Why do we love YA fantasy books with strong female leads? These characters inspire us to find our own inner strength. They encourage readers to feel good about themselves in a world that often teaches the opposite, and they challenge us to rethink what is possible.
What is the strong female character trope? Ever since the early 2000s, we started seeing YA fantasy books with strong female leads. It started with books like Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier in 2002. We rooted for Katniss in The Hunger Games in 2008 and for Beatrice (“Tris”) in the first installment of the Divergent series when it came out in 2011. This popular trope centers around a female lead who is independent, complicated, and who’s willing to fight back—and bounce back, even from trauma and near-death experiences. The heroine often challenges gender norms in her world out of necessity.
Who is the strongest female book character? That all depends on what traits you admire most and what type of books you like. Some particularly notable main characters from books with strong female leads in fantasy are Hermoine Granger (Rowling published Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone in 1997, with the title later altered to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone for the US market), Sabriel from the book of the same name, and Eowyn in The Lord of the Rings. You’ll find links to all the books I just mentioned below under the heading More YA Fantasy Books.
This post is about YA fantasy books with strong female leads.
YA Fantasy Books with Strong Female Leads
Akarnae (Medoran Chronicles Book 1) by Lynette Noni
Beginning our list of fantasy books with strong female leads is Akarnae. Readers describe it as Harry Potter meets X-Men, with a twist of Narnia. The series is suitable for readers 12+.
Anyone would dread that first day at a new school as a 16-year-old, but imagine walking through the door and finding yourself in a completely different place. Not the school. Not even the regular world, but a fantasy realm where all sorts of impossible things occur. As if that’s not bad enough, you’re stranded there. This is how Alex Jennings’ situation starts in the first book of the series.
Trying everything to return home (now that first day of school doesn’t seem so bad), she discovers that the one person who can help her, Professor Marselle, is missing. Alex makes good use of her time while waiting for him and attends Akarnae Academy. It’s a boarding school for gifted teens. Pretty soon, she’s beginning to enjoy her fantastical surroundings and the new friends she’s making. Unfortunately, some bizarre stuff is going on. A nagging fear refuses to leave her. She’s certain that something unexpected and sinister looms just beyond sight.
Becoming an unwilling pawn in a game that could cost Alex her life, the weight is more than she can bear. She’s the only one who can save the people around her—but will she do it at the expense of never returning home again?
Ruthless Magic (Conspiracy of Magic Book 1) by Megan Crewe
Ruthless Magic is an excellent read if you’re looking for fantasy romance books for young adults. It combines the elements of sorcery and a life-or-death fight for survival alongside the heart-tugging emotion of romance novels. Perfect for readers 13+.
If Rocío Lopez isn’t chosen by the North American Confederation of Mages after assessment, she’ll have to submit to the same fate as other unchose 16-year-olds—undergo a procedure to purge all her magical talents. Rocío must take her only option to avert this crisis: pass the brutal Mages’ Exam. Coming from a low-standing family doesn’t help at all. This major (and unfair) disadvantage pushes Rocío to dedicate all her energy to honing and expanding her talents. She’s determined to fight to keep her magic by besting this mysterious Exam.
From the other side of the coin, we have Finn Lockwood also trying to escape his fate. Unlike Rocío, he’s from a prominent Mage family. Not wanting a “free pass,” Finn knows that entering the Exam is a way to prove his worth. The only problem is that he’s always thought his magical abilities to be average at best, and he’s ashamed of that.
With barely any time to prepare, Rocío and Finn are thrown into the testing process. These opposite citizens become unlikely allies—maybe more. As they navigate the rigors of the Exam, they learn it’s full of secrets worse than they could have ever imagined. And the Mages may be lying about what it’s all about. What is the real test? And is victory worth the cost?
The Immortal Rules (Blood of Eden Book 1) by Julie Kagawa
Next up for one of the best YA fantasy books with strong female leads is The Immortal Rules. A Goodreads Choice novel among dark fantasy books with a female protagonist, this story takes place in a reality where vampires rule and humans are the prey. Good times! A book for readers 12+.
Enter an Earth where a blood disease has killed off most of humanity. Vampires, on the other hand, thrive in this world. After these monsters kill her mother, Allison Sekemoto has to survive in the Fringe. In this horrible place, vampires rule and feast on human prisoners—nowhere is safe. Allison and her small group of outcasts get by the best they can, hiding at night. Then, one day, the unthinkable happens. Allie dies and becomes the thing she hates most. A vampire.
A place of only whispers and legends called “Eden” might hold a cure for the blood disease. As her only hope, Allie takes a leap of faith and looks for it. But… she’s a vampire now and has to pretend to be human—human, like the boy she’s falling for. Her perilous journey rains shocking consequences. Allie must make dire choices about who or what is worth dying for.
All the Stars and Teeth (All the Stars and Teeth Duology Book 1) by Adalyn Grace
All the Stars and Teeth stands out among YA books with strong female leads as a novel that adults can also enjoy. Wonderfully addictive reading for ages 12+.
