Women’s rage continues to have its moment—and for good reason, there’s plenty to be mad about. And there’s something deeply satisfying about diving into stories where feminine fury isn’t just hinted at; it’s unleashed in full force, with characters who don’t just simmer; they explode, turning their unfiltered wrath on a world determined to keep them small. It’s the ultimate catharsis—living vicariously through women who refuse to stay silent, who reclaim their power by burning the world around them down.
So, if you’re ready to embrace your untamed, unhinged reading era, here are five books that channel justified female anger. They showcase women who refuse to be silenced, marginalised, or dismissed in the face of systemic injustices. These books are not just about rage but about empowerment and the refusal to be confined by societal norms.
From primal, animalistic fury to quiet, unassuming frustration, get ready to embrace the many faces of feminine rage. But be warned: these women are out for blood.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation is a brittle, uncomfortable, and, at times, darkly comedic exploration of boredom, superficiality, privilege and the meaning of life.
Our unnamed narrator—a 26-year-old privileged New York socialite and art history graduate—should be happy. She’s young, privileged, and lives in an apartment on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, paid for by a healthy inheritance. Yet, she longs to lose herself altogether. Disillusioned with the world and those around her, she attempts to escape the superficiality of modern life by checking out of society and sleeping for an entire year in a narcotic-filled hibernation.
Surrounded by unlikeable characters, from her unscrupulous psychiatrist, the avant-garde artist chronicling her descent into self-created slumber, and deeply troubled ‘best’ friend, Moshfegh captures the frustrations and simmering rage of trying to exist in a toxic and hallow world. These characters may not be perfect, but they are real, and their struggles are all too familiar. Beneath our protagonist’s lethargy is an unspoken anger about the expectations placed on women to be beautiful, ambitious, and placed in a neat little box.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation shows that female anger doesn’t always need to be loud to be revolutionary.
Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 by Cho Nam-Joo
A feminist literary sensation in South Korea that ignited a powerful movement known as the “Kim Jiyoung phenomenon”—a platform for women to openly discuss their own experiences of gender discrimination and inequality. Cho Nam-Joo’s Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982, is a stark depiction of the ordinary yet insidious ways women’s anger is suppressed by society. This isn’t just a story, but a reflection of the current societal landscape for women in South Korea and a call to action for change.
Kim Jiyoung, an ordinary woman in her thirties, begins to unravel due to the relentless misogyny she’s faced in her life. From being undervalued compared to her brother to being pushed aside in the workplace after motherhood, she quickly begins to exhibit strange symptoms that alarm her husband, parents, and in-laws: Jiyoung impersonates the voices of other women. Sent to a psychiatrist, we soon journey through her life consumed by gender discrimination, dismissal, and belittlement, cumulating to her eventual breakdown.
A symbol of the suffocating effects of systemic sexism—“What do you want from us? The dumb girls are too dumb, the smart girls are too smart, and the average girls are too unexceptional”— Nam-Joo’s success is unsurprising, having sparked a shift in public discourse and contributed to significant changes in social perceptions during the #MeToo movement. It also aided in policy-making. Kim Jiyoung, Born 1982 is a rallying cry for those who feel stifled. Sitting at just under 200 pages, you’ll fly through it.
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
You may have seen the recent film trailer with Amy Adams, but did you know Nightbitch originated as a book? Rachel Yoder’s disturbing and darkly funny debut captures the primal anger of motherhood and the struggle for identity within a deeply patriarchal world in a tale that parents and non-parents alike will enjoy.
The protagonist, a former artist turned stay-at-home mother, is lonely and exhausted, reduced to ‘mom’ and ‘wife’ with an absent husband. Grappling with an uncontrollable sense of loss as she struggles to reconnect with her creative self—“How many generations of women had delayed their greatness only to have time extinguish it completely?”—she begins to physically transform into a feral, wolf-like creature: sharper canines, strange new patches of hair, heightened instincts, a new voice.
Yoder explores how societal pressures – especially the notion that women must sacrifice everything for their children—strip away a woman’s sense of individuality. Yonder channels the unspoken rage of domestic life into something wild and raw, illustrating the fierce maternal instinct and the instinctive need for self-expression, challenging how the two can co-exist. The novel boldly tackles the idea that there is a ‘right away’ to mother, acknowledging the animalistic and undomesticated aspects of the experience.
Nightbitch is not about the romantic notion of motherhood but offers a visceral and candid portrayal of maternal rage. By blending surrealism and undiluted emotion in crisp prose, this story is about what happens when a woman refuses to stay tame.
Animal by Lisa Taddeo
Following the success of her debut non-fiction masterclass, Three Women, Lisa Taddeo’s fictional debut, Animal, dives headfirst into an unflinching and emotional portrayal of female anger and trauma.
Joan, our remorseless antiheroine, is pushed to the edge by a lifetime of abuse and manipulation at the hands of men. Fleeing from New York to Los Angeles after witnessing a violent death, she searches for a woman she believes can help her understand the historical trauma plaguing her life. What follows is a journey of self-destruction and revenge as Joan starts to embrace her darkest impulses (with increased depravity) to become her authentic self.
Taddeo’s writing is searing and unrelenting – you aren’t meant to feel comfortable here – with Joan’s anger boiling over in shocking yet cathartic ways. Sex is ever present, shaped as an act of comfort, a weapon to be wielded, and, more often than not, a punishment to endure. As Joan puts it, “If someone asked me to describe myself in a single word, depraved is the one I would use.”
Animal examines the relationship between violence and survival, shining a light on the complexities of a woman pushed to her breaking point in a plot that balances the exploration of trauma, the influence of childhood experiences, the male gaze, gender relations, and female self-worth. It’s brutal, visceral, and confronting. Read with caution.
The Power by Naomi Alderman
Almost a reverse take on The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood, Naomi Alderman’s The Power is a slick example of top-notch feminist speculative fiction that imagines a world humming with female power.
Framed as a historical novel from the far future, teenage girls worldwide develop the ability to produce electric shocks with their hands, powerful enough to mark the skin of those they touch. With this shift in dominance, influential women groups soon formed to place women into leadership roles, kill men, and carve out opportunities for women to practice their power (“It doesn’t matter that she shouldn’t, that she never would. What matters is that she could, if she wanted”). Some women take their power to the streets to hurt men and those who oppose the new regime, while others rally to support other women in fulfilling their potential. What is clear, however, is that all want to demonstrate their strength— individual and collective—to the watching world.
As society crumbles under this power shift, Alderman explores the darker side of what happens when oppressed groups gain the upper hand. Far from painting a romantic picture of gender equality, the novel isn’t an airless philosophical exercise; it is a shocking portrayal of how unchecked anger can lead to corruption, cruelty, and chaos even when in the hands of nature’s assumed caregivers— women—and shines a light on how power will always be abused, no matter gender.
Do you have any other recommendations? Tell us in the comments below!
