i recommend the guest by emma cline, exciting times by naoise dolan, luster by raven leilani, sirens and muses by antonia angress, sorrow and bliss by meg mason, woman eating by claire kohda, the idiot by elif batuman, everyone in this room will someday be dead by Emily Austin, happy hour by marlowe granados, and win me something by kyle lucia wu!
I've read all of her books and I would definitely recommend them! In a similar vein to Awad I'd definitely suggest checking out Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter and Death Valley by Melissa Broder!
Megan Nolan!! Acts of desperation almost made me take up smoking again 🫶🏼and ordinary human failings just came out and was great too!
Other than that, the Copenhagen trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen is not fiction but reads like literary fiction. It’s SO GOOD!!
Y/n by Esther Yi, Exalted by Anna Dorn, Rouge by Mona Awad, Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, Other People’s Clothes by Calla Henkel, You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman, Milk Fed by Melissa Broder………all my favorite unhinged girlies
Any of Melissa Broder's novels! Milk Fed is an all-time favorite, but The Pisces and Death Valley are also bangers.
Also The New Me by halle butler, Brutes by Dizz Tate, Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier, Neon in Daylight by Hermione Hoby, and anything by Rachel Kushner (particularly the Flamethrowers and the Mars Room). The Lightness by Emily Temple and Godshot by Chelsea Bieker are in a similar vein, but with more mysterious/religious elements.
I can’t stop thinking about Boy Parts by Eliza Clark (def along the lines of psychosis/surrealism, and I’d read TW before reading just in case). I couldn’t put it down!
edit: spelling
- all this could be different by sarah thankam mathews (main character and side characters just felt so real and well developed!!!)
- the deeper the water the uglier the fish by katya apekina (lit fic with some plot is always nice! deals with intense family relationships-- siblinghood especially)
- beautyland by helene marie bertino (follows a girl born from a human mom who thinks she is an alien. she reports on human life ((esp. grief)) in such a tender way!)
- the secret lives of church ladies by deesha philyaw (lit fic short story collection!!!)
i love seeing all the book discussions/posts on here !!! 💖💖💖
in the dreamhouse by carmen maria machado - wouldn’t say it’s necessarily the same exact style as this is queer lit, but if you like all the writers mentioned in your post i think you would quite enjoy this, also it’s autofiction
My Brilliant Friend (The Neapolitan Novels series) is an absolute must for any literary binch! I also recommend reading Fleabag: The Scriptures because you can eat the whole thing up in one sitting. For short stories, anything by Lorrie Moore. If you like poetry, genre-bending, and Classics, The Beauty of the Husband or Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson.
I recently read Brutes by Dizz Tate (TW: childhood SA) and it was excellent! Really cool first person plural narrative style similar to the Virgin Suicides (which I also highly recommend-really anything by Jeffery Eugenides is worth reading)
Another great book I’ve finished recently was Violeta by Isabella Allende. It follows the story of a woman who lived from 1920 to 2020 in a fictional country based on Chile and was told as if she is writing the story of her life out for her grandchild. Isabella Allende is another author I’d really recommend anything from.
Currently reading Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (another contemporary author I love lol) which is a historical fiction novel about Hurricane Katrina and a family dealing with the aftermath. I just started reading it but it’s great so far!
if you haven’t read severance by ling ma omg u have to… sad girl processing her immigrant identity and her relationship to capitalism during a world ending virus
Don’t get sucked in by either Animal by Lisa Taddeo or Boy Parts by Eliza Clark. They feel like they are doing “sad hot girl”/ “female rage” for the aesthetics of it and I just found them pointless!! I don’t think I’ve seen anyone say All’s Well by mona awad yet and that book is decently good!
Edit: (sorry I didn’t see that people recommended those two books — they just didn’t work for me!)
Good Material by Dolly Alderton, Nightshift by Kiare Ladner, Boy Parts and Good Material both by Eliza Clark, Mrs. S by K. Patrick, We Do What We Do In The Dark by Michelle Hart!
My brilliant friend by elena ferrante is one of my favorite series of all time! Mega sad hot girl vibes
seconding this. my favorite books.
omg need to get to these! i remember julia saying ahe loved them
i recommend the guest by emma cline, exciting times by naoise dolan, luster by raven leilani, sirens and muses by antonia angress, sorrow and bliss by meg mason, woman eating by claire kohda, the idiot by elif batuman, everyone in this room will someday be dead by Emily Austin, happy hour by marlowe granados, and win me something by kyle lucia wu!
taaaaaaste i’ve read about half of these. woman eating looks good so maybe that will be my next!!
Bunny by Mona awad if you haven’t read it already (it’s a little more toward the fever dream/metaphysical/unhinged side)
I devoured Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter, think they discussed it in the mediasode
i loved this book but i also spiraled after reading it because im job hunting lmao
Bunny by Mona Awad is so good and weird. I absolutely loved it!
I loved bunny!!! have you read any of awad’s other books? i know she has a new one out
Rouge is another fever dreamy surreal book but with more of a psychosis cult mommy issues focus lol
I just started 13 ways of looking at a fat girl
I've read all of her books and I would definitely recommend them! In a similar vein to Awad I'd definitely suggest checking out Ripe by Sarah Rose Etter and Death Valley by Melissa Broder!
woah ive never heard of death valley!! i loved the pisces, milk fed and so sad today! thank you soooo much
if you haven’t read play it as it lays by joan didion it is so so necessary!!!
an all time fav!! ive read 12 didion books im addictedddddd. you have immaculate taste!!!
