I host a book club called “Cynical Lovers” where we read books that (usually) have a romantic element but with a twist. Usually an obsessive, possessive, or just twisted protagonist, unreliable narrator, etc. The catch is that we want to read books written by women, so no male authors. Some books we’ve read in the past, so looking for something similar, are:
- Vladimir by Julia May Jonas
- Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
- Annie Bot by Sarah Greer
- Sirens & Muses by Antonia Angress
- All Fours by Miranda July
- The Pisces by Melissa Broder
- Intermezzo by Sally Rooney
TIA!
by birdreptile
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Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
Convenience Store Woman by Sayaka Murata
Nowhere Girl by Cheryl Diamond (not sure this entirely fits your wants, but is a good book)
Outlawed by Anna North (Weird girls by society’s standards)
Little Rot by Akwaeke Emezi
The Woman Destroyed by Simone de Beauvoir
My Sister the Serial Killer by Oyinkan Braithwaite
The Story of Mary MacLane by herself (the OG weird girl memoir)
Earthlings by Murata
Bunny by Awad (and others by Awad)
Kelly Link’s short stories
Moshfegh’s novels
Nightbitch
The Vegetarian by Han Kang (which I will recommend as a double feature with The Edible Woman, which is much older and represents a very different era of feminism)
Our Wives Under the Sea I sometimes call this genre “new weird girl” (as a joke on the “new weird” genre, which is pretty different) and the idea of “weird girl lit” is becoming googleable, if you want more recs.
The Next Mrs. Parrish by Liv Constantine
Good As Gone by Amy Gentry
The Girl in the Mirror by Rose Carlyle
Hysteria by Jessica Gross
Y/N by Esther Yi
Hahah can I join this book club? This is my favorite genre. I like Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky – her books are so strange but great. I also like Halle Butler. Years ago I read Social Creature by Tara Isabella Burton and thought it was fun. I loved The Guest by Emma Cline.
Interesting Facts About Space by Emily Austin
*The Blind Assassin* by Margaret Atwood
Margaret Atwood’s The Heart Goes Last had elements of that theme!
If you’re open to short stories, the collection And I Do Not Forgive You by Amber Sparks.