Hey, im searching for a (character driven) fantasy book written by a female author with a female lead, who despite being strong doesnt loose her feminity over it. So absolutely no “not like the other girls” characters pls. I want a strong mc whos feminity is part of her, which she’s proud of. The book also would preferably not be solely romantasy. I love love love interpersonal relationships in books a whole lot but i would prefer the romance not being the sole focus.
Spinning Silver, Uprooted, and the Scholomance Trilogy by Naomi Novik are all great. The first two are stand alone novels that retell fairy tales (Rumplestiltskin and Rapunzel I think). The Scholomance books definitely wrestle with femininity and what it means for the protagonist to be a strong woman.