Some of my favorite books with sassy FMCs
Hey Keana, what’s a trait that you want female main characters (FMCs) to have?
So, this isn’t a necessary requirement, but I really enjoy FMCs who are sassy. That attitude full of snark makes for some very fun dialogue and entertaining internal monologues. It also helps when they have a good sense of humor. A character that can genuinely make me smile or honestly get me to laugh out loud is absolutely worth it. The real world needs more lightness and humor, and a solid story with a main character (MC) that makes me giggle is right up there with sleep and coffee in terms of necessity.
Here are some of my favorites. Feel free to check them out for yourself!
Many moons ago, for the author’s and my sakes I won’t say just how long ago, a friend introduced me to this series. Only the first few volumes existed at that point, and I read a handful of pages while standing in the bookstore. Immediately, I bought all three books (Guilty Pleasures, The Laughing Corpse, and Circus of the Damned). Laurel K. Hamilton had my undivided attention. Anita Blake raised zombies as her ‘day’ job, and she consulted for the St. Louis police department. Oh, and she was a legally sanctioned vampire hunter. I’d loved the concepts, Anita’s voice, and oh, the humor and snark. chef’s kiss
Sadly, my original print run paperback is gone. It left on a very long term loan to another friend, but I was happy to bring someone else that joy.
The series is still currently ongoing, and I have to laugh that I’ve lost count as to how many books there are. Anita has grown and changed over the years, which is great, but those early books particularly hold a special place in my heart.
Also a worthy inclusion to this crew is a character that someone in a FB group had suggested based on my other interests, and I wasn’t disappointed! I plowed through this series. Chloe Neill’s Carolyn “Merit” Merit, a newly turned vampire gets in over her head and embroiled in adventures in and about Chicago (Some Girls Bite and Friday Night Bites are the first two). Merit delivers on big laughs, a bigger appetite (this iteration of vampires can eat food, which I found a fun interpretation), and all WTH just happened?! situations. I devoured this series and immensely enjoyed its sequel series. These books took me out of our world and made me smile. There’s plenty of adventure and romance to go with a delightful sense of humor and lots of snark.
On the other end of that spectrum, as a baby author, I offer up Nemo Dade to add to this august collection of dynamic, sassy women. For many years, I’ve read about numerous (far more than I’ve included here) FMCs whose snark and humor have kept me glued to the pages. With such stellar examples, I felt compelled to add my own spin. Nemo’s got snark as much as the day is long, but her sense of humor is somewhere between Robin Williams and Ryan Reynolds, with some sardonic observational tones of Billy Crystal. Like many of her predecessors, humor is what helps to keep the character going.
Another phenomenal character full of sass and humor that I found was Mercedes “Mercy” Thompson. I was working for Borders Books & Café (which should tell you how long ago this was ;) ). One of the other booksellers shoved the first two books (Moon Called and Blood Bound) at me, and I was a goner. Patty’s sense of humor in Mercy’s voice absolutely captured me. She felt like someone that I would’ve been friends with, chaos and all.
Mercy is a Walker, a Native American shapeshifter who becomes a coyote, and she’s a mechanic with a history degree. Neither fish nor fowl as they say, and back then, I felt that so hard. The series is still ongoing twenty years later, and I avidly wait for the next installment of the shenanigans in the Tri-Cities every time. It’s a place on my bucket list to go visit.
I remember being so happily shocked that Ilona Andrews was a co-written by a pair (husband and wife—massive kudos to them!). Their work with Kate Daniels, and other books, is so seamless. Kate is a feisty, sassy mercenary in an alternative Atlanta where magic and technology clash. This has been such a delightful series. The stories are compelling and Kate’s voice has kept me coming back for more. These books first came out back in the early aughts (2007), but they only gained steam over time.
Like Merit’s stories, Kate’s main title list has also completed. So, if anyone is a reader that likes their series of sassy heroine antics well ended, then these are good ones to check out.
