#feministfantasy

[scifrey]

Lucy Piper's PhD Defence on fantasy literature is about to get a lot more hands-on than she expected. http://jmfrey.net/the-accidental-turn-series #theaccidentalturnseries #theuntoldtale #theforgottentale #thesilencedtale #jmfrey #bookstagram #booklr #bookaesthetics #bookworm#mustread #booklife #vingette #candlesandbooks #booksandcandles #candles  #magic #candles #fantasy #fantasybooks #feministfantasy #fantasyseries #fantasytrilogy

[scifrey]

Lucy Piper's PhD Defence on fantasy literature is about to get a lot more hands-on than she expected. http://jmfrey.net/the-accidental-turn-series/ #TheAccidentalTurnSeries #TheUntoldTale #TheForgottentale #TheSilencedTale #JMFrey #bookstagram #booklr #bookaesthetics #bookworm #mustread #booklife #vingette #teaandbooks #booksandtea #tea #magic #candles #fantasy #fantasybooks #feministfantasy #FantasySeries #fantasytrilogy

[bookvibesandtarotcards]

BRIGID by Kim Curran

A girl, a goddess, and a flame that refuses to be tamed.

PRE-READING THOUGHTS

I was expecting lyrical, immersive storytelling — and, knowing Curran, a subtle blending of history and myth. Hoping for a story where faith, power, and women’s lives intertwine beautifully, without sacrificing nuance or warmth.

POST-READING

As I thought…

The prose is gorgeous, vivid, and alive. Curran captures Brigid’s evolution with care, portraying her rise as both saintly and fiercely human. The historical and pagan elements blend seamlessly.

It surprised me by…

How much I wanted to linger in the grove and around the fires — the rituals, the community, the quiet brilliance of women shaping their own paths. Brigid’s agency is empowering, and the tension of power, sacrifice, and legacy gives the story a heartbeat that lingers.

MUSIC PAIRING

🎵 Featured Song: “Girl in the Fire” — John Mayer (for strength and transformation)

🎶 Vibe Album: Loreena McKennitt – The Visit (ethereal, Celtic, reflective)

🎧 Artist Recommendation: Enya or Lisa Gerrard for lush, elemental vibes

VIBE CHECK

🎨 Colour Palette: Amber, forest green, fire-orange, twilight purple

🎧 Soundtrack: Wind in the trees, crackling flames, quiet chants, footsteps on ancient earth

🍁 Season: Late winter turning to early spring — new beginnings with lingering cold

😶‍🌫️ Mood: Reflective, courageous, quietly rebellious

🌿 Scent: Smoke, fresh earth, and resin from sacred woods

TAROT PULL — Explorer of Fire (Gaian Tarot)

The Explorer of Fire shows a lone woman dancing with flames, fully embodied and radiant. She embodies Brigid’s personal courage, her fiery leadership, and her refusal to let the world define her limits. The flames represent both challenge and power, perfectly capturing her transformation and bold journey.

FOR FANS OF…

📚 Morrigan by Kim Curran

📺 The Secret of Kells (for mystical landscapes and folklore magic)

[bookvibesandtarotcards]

What Fury Brings by Tricia Levenseller

One throne, one warrior, and one very unwilling prince...

PRE-READING THOUGHTS

After The Shadows Between Us and The Darkness Within Us, I was ready for more of Levenseller’s signature morally grey romances—but I wasn’t expecting this. What starts out as enemies-to-lovers with a dash of political maneuvering turns into something much sharper, steamier, and darker. I’m intrigued. And slightly alarmed. Let’s go!

POST-READING

As I thought...

The concept absolutely delivers: women in power, men as political pawns, and a fierce main character who sees marriage as strategy, not surrender. The gender-flipped power dynamics are well-drawn and consistently followed through.

It surprised me by...

How adult this one is. There’s sex, violence, and a real sense of consequences here—both political and personal. A rapist loses his penis. An actual, surgical consequence. It’s handled with clarity, not voyeurism, but it makes clear: this is not a YA novel. Olerra is not a teen queen, and Sanos is not a boy with a crush. These are adults grappling with generational trauma, expectations, and the terrifying possibility of actual love.

MUSIC PAIRING

🎵 Featured Song: “You Don’t Own Me” – Lesley Gore (Olerra’s anthem, obviously)

🎶 Vibe Album: WARRIOR by Kesha – fierce, stomping, unapologetic energy with moments of emotional clarity

🎧 Artist Recommendation: Banks – sultry, edgy, and knows how to mix sensuality with sharpness

VIBE CHECK

🎨 Colour Palette: Royal purple, steel grey, blood red

🎬 Soundtrack: Gladiator meets Bridgerton but with less embroidery and more stabbing

🌦 Season: High summer—hot, heady, and occasionally violent

🧠 Mood: Dominance-and-defiance slow burn

🕯 Scent: Spiced wine and cold iron

TAROT PULL

The Empress – from the Moon Dust Tarot. She’s serene but commanding, hand raised, overseeing her domain with quiet certainty. Olerra is a woman who knows her own power—and what she’s willing to sacrifice for her country.

