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Messy Women: Books That Grab You and Don't Let Go
16
items Books about messy women and questionable choices. Basically my favorite genre: beautiful disasters you can't look away from.
What if your mental health plan was just...sleep for a year? It's absurd, darkly funny, and weirdly relatable if you've ever thought "maybe if I just hibernate, life will reset itself." Spoiler: it doesn't.
My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh
Two people in love who cannot, for the life of them, get their timing right. It's awkward, intimate, frustrating, and painfully real. Basically every almost relationship you've ever had but with prettier dialogue.
Normal People by Sally Rooney
Inspired by the Manson cult, this book captures the eerie magnetism of being a teenage girl searching for belonging in all the wrong places.
The Girls by Emma Cline
A haunting portrait of girlhood, obsession, and suburban repression. It's lyrical and unsettling. A beautiful ghost story.
The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides
Hot girl summer but make it disorienting and existential. It's about a woman who overstays her welcome in the Hamptons, drifting through other people's lives like a ghost in designer sunglasses. Beautifully written, quietly unsettling, and a little t...
The Guest by Emma Cline
Imagine if your eating disorder, your sexuality, and your complicated relationship with your mother all sat down at a frozen yogurt shop together. That's this book. Hilarious, grotesque, and tender all at once. Peeling back how desire and hunger (for...
Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
A memoir about grief, food, and mother/daughter relationships that will absolutely gut you. Zauner writes about losing her mom with such tenderness. Devastating but oddly comforting, like finding a recipe card in someone's handwriting you thought you...
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner
Julia Fox's memoir is just as chaotic and magnetic as you'd expect. Sex, drugs, poverty, fame, and of course Kanye. Underneath the tabloid sheen is a raw, messy, smart story of survival and self invention. Like if your wildest friend suddenly got ver...
Down the Drain by Julia Fox
Darkly funny, brutally honest, and impossible to put down. McCurdy writes about childhood stardom, eating disorders, and an abusive mother with a sharpness that makes you laugh in one breath and ache in the next.
I'm Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy
Pregnant 18 year old pizza delivery girl becomes obsessed with a customer. Messy, absurd, sad, funny. It's about craving connection while making every bad choice possible.
Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
If a cult and Mean Girls had a baby. Chaotic, surreal, and endlessly quotable.
Bunny by Mona Awad
Beautifully written, heartbreakingly messy, about a marriage that never should have happened.
Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors
Two broke, glamorous girls floating through NYC, charming their way into free drinks. Glittery chaos wrapped in literary prose.
Happy Hour by Marlowe Granados
Two damaged people spiral into an intense, cerebral love story. It's romanic, pretentious, and messy in the best way.
Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
Lighter side of messy. Dumped, blindsided, and suddenly stuck living with her ex's new fiancee's ex. Yes, it's as chaotic and awkward as it sounds.
Funny Story by Emily Henry
Teen girl obsession, drugs, and nostalgia that aches. It's about how one messy friendship can define you long after it ends.
Marlena by Julie Buntin