4 Urban Fantasy Books With Women Who Refuse to Behave

Look, some of us don't want a heroine who plays nice, follows the rules, and waits for permission. We want the women who mouth off to ancient beings, solve murders while dodging their own emotional baggage, and face down apocalyptic threats—often with a quip already locked and loaded.

These four series deliver the goods: sharp dialogue, supernatural danger, and protagonists who absolutely refuse to sit down and shut up.

1. Trail of Lightning by Rebecca Roanhorse

Maggie Hoskie is a monster hunter in Dinétah—the Navajo homeland reborn after climate apocalypse drowned much of the world. The old gods are back. So are the old monsters. Maggie has supernatural killing gifts and a past she'd rather bury, but when a young girl goes missing, she's pulled into a hunt that digs up both.

Hugo and Nebula finalist. Indigenous futurism meets gritty urban fantasy, with a heroine as sharp as her blade.

2. The Unlikeable Demon Hunter by Deborah Wilde
Nava Katz accidentally crashes her twin brother's secret induction ceremony and walks out with his destiny as a demon hunter. Now she's the first woman in an ancient boys' club, partnered with a rockstar-turned-slayer who's almost as irritating as he is hot. The Brotherhood wants her gone. The demons want her dead. Good thing spite is her superpower.

Nava is snarky, messy, and absolutely refuses to behave.

3. Rosemary and Rue by Seanan McGuire

October "Toby" Daye is a half-human, half-fae private investigator in San Francisco who tried to leave the faerie world behind. Then a dying woman's curse binds her to solve a murder, and Toby's dragged back into the dangerous politics she barely survived the first time.

Noir mystery meets faerie mythology with a stubborn heroine who refuses to stay down.

4. First Grave on the Right by Darynda Jones

Charley Davidson is a part-time PI and full-time Grim Reaper in Albuquerque. She sees dead people, helps them cross over, and consults for the cops on cases only she can solve. Her mouth runs faster than her survival instincts, and trouble finds her like it's got GPS.

Hilarious, heartfelt, and hot. She'd make you laugh at a funeral—then solve the murder.

If you're in the mood for a snarky demon hunter who runs on caffeine, bad decisions, and sheer stubbornness, start with The Unlikeable Demon Hunter—the complete seven-book series is waiting for you.