CELAENA SARDOTHIEN - So she's probably a really cliche character to pick for this theme. But the truth is that she is the purely the definition of strong for me in Throne of Glass. Not only does she overcome mundane things like waking up early and getting things done and fighting for respect in the Assassin's Keep but she also buries her own truth and past deep inside of her to become Celaena. She had to leave a torn-apart world behind at only eight years old and start training to become Arobynn's ruthless assassin and protegee. She went from being the girl she'd been (I'm trying not to spoil the story for anyone not read past Crown of Midnight) and knowing a family, to being turned to a life of violence and steel and secrecy. She survived a year in Endovier, and she may have been granted her freedom, but only to enter another game of survival. But before she even began competing, she had to fight her own body to get her strength and general health back. Even after the competition, she faces so many hardships, especially in the events post Heir of Fire, when she has to come to terms mentally with all that she's faced.
Sarah J. Maas truly explores Celaena's fractured mental health between CoM and HoF and gives us the true character beneath bravado. But even during that, she still got up and fed and watered herself. There was some part of her that had died from her time in the glass palace but she still survived. She fought and eventually, she found what it was to live again and not just get from one day to the next.
WING JONES - I adore contemporary protagonists purely because they're relatable on all platforms and never tainted by the overwhelming fantasy elements. There's no magic to taint their problems and sway from that. They're purely human and flawed and no magic fixes that or empowers them. They fix that. They find their own empowerment. And in Wing's case in Katherine Webber's beautiful and inspiring Wing Jones, her empowerment is herself and her capability of running. I already wrote a review of this heart-warming book but I want to reinstate the strength of this fifteen-year-old girl who finds her true desire on a track. She battles the racist wrath due to her mixed background as well as suffering beneath the weight of the anger from students after her brother commits drink-driving and kills someone. Wing is only young and she deals with so many thoughts and feelings and events in the pages of the book but she endures it and fights back, discovering a strength inside her that she never had before.
Katherine Webber has written this stunning story of how to find yourself and that it may come when you feel at your worst and it won't be easy but it will be an ending you make for yourself and it's something only you can find and use.
LIBBY STROUT - Again, another amazing contemporary protagonist. Libby shows us that size is not your identifier in life nor should it hinder you. She's a character who stands up for herself and learns to do that the hard way. She has known bullying, she's known pain and heartbreak and panic attacks and anxiety. And she fights it. Libby dances--she loves to dance and she won't let anyone put her down for that because of her size. She goes into school with a mindset that she can be anyone that she wants to be; that her past doesn't define her, and even when it does, she learns the lesson that she can use that to strengthen her present. Libby is flawed and she's afraid but she becomes fearless for herself in order to live a life that she wants. In Holding Up the Universe, she writes motivational quotes to herself on her shoes and she decides to live after an entire summer of doing anything but that. Libby finds her worth and importance and strength from other people around her trying to bring her down. She's a fighter for herself and her own motivation is herself.
Jennifer Niven provides a wholesome, badass girl of a large size to encourage people that they are more than their weight or what people say. That they are loved and worthy of a life too, no matter how many people try to say otherwise.
INEJ GHAFA - Inej is the third character that I've already written about in my blog about strength and how she's inspired me. Six of Crows provides a manner of inspiring females but there was something about Inej that I just couldn't shake for a very long time, even until now. Inej is a character who relies on her physical strength to be of worth to the gang. She gains herself the nickname of The Wraith because of how silently she can move. There are times when she struggles to keep up that physical level she needs and almost bullies herself into going on, even when she feels unable. In Six of Crows, during the heist, she has to climb up an incinerator and her shoes almost burn off but she has to climb and she envisions every scrap of inspiration she's ever been given from her past life of being an acrobat. She does it for the crew and not necessarily herself. She does it so she doesn't fail those around her and then puts herself first later on. Inej is someone who keeps going even when everything screams at her that she cannot; for that reason, she is a massive inspiration for me.
Leigh Bardugo presents a character who not only has these physical aspects to overcome, but also for her ethnicity and the love for her "brown skin" from customers. She had been captured and forced into a brothel before she joined the crew in the story. Through that, she faced horrors that also remained a torment in her mind but instead of letting it break her, Inej uses it as fuel to go on. She goes through so much yet at the end of the day, she can still smile with her friends and laugh with Nina and love Kaz and find room in her heart for the good things despite the weight of so much bad.
