Sugar, Spice, and Ruthlessness: What Unconventional YA Heroines Are Made Of

Interesting!

So important, thank you!

Thank you, Kiersten White, for giving us a feminist reimagining of Vlad the Impaler with a ruthless female lead to swoon over!

I am SOOOOOOOOOOOO excited for this 3rd book! Working on the 2nd one and I am not disappointed! I love Lada's ferocious tenacity for what she wants.
"Screw likable. I want my heroines determined, relentless, even vicious. I want them to claim the portions of the world that have been denied them. I want them to have the same agency and the full range of emotions that we give to male characters. I want our heroines to need no one’s permission to be human." <--THIS!

Bless you for writing girls like Lada. She is absolutely terrifying, but god, I love her anger so much. I just started 'And I Darken' this morning, and I can't put it down!!

I think I want want to start this trilogy now.

Girls like this are needed ! Thank you for giving us one of the greatest I've ever read <3

Dark Triumph gave me secondhand rage.

you're paving the way for girls to learn early on that it's okay (good, really) to be things other than submissive. I will cherish this series until the day I die. bless your writing and your heart and your mind. 💛

the words of a queen

I do not understand why you need to make a female version. If this was the 20th century or earlier, I could understand you want to empower women with your feminist stories. Nowadays, there are not many people stopping women from commiting actions because of being a woman. So why continue these stories?
“Sugar and spice and everything nice—that’s what little girls are made of. We’re taught that from infancy.” When I was a little girl, I was not taught “sugar and spice and everything nice.” I was not treated differently from my brother. I was not told I would be less successful than him. I was taught that knowledge and morality are key to a good life. Having anger all the time will not solve anything.
Honestly, I am done with YA; all the stories are the same and I see no need to have an entire genre regarding strong young women. I am female, but not a feminist.

LOVED THIS!!! I agree! And honestly, Lada is one of the most passionate and interesting characters I've ever read about! THANK YOU!!!😭😂

Ana wrote: "I do not understand why you need to make a female version. If this was the 20th century or earlier, I could understand you want to empower women with your feminist stories. Nowadays, there are not ..."

100 % agree. Stop this feminist outcry already...

Ana wrote: "I do not understand why you need to make a female version. If this was the 20th century or earlier, I could understand you want to empower women with your feminist stories. Nowadays, there are not ..."

How this is true I do not know. It’s nice you weren’t treated differently, but many still are.
All you have to do is look at the imbalance of women in top jobs like CEO’s, & at the unequal pay.
Look at the necessity of the #metoo movement. Women have been disrespected & used since the beginning of time & still are till this day. Rapists & harassers get away with it daily. In order for women to advance they’ve had to let it go & put up with it ALL this time. That is ridiculous. This is just in America. Women all over the world are killed, beaten, used for sex & kept from education.
They don’t get to have that knowledge, which you say is the key to life. They don’t have a choice to be moral. How is that fair?
Women who have been lucky enough not to have experienced the inequality should help those that have. & there are so many. We are not talking about anger for anger’s sake. We are talking about anger used constructively.
And because it’s unlikely anything I say will change your mind despite the facts, let me ask you this— If there’s is no problem as you say, how do books who feature strong women harm anyone?

Anger doesn’t come naturally to me. & for the most part I haven’t been treated as unequal to my male counterparts.
& I.LOVE. LADA.
She is by far my favorite female protagonist of The YA books I’ve read so far. I love that she’s not pretty & doesn’t care. I love that she fights back. I love that she embraces her talents even if they are not the most feminine. I love that she wants what is rightfully hers & nothing more. I am giddy with excitement for the final book. Thank you Kiersten White for creating her.

My only beef is...why does everyone cry and complain on GR about feminism racism or the gay person wasn't gay enough or was too gay!!! Obviously the books in the fantasy genre are not real!!!!! They are FANTASY!!! Omg why can't we just enjoy the books and not bring the real worlds problems into the book worlds!!! So if in a book a certain part has something that bothers you DON'T READ THAT BOOK!!!! You dont have to try and ruin the author's life and career because a sentence bothered you jeez!!!! Just enjoy the books that you love and do not read the ones that you do not like!!!! Pretty simple really 😂😉

I love this. After an experience in college involving an emotionally manipulative roommate, I became co-dependent (I promise this is relevant and going somewhere). For me, that meant I was so afraid of being angry (because what if me being mad at someone made them so mad at me that the same that happened with this roommate happened again?) that I stopped letting myself feel that way. It's now been almost 10 years and I STILL have my most severe panic attacks when I get angry. It's like my body has forgotten how anger feels, so it implodes on itself with panic attacks so bad I can't even tell someone my name if they ask. Being allowed to be angry is so important. It's healthy, and I love that your book acknowledges and celebrates that.

