The Queen of the Tearling Trilogy by Erika Johansen

Princess Kelsea Raleigh Glynn has spent her entire childhood hidden away, in training for the day when she will claim her birthright. The first book in the trilogy, The Queen of the Tearling, describes Kelsea's harrowing journey to claim the throne with her Queen's Guard, evading assassins sent by her uncle, the Regent. But death threats are not Kelsea's only troubles; once she arrives at her kingdom's seat in New London, Kelsea realizes how far her countrymen have fallen, keeping peace with the dangerous neighboring kingdom of Mortmesne by forcibly gathering dozens of citizens each month to be sent as slaves to the Red Queen. As the new Queen of the Tearling, Kelsea ends this practice immediately, but at the cost of war.

The Invasion of the Tearling ratchets up the suspense further, with the Tear army trying to slow the invasion of the Mort forces, and all the while Queen Kelsea tries to organize protection for her citizens and deal with the powerful but corrupt Holy Father of the Arvath. Meanwhile, Kelsea tries to understand the magical powers she is gaining from wearing the Tear sapphires and why she is having visions of the past from the perspective of a mysterious woman. This sequel ends on a cliffhanger, with the Mort army and the Red Queen at the gates of the capital as well as Kelsea's visions of "the crossing" many years before.

The final installment in the trilogy, The Fate of the Tearling, comes out the end of this month and is the most climactic with both the Tear and Mort kingdoms teetering on the brink, with Mort citizens and soldiers rebelling, the treacherous Arvath vying for more power, and creepy little beasts running amok everywhere. The shocking end should take readers by surprise.

Despite the medieval feel to the time period, events of the Tearling take place years in the future after the American government deteriorates into an increasingly conservative and surveillance-driven world where everyone and everything is censored and class divides are greater than ever between the rich and the poor. Epic fantasy fans and apocalyptic science fiction fans alike will enjoy this trilogy, as well as any reader interested in frank discussions of humanity and feminism.

Ōoku: the Inner Chambers, Vols. 1 & 2 by Fumi Yoshinaga

In seventeenth century Japan, a plague called the Red Pox inflicts only men, decimating the male population. With so few men left in the country, women take over the roles of men, becoming farmers, shopkeepers, and heads of households. Healthy men are prized, and only wealthy women are able to take them as husbands. Despite these reversals, women are not to rule, leaving politics to men, but the current shogun is secretly a woman. Rather than the traditional female concubines, her inner chambers are filled with men - men who can never leave, lest they reveal the true gender of their imperial ruler.

The first two volumes in the "Ōoku" series tell the origins of the first few female shoguns. Issues arise with pride and jealousy between the men and whom the shogun favors at that moment. Love is rare and cherished but cannot always be embraced as the men must be able to produce heirs with the shogun; otherwise, a shogun is forced to move on to a new male partner. The female concubine is frequently portrayed in fiction, while Ōoku is utterly unique for its frank portrayal of male concubines and their lives.

The Trespasser by Tana French

Detective Antoinette Conway grew up mixed-race and without a father in conservative Dublin, Ireland, so she’s used to not fitting in. She has always worn her differences defiantly and proudly, and styled herself a lone wolf, happy to be an outsider. She didn’t think she would fit right into Dublin’s all-male Murder squad, but she didn’t expect the level of harassment she’s receiving—pee in her locker, spit in her coffee, her paperwork thrown away and her cases jeopardized. It’s clear to Conway that everyone in the squad wants her out except for maybe her rookie partner, Steve Moran.

As the harassment begins to take a toll on Conway’s psyche, she and Moran are handed a seemingly straightforward murder—the victim, Aislinn Murray, led a boring life and there’s only a single suspect, her new boyfriend, Rory. The case should be an open-and-shut domestic, but nothing quite adds up. As their investigation is blocked at every turn by members of their own squad, Conway and Moran begin to suspect that finding Aislinn’s killer may lead them to a dangerous truth.

The Trespasser combines beautiful writing and intense psychological drama to create a literary mystery that draws the reader in completely and doesn’t let go until the final page. Though it is book six in French’s Dublin Murder Squad series, this novel is more than capable of standing alone.