ELAIN ARCHERON - Before you read on, please know that I am not looking away from Feyre's strength as the best sister. She's also strong but Elain is for different reasons that affected me personally and that's why I chose her out of the sisters. Yes, Feyre is incredible and literally raised her family and gave herself up to Tamlin, thus starting the chain of the story, whilst being the youngest, but Elain had such a strong part in ACOWAR and it's something that I want to talk about most. (ACOMAF and ACOWAR spoilers ahead, you have been warned.)
At the start of ACOTAR, Elain Archeron is the ghost in the corner who follows Nesta's opinions (when they weren't all arguing) and tended to her garden. I noticed her as a separate character when Feyre returned to the new estate they'd been given and she was interacting with the house staff and rolling up her sleeves in the garden. That's when I fell in love with Elain. Then she was in A Court of Mist and Fury and had found love and happiness in a boy and my heart ached for her because I knew that happiness never lasts in books. And it didn't--Elain was thrown into the Cauldron and emerged a Fae. Not thinking of the mental affects it would have had on her, or the fact that she'd become what that boy she loved despised, I expected a thriving Fae who had some sort magic in her that connected her with her gardening love. But no... What awaited for me in A Court of Wings and Ruin was the shell of Elain, thin and frail and broken. That's what hurt; I knew Elain had so much potential as Fae, as she had as a human, but she was completely broken for all the things I hadn't considered. But Elain, despite her mental health, still got up and fought for the safety of those surrounding her. Elain still tried and it took much encouragement but she let that in and let it comfort her into living again. What I loved about Elain's character was that she was never ready in the story to let Lucien (or Azriel, for you Elriel shippers out there) into her heart because it had been shattered in a way that needed far more time than ACOWAR gave to heal and love again. And I'm glad for that. I'm glad that Elain's recovery began with herself and not the spark of love from a man or mate. In the end, she stabbed the man who had broken her whole life in the throat and began his demise. She conquered and she fought back against the evil that had forced her into something she had never wanted to be. Her strength blossomed in ACOWAR and she found herself surviving better until she could live.
SHAZAD AL-HAMAD - Strength isn't only extended to the main females taking the lead in stories. Second characters get the spotlight for that too. In the case of Rebel of the Sands, Shazad was a character that caught me and made me interested immediately. As an important member of the rebellion, I was guaranteed to love her. The fact that she was a female fighter was even better and targeted my weak spot where females are concerned. (Because who doesn't love a good female wielding a weapon and standing up for themselves and what they believe in?) But Shazad is strong and careful and clever. She knows battle strategy from her father who she lets inspire her and uses that to her advantage in the rebellion. Not only is she working against the Sultan and trying to put her own prince on the throne, but her father is also a fighter, one against the Sultan. Working as both Amani's general and friend, Shazad often has to find the right balance to do something but also keep her out of danger. Often, she agrees with Amani's bad decisions because she knows they'd do a lot more for the rebel movement.
Alwyn Hamilton brings an incredibly determined and fierce girl who fights for what she wants and for a better future. She's a character who goes through a lot: enduring the loss of her best friend, fighting when everyone tries to put them down, defying the law, fighting as a girl and always needing her voice to be heard because of how well she assesses battles and decisions.
LILA BARD - Delilah is a fighter, a thief, a rule-breaker and, come A Gathering of Shadows, a magician. For similar reasons to other characters I've mentioned, my first thought of why Lila is strong is because she lives. Barely any sleep? Lila still goes and lives. Not eaten in hours? She still fights. And that's what she does; she fights her way through anything and everything because it matters to her that she lives. She has a lot taken from her so when she finds her use in magic and thieving to get her by, she utilizes it in the best way possible and enters The Essen Tasch against every good sense. She fights her way through opponents to prove herself and win. She risks her place on Alucard's ship by doing this and risks her identity being revealed back in the presence of Kell but it's important to Lila so she fights for it. Lila is strong because whilst she claims to be fearless, she can also admit at parts that she is afraid... but she doesn't just accept that. She fights against her fears so she can overcome them rather than just let them fester. Lila loses a lot in the series but she still finds reasons to go on and I find that incredibly strong.
Victoria Schwab's females are some of my favourites in young adult fantasy because of the pure strength driving them and their motivation. It can be questionable but it's great and personal to each character and they fight differently--either mentally or physically--and refuse to be broken so easily just because they're females.
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There are so many other females I could talk about but this post would turn into a book in that case. I have so many books on my shelves to read and I'm looking forward to finding more strong and powerful females in them!