Sounds terrific. I swear someone in a Booktube video mentioned this series last night. I love stories about Vlad the Impaler and love books set this part of the world, most be my Eastern European DNA. :)

Lada is one of my ALL TIME FAVORITE CHARACTERS! I love her with a fierceness! This article makes me that much more excited for Bright We Burn and Slayer!

@Ana: I agree with every word you wrote.

Grimalkin wrote: "100 % agree. Stop this feminist outcry already... ..."

None of this is even in the slightest "feminist". It's just bad-tempered, self-indulgent and spoiled gender role reversal, where a lot of negative behaviour and violence are mistaken for "strength".

Amelia wrote: "We are talking about anger used constructively.

Negative behaviour and negative emotions cannot be used "constructively". They are, by their very nature, destructive. The only constructive thing you can do with anger is ridding yourself of it.

.... how do books who feature strong women harm anyone? ..."

The first problem of this is that these women and girls are not strong. They just behave as violently and destructively as men do. That's not strong, that's being toxic and unhinged, and most assuredly not being civilised and strong.

This projected idea of women being strong if they behave the same violent, angry and overbearing way men behave in the US society is harmful because it is a bad role model for youths. Instead boys and men should be taught to reflect more and moderate themselves.

The shoe is entirely on the other foot.

And lastly, and what to me is the worst thing about this book, there already exists a female contemporary of Vlad Dracul, who is world famous for killing as ruthlessly and occupying a genuine position of power, too.

A slight spot of genuine research could have reveiled her: Elizabeth Báthory. The Wikipedia article about her is not too bad.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Elizabe...

Of course, this would have necessitated dealing with and contemplating the effect of unchecked violence on those affected by it. Báthory - like Vlad Dracul by the way - was no role model and most assuredly not a nice, wholesome person. However, I contend that recounting the life of a real powerful woman of that era would have proven far more insightful to women today than a Hollywood-style gender reversal story.

Steelwhisper wrote: "@Ana: I agree with every word you wrote.

Grimalkin wrote: "100 % agree. Stop this feminist outcry already... ..."

None of this is even in the slightest "feminist". It's just bad-tempered, self-in..."
I agree violence isn’t the answer. Couldn’t agree more actually. Unfortunately those times were violent ones. Vlad is known for his ruthlessness. At the time tho that’s what people did. It was the norm. I picked up this novel that was recommended by a friend, because I have a fascination for the area & because I visited it & learned much about Vlad Dracul, including that it is argued Vlad Dracul wasn’t more violent than others.
I don’t think we’ll ever truly know.
With that said it’s the spirit of it that we take with us. Clearly we’re not going to literally kill those that offend us or that try & stop us from succeeding. We will take the metaphor oath us. This is historical fiction. & if she felt like making Vlad into Lada what does it matter there is a comparable woman (no I have not checked out the link yet).
This is a fun fictional book that also inspires. Clearly many have already been touched by the protagonist & are empowered.
I’m sure a book about a powerful woman who existed then could be powerful too. Neither taking anything away from the other.
The problem with that is that women weren’t often in power then & their contributions for the most part have not been documented.
This is true throughout history.
Either way both books can exist.

...............

As human we are limited
As human we suffer, crave revenge
Lack of omnipotence
Heightenened levels of distress
We seek power and freedom
From chains that lead on

We thus inflict pain for our own sake.
We become what we most hate.

Amelia wrote: "Vlad is known for his ruthlessness. At the time tho that’s what people did. It was the norm. I picked up this novel that was recommended by a friend, because I have a fascination for the area & because I visited it & learned much about Vlad Dracul, including that it is argued Vlad Dracul wasn’t more violent than others. I don’t think we’ll ever truly know. ..."

He certainly was a fascinating figure of the past.

I doubt, though, that he has any relevancy for how men or women should behave today. At least not how people appear to react to this here portrait. If anything he should be taken as a negative example. Someone one should never emulate.

"This is historical fiction. & if she felt like making Vlad into Lada what does it matter there is a comparable woman (no I have not checked out the link yet). This is a fun fictional book that also inspires. Clearly many have already been touched by the protagonist & are empowered. ..."

Strictly speaking, "historical fiction" would be accurate as to the real people of history it depicts. So no, this is not "historical fiction". It's fantasy, or alternate reality instead. If anyone truly was interested in history, then research into actual women of power of that era would have been necessary.