Princess Amora Montara is fiercely proud of her station even though she didn’t choose her role. Others can decide their magic, but not Amora. She’s spent her entire life training to be the master of souls, a position called the High Animancer. If she wants to ensure the throne for herself, she has to prove that she’s mastered the dangerous magic.
Amora’s demonstration doesn’t go as planned. Now, with her survival in jeopardy, she runs for her life. She makes a deal with a pirate named Bastion. The deal? He’ll help prove her fitness to rule, and she’ll help him recover the magic that was stolen from him.
As she sails the kingdom, the princess finds more wonder and danger than she bargained for. To conquer a new destructive magic that’s now appeared, she must encounter mermaids who want revenge, face mythical beasts, and deal with an unexpected stowaway. If she fails, not only will she forever lose the crown, but it will mean the doom of the realm.
The Darkangel by Meredith Ann Pierce
A character I personally really adore is Aeriel in The Darkangel trilogy. She’s maybe not the same type of heroine as the other popular female characters listed. Instead, she has a kind of quiet strength, selflessness, and unbreakable resilience that you can’t help but love. Some readers didn’t care for the subtle science fiction element in the series. I, on the other hand, found it only added to the unique atmosphere of Aeriel’s world. Reading age 12+.
Aerial is a servant girl whose master and only friend, the Princess, is captured by the vampire. When he later kidnaps Aeriel to serve his many brides, she starts to see beyond his apparent evil and thinks there might be something deeper. Maybe he isn’t all evil. Maybe he’s worth saving. This fantasy series is one of a kind and totally worth reading, no matter how old you are.
More YA Fantasy Books
Daughter of the Forest by Juliet Marillier
From the blurb: Lovely Sorcha is the seventh child and only daughter of Lord Colum of Sevenwaters. Bereft of a mother, she is comforted by her six brothers, who love and protect her. Sorcha is the light in their lives, and they are determined that she knows only contentment. But Sorcha’s joy is shattered when her father is bewitched by his new wife, an evil enchantress who binds her brothers with a terrible spell, a spell which only Sorcha can lift – by staying silent.
If she speaks before she completes the quest set to her by the Fair Folk and their queen, the Lady of the Forest, she will lose her brothers forever. When Sorcha is kidnapped by the enemies of Sevenwaters and taken to a foreign land, she is torn between the desire to save her beloved brothers and a love that comes only once. Sorcha despairs that she will never be able to complete her task, but the magic of the Fair Folk knows no boundaries, and love is the strongest magic of them all.
The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
From the blurb: In the ruins of a place once known as North America lies the nation of Panem, a shining Capitol surrounded by twelve outlying districts. The Capitol keeps the districts in line by forcing them all to send one boy and one girl between the ages of twelve and eighteen to participate in the annual Hunger Games, a fight to the death on live TV. Sixteen-year-old Katniss Everdeen regards it as a death sentence when she steps forward to take her sister’s place in the Games. But Katniss has been close to death before—and survival, for her, is second nature. Still, if she is to win, she will have to start making choices that weigh survival against humanity and life against love.
Divergent by Veronica Roth
From the blurb: One choice can transform you. Beatrice Prior’s society is divided into five factions—Candor (the honest), Abnegation (the selfless), Dauntless (the brave), Amity (the peaceful), and Erudite (the intelligent). Beatrice must choose between staying with her Abnegation family and transferring factions.
Her choice will shock her community and herself. But the newly christened Tris also has a secret, one she’s determined to keep hidden because, in this world, what makes you different makes you dangerous.
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone by J.K. Rowling
From the blurb: Harry Potter spent ten long years living with Mr. and Mrs. Dursley, an aunt and uncle whose outrageous favoritism of their perfectly awful son Dudley leads to some of the most inspired dark comedy since Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. But fortunately for Harry, he’s about to be granted a scholarship to a unique boarding school called The Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where he will become a school hero at the game of Quidditch (a kind of aerial soccer played high above the ground on broomsticks), he will make some wonderful friends, and, unfortunately, a few terrible enemies. For although he seems to be getting your run-of-the-mill boarding school experience (well, ok, even that’s pretty darn out of the ordinary), Harry Potter has a destiny that he was born to fulfill. A destiny that others would kill to keep him from.
The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien
While it doesn’t make the list of YA fantasy books with strong female leads, I’m including this one because of Eowyn, as I mentioned above. She plays a major role in winning the war for Middle Earth and is a great example of this type of heroine.
From the blurb: When Bilbo reached his eleventy-first birthday, he disappeared, bequeathing to his young cousin Frodo the Ruling Ring and a perilous quest: to journey across Middle-earth, deep into the shadow of the Dark Lord, and destroy the Ring by casting it into the Cracks of Doom.
The Lord of the Rings tells of the great quest undertaken by Frodo and the Fellowship of the Ring: Gandalf the Wizard; the hobbits Merry, Pippin, and Sam; Gimli the Dwarf; Legolas the Elf; Boromir of Gondor; and a tall, mysterious stranger called Strider.
This post was about YA fantasy books with strong female leads.
You might also enjoy the posts 7 Fantasy Books for YA with Welsh or Celtic Elements and 10 Best YA Fantasy Books of All Time.
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