5 Female Rage Books For When You Need to Feel Something

Hello, Book Nerds! Welcome back to Reading Has Ruined My Life or welcome if you are new. As always, my name is Hannah and I am your captain on this journey into my bookcases.

I am never good at aligning my posts with current events or celebrations. Valentine’s Day? Don’t know her. Winter holidays? Don't know her. If it’s not Spooky Season or Pride Month, my posts won’t relate to anything. Everything I write is about whatever I’m vibing with at the time. Which is why we are celebrating Women’s History Month two months late here on Reading Has Ruined My Life.

To celebrate, I am giving you some beautiful book recommendations. These are all fiction books written by women (mostly), for women. And they all have to deal with female rage.

An honorable mention goes out to Lady Macbeth by Ava Reid. I contemplated putting this title on the list officially, but I decided against it as I was not the biggest fan of it. Personally I found this book to do some serious character assassination on Lady Macbeth, but I did feel the character’s feminine rage to the point I was shaking with anger the entire time so it felt remise not to at least mention Lady Macbeth.

Now onto the list!

5. Kicking off my list is Circe by Madeline Miller. Is this the premiere female rage book? Does it end up on every book list of female rage books? Yes. And it deserve its spot. Circe begins this novel disempowered, unappreciated, and disparaged but over the course of the story she builds her powers and cultivates her skills using her anger as a catalyst.

4. Next up is one of my favorite reads of 2025: Slewfoot by Brom. Slewfoot is the definition of “I support women’s right and women’s wrongs.” The main character, Abitha, is a woman society has othered. She’s living in an oppressive puritan community, yet despite this she’s not scared to speak her mind when she knows she’s in the right; and despite the very real possibility she could be arrested for witchcraft, she sells tinctures, salves, and charms to others in the community. Right from the start, Abitha is strong character, but she quickly becomes broken. She loses her husband, her brother-in-law is trying to control her, and she only has herself looking out for her. It is so satisfying to watch her claw her way out of the oppression she’s found herself in and bask in her female rage. Her story is one of learning her self-worth and finding her inner power; both literally and metaphorically. I love Slewfoot and highly recommend giving this book a read.

3. Coming in at number three is The Vegetarian by Han Kang. The story feels simple on the surface. A woman has disturbing dreams featuring a lot of blood and brutality which causes her to become a vegetarian. Her husband and his family are not supportive of this and fight for her to renounce her vegetarianism. Yes, the synopsis sounds a little odd written out, but this story isn’t about vegetarianism. This story is about bodily autonomy. This story is about a woman fighting for full control of her body and mind in a patriarchal society full of violence and victimization.

2. In the number two spot is Girl, Woman, Other by Bernardine Evaristo. This book follows twelve different woman as they discuss the issues they face ranging from racism, classism, women’s rights, and LGBTQIA+ rights just to name a few. Lot’s to be angry about in this one. I also want to note that all the women in this book have different levels of anger which I think adds to an extra level of realism to this novel.

1. My final recommendation today is The Change by Kirsten Miller. The novel follows three women who just entered menopause, their lives are imploding around them, and they all suddenly gain magical powers. This isn’t just a magical realism story, it’s also a mystery. A young woman is found brutally murdered and the police don’t care cause she’s “just a sex worker.” So our three heroines set out to get justice for this young woman and the countless other victims that are tied to this murder. Snaps please. I love it. My blood is boiling after writing the end of the synopsis.

Thus endeth our list! And please, feel free to drop some more female rage book recs in the comments below. I know there are plenty I didn’t include like The Bell Jar, The Poppy War, Iron Widow, Nightbitch, Carrie, literally anything written by Margaret Atwood, and They Never Learn just to name a few.

But with that, I must bid you all adieu. Thank you so much for joining me today, Books Nerds. I will see you all again next week with a very special review. If you can’t wait that long then I highly suggest giving Reading Has Ruined My Life a follow over on Instagram (@ReadingHasRuinedMyLife). I post there almost daily so come back often to revel in literary goodness. You can also follow the blog on Twitter and BlueSky (@RHRMLBlog). If you’d like something not related to books then may I suggest my podcast Nothing to See Hear? I shall! The show stars me and two of my dearest friends. We talk pretty much about everything and anything. We have episodes on Kentucky’s Meat Rain, Japan’s famed prison escape artist Yoshie Shiratori, Norway’s black metal church burnings; we have so many episodes on wild moments of history. There is bound to be something that strikes your fancy. You can currently listen to the show on Spotify and YouTube.

Until next time, stay safe, wash your hands, and read some good books for me.