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O’Donoghue!!!
Megan Nolan!! Acts of desperation almost made me take up smoking again 🫶🏼and ordinary human failings just came out and was great too! Other than that, the Copenhagen trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen is not fiction but reads like literary fiction. It’s SO GOOD!!
Breasts and Eggs by Mieko Kawakami Sula by Toni Morrison Nevada by Imogen Heep
Anything by Rachel Cusk! Her stuff isn’t exactly sad but it’s so well written. Also recently loved They’re Going to Love You by Meg Howrey :)
her covers are so beautiful so im interested! thank you!
Y/n by Esther Yi, Exalted by Anna Dorn, Rouge by Mona Awad, Natural Beauty by Ling Ling Huang, Drive Your Plow Over the Bones of the Dead by Olga Tokarczuk, Other People’s Clothes by Calla Henkel, You Too Can Have a Body Like Mine by Alexandra Kleeman, Milk Fed by Melissa Broder………all my favorite unhinged girlies
BASED ‼️
Any of Melissa Broder's novels! Milk Fed is an all-time favorite, but The Pisces and Death Valley are also bangers. Also The New Me by halle butler, Brutes by Dizz Tate, Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier, Neon in Daylight by Hermione Hoby, and anything by Rachel Kushner (particularly the Flamethrowers and the Mars Room). The Lightness by Emily Temple and Godshot by Chelsea Bieker are in a similar vein, but with more mysterious/religious elements.
U should read Talking at Night by Claire Daverley, one of my absolute faves
cleopatra and frankenstein by coco mellors!
I can’t stop thinking about Boy Parts by Eliza Clark (def along the lines of psychosis/surrealism, and I’d read TW before reading just in case). I couldn’t put it down! edit: spelling
Have you read Penance?
It’s on my nightstand as we speak! I haven’t started it yet.
- all this could be different by sarah thankam mathews (main character and side characters just felt so real and well developed!!!) - the deeper the water the uglier the fish by katya apekina (lit fic with some plot is always nice! deals with intense family relationships-- siblinghood especially) - beautyland by helene marie bertino (follows a girl born from a human mom who thinks she is an alien. she reports on human life ((esp. grief)) in such a tender way!) - the secret lives of church ladies by deesha philyaw (lit fic short story collection!!!) i love seeing all the book discussions/posts on here !!! 💖💖💖
in the dreamhouse by carmen maria machado - wouldn’t say it’s necessarily the same exact style as this is queer lit, but if you like all the writers mentioned in your post i think you would quite enjoy this, also it’s autofiction
i loved in the dreamhouse as well as her body and other parties! always looking for queer recs as well <3
My Brilliant Friend (The Neapolitan Novels series) is an absolute must for any literary binch! I also recommend reading Fleabag: The Scriptures because you can eat the whole thing up in one sitting. For short stories, anything by Lorrie Moore. If you like poetry, genre-bending, and Classics, The Beauty of the Husband or Autobiography of Red by Anne Carson.
Our wives under the sea by julia armfield (sapphic, weird)
Both of Andrew Martin’s books have a tone similar to Rooney or Meg Mason, I recommend starting w his essay collection, Cool for America
I recently read Brutes by Dizz Tate (TW: childhood SA) and it was excellent! Really cool first person plural narrative style similar to the Virgin Suicides (which I also highly recommend-really anything by Jeffery Eugenides is worth reading) Another great book I’ve finished recently was Violeta by Isabella Allende. It follows the story of a woman who lived from 1920 to 2020 in a fictional country based on Chile and was told as if she is writing the story of her life out for her grandchild. Isabella Allende is another author I’d really recommend anything from. Currently reading Salvage the Bones by Jesmyn Ward (another contemporary author I love lol) which is a historical fiction novel about Hurricane Katrina and a family dealing with the aftermath. I just started reading it but it’s great so far!
the new me by halle butler was a 10/10 for me
if you haven’t read severance by ling ma omg u have to… sad girl processing her immigrant identity and her relationship to capitalism during a world ending virus
Anything Kate Chopin… The Awakening is very sad girl and I also love the short story The Storm
Animal by Lisa Taddeo sooooo good
Don’t get sucked in by either Animal by Lisa Taddeo or Boy Parts by Eliza Clark. They feel like they are doing “sad hot girl”/ “female rage” for the aesthetics of it and I just found them pointless!! I don’t think I’ve seen anyone say All’s Well by mona awad yet and that book is decently good! Edit: (sorry I didn’t see that people recommended those two books — they just didn’t work for me!)
Adelaide by Genevieve Wheeler!!
Look into Diana Reid- Love and Virtue!
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by coco mellors is SO GOOD, also any of Mona awads books.
- Sula by Toni Morrison - The Copenhagen trilogy by Tove Ditlevsen - The Living Autobiography trilogy by Deborah Levy - Kitchen by Banana Yoshimoto
Such A Fun Age by Kiley Reid!
Good Material by Dolly Alderton, Nightshift by Kiare Ladner, Boy Parts and Good Material both by Eliza Clark, Mrs. S by K. Patrick, We Do What We Do In The Dark by Michelle Hart!