Stories about women abandoning society's expectations of them (motherhood, thinness, beauty) and finding freedom in other, often bizarre, places.
A woman stops eating meat and her family and life unravels - the book that got me into this subgenre
The Vegetarian by Han Kang
1
Explores gender roles, hurt people hurting people, and the line between art and exploitation
Boy Parts: A Novel by Eliza Clark
Woman falls in love with a merman - bizarre, unhinged, loved it
The Pisces: A Novel : Broder, Melissa
2
Cannibalism, mother-daughter relationships, queerness - everything you want in a crash out novel
The Lamb by Lucy Rose
An obsession with youth and skincare shields grief and childhood trauma. Dark and fairy-take like, I've never read anything like it.
Rouge by Mona Awad
Fast-paced novella with gripping prose about a mother leaving her child and finding her own way. I finished it in one sitting.
The White Hot: A Novel by Quiara Alegria Hudes
A middle-aged mother sets out for a road trip and begins a secret journey of personal and sexual reinvention
All Fours by Miranda July
She has a marriage, kids and a conventional suburban life - before she abandons it without a plan
Breakdown by Cathy Sweeney
She's been through SO much - a wild ride
Down the Drain by Julia Fox
A group of women come together to cause havoc and feast without restraint, challenging the messaging for women to “take up less space”
Supper Club by Lara Williams
1
Best book to validate your corporate burnout
Discontent by Beatriz Serrano
1
A woman is trapped in her apartment with her father, a bird and a baby - made me deeply uncomfortable in the best way
The Rooftop by Fernanda Trías
A mother overcome with the mundaneness of her life begins to believe she's turning into a dog
Nightbitch by Rachel Yoder
A memoir about set upon a glamorous backdrop about drug addiction and self-sabotage.
How To Murder Your Life: A Memoir by Cat Marnell
A mother takes an unconventional path and raises her daughter in an ashram. The daughter becomes caregiver to the mother she resents. Both women spiral.
