not a single bad short story in A Phoenix Must First Burn! Through several different genres, all of these stories center around the experience of growing up as a Black woman, and include everything from aliens to sorcery to the American west.
TELL ME WHAT YOU THINK! What are your favorite feminist YA books? Have you read any of these books, and if you have, what did you think of them? What have you been reading for Women’s History Month? Tell me in the comments!
Today’s song:
That’s it for this list! Have a wonderful rest of your day, and take care of yourselves!
The Bookish Mutant 