Laura Sook Duncombe’s previous Literary Ladies Cage Fight columns for The Butter can be found here.

Hey, gal-pals! Welcome to Literary Ladies Cage Fight: where women always win! I am Aphrodite, goddess of love, and my sister Artemis and I read tons of books (for YOUR pleasure, dear readers) and celebrate the awesome female protagonists…by pitting them against each other in head-to-head combat. We’re so glad you’re here!

It is true. I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt. Each fight’s rules are the same: two women, five rounds, one point for the winner of each round. At the end of the last round, whoever has the most points wins the match! This match, we are proud to bring you two heroines brought to life by the same author: Libba Bray. Her books span nearly every YA category (romance/mystery/supernatural/history/black comedy, just to name a few) and her characters represent every walk of life, ethnicity, and sexual orientation imaginable. If you haven’t checked her out, we strongly recommend it! There is something for everyone in her oeuvre. Today, our combatants are Gemma Doyle from A Great and Terrible Beauty and Evie O’Neill from The Diviners. Remember ladies, fight fair! Without further ado, let’s get ready to rumble!

Laura Sook Duncombe’s previous Literary Ladies Cage Fight columns for The Butter can be found here.

Welcome back, mortals. It is I, Artemis, goddess of the hunt and co-host of the LLCF. Each time we meet, we take two heroines of literature and celebrate their unique attributes…by making them fight! When women are celebrated, everyone’s a winner.

Hey gal-pals! Aphrodite here, goddess of love and beauty and co-host with my fabulous sister Artemis!! Rules are the same as always: five rounds worth one point each. At the end of five rounds, whoever has the most points wins!

Right now our American readers are in the midst of a scorching summer. In an effort to alleviate the tedium of sweat-soaked commutes and other grown-up summer woes, this match features two YA protagonists who are getting a lot of press this summer—Margo Roth Spiegelman from John Green’s Paper Towns and Sidney Stanford from Sarah Dessen’s Saint Anything. Hopefully these teens will remind readers of those endless, possibility-laden summers of their youth, hanging out by the pool by day and cruising around with friends by night. (Shoutout to reader Victoria Sook for requesting this matchup!)

Did anyone really have summers like that? Mine were pretty boring tbh. But I <3 living through my fav YA ladies, whose summers and lives are way cooler than mine!! And I am a HUGE Sarah Dessen superfan and have been since I was an actual teenager, so I am totally psyched that she’s on LLCF this time!

Well then you have to cover Margo, to avoid tainting the results with your crazed fangirl enthusiasm. We must remain impartial! But enough chatter. Let’s get this fight underway!

Laura Sook Duncombe’s previous Literary Ladies Cage Fight columns for The Butter can be found here.

Hey there gal-pals! We’ve missed you! Hope all who celebrated had a safe and happy Fourth of July. We’re so excited to be back here with you for LLCF! 

Greetings. I am Artemis, goddess of the hunt and chastity. Along with my sister, Aphrodite, we are your hosts for the cage fight. Rules are simple: 5 rounds, one point each round. Whoever gets the most points wins. And all fights must be fair.

In honor of the Revolutionary War, we’ve matched up two much-loved protagonists, one from each side of the Pond. They will duke it out for their country’s honor—but remember that when women are celebrated, everyone’s a winner! I’m so jazzed to introduce Janie from Zora Neale Hurston’s Their Eyes Were Watching God and Dorothea from George Eliot’s Middlemarch!

Laura Sook Duncombe’s previous Literary Ladies Cage Fight columns for The Butter can be found here.

Hello, gal-pals! Artie and I have missed you sooooo much! Welcome back (or welcome for the very first time) to LLCF—where we take two heroines of literature and set them up in five rounds of combat. The lady with the most points wins! I am your co-host, Aphrodite (Goddess of Love and Beauty), along with my sister, Artemis (Goddess of Hunting and Chastity).

Thanks for that surprisingly competent introduction, Dita. We have learned that in the mortal realm, June is LGBT Pride Month. We here at LLCF believe that every month should be Pride—because every woman is sacred and beautiful, and we respect and fight for every woman’s right to love who she loves. We will follow your earthling traditions and dedicate June to our LGBT sisters. First up is an old classic versus a new one: Molly Bolt of Rita Mae Brown’s Rubyfruit Jungle versus Cameron Post of Emily M. Danforth’s The Miseducation of Cameron Post. So fight fair, ladies. Fight gloriously. Let the games begin!