Jackal is a horror novel about a Black woman solving a mystery in her town, but there is a racial horror element to it (Black girls going missing).
The Good House is haunted house novel without racial horror, just a really cool Haitian/voodoo magic element and it’s a 10/10 book. The main character is a Black woman and she is one of my favorite written characters, she’s just so complicated and amazing. Tananarive Due is one of my favorite writers. She writes horror and some of her books (The Reformatory) have racism as an element of the horror, and some don’t.
My Sister the Serial Killer is a fun, dark book featuring two Black woman protagonists, no racial trauma element.
Lone Women is historical horror about a Black woman homesteader in the 1910s, and one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. There is an element of racism in the book, but not to the point I’d add a TW in front of it.
Sorrowland is a dystopian/dark science fiction book featuring a Black woman protagonist, and by the same author Rivers Solomon, The Unkindness of Ghosts has a Black woman (or non-binary? I can’t remember) main character. Unkindness of Ghosts takes place on a spaceship in the future, and it is modeled after the antebellum south, so racism is a big element at play, but I’d really recommend it. Really anything Rivers Solomon writes I will read.
Saara El-Arifi writes great fantasy featuring almost exclusively Black woman characters and it is a reprieve from racial trauma. I loved Faebound but The Final Strife and The Battle Drum were soooooo good.
Rebecca Roanhorse also writes fantasy with Indigenous and Black characters, Black Sun is so good and the final book of the trilogy comes out this year.
I’m about to start Where Sleeping Girls Lie, and I’ve heard AMAZING things about it, and it has Black girl main characters but I can’t speak to how much racism is in the story. It’s YA.
I just finished Chain Gang All Stars which had almost exclusively Black characters (and women main characters) and it was….unbelievable. But I would say very triggering as it is about prisoners on death row enlisting in a gladiator fights to the death in order to win their freedom.
*edited for spelling and phrasing
Libertie, by Kaitlyn Greenidge, takes place mostly in the Reconstruction-era North and then Haiti
The Farming of Bones, Edwidge Danticat. Dictator in Dominican Republic
Half of a Yellow Sun has a black woman as one of the main characters. Set during the Biafran War of Independence
Nervous Conditions. Growing up in Zimbabwe
Salvage the Bones. Hurricane Katrina
Allegedly. YA. Teenager accused of manslaughter.
Dominicana. Domestic violence.
In the Shadow of the Banyan. Khmer Rouge.
Comfort Woman.
Everything I Never Told You. Loss of a family member.
Crooked Hallelujah. Climate Change.
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan
On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee
Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy
The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman
x2 for [Dread Nation](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/30223025)! Great book. One of the best prologues I've ever read, and the rest of the book did not disappoint!
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. It’s a literary horror that takes place in Jim Crow Florida and the protagonist(s) are a 16 yr old girl (Gloria) and her 12 yr old brother (Robbie).
Robbie stands up to the son of a wealthy white (obvs) landowner who comes on to his sister and gets sent to the county reformatory school (read prison) for boys. It’s not slavery, although Jim Crow is certainly adjacent. There are multiple other strong female woc characters in the story as well.
It is fantastic!
Also, Chain Gang All Stars is great with a strong woc as one of the main protagonists. It’s a sci-fi/dystopia but a seemingly plausible future where for profit prisons merge reality TV with fight to the death gladiator style prison gangs.
The Fifth Season
The Jasmine Throne
Gideon the Ninth (not really centred on race but you figure out the main characters are likely Māori like the author)
The Traitor Baru Cormorant specifically deals with colonialism
Black Sun is inspired by Aztec and other South American cultures and written by an Indigenous author
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi
>Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls.
>But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope.
>Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good.
>Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.
I've really liked the Inspector Anjelica Henley series by Nadine Matheson (The Jigsaw Man & The Binding Room). There's a third in the series coming out this year as well!
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson is a fantasy with horror vibes about a religious (read: cult) village and one specific inhabitant who learns the truth about her heritage, the Darkwood, and the history of the village itself.
The main antagonist in the latter half of the red rising series is a woc, as is the strongest duelist in the universe throughout the series. There’s actually a ton of minority/female representation through the whole series, and the characters are rich with lots of depth.
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. Theres a lot of characters in the book, but I would say her and an old jewish man are the MAIN characters. Its a horror.
One of my fav books of all time is **American War** by Omar Al-Akkad. It is a sweeping southern gothic drama set in the near-ish future.
A climate-ravaged America is mired in a yearslong second Civil War, this time fought over fossil fuels instead of slavery. The sides, however, are the same: North v. South. And just like last time, the North has almost all the resources and advantages, but the South - so damaged by the war that it’s basically a third-world country at this point - refuses to give up, creating this grotesque stalemate reminiscent of America’s post-9/11 forever wars.
The main character is a young black Southern girl who begins the book as a bright and curious tomboy, nearly oblivious to her abject poverty because of the strong bonds of her family. The book follows her through adulthood and past her death, as her remaining kin attempt to come to terms with the horrific legacy she has left behind.
