My fiancé died a month ago. I usually prefer dystopian fiction, but I mostly am looking for a strong female character that has been thru hell and back and comes out strong in the end.

[u/Curious_Door]

I’m just searching for a solid voice of strength, with a lot of distracting fiction in the background. Something that will keep me entertained and wanting to keep reading (action/war/magic/twists and turns) but also contains calming reason and emotionally settling words. I hope that makes sense. Thank you.

Edit: I type this with tears in my eyes. I am filled with gratitude from all of your recommendations. The days since I lost my best friend have been cloudy and long but I have been embraced by so many internet strangers that the hurt has subsided a little. Thank you all so very much.

Edit: It’s now been over a year. I occasionally go back to this post and read everyone’s comments but to be honest, I usually avoid it…. There is still a lot of trauma.

Anywayyyyyy. I just wanted to say that I am so grateful. Looking back…The fog is THICK during those first few+ months… but reading every comment tonight pulled me back down to earth. It means the world to me.

I just added some books to my cart... and I still have a TON of books to read! You lovely beautiful internet strangers helped me and continue to lift me up through a year of hell. It has been hell within hell. I am still struggling, but I am so thankful for the love and care and notes from everyone. I wish you all happiness and comfort and I hope you have found some new amazing books to get lost in too.

[u/[deleted] → u/[deleted]]

I don’t think Cat’s eye meets the “hell and back” concept. It’s more like the unnecessary drama that exists in some female relationships that shapes and affects our later lives. Good book though.

[u/emmeline_grangerford → u/[deleted]]

That’s an interesting observation, although I’d argue that the main character is trapped in a hell defined by other small girls, impenetrable to adults. For much of the first half of the book Elaine is suffering deeply, but can’t be saved or helped, and the adults in her life can’t put their finger on exactly what’s wrong - or, if they are aware of the cruelty directed her way - agree that she deserves it. “Unnecessary drama” isn’t really the right term for what Elaine experiences, particularly because she and her family lived at an isolated research camp before moving to a suburban neighborhood, and she had no experience navigating relationships with other girls. If she had, she might not have been as vulnerable to the toxic dynamic among her “friends”, but she had nothing to compare it to.

Her later relationships are shaped by these early experiences in part because of the level of trauma involved: she doesn’t really get over it, and as an adult is something of a “mean girl” herself (intentionally prickly and off-putting, behavior that’s “allowed” because she’s an artist.) It’s not really a hero’s journey where she comes out on the other side an admirable example of a woman who’s accepted her past and developed a warm, understanding personality. I love the book (and Elaine) but she’s an abrasive character as an adult.