sarahpretzel

27 thriller + romance lover tuxedo cat owner swiftie

202 points

0% overlap

My Taste

sarahpretzel TBR'd a book

The Astral Library

Kate Quinn

From New York Times bestselling author Kate Quinn comes a gorgeously written fantastical adventure which poses the question: Have you ever wished you could live inside a book? Welcome to the Astral Library, where books are not just objects, but doors to new worlds, new lives, and new futures. Alexandria “Alix” Watson has learned one lesson from her barren childhood in the foster-care system: books will never let you down, unlike people. Working three dead-end jobs to make ends meet and knowing college is a pipe dream, Alix takes nightly refuge in the high-vaulted reading room at the Boston Public Library, escaping into her favorite fantasy novels and dreaming of far-off lands. Until the day she stumbles through a hidden door and meets the Librarian: the ageless, acerbic guardian of a hidden library where the desperate and the lost escape to new lives...inside their favorite books. The Librarian takes a dazzled Alix under her wing, but before she can escape into the pages of her new life, a shadowy enemy emerges to threaten everyone the Astral Library has ever helped protect. Aided by a dashing costume-shop owner and bookmarking their way from volume to volume, Alix and the Librarian flee through the Regency drawing rooms of Jane Austen to the back alleys of Sherlock Holmes and the champagne-soaked parties of The Great Gatsby as their enemy draws closer. But who does their enemy really wish to destroy—the Library, the Librarian, or Alix herself?

sarahpretzel TBR'd a book

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Lolita Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.

sarahpretzel TBR'd a book

Patricia Wants to Cuddle

Samantha Allen

The contestants of a reality television dating show compete for love—and their lives—in this pulse-pounding and viciously funny fiction debut from the GLAAD Award-winning author of Real Queer America. When the final four women in competition for an aloof, if somewhat sleazy, bachelor's heart arrive on a mysterious island in the Pacific Northwest, they mentally prepare themselves for another week of extreme sleep deprivation, invasive interviews, and of course, the salacious drama that viewers nationwide tune in to eagerly devour. Each woman came on 'The Catch' for her own reasons—brand sponsorships, followers, and yes, even love—and they've all got their eyes steadfastly trained on their respective prizes. Enter Patricia, a temperamental, but woefully misunderstood local, living alone in the dark, verdant woods and desperate to forge a connection of her own. As the contestants perform for the cameras that surround them, Patricia watches from her place in the shadows, a queer specter haunting the bombastic display of heterosexuality before her. But when the cast and crew at last make her acquaintance atop the island's tallest and most desolate peak, they soon realize that if they're to have any hope of making it to the next Elimination Event, they'll first have to survive the night. A whirlwind romp careening toward a last-girl-standing conclusion and a scathing indictment of contemporary American media culture, Patricia Wants to Cuddle is also a love story: between star-crossed lesbians who rise above their intolerant town, a deeply ambivalent woman and her budding self-actualization, and a chosen family of misfit islanders forging community against all odds.

sarahpretzel TBR'd a book

Leave the World Behind

Rumaan Alam

A magnetic novel about two families, strangers to each other, who are forced together on a long weekend gone terribly wrong Amanda and Clay head to a remote corner of Long Island expecting a a quiet reprieve from life in New York City, quality time with their teenage son and daughter and a taste of the good life in the luxurious home they've rented for the week. But with a late-night knock on the door, the spell is broken. Ruth and G. H., an older couple who claim to own the home, have arrived there in a panic. These strangers say that a sudden power outage has swept the city, and - with nowhere else to turn - they have come to the country in search of shelter. But with the TV and internet down, and no phone service, the facts are unknowable. Should Amanda and Clay trust this couple - and vice versa? What has happened back in New York? Is the holiday home, isolated from civilisation, a truly safe place for their families? And are they safe from one another?

sarahpretzel TBR'd a book

Orbital

Samantha Harvey

A slender novel of epic power, Orbital deftly snapshots one day in the lives of six women and men hurtling through space—not towards the moon or the vast unknown, but around our planet. Selected for one of the last space station missions of its kind before the program is dismantled, these astronauts and cosmonauts—from America, Russia, Italy, Britain, and Japan—have left their lives behind to travel at a speed of over seventeen thousand miles an hour as the earth reels below. We glimpse moments of their earthly lives through brief communications with family, their photos and talismans; we watch them whip up dehydrated meals, float in gravity-free sleep, and exercise in regimented routines to prevent atrophying muscles; we witness them form bonds that will stand between them and utter solitude. Most of all, we are with them as they behold and record their silent blue planet. Their experiences of sixteen sunrises and sunsets and the bright, blinking constellations of the galaxy are at once breathtakingly awesome and surprisingly intimate. So are the marks of civilization far below, encrusted on the planet on which we live. Profound, contemplative and gorgeous, Orbital is an eloquent meditation on space and a moving elegy to our humanity, environment, and planet.

