TTT: More Limelight Ladies Pls

I saw the topic for this week’s Top Ten Tuesday, and remembered that Jolien @ Fictional Reader did this topic in her previous TTT. I thought it was cool, so I’ve put my Limelight Ladies spin on this week’s TTT. I love having females in my fiction, and the more badass ones the better! Sometimes, though, a few of the books are missing those ladies, and while there’s occasionally one or two females that stick out, I would prefer to see many more in the story.

Top Ten Books I Wish Had More Limelight Ladies

The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks – The later books do a better job with adding more female presence in the story, but the fact of the matter is that the females in the trilogy were either prostitutes/former prostitutes or virgins, and I swear there had to be a better way to categorize these women, because they were so much more than their sexual partners (Viridiana and Elene and Kirena, anyone?!).

Vicious by V.E. Schwab – Alright, this book has a relatively small character list, but I kind of only liked the one girl in the story. Which is a shame, because I tend to love most of Schwab’s characters, protagonist and antagonist alike. In Vicious, not so much, so I wished there were more badass girls.

And I Darken by Kiersten White – There were a few secondary females in the harem, but not many that really stood out. Mehmed’s mother was one of the few who stood out, but other than Lada, I was pretty much missing other badass female characters. Especially when I had to deal with Radu being a whiny baby half the time.

Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard – I…did not like any of the females that were prominent in this book. They were all pretty much catty, petty, and angry for anger’s sake. Even the protag grated on my nerves every so often.

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb – I suppose there’ll be more female presence in the next book, but there was a severe lack of them in the book. One of them occasionally showed up as a slightly crazy person, but most of Fitz’s role models were male.

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison – I was actually pretty happy that more badass females showed up in the later half of the book. I was less happy that they were limited to societal pressures, so some of the females I really wanted to know about got downplayed.

The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss – Not gonna lie, I just really wanted more Devi in the first book. Yeah, that’s really it.

I Am Number Four by Pittacus Lore – Other than Six, I wasn’t wowed by any of the females in this book. It’s probably why the series ranks super-low on my list and I never took to it. (I suppose there are other reasons, but I’ll leave it at that.)

The Shambling Guide to New York City by Mur Lafferty – I don’t remember too much about this book, just that there were a lot of monsters and Zoe. It was enjoyable, of course, though I do wish there were more memorable femmes in the book.

Finnikin of the Rock by Melina Marchetta – I suppose there were a few other females in the book other than Evanjalin, but all I remember was her, and I found her absolutely obnoxious. That’s just me, though, I’m sure she’s somebody’s cup of tea.

What’s on your Top Ten list this week?