And it is the "inspired" and "empowered" part I have huge problems with. People being "inspired" by a gender reversed Vlad Țepeș give me a belly ache. This is no person to be inspired or empowered by. Why should anyone strive to become more brutal and less civilised than before?

"Either way both books can exist."

I nowhere said the book shouldn't exist. I said that I think it leads down the wrong path and unfortunately it is just one among many similar ones, and many movies and other media which strive to teach women that they need to behave like men.

I don't think the point is to "behave like men," but to acknowledge we're all human beings, a mixture of good and bad, and we all have a full range of emotions, imagination, and ambition.

"Behave like men" only has meaning if we believe that some traits are inherently masculine, and that women are somehow trespassing or not staying in their lane when they express those traits, or want the characters they read about to express those traits.

Fictional characters exist for people to imagine, even to imagine dark things on occasion. Women have traditionally been limited in how they saw other women portrayed.

Women read more than men, keeping the publishing industry afloat, and so it on it only makes sense there's a market for women in more dynamic roles, as the hero, as the antihero, as the villain, as someone who is both admirable and horrible.

That isn't to say there shouldn't be books that cater to men -- they also deserve books that appeal to them, and lots of women like books marketed to men and vice versa -- only that I don't see why there is a fuss when an author gives a large segment of female readers what they want.

And if this is not what they really want, sales or lack of sales will take care of that.

I have always found Elizabeth Bathory interesting, and would read a book about her, from her POV, but while she gets called the female Dracula, she is not really the same as Vlad Tepes. It wouldn't be the same experience.

I hope it goes without saying, as it always should, that reading about dark topics, or liking to read about villains, is not the same as endorsing these acts in real life. Wanting to see women as dynamic characters. Fiction is where the reader gets to explore, whatever.

Saying you love a villain is not the same as supporting or evil, Finding an aspect of them to be interesting or something you want to mentally explore is just ... how storytelling works.

Some people want to read about Snow White and the evil queen, Aurora and Maleficent. Maybe a version where the Prince Phillip is Phillipa or someone who doesn't identify as one or the other. Or where Aurora saves herself. Or where Aurora turns out to be evil.

I love every piece of letter, comma, period and spaces of this article. And I'm already checking the books referenced in here ^_^

Michelle wrote: ""Behave like men" only has meaning if we believe that some traits are inherently masculine, and that women are somehow trespassing or not staying in their lane when they express those traits, or want the characters they read about to express those traits. .."

There are, in these reactions and reviews right here, as well as in the violent behaviour of Vlad the Impaler, plenty of specific examples of what I (and others) mean by saying "behave like men". It is clearly a reference to gendered behaviour, and where I am talking about it, even more concisely of the American Male Box.

As an outsider looking in, for I am contemplating this from across the pond, the toxic masculinity and the extremeties of violence in the American culture are quite outstanding, and not in a positive manner. What you call "just traits" are to me a symptom of the sickness. Just as the - by the way - toxic gendering emanating from the US culture, something which floods across the planet in an unhealthy way.

Neither can be remedied by claiming equal rights to negative behaviour. My rejection of toxic masculinity was addressed not just to women and girls, who should be or become wise enough not to engage in such behaviour. It is as emphatically addressed to men and boys, who should be discouraged from exhibiting it either, and learn instead how to better emotionally express themselves, how to solve problems without violence and how to resolve anger in a non-violent manner.

A guy nailing their turbans to the heads of ambassadors with finger long nails just to make a point sure as hell should not be raised on any pedestal, certainly not an allegedly feminist one.

I hope it goes without saying, as it always should, that reading about dark topics, or liking to read about villains, is not the same as endorsing these acts in real life. Wanting to see women as dynamic characters. Fiction is where the reader gets to explore, whatever.

I am so bloody tired of this strawman argument. Books influence, whether you want it or not. One cannot celebrate "books with female heroes so girls get their role models" and in the same breath deny that a role model influences the one who models herself after that role. One cannot fight racist or sexist publications (see recent reactions to books by Twain, Ingalls, Christie, Salinger or Hawthorne) because they give bad examples, and then claim that books don't do a thing except amuse. You just can't eat your cake and have it too in this argument.

And "women as dynamic characters" is a long, long way from pushing violence, torture, murder and anger at girls as something worth striving for. It shouldn't be pushed at boys either, just to clarify. It is nothing anyone should strive for if we want to achieve some modicum of civilisation as a species at all.

