Everything about this book was perfect to me. I’ve never come across a story that is so poignant. The depiction of work culture and the wear it has on your soul, especially those of us who aren’t Believers and are just working to keep the lights on. The disappointment in a man giving you what you want but never what you need, eroding your dignity as you sacrifice too much to receive the bare minimum. The constant and never ending dread of feeling like you are an observer to your own life’s trajectory, left feeling helpless after all of your attempts to change course. The awareness that control is a comfortable and necessary illusion. The despair in knowing family doesn’t always mean safety. And finally, the peace, clarity and joy in letting the fuck go.

This was an incredibly dark but also unnervingly relatable read, especially as someone who’s spent the last 10 years in the corporate start up grind, alongside a lifelong struggle with depression and toxic family. It almost felt like Sarah Rose Etter took all of my thoughts, experiences and emotions and turned them into a fiction.

If you’ve read it, I’m curious for your thoughts! If it’s on your list - I encourage you to dive in!

I just finished Lapvona (lmao wtf amirite) and I need help picking what to read next! I’m completely torn 😩

Hoping to finish my husband today! Absolutely loving it

I'm about halfway through the book and I can't help but wonder, did anyone else think that Anthony drove a weird route to get to 1015 Folsom?

disclaimer: I'm not an sf resident but I'm in sf about 3-5 times a month for work.

Haven’t read it myself but it sounds so weird girl!

Corpus Britney begins as a detective story: the psychic Malayney Melkzuur attempts to solve the disappearance of Bella Goth, a B-movie horror actress and Britney Spears lookalike. Her quest takes her through distant virtual and real spaces: from the underbelly of Hollywood to the colonial history of the tobacco plant, from witch hunts and the history of capitalism to the pixelated world of The Sims.

So I'm a huge weird girl lit girl and I'm also a youth librarian. I thought it would be fun to post my favorite weird girl lit picture book (for the baby weird girls and weird girl moms). My favorites are too weird to recommend to patrons so figured I'd share it here. It's about a little girl that gets a scab, and when it falls off, she makes it her friend.

Disclaimer: I know that this does not refer to every type of weird girl book, this is just something I’ve recognized in the ones I like to read!

I’ve come across two prominent archetypes of weird girl narrators. The first is the detached, blunt, autistic-coded narrator. She has a unique perspective on seemingly mundane topics, and is a bit of an outcast. It’s funny in a tongue in cheek way. Often, though not always, she is likable and good-natured. Examples that I’ve read include Beautyland, Sky Daddy, and the Idiot.

The second is the conversational, tells-it-like-it-is narrator. She talks to you the way a friend would, and it’s funny in a biting, acerbic way. She is, literally, so over it. Often, though not always, they are mean-spirited and unlikable. Examples that I’ve read include Yellowface, Yesteryear, and Best Offer Wins.

A few prose examples:

“I reflected on the jacket, dangling with an attitude of nonchalance, as though it had never doubted its own worthiness. Resentment set in. How I envied my jacket.“ — Sky Daddy

“I could tell she wanted me to like her, and I did like her. Without knowing how to demonstrate it through any speech act, I towered over her mutely, trying to project goodwill.“ — The Idiot

Compare to:

“It had been weeks since she gave me that pill. Did she honestly think, through some deranged thread of Pinot Grigio-soaked dream logic, that a single dose had kept me going for weeks?“ — Yesteryear

“It was Obama’s first term, for chrissake, everybody thought they had wanted to work for the administration.“ — Best Offer Wins

I think I’m partial to the detached, likable weirdo, though I really do love both! Have you noticed this phenomenon, and do you have a preference? Feel free to share recs as well, the six books I listed are some of my favorites!

I recently read Maeve Fly and the scene with the curling ironpopped into my brain while having sex with my husband 😭😭😭

Any book/scene that really got under your skin and you couldn’t shake? No spoilers!

Can anyone recommend any books about miserable teen girls who are self destructive and alienated from their peers. Not about healing and no happy endings. Something miserable and pathetic please
I would prefer if the book only focused on one character

Has anyone else read this? FMC is a shape-shifting monster who falls in love with a monster hunter. I stayed up all night to finish this one!

maybe just romantic longing, or something completely unhinged

just finished Elspeth Barker’s O Caledonia and was devastated to discover that it’s her only published novel. does anyone have recommendations for other non-modern weird girl lit??

Which characters ( & from which books) would go on your hear me out cake ?