FOR FANS OF:

📚 The Bridge Kingdom by Danielle L. Jensen

📺 Game of Thrones (specifically Daenerys' early arc with actual feminist follow-through)

[bookvibesandtarotcards]

A Beautiful Evil by Bea Fitzgerald

She was made to love him. But what if she was made for something else entirely?

✦ Pre-Reading Thoughts

I’m always intrigued when authors tackle the myth of Pandora—especially when they give her more than just a box and a blame complex. Knowing Fitzgerald’s style, I expected a biting, myth-rich feminist twist with a slow-burn romance and divine chaos.

✦ Post-Reading

As I thought...

A sharp, emotionally layered take on Pandora’s story. She's clever, lost, angry, and so determined to find her own meaning in a world that keeps telling her she was made for someone else.

It surprised me by...

...focusing more on agency than romance. Yes, the connection between her and Epimatheos burns slow and deep, but the real fire is Pandora figuring out she was never meant to be obedient—she was meant to choose.

🎵 MUSIC PAIRING

Featured Song: Control – Halsey

Vibe Album: WAX – KT Tunstall

Artist Rec: Florence + the Machine (Dance Fever energy!)

✨ VIBE CHECK

🎨 Colour Palette: copper, indigo, and lightning-silver

🎬 Soundtrack: Clash of the Titans (but funnier) meets Fleabag

🍂 Season: late summer—golden but about to burn

🌀 Mood: “What if I wasn’t made to be good?”

🌸 Scent: scorched fig and storm air

🔮 TAROT PULL

The Tower – Storyteller’s Tarot

Pandora’s Box is the Tower here, with ghostly skulls, insects, and a pair of legs nearby suggesting someone didn’t survive what was released. It's destruction with divine fingerprints. She may have opened the box, but she’s not the one who filled it.

For fans of: Circe, Lore Olympus, The Sandman, and messy gods with even messier relationships.

[bookvibesandtarotcards]

Review: Six Wild Crowns

📚 Six Wild Crowns by Holly Race

Queens bound by magic. A kingdom built on control. And a legacy that demands defiance.

What if Henry VIII’s six wives weren’t just political pawns—but spellbound queens tied to enchanted palaces, with the fate of the realm in their hands?

🗝️ This one’s for fans of courtly intrigue, untrustworthy magic, and women who refuse to be rivals.

✦

👑 Vibe check: Garnet red, midnight blue, string quartets building toward rebellion. The air smells like spiced wine and smoke from a just-snuffed candle.

🎵 Featured Song: “Wolf Like Me” – Lera Lynn (cover)

🎶 Vibe Album: Melodrama – Lorde

🎧 Artist Rec: Florence + the Machine

★ Tarot Pull: The Hierophant (Reversed) – Silver Witchcraft Tarot.

The queens don’t just challenge the rules—they step outside them entirely. This card reflects a crumbling institution, the unmaking of royal order, and power rediscovered in defiance and solidarity.

[tessatalksbooksblog]

Happy Monday! I can’t think of a better day to look at your just finished, currently reading, and next read (other than my WWW blog post on Wednesdays 😉). . I’m currently reading Chuck Wendig’s The Book of Accidents #horrorthriller - just finished Mother of All by Jenna Glass -absolutely wonderful #feministfantasy #womenempowerment - and next I’m reading Kill A Spy by Samantha Lee Howe - a series with my favorite female Jason Bourne type character. I feel so lucky to have the opportunity for an early read of all three of these anticipated five-star reads! (Thanks to #netgalley and the publishers - #randomhouse #ballantinebooks #delreybooks and #onemorechapter #harpercollinspublishers ) . What are your last - current - and next reads? . . . . #motherofall #jennaglass #thebookofaccidents #chuckwendig #killaspy #samanthaleehowe #mysterybooks #thrillerbooksaddict #thrillernovel #thriller #thrillerbooks #horrorbooks #fantasyreadersofinstagram #fantasy #fantasybooks #fantasyreadersofig #epicfantasy #bookrecommendations #fivestarreads #currentreads #allthebooksjuly21 (at Lake Davidson) https://www.instagram.com/p/CROlQ2ErO19/?utm_medium=tumblr

[feministfantasiescollective]

Pretty Bird

“Don’t let them cage you,

pretty bird.

Though they bow before

your golden feathers

and make offerings

to your song,

They will

steal

what makes you holy.

Don’t let them trap you,

pretty bird.

Though they claim

it’s for your own good

with gentle kisses

to your brow,

They will

tear

the blessings from your crown.

Don’t let them hold you,

pretty bird.

Though they beg to touch

your emerald feet

and caress the ground

you walk,

They will

seize

the angels in your sky—

And never,

never

let go.

Don’t listen to their words,

pretty bird—

Look beyond the awe

the offerings

the supplications and compliments

to the gleam,

the lust,

the greed

in their eyes

when they covet

your gold.

They will not love you,

pretty bird,

once they have you

in their grasp.

They will not bless

the food you eat,

nor the ground

beneath your feet.

They want

what you have

And they

can never be.

But when they learn this,

They still won’t set you free.

So take wing,

pretty bird.

Go back to the angels

who delight in your beauty

yet do not wish

to claim it.”

— https://www.facebook.com/TobyInTheWorld/