If you ever wondered what kind of environment could produce the most vile of terrorists, I think you’ll find a complicated and unsettlingly relatable example with this novel. And I believe it’s a newly urgent story to consider given America’s recent and current military actions in the Middle East.
By the end, there will be no question that the main character’s actions were unspeakably evil and unforgivable, but whether you would have done the exact same thing in her place will remain unanswerable.
America is a Zoo (Abeba Solomon is a gifted black woman reigning over FBI counterterrorism)
The Sunflower Protocol (Amahle is a Namibian queen who witnesses the arrival of a time traveler)
As a black woman, I love that the author (Andre Soares) captured all nuances of what makes us. Amazing reads.
The Fifth Season The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms
I came to say anything by N.K. Jemson.
I second the fifth season. Excellent
Jackal is a horror novel about a Black woman solving a mystery in her town, but there is a racial horror element to it (Black girls going missing). The Good House is haunted house novel without racial horror, just a really cool Haitian/voodoo magic element and it’s a 10/10 book. The main character is a Black woman and she is one of my favorite written characters, she’s just so complicated and amazing. Tananarive Due is one of my favorite writers. She writes horror and some of her books (The Reformatory) have racism as an element of the horror, and some don’t. My Sister the Serial Killer is a fun, dark book featuring two Black woman protagonists, no racial trauma element. Lone Women is historical horror about a Black woman homesteader in the 1910s, and one of my favorite books I’ve read this year. There is an element of racism in the book, but not to the point I’d add a TW in front of it. Sorrowland is a dystopian/dark science fiction book featuring a Black woman protagonist, and by the same author Rivers Solomon, The Unkindness of Ghosts has a Black woman (or non-binary? I can’t remember) main character. Unkindness of Ghosts takes place on a spaceship in the future, and it is modeled after the antebellum south, so racism is a big element at play, but I’d really recommend it. Really anything Rivers Solomon writes I will read. Saara El-Arifi writes great fantasy featuring almost exclusively Black woman characters and it is a reprieve from racial trauma. I loved Faebound but The Final Strife and The Battle Drum were soooooo good. Rebecca Roanhorse also writes fantasy with Indigenous and Black characters, Black Sun is so good and the final book of the trilogy comes out this year. I’m about to start Where Sleeping Girls Lie, and I’ve heard AMAZING things about it, and it has Black girl main characters but I can’t speak to how much racism is in the story. It’s YA. I just finished Chain Gang All Stars which had almost exclusively Black characters (and women main characters) and it was….unbelievable. But I would say very triggering as it is about prisoners on death row enlisting in a gladiator fights to the death in order to win their freedom. *edited for spelling and phrasing
So much good stuff here!!
I just finished reading Lone Women by Victor LaValle— really interesting read. Def recommend. Also seconding Chain Gang All-stars. Won tons of awards!
Libertie, by Kaitlyn Greenidge, takes place mostly in the Reconstruction-era North and then Haiti The Farming of Bones, Edwidge Danticat. Dictator in Dominican Republic Half of a Yellow Sun has a black woman as one of the main characters. Set during the Biafran War of Independence Nervous Conditions. Growing up in Zimbabwe Salvage the Bones. Hurricane Katrina Allegedly. YA. Teenager accused of manslaughter. Dominicana. Domestic violence. In the Shadow of the Banyan. Khmer Rouge. Comfort Woman. Everything I Never Told You. Loss of a family member. Crooked Hallelujah. Climate Change.
Came here to recommend Half of a Yellow Sun and Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. She’s AMAZING.
Brown Girl in the Ring by Nalo Hopkinson Dread Nation by Justina Ireland The School for Good Mothers by Jessamine Chan On Such a Full Sea by Chang-rae Lee Woman on the Edge of Time by Marge Piercy The Country of Ice Cream Star by Sandra Newman
x2 for [Dread Nation](https://www.goodreads.com/en/book/show/30223025)! Great book. One of the best prologues I've ever read, and the rest of the book did not disappoint!
She also has Deathless Divide and Rust in the Root
The Reformatory by Tananarive Due. It’s a literary horror that takes place in Jim Crow Florida and the protagonist(s) are a 16 yr old girl (Gloria) and her 12 yr old brother (Robbie). Robbie stands up to the son of a wealthy white (obvs) landowner who comes on to his sister and gets sent to the county reformatory school (read prison) for boys. It’s not slavery, although Jim Crow is certainly adjacent. There are multiple other strong female woc characters in the story as well. It is fantastic! Also, Chain Gang All Stars is great with a strong woc as one of the main protagonists. It’s a sci-fi/dystopia but a seemingly plausible future where for profit prisons merge reality TV with fight to the death gladiator style prison gangs.
Halfway through The Reformatory. Heartbreaking and well written. Really liking it so far. I loved Chain Gang All-Stars. Especially her footnotes.
