Women have always been ambitious, but it finally feels like we’re allowed to celebrate it, to own our ambition without apology. At least that’s what all those feminist business books and you-go-girl glossy articles would have you believe. But there’s always a darker side, and the thrillers on this list aren’t afraid to dive into it.
Narratives about ambitious women (in real life as well as fiction) often pit those women against each other: one woman who seems to have it all vs. another who will do anything to take it from her. Sure, it would be great if the women in these novels could all just get along, lift each other up instead of climbing over one another to get to the top—but then there wouldn’t be much of a story, would there?
These books function as both provocative power fantasies and feminist cautionary tales. For the female characters on this list, ambition is a driving force, but it’s also a dimension of their monstrousness. We read about them and think, you go girl—but wait, maybe don’t go that far.
Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton
This female-driven The Talented Mr. Ripley for the Instagram age was one of my favorite books of the past year. Louise’s down-on-her-luck life is turned upside down by careless, effervescent rich girl Lavinia, whose luxe lifestyle represents everything Louise has always wanted. The writing in this book is just as propulsive and intoxicating as Lavinia herself, and the twisty plot is terrifyingly plausible. Social Creature shows how easy our social media-obsessed society makes it to fake not only success, but an entire life.
#FashionVictim by Amina Ahktar
Anya St. Clair will literally kill to get ahead in this fashion industry satire that’s best described as American Psycho meets The Devil Wears Prada. For Anya, obsession is the sincerest form of flattery, and she makes mood boards—every Type A lady’s favorite visualization tool—about each of her murder victims. Like Louise in Social Creature, Anya is fixated on another woman whose success seems effortless (Sarah Taft, the perfect blonde It Girl at the magazine where Anya works), and the consequences are deadly.
Last Woman Standing by Amy Gentry
Dana Diaz is a struggling stand-up trying to hack it in the comedy boys’ club—until Amanda Dorn gives her a new ambition: plotting revenge on her abusers and other men like them. Amanda’s own rage has been honed by her experiences in the male-dominated tech world; when sexism kept her from succeeding there, she decided to tear it all down instead. Once Dana starts playing Amanda’s game of vengeance, her comedy career takes off too, which makes you wonder: how much higher could ambitious women climb if we stopped giving a damn what men think of us?
Pretty Revenge by Emily Liebert
As with Last Woman Standing, Pretty Revenge proves that vengeance and ambition can go hand-in-hand. Kerrie O’Malley wants revenge on Jordana Peterson, who ruined her life when she was young. Kerrie gives herself a chic makeover so she can con her way into a position at Jordana’s wedding concierge company and, hopefully, ruin her life right back. Like most ambitious women, Kerrie is excellent at multi-tasking: sure, she wants to destroy her enemies, but that doesn’t mean she can’t also kill it in her new career.
The Favorite Sister by Jessica Knoll
The Favorite Sister also focuses on a pair of frenemies who work together, but in this case they’re sisters: Brett and Kelly, stars of a reality television show about female business moguls aptly titled Goal Diggers. To their loyal fans, these women are the epitome of #goals, enviable in every way from their professional achievements to their perfect wardrobes. Of course, what happens on the show is far from real, and in some ways Brett and Kelly’s successes are just as manufactured as the show’s sensationalized on-screen drama.
The Arrangement by Robyn Harding
The Arrangement’s heroine Natalie has ambitions that are a little different from the other women on this list: she just wants to pay for art school, and get her judgmental roommates off her back about the rent check. At the urging of one of her classmates, she enters into a sugar baby arrangement with a wealthy older man, Gabe. Though their relationship eventually goes off the rails in delicious thriller fashion, Natalie finds a kind of power in using her body as an asset to get what she wants—even as other people try to shame her for it.
Necessary People by Anna Pitoniak
Violet Trapp spent her college years living in the glamorous shadow of her heiress best friend Stella Bradley. Now Violet’s finally pursuing her own ambitions, rapidly rising through the ranks as a cable news producer in New York City. Then Stella uses her family connections to get a flashy on-camera gig at Violet’s network. As their tensions turn professional as well as personal, the spark of competitiveness between the two young women rapidly combusts. Violet has spent so long burning with jealousy toward Stella, she has no idea that Stella is envious of her success, too. Ambition was what brought them together in the first place, but it can just as easily tear them apart.
Give Me Your Hand by Megan Abbott
Kit and Diane also bonded over their shared sense of ambition back when they were teenagers. But by the time Give Me Your Hand begins, they’re rival scientists vying for the approval of their tough-as-nails boss, Dr. Lena Severin. No shine theory for these two: there’s a single spot available on the research team for Dr. Severin’s groundbreaking new research study, so in order for one to succeed, the other has to fail. Both women are brilliant and striving, but Diane’s ruthlessness gives her the edge. There’s nothing Diane won’t do to get what she wants, and Kit admires her as much as she fears her.
That just about sums up how we as readers feel about most of the women on this list. They may shock and scare us, but we can’t help rooting for them a little bit too—and turning those pages to find out what their ambitions might drive them to do next!