Lastly, and this affords me some quiet amusement, it is very gendered thinking to have "books for girls" and "books for boys". It is equally gendered thinking to gender-swap villains of the past to serve as "role models for girls". You directly buy into gendering by doing the above. To abolish gendering you have to cease thinking in these kinds of categories. And - of course - that doesn't just apply to readers. This just as much applies to writers who need to write genuine female heroines (and of course equally genuine male heroes) whose strengths are not based on our current toxic ideas of what is gender appropriate. Which means doing away with both concepts of gendered behaviour, male and female.

Herein lies the crux of the matter for me. Books like this aren't improving things. They make them worse.

Love this!

Steelwhisper wrote: "Michelle wrote: ""Behave like men" only has meaning if we believe that some traits are inherently masculine, and that women are somehow trespassing or not staying in their lane when they express th..."

Steelwhisper, thanks for being a champion racehorse in a flock of sheep!

Lada is SUCH an empowering and important character not just because she is a woman, but because you wrote her as a HUMAN. Reading a book where you question the actions of every character but still love them in the end is not just crucial, it is real. Bravo!

I do not mind angry, mean girls as long as they have a great reason for being so. Life does not need to, but fiction must make sense. Making someone disproportionately angry for ridiculous, petty reasons is when I have problems with the heroine/hero of the story. For exampl, Merida in “Brave”; I disagree with my mother, so my solution is to poison her? Nice. (Rolling my eyes.) Such a disappointment. I was expecting a female Braveheart, and... I do not even know what that movie was. I like my heroines and heroes to be strong and smart, I need to find them inspirational. I feel as if I’ve been waiting for this last book for ages, because I did not want to begin reading the first until the series is complete. So excited!

Steelwhisper,

I'm pretty sure I remain just a nice woman from the state known for it's niceness, but if I get to the planning stages of impaling someone, I'll put down the book.

In all seriousness, I do understand your concerns, and don't want to see women make the mistakes (in real life) that men have traditionally made. I appreciate that this worries you.

I'm giving the side-eye to anyone who thinks Vlad the Impaler is a positive role model for anyone ;)

This is beautiful! Reading And I Darken right now and I love it!

Ana wrote: "I do not understand why you need to make a female version. If this was the 20th century or earlier, I could understand you want to empower women with your feminist stories. Nowadays, there are not ..."
If people still think there are (non-physical) differences between women and men there is a need for feminism. Gender should be viewed as something insignificant, like someone's eye color.
Nowadays it's about people not having to feel as if they are forced to be someone they aren't. It's about the freedom to act 'feminine' or 'masculine' or whatever in between, it should be their choice.

I love The Chaos of Stars! I actually haven't read this new trilogy, but wanted to throw a little love out there, sorry you got some harsh feedback!

"Sugar and spice and everything nice—that’s what little girls are made of."

About this quote - I always understood sugar and spice to be opposites of each other, or at least complementary. Little girls are sweet, but also "spicy", e.g. fierce or sharp or have a temper. And everything nice = everything that's good in the world (not just having a friendly character). But maybe that's just my understanding.
Well, this nursery rhyme might be simplifying (it is a nursery rhyme after all), but girls are described in a more complex and flattering way than little boys ... it basically says little boys are dirty.

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails
And puppy-dogs' tails
That's what little boys are made of

On another note, which male heroes are determined, relentless or vicious and were applauded for it? I'm asking because most I can think of (from contemporary literature) are essentially morally "good" characters - maybe determined, but not ruthless or vicious. But I maybe have not read enough books with (memorable) male protagonists?

I haven't read these books, but from scanning the comments, it seems like ruthlessness isn't what really attracted readers to these stories. In general, it's tricky to define feminist heroines as any one thing, but personally? I'm not a fan of ruthlessness in any form. And again, based on reading these comments, I don't think these characters are devoid of a moral center. That said, I do feel compelled to share that ruthlessness in and of itself is not something to celebrate in any gender. This is an important point in the political world we live in, where it can be celebrated that 'greed is good' and 'I don't care about you as long as I'm taken care of.' I've lived and worked with ruthless men and women. Having the option to misuse power is not the same as empowerment. For what it's worth, I believe that there is truly greater strength and joy to be found in finding and adhering to your moral center, both in the now and for the future.

Maya wrote: "" Little girls are sweet, but also "spicy", e.g. fierce or sharp or have a temper. And everything nice = everything that's good in the world (not just having a friendly character). But maybe that's just my understanding.
Well, this nursery rhyme might be simplifying (it is a nursery rhyme after all), but girls are described in a more complex and flattering way than little boys ... it basically says little boys are dirty.