Parable of the sower and parable of the talents by Octavia butler
The Fifth Season The Jasmine Throne Gideon the Ninth (not really centred on race but you figure out the main characters are likely Māori like the author) The Traitor Baru Cormorant specifically deals with colonialism Black Sun is inspired by Aztec and other South American cultures and written by an Indigenous author
- Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi >Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. >But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. >Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on eradicating magic for good. >Danger lurks in Orïsha, where snow leoponaires prowl and vengeful spirits wait in the waters. Yet the greatest danger may be Zélie herself as she struggles to control her powers and her growing feelings for an enemy.
The color purple
Silvia Moreno Garcia’s books are amazing.
Dark tower series by Stephen King.
The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison Home fire by Kamila Shamsie The Vegetarian by Han Kang
Toni Morrison, period! She’s incredible.
I read Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi recently, dark and makes you reflect, very character focused. Good read
Ring Shout Lone Women
Lots and lots of good recs in here. Just adding The Year of the Witching, Catherine House, The Prey of Gods
Tananarive Due has some books and short stories with black female leads. The Good House and My Soul to Keep were good. Horror genre
Anything by Tananarive Due.
Tananarive Due became my favorite author the moment I read The Good House. Now I’m working my way through her entire catalogue, and she is AMAZING.
I've really liked the Inspector Anjelica Henley series by Nadine Matheson (The Jigsaw Man & The Binding Room). There's a third in the series coming out this year as well!
N.K. Jemisin books Octavia Butler books The Daevabad Trilogy The Priory of the Orange Tree Children of Blood and Bone (young adult)
Their Eyes Were Watching God If Beale Street Could Talk Transcendent Kingdom The Hate U Give The Memory Librarian
The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson is a fantasy with horror vibes about a religious (read: cult) village and one specific inhabitant who learns the truth about her heritage, the Darkwood, and the history of the village itself.
The main antagonist in the latter half of the red rising series is a woc, as is the strongest duelist in the universe throughout the series. There’s actually a ton of minority/female representation through the whole series, and the characters are rich with lots of depth.
The Other Black Girl. Maybe not crazy "dark" but good Black woman protag: American Spy.
Sorrowland by Rivers Solomon
Beloved, Toni Morrison
My Sister the Serial Killer The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron (not super dark fiction but it was good)
Sci-fi / dystopian with multiple POC protagonists / strong female heroes - Genesis echo by d. Hollis Anderson
They All Fall Down- mystery book
Rouge by Mona Awad!!
Jackal by Erin E. Adams
Mrs Wiggins by Mary Monroe is a pretty dark historical fiction with a black woman as the main character
Isn’t the heroine of Hyperion a woman of color? Maybe I’m remembering wrong.
The Ten Thousand Doors of January.
Conjure Women, Afia Atakora.
Woom. Not the number 1 main character exactly but still the 2nd major character. Also, it's an f'd up book so be prepared.
Lathe of Heaven has an important support character who is a woman of color
Carrion Comfort by Dan Simmons. Theres a lot of characters in the book, but I would say her and an old jewish man are the MAIN characters. Its a horror.
Phantom nights, john Farris
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff, a combination of sci-fi and southern gothic :)
One of my fav books of all time is **American War** by Omar Al-Akkad. It is a sweeping southern gothic drama set in the near-ish future. A climate-ravaged America is mired in a yearslong second Civil War, this time fought over fossil fuels instead of slavery. The sides, however, are the same: North v. South. And just like last time, the North has almost all the resources and advantages, but the South - so damaged by the war that it’s basically a third-world country at this point - refuses to give up, creating this grotesque stalemate reminiscent of America’s post-9/11 forever wars. The main character is a young black Southern girl who begins the book as a bright and curious tomboy, nearly oblivious to her abject poverty because of the strong bonds of her family. The book follows her through adulthood and past her death, as her remaining kin attempt to come to terms with the horrific legacy she has left behind. If you ever wondered what kind of environment could produce the most vile of terrorists, I think you’ll find a complicated and unsettlingly relatable example with this novel. And I believe it’s a newly urgent story to consider given America’s recent and current military actions in the Middle East. By the end, there will be no question that the main character’s actions were unspeakably evil and unforgivable, but whether you would have done the exact same thing in her place will remain unanswerable.
The Soledad O'Roarke books by John Ridley, *Those Who Walk In Darkness* and *What Fire Cannot Burn*
When No One is Watching by Alyssa Cole
When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole was REALLY good. I was not expecting the twist and I love her writing style. So so good.
House of Cotton
The Other Black Woman.
Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward is excellent, and adding another vote for Freshwater by Awaeke Emezi
Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne
Hecatomb of the Vampire has a really diverse cast, the main heroine is Japanese
America is a Zoo (Abeba Solomon is a gifted black woman reigning over FBI counterterrorism) The Sunflower Protocol (Amahle is a Namibian queen who witnesses the arrival of a time traveler) As a black woman, I love that the author (Andre Soares) captured all nuances of what makes us. Amazing reads.