"No matter what time of year, you can probably find me listening to a sad song or watching a sad movie. It’s not that I seek out this kind of media on purpose—I just love slower ballads and complex character stories, and these things usually tend to be more depressing. But sad girl books are different. When I have a sad book by yet another literary it-girl to add to my list, I save it exclusively for the fall.
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Since this season is the perfect time for a reading-induced existential crisis, I’ve put together a reading list with some of the best “sad girl” elements: flawed female characters, complicated relationships, and bad decisions. The best part? These sad girl books feature writing from incredible female authors. These recommendations might send you into a downward spiral, but if you’re reading this article, chances are that’s exactly what you’re looking for.
Twenty-four-year-old Cleo is an aspiring painter when she meets Frank, a man almost twice her age who works in advertising. After a whirlwind romance, the two marry so Cleo can stay in New York after her visa expires, and their impulsive decision forces them to navigate the traumas they both bring to the relationship. As Cleo and Frank learn to fit into each other’s lives, their choices impact the lives of those around them as well. If you’ve ever fallen in love with the idea of someone more than the person in front of you, Cleopatra and Frankenstein is the book for you.
The Idiot follows Selin, the daughter of Turkish immigrants and a freshman at Harvard in the ‘90s. With so many possibilities now at her fingertips, Selin enrolls in interesting classes, pursues potential career paths, and begins corresponding over email with Ivan, a fellow classmate from Hungary. But as she adjusts to college life, she also must come to terms with the realization that she is no longer as remarkable as she used to be in high school. Any former “gifted kid” will surely see themselves in Selin and enjoy her coming-of-age story.
You’re bound to find at least one Otessa Moshfegh title on any “sad girl” reading list because she has this archetype down to a T. The unnamed protagonist of My Year of Rest and Relaxation appears to have everything she could ever want: She’s young, rich, and beautiful. But of course, she’s far from happy. As the title implies, our narrator decides to sleep for an entire year (with the help of an insane amount of drugs), after which she intends to awaken as a better version of herself. If you love deliberately unlikeable characters, give this one a try.
Don’t let the premise of this book throw you off: It’s not a fantasy, or at least not in the traditional sense. Wren has only been married for a few weeks when her husband Lewis gets a shocking diagnosis: He’ll retain his memories and consciousness, but his body will slowly mutate until he becomes a great white shark. It sends them both into denial—Wren because she’s afraid of what will happen once Lewis’ transformation is complete, and Lewis because he must accept that he’ll never be able to fulfill his dreams as a playwright. Told through multiple perspectives and timelines, Shark Heart is unlike any love story you’ve ever read.
When readers first meet Marianne and Connell, they’re polar opposites. He’s a star athlete and well-liked, while she’s the quietly defiant, bookish type. They pretend not to know each other in the halls of their high school, but outside of class, their budding feelings are harder to ignore. Normal People follows Marianne and Connell through college as they’re continually pulled together and drawn apart. Whether you want them to end up together or wish they would let each other go, these characters and all their flaws are so beautifully written that you’ll root for them either way.
Will is a brooding bad boy, while Rosie’s your typical good girl. They shouldn’t work together. The only thing they have in common is Josh, Will’s best friend and Rosie’s twin brother. Yet it’s hard for these two to stay away from each other, even when they go years without speaking, or when one of them is in a relationship with someone else, or when the tragedy that binds them together as teens looms ever present. If you’ve already read Normal People and wanted a story that’s even more devastating, Talking At Night is just that.
Who says only fiction counts as “sad girl lit”? Crying In H Mart is musician and author Michelle Zauner’s award-winning memoir about her grief journey after losing her mother to cancer. Growing up Asian-American, Zauner details what it was like growing up under her mother’s high expectations and how pursuing her dream in music pushed her further away from this part of her identity. But after her mother’s death, she reconnects with her Korean culture through the foods she grew up eating. This book is devastating, but so well-written and full of wisdom that only losing a family member can provide.
If you read The Odyssey in school, chances are you’re familiar with Circe as a character. Madeline Miller’s award-winning novel dives deeper, giving us the origin story of one of literature’s first witches. Circe is too ordinary among gods and too extraordinary among mortals. When she’s banished to a deserted island, she finds herself entangled in the journeys of many famous mythological figures. But in the center of it all, she is still a woman alone—and a force to be reckoned with. For a feminist take on Greek mythology, Circe feels timeless and is sure to stick with you after you’ve finished reading.
In Zaina Afrat’s debut novel, readers travel across the world through formative moments in an unnamed protagonist’s life, from the time she comes out to her mother to her experiences as a Palestinian-American woman to her recovery from an eating disorder. As she searches for love in the world around her, she finds herself in a treatment center called The Ledge, where she receives an interesting diagnosis. You Exist Too Much deals with the clashing of cultural and religious expectations and trying to figure out where you fall on each spectrum. It’s a journey that’s both heartbreaking and relatable.
