Morren Aconite

This month, I’ve had a bit of a reading spree through books featuring obsession and/or unhinged people. Basically, my favorite type of stories.

The Truth About Ruby Cooper, Liz Nugent

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Liz Nugent unquestionably is one of my favorite novelists at this point. I’ll read anything she writes. This one was maddening, awful, and enraging in the best way possible.

The Stalker, Paula Bomer

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

This book was terrifying because of its main character. Truly one of the most deplorable human beings I’ve ever witnessed.

Isabella Nagg And The Pot Of Basil, Oliver Darkshire

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

It’s a funny, odd, cosy-ish fantasy where all sorts of unexpected shenanigans go on.

The Mad Wife, Meagan Church

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A woman’s descent into madness through her obsession with a new next-door neighbor. It’s a painfully accurate reflection on mental illness that gets out of control, set against a bleak landscape of domestic routine.

Julie Tudor Is Not A Psychopath, Jennifer Holdich

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Such a creepy read about a woman whose touch with reality is so flimsy it’s translucent. She is horrifying in her obsessiveness and malice.

2oo Monas, Jan Saenz

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A student finds a stash of pills in her late mother’s stuff. She now has 48 hours to sell a whole bag of experimental drugs that make women orgasm, or she’ll be killed by an unstable dealer.

It’s a wild ride; I found it sufficiently crazy.

Let The Bad Times Roll, Alice Slater

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

A group of people gathers for a dinner party to figure out what might have happened with their friend when he disappeared in New Orleans. I liked the prose in this one, and the way the more you read, the more you start wanting the missing guy to never turn up alive.

The Stepford Wives, Ira Levin

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I have no idea how I never read this before. It’s short, creepy, and still painfully relevant (which honestly depresses me).

Dear Debbie, Freida McFadden

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Debbie is a suburban wife and mother. Debbie seems like a perfectly normal woman. Only Debbie is fucking nuts. That’s all I’ll say about the book.

Dracula’s Baby Girl, Tasha Coryell

⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘That was the thing about men – they could always be worse.’

A fun short story that is exactly what the title suggests.

Go Gentle, Maria Semple

⭐️⭐️⭐️

This novel was odd, mixing a lot of themes and plot lines, but somehow it worked.

Matchmaking For Psychopaths, Tasha Coryell

⭐️⭐️⭐️

The MC works as – surprise, surprise – a matchmaker for psychopaths. It’s no coincidence she ended up working with that specific demographic, since she has firsthand experience with psychopaths. It’s sort of a romcom for girls who’re also into murder sprees.

I Make My Own Fun, Hannah Beer

⭐️⭐️⭐️

A famous actress can’t fathom being rejected, which turns into a train wreck.

Esther Is Now Following You, Tanya Sweeney

⭐️⭐️⭐️

A woman struggles with grief and misdirects all her energy into being obsessed with a B-list actor. She ends up wrecking her life and meddling in several others while trying to satisfy her delusion.

Body Count, Julie Mae Cohen

(Bad Men #2)

⭐️⭐️⭐️

‘I might be a narcissist, but I have a good excuse because, whatever way you look at it, I am fabulous.’

Saffy returns again to murder some awful men. It’s always entertaining, though I do have some issues with Cohen’s books. Mainly the writing and stepping over the line of plausibility a little too often.

If You’re Seeing This, It’s Meant For You, Leigh Stein

⭐️⭐️⭐️

I thought the concept was interesting, but the reveal was anticlimactic, and the whole thing dragged on for too long.