What are little boys made of?
Snips and snails
And puppy-dogs' tails
That's what little boys are made of"

I always took it to mean that girls were expected to be nice and sweet, and took the spice to be something like cinnamon as opposed to, say, curry powder.

Pretty and sweet, like a cookie or cake.

While boys seem to have the less flattering ingredients, there's also the sense of boys are expected to get dirty and play hard, and their rougher edges are boys will be boys.

The poem seems to trace back to the early 19th century, and so I don't see them celebrating a lot of spirit or temper for a girl.

"There is tremendous strength in kindness, in femininity, in gentleness. But giving anger its rightful place in girls' lives is long overdue. Screw likable. I want my heroines determined, relentless, even vicious. I want them to claim the portions of the world that have been denied them. I want them to have the same agency and the full range of emotions that we give to male characters. I want our heroines to need no one’s permission to be human."

Woww...... I want to frame that and keep it on my nightstand, that is fucking inspirational.

I don't understand why people don't like Lada.I love her.she's like Harry P with more guts

I've added it in my "Want to Read" months ago after I read Now I Rise. sitting impatiently waiting for the #3 coming

I loved this book and this post. I rarely buy physical books (because ebooks are much more convenient), but I’ve decided to buy this series.

The books do an excellent job in portraying a strong, badass woman who doesn’t take any crap. I love Lada, and I appreciate the links to more history of Vlad et all.

6 out of 5 stars!

This author has articulated the things I love about a lot of books come out recently with very regular heroines. (Gillian Flynn does excellent examples as well). Give the heroine driven by anger and revenge, give the heroine who breaks fingers and walks away and doesn't question her humanity over it. Because they're people, who make awful decisions. It's been too long in coming for women in fantasy to be like this.

This gave me goosebumps! I think that there is a lot of truth in what Kiersten says here, and I agree with her wholeheartedly. Reading this was also bittersweet for me, since I finished the last book in her series just the other day...and wasn't ready to say goodbye to the characters or the story yet!

Mea wrote: 'If people still think there are (non-physical) differences between women and men there is a need for feminism. Gender should be viewed as something insignificant, like someone's eye color.' - there are plenty of chemical/hormonal/'invisible' biological reasons for why men and women are statistically more masculine or feminine. Of course both traits are not singularly tied to each gender, but we were made/evolved to have these tendencies and biological programming for many complex reasons. People like to believe they are in total control of their lives and decisions but in reality your biology & subconscious are influencing and making decisions you don't even realize are happening all the time.

The novel I’m writing now I’ve started bringing it my characters anger more. She has every right to be pissed and she battles with it. Part of why I had shut her anger down was because I wasn’t allowed to express my own especially as a Black woman in America. Now that’s changing and so is my character. It was wonderful reading this stand for our anger and our ability to be brutal.

K. Iris wrote: "The novel I’m writing now I’ve started bringing it my characters anger more. She has every right to be pissed and she battles with it. Part of why I had shut her anger down was because I wasn’t all..."

Best of luck with your book! Rage on! :)

I agree with this essay to a certain degree. We should be allowed to express anger and have equality within the world. This won't however won't make me like this character simply because of what she represents. I believe in morality and where as anger has it's place, it does not make things better. There is nothing wrong with a heroine who does the right thing and they should be revered, it is far too easy to do the wrong thing. I'll have to read this book though to make an informed decision on this character. I do however say well done to Kiersten for breaking with convention, it is good to explore different characters and stand points. I enjoyed this essay, thank you.

Having now read the first book, I wouldn't call Lada a good person, but I understand her choices. She is harmful in her quest to not love anyone so that no one is a liability, and in putting her return to Wallachia higher than anything else. I don't think that anyone should model their life choices after her, but I do want to find out what happens next. :)

Also, the fact that she really does fight her own battles, consistently, and protects those she reluctantly loves, is a nice change of pace for a female character.

I'm probably not going to read this series, because I have learned that this genre is not my cup of tea. But PREACH!
I hate it with a passion when people are bashing stories just because they don't like the characteristics of a character, especially when they have double standards towards male and female characters. Those people usually have those double standards in real life as well, unfortunately. "Oh, the perfect woman should have more flaws than being clumsy, but not too deep ones, because then she is unfeminine". The same selfishness, cockiness etc. is seen as endearing with males and a disgrace with females.

The only thing I cannot stand is when it is not emphasized in a story that a flaw is a flaw, but is introduced as being badass or cool or the norm. Like being rude to guys you are not attracted to, being shallow, being violent for no reason... they should be treated like flaws.