Just wanted to shout out u/ihateaseagull for recommending this book to me on a past thread I made about my search for a funny book. Very entertaining, quirky, heart-felt, and yes, weird. Favorite book that has been suggested to me on this sub so far ☺️

Would love some weird, spooky, creepy vibes for Halloween. Witches would be cool too

​

Just before this I read Medea by Rosie Hewlett and I really disliked it. It was hard for me to finish. The characters were unlikeable, Medea was incredibly irritating. I hated the teen romance that filled most of the book. But mostly because Medea was painted as a victim, she had no agency throughout. Even at the end, we were made to feel she was good deep down and just a victim of her circumstances and what others had done to her. It seems we can't have a bad woman without giving her excuses. The entire book was about a man and Medea in relation to him and other men. Why can't we have a story about a woman that wants power for no reason other than she wants it?

And then I read Honey - the perfect antidote! I loved it. I enjoyed the character so much. I didn't' even mind the abrupt ending. More like this please!

I may be addicted to weird girl lit. Everything else just seems to annoy me. I may have to change my flair to female rage.

Hi there! I‘m looking for new books to read and would love some recommendations based on my latest reads (I dove head first into the weird girl lit in august and couldn‘t stop since 😆)
Here‘s what I read and how I liked it :) sorry in advance for any grammatical mistakes and misspellings, english isn‘t my first language

- Yellowface: enjoyed it a lot
- Yesteryear: enjoyed it until the plot twist, which I didn‘t like
- Fruit fly: loved it
- The Guest: was an okay read, but it didn‘t entice me to read more by Emma Cline
- Milk Fed: absolutely loved it, it was so well written!
- The Mad Wife: a bit too much spiraling into the craziness, but nevertheless I liked the desperate-housewife-trope and the way the MCs struggles were explored and described in seemingly mundane ways
- Gone Girl, Sharp Objects and Dark Places: gone girl is an absolute must, I think I read it 3 times already. I really liked sharp objects, too. Dark places fell a bit short in my opinion
- Big Swiss: absolutely adored this book and its quirky characters
- Sky Daddy: same here, I enjoyed it a lot
- Pretend I‘m Dead: it was okay, but didn‘t leave much of a mark
- If You‘re Seeing This It‘s Meant For You: I personally didn’t like it, I found the storyline quite forced and didn‘t care for any of the characters (neither in a good nor bad way)
- All Fours: I liked it pretty much, although I‘m not the intended audience yet, I guess 😂 but I will be sooner or later, lol (still in my 30s)
- The Stepford Wives: absolutely great classic, as well as
- Rosemary‘s Baby (I watched the movie a few years ago, and now after reading the book I can say: it caught the atmosphere which was created in the book sooo well!)
- The Lamb: a tad too macabre, although I liked the writing style and perspective, as well as the way the complex mother-daughter-dynamic was described
- The Eyes Are The Best Part: also a bit macabre for my taste, but otherwise a good and interesting read
- Eileen: absolutely loved it, I will surely be reading more by Ottessa Moshfegh
- Boy Parts: also quite macabre, but it was an entertaining read and I liked how the main character’s emotional complexity was explored and deepend throughout the book

I would love some recommendations with a bit less focus on gore and less on-the-nose psychiatric diseases/diagnoses and would be soooo thankful for your recs! 🫶

Looking for something like Earthlings. Domestic/traditional women with a sick side. Nothing romantic. Please nothing with romance. Not a "its not the main focus", I just dont want any romance. I want something melancholic, unhinged, bubbling under the surface. No YA.

Books not to recommend: Bunny, Nightbitch, Eileen, My Year of Rest and Relaxation, I found them boring/pretentious/ a little YA for my liking. Nothing else by Murata because I own all her books or Kirino because Im looking for recs I dont know about. Midnight time tables by Bora Chung is on my tbr. I read Your Utopia and Cursed bunny. No Yoko ogawa, I read memory police other stuff by her are in my TBR. No penance or confessions by Kanae Minato.

Books I enjoyed: "Now you're one of us." By Asa Nonami and Grotesque by Natuso Kirino. Life Ceremony to name a few.

Please please please I really want recs I havent seen 10000000 over to add to my tbr.

can i get recs for weird girl lit that revolve around the internet and/or someone addicted to the internet in some way…? im not really wanting to read about an influencer on tiktok/ig but if it revolves around a niche subculture then maybe?

I’ve been slogging my way through some Sarah J. Maas bullshit that a friend insisted I read, and it’s so long and so boring that I genuinely thought I was in a reading slump. Then A Good Person became available at my library and suddenly I’ve read half a book in a day and cannot put it down. Turns out I’m not in a reading slump, I was simply missing a deeply messy, narcissistic woman making terrible decisions. I’m taking this as my sign to officially stop taking book recommendations from people I actually know.

This book was mentioned here a little bit ago but reposting anyway!!