In 1700s France, a young woman named Addie wishes for freedom on the eve of her wedding. Her wish is granted, but at a price: She will now live forever, but everyone she meets will forget her the moment she leaves their sight. In the nearly 300 years that follow, Addie exists as a shell of a person—until one day in New York, a man in a bookstore remembers her name. This fantasy novel has everything you could ever ask for: magic, morally gray characters, romance, and more. Addie may be cursed to be forgotten, but her story will be remembered forever.
When Gilda shows up at a local Catholic church for their free therapy sessions, she walks out as the church’s new receptionist. There’s just one problem: Gilda’s an atheist and a lesbian—and now a liar, since she has to pretend to be neither. Taking over for the previous receptionist, Gilda finds herself posing as the recently-deceased Grace over email to one of the woman’s friends, since she can’t bear to break the news. Everyone In This Room Will Someday Be Dead’s portrayal of loneliness is uncomfortably realistic, but proof that sad girl lit can also be funny at the same time.
What would you do if you discovered your best friend was hooking up with the teacher you have a crush on? Such is the story of Rachel and James, whose relationship is equal parts magnetic and messy as hell. These two hit it off immediately, but once Rachel discovers James’s affair with Fred Byrne, her married professor, she finds herself wrapped up in a web of secrets—and even in a romance of her own. With its complicated character dynamics and dry humor, The Rachel Incident is perfect for fans of other lit-fic writers like Sally Rooney.
As a lawyer for a psychiatric hospital and an advocate for its patients, Vivian might look like she has everything together, but her childhood trauma continues to haunt her. After years of self-medicating and looking for validation from the men she’s dating, attending a family reunion changes everything. It’s clear how much Vivian’s trauma influences the choices she makes in the present—her bad childhood never feels like a mere plot point. Post-Traumatic is not an easy read, but a great subversion of how readers have come to know the “sad girl lit” subgenre.
Golden Hollywood movie star Evelyn Hugo has rarely been seen since leaving show business in the ’80s—until now, when she hires journalist Monique Grant to write her biography. Infamous for her seven marriages, from fellow actors to famous musicians, Evelyn reveals details about each one of her relationships, including which one was the true love of her life. Monique doesn’t understand why she was the one chosen to write Evelyn’s story, but she’ll soon discover that their lives are more connected than she imagined. With secrets, scandals, and one great love story in spite of it all, this historical drama is a story worthy of the silver screen.
For when just one complicated female protagonist isn’t enough, If I Had Your Face follows four women living in the same apartment building in South Korea. Kyuri is one of the most beautiful women at the exclusive “room salon” where she works, while her roommate Miho wants to make her own way after returning to Korea from a prestigious art school. Their neighbor, Wonna, is afraid she can’t afford to raise a child after learning she’s pregnant, and down the hall, hairstylist Ara has taken a dangerous liking to a new K-pop star. Frances Cha’s debut novel tackles obsession and beauty standards in a deeply intimate way.
Before she dies, Matelda Cabrelli has one last secret to share with her family: the story of her mother, Domenica. Almost a century prior, when Italy was on the brink of joining World War II, Domenica’s life was marked by not one but two great love stories: the first with her childhood best friend Silvio, and the second with Matelda’s father, a Scottish sea captain who died before she was born. Told through intertwining perspectives of mother, daughter, and great-granddaughter, The Good Left Undone is a sweeping story.
Twenty-three-year-old Edie feels like she can’t do anything right. Her admin job isn’t going anywhere, and she feels out of place as the only Black woman in the office. She even gave up painting when it was the only thing that made her happy. But when she meets Eric, a white man twice her age with an open marriage, she finds a bit of security in her insecure situation—especially as she gets to know Eric’s adopted daughter Akila, who is also Black. Luster is perfect in particular for sad girls in their 20s because Edie’s story shows us that it’s OK to not have everything figured out yet.
I couldn’t end this list without mentioning the OG sad girl. Esther Greenwood is talented and successful, interning for a fashion magazine in New York City. But that doesn’t stop her depression, and as she slowly isolates herself from the world around her, she finds that running from her demons actually leads her straight to them. From its depiction of emotionally heavy topics like mental health to passages like the famous “fig tree” analogy capturing the all-too-relevant pressure of defining yourself as a woman, it’s no wonder that The Bell Jar continues to resonate with readers decades after it was published.
Hannah Carapellotti, Contributing Writer
Hannah is an Ann Arbor-based writer with a bachelor’s in English and writing from the University of Michigan. Outside of The Everygirl, Hannah has written for The Michigan Daily, where she also served as an editor. She currently works at an independent bookstore and is interning for a literary agency.