My favourite WTF fiction.

Unhinged stories.

I’m not going to call these “unputdownable” because often you need to take a break and digest what you’ve just read with the following titles. These are the kind of books that stick with you for a long time, leave you completely bewildered and force you to insist all your friends to read so you have someone to dissect them with.

Earlier

Boy Parts by Eliza Clark + Earthlings by Sayaka Murata

I was wholly unprepared for Boy Parts and if you think you’re picking up any old novel about a flailing artist lost in drugs and arthouse cinema, you’re not. What you’re going to get is a dark, violent and unpredictable story that touches on consent, power dynamics and pushing the limits in the pursuit of art. I’m keen to read Clark’s newest novel Penance ASAP.

When it came to Sayaka Murata’s Earthlings, I was more prepared and in the mood for her take on fiction but there’s only so much you can be prepared for. Like her novel Convenience Store Woman (CSW), Earthlings has a lot to say about fitting in within the confines of modern Japan but where CSW is rooted in reality Earthlings slowly descends into a madness I didn’t see coming.

Now

Bunny by Mona Awad

I’m almost finished Bunny by Mona Awad and while I had no idea what to expect I’d seen some general references to “Mean Girls meets academia” but this is also like Mean Girls meets Frankenstein meets Practical Magic meets The Secret History (one of my favourite books). And honestly, that’s a combination that no one should ignore. It’s slated as horror but under the macabre surface there’s commentary on loneliness, imagination and friendship (I could draw a number of parallels to Boy Parts).

I found the writing so beautiful and sharp in parts but then also mildly irritating when it became a little too florid. That being said, enjoy these snippets I loved:

“Though he didn’t look up, I felt him see me. And then I felt him see me see him see me and keep pouring. I haven’t seen him since then so much as sensed him in my nape hair.”

“Their cheeks are plump and pink and shining like they’ve been eating too much sugar, but actually it’s Gossip Glow, the flushed look that comes from throwing another woman under the bus.”

Later

Life Ceremony by Sayaka Murata

I’ve bookmarked Sayaka Murata’s collection of short stories, Life Ceremony, to read next. Apparently, these stories are some of her best if you want to be stunned/unsettled (which I definitely do).

Something else…

This piece on “The Wrath of Goodreads” from The Atlantic (sorry, it’s behind a paywall) dives into the murky world of Goodreads reviews and how those reviews can not only make or break a book before its even published but also be wielded for good and evil i.e. to exact revenge on a nemesis. Aside from the Amazon implications of the platform (the conglomerate bought Goodreads in 2015), there’s a lot of questionable behaviour going on that has lead a lot of people to leave Goodreads (I’m still lurking on there!) for nicer pastures.

This piece by Time dives the practice of ‘review bombing’ and even the extortion tactics some authors have faced on the platform. And this piece helps you find “ethical book tracking” alternatives if you’re interested in such a thing, which I am but I haven’t found the time to investigate yet. However, it’s nice to know they’re out there.

Enjoy!