sarahpretzel commented on a post

jenniferPagebound

Criteria for Quest Additions

Hi everyone! I wanted to share how this quest was curated, and how suggestions and new additions will be evaluated. This quest first and foremost celebrates women behaving badly, whether that's through revenge, selfishness, unhinged desire, or simply a loose screw. There are (thankfully) many examples of such women in every genre, but this quest leans towards the "weird girl lit fic" realm. Weird girl litfic isn't an official sub genre of course; it's more of a vibe, you know it when you see it. Books in this sub genre tend to be literary or contemporary fiction with some thriller and horror mixed in, which is reflected in the quest list.

For new additions, I will be prioritizing new releases. There may be some exceptions if I missed an excellent backlist book, but in general I want the quest list to grow with books that will be published in the months and years to come :) Right now, I'm going through books published in 2025 that would be excellent fits. What Hunger by Catherine Dang was just added - let me know which other standout titles were published in 2025 and I'll do some research!

There are some popular backlist titles I intentionally did not include since they're well represented in other Quests (for example, Gone Girl and Bury Our Bones in the Midnight Soil). Others fit the theme but not the genre (examples: Poppy War and Iron Widow).

Hope this clarifies the criteria and helps steer suggestions! Stay bad 🔪💄🚬

154

sarahpretzel wrote a review...

sarahpretzel

May 25, 2026

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

🎨

🤥

💸

Alexandra Andrews knows how to write a mystery, and this book is no exception. There are so many twists and turns along the way that you’ll find you can’t put the book down but also, you can’t keep up. The main character makes unethical decisions, and you’ll still find yourself rooting for her. The art aspect of this book is so unique and really makes it stand out amongst other books.

sarahpretzel finished a book

The Fine Art of Lying

Alexandra Andrews

“Alexandra Andrews is monied Manhattan’s very own Agatha Christie.”—Ada Calhoun From the critically acclaimed author of Who is Maud Dixon? comes a riveting new novel about a young wife and mother in a world of wealth and privilege, whose rash mistake sets off a domino effect of murder and betrayal. In the beginning, there was art. It was Clare Bast’s love of art that saved her from a bleak, predictable life in upstate New York, and drew her to the cultured world of Manhattan’s Upper East Side where she met Jed, her doting, affluent husband. Despite her best efforts—including a half-finished PhD, abandoned when her daughter Sadie was born—Clare secretly can’t help but feel like an imposter in Jed’s one-percent, Park-Avenue life. When the well-connected wife of Jed’s new boss introduces her to influential friends—a curator here, a gallerist there, an aficionado abroad—Clare feels an essential part of herself coming alive again. And when she discovers that an important work painted by the subject of her unfinished dissertation is hanging in the brownstone of a seductively attractive dealer, she believes fate is leading her where she belongs . . . until she finds herself at the scene of a gruesome murder and a stolen masterpiece. Caught in the perfectly wrong place at the perfectly wrong time, every clue the investigation uncovers points back to her. Suddenly, Clare is trapped inside a dark and treacherous art world filled with unscrupulous dealers and international criminals. What, exactly, has she gotten herself into . . . and how is she going to get herself, and her family, out?

sarahpretzel commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

18h

GraceTheRomanceLover

Holiday book suggestions!!??

Heyyyyy!! I'm looking for some good holiday books to read! I'm looking for Halloween/Christmas book suggestions. Also seasonal books would be good too! Like summer or fall!! So if anybody has any good book suggestions please let me know!! TY!! 😀😁😀

sarahpretzel commented on a post from the Pagebound Club forum

18h

Pentimenti

What's the last book that made you cry – or cry with laughter?

Happy Sunday, PB posse! I'm curious about the last book that gave you such big feelings, you just had to let them out. Tell me about it!

The last book that made me cry (with laughter) is my current read, A Parade of Horribles, book 8 of the Dungeon Crawler Carl series! There have been multiple times where I've stared at the page and then burst out laughing, because what did I just read? Matt Dinniman's imagination knows no bounds. 😂

sarahpretzel made progress on...

18h

The Fine Art of Lying

Alexandra Andrews

100%

sarahpretzel made progress on...

