Recs if you like Penance...

Exactly what it sounds like. Books you read that make other people question "who is this diva" or "good for her"

Books that play with the "book" as a medium or are otherwise self-reflexive/meta.

My current criteria for this list are (1) does the book highlight its own textuality consistently or (2) do the metafictional elements add significantly to the themes explored or (3) does the book's use of discourse and form (e.g., narrative situation, layout) significantly differ from the norm?

Make sure to comment your suggestions with a small explanation even if you're not 100 % sure if they fit!

This includes book that have either mystery or thrillers as a primary or secondary genre. If you have recommendations to add please comment and I'll happily add them 💕

Books that ignore the traditional way of telling a story. These books tell their stories in unexpected ways, through letters, transcripts, diaries, documents, text messages, or unconventional layouts.

Epistolary for the internet age. Told through interviews, news clips, podcasts, and transcripts.

All sorts of stories about all sorts of women. Mostly litfic, some horror.

List of books containing narrators that are unreliable, unfavorable, vile, malicious, manipulative and so on. The story, therefore, may be malleable in the narrators mind. Passages will likely contain content where you stop and think, "Hold up, did I read that correctly?" This list will focus on horror and horror adjacent books, focusing not just on narrators that are unreliable but also unlikable, cruel and possibly psychopaths.

the books that are most interesting, inventive, and complex for the girlhood studies grad student in me. whose “girlhood” are we talking about? i’m thinking of girlhood as a liminal, queer, socially constructed, often traumatic, uncanny space.

i love books that feel vile and uncomfortable and leave you feeling like you need to take a long shower and think about your life choices and that you can’t stop thinking about for days after. recs wanted and appreciated

Finally some good character work!! Books across all genres with thoughtfully written characters that I genuinely think exist in real life. 🤗🤗

For the girls who wanna learn more about societal and global issues, but are too burned by academia to read non-fiction

It’s always nice to feel like a normal person by reading about those more unhinged than you 😌 These are all women focused books. Some I’ve read and some I’m going to read. Apologies in advance if it gets long. Recommendations are absolutely welcome!! So please feel free.

I know a couple are written by men which might be taboo for some but I’ve included because I thought they were appropriate or the author has a track record of writing women well.

Stories within stories within stories ...

aka mostly “literary thrillers” though that’s an annoying phrase…just thrillers that don’t sacrifice attention to prose for the sake of plot

stories with lots of twists and turns, including (but not limited to) murder mysteries

Epistolary, ergodic, experimental, unconventional… books that challenge the traditional formats and usual rules of storytelling. 👀

the messiness and chaos of growing up as a teenage girl/young woman