The Fine Art of Lying

Alexandra Andrews

52%

sarahpretzel TBR'd a book

Fallow: A Novel

Sarah Anderson

Slyly funny and disarmingly tender, Fallow is the story of a young woman who signs up to be the world’s first in-house corporate surrogate, then finds herself caught up in a social experiment of another kind.Natalie knows one There is no such thing as a good job.As the clock ticks away at the workplace harassment call center, she tries to ignore the increasing pain in her jaw. She has no dental insurance. She has no skills or ambitions. She has student loans. And, minute by minute, she hears the many ways workers are not just not getting by, but actually getting hustled.Then, at the blood bank where she sells her plasma, a mysterious flyer leads her to The Company. Natalie turns out to be the perfect candidate for their pilot in-house surrogate. The Company pitches it as an opportunity to help women access greater gender equity, motherhood without maternity leave. Finally, she will be adequately—generously—compensated.For years, her every need is stacks of healthy meals in the refrigerator of a luxury condo, fitness coaches and nutritionists, around-the-clock healthcare. Between deliveries, she takes time off—no obligations or expectations. For the first time in her life, she is good at her job; for the first time, she feels free.But just as she’s about to fulfill the terms of her contract, a staffing decision upends everything and drags her deep into another social experiment. There she meets new questions about her future, her freedom, her purpose, and what she can expect from the world.Woundingly funny and deeply moving, Sarah Anderson’s Fallow is a tender, hilarious, alarmingly real vision of a woman balancing on the knife-edge of capitalism as she comes to realize who she wants to be.

sarahpretzel made progress on...

The Fine Art of Lying

Alexandra Andrews

46%

sarahpretzel made progress on...

The Fine Art of Lying

Alexandra Andrews

30%

sarahpretzel left a rating...

sarahpretzel

May 21, 2026

5.0

Enjoyment: 5.0Quality: 5.0Characters: 5.0Plot: 5.0

🐓

🌄

⚖️

sarahpretzel made progress on...

The Fine Art of Lying

Alexandra Andrews

25%

sarahpretzel joined a quest

Supporting* Women's Wrongs 🔪💄🚬

🏆 // 5962 joined

Not Joined

Whether you love to hate or hate to love 'em, these literary bad girls are anything but well-behaved. *Disclaimer: we do not literally support the illegal and oft cruel behavior of these protagonists (usually); we support the authors bold enough to write them (always).

sarahpretzel TBR'd a book

We're a Bad Idea, Right?

K.L. Walther

This stunning first edition of We’re A Bad Idea, Right? will feature special designed edges!The business of love gets messy when two best friends decide to fake a romantic relationship in this uproarious and swoony novel by the bestselling author of The Summer of Broken Rules.Audrey Barbour has had enough of following the rules. Eighteen years of being the perfect daughter—exceptional grades, enviable college acceptances, tame dating history—and still, her parents don’t trust her enough to let her study her passion, glassblowing, on a prestigious fellowship.So when her best friend Henry proposes an outrageous fake-dating scheme to win back his ex-girlfriend, it feels like the first step to shaking up her perfect life. And the second? That comes when Audrey’s parents go out of town, sparking a high-risk, high-reward solution to pay for her fellowship—renting out her family’s Connecticut mansion online. With the help of her new fake-boyfriend, it shouldn’t be hard to pull off… right? But when her best intentions start to unravel, Audrey will have to reckon with who she is, what she wants, and what it really means to play life by her rules—all with her heart on the line.

sarahpretzel TBR'd a book

The Most Fun We Ever Had

Claire Lombardo

A multigenerational novel in which the four adult daughters of a Chicago couple--still madly in love after forty years--recklessly ignite old rivalries until a long-buried secret threatens to shatter the lives they've built. When Marilyn Connolly and David Sorenson fall in love in the 1970s, they are blithely ignorant of all that's to come. By 2016, their four radically different daughters are each in a state of unrest: Wendy, widowed young, soothes herself with booze and younger men; Violet, a litigator-turned-stay-at-home-mom, battles anxiety and self-doubt when the darkest part of her past resurfaces; Liza, a neurotic and newly tenured professor, finds herself pregnant with a baby she's not sure she wants by a man she's not sure she loves; and Grace, the dawdling youngest daughter, begins living a lie that no one in her family even suspects. Above it all, the daughters share the lingering fear that they will never find a love quite like their parents'. As the novel moves through the tumultuous year following the arrival of Jonah Bendt--given up by one of the daughters in a closed adoption fifteen years before--we are shown the rich and varied tapestry of the Sorensons' past: years marred by adolescence, infidelity, and resentment, but also the transcendent moments of joy that make everything else worthwhile.

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