All Booked | Sad Girl Era

Hello, fellow bookworms!

This week, Indy news intern Caitlin Scialla joins us in the bookish fun to bring us some recommendations from the “sad girl” subculture that’s been enjoying a wave of popularity. This kind of thing is right up my alley; I definitely plan to add the books I haven’t read to my list.

I hope everyone is taking advantage of the beautiful weather we’re having lately to read outside — I know I am!

Happy reading!

—Tessa, allbooked@marianneindependent-com

Female rage is in vogue.

A new literary subculture has swept the book world. While there isn’t a clear-cut label for this burgeoning genre, I’ve occasionally seen it referred to online as “sad girl” reading. Scroll on BookTok, and you’re likely to be bombarded with loads of recommendations that align with this category. Ottessa Moshfegh’s wildly popular My Year of Rest and Relaxation, which has been trending on the Internet, certainly falls under the “sad girl” umbrella, as does anything by star author Sally Rooney.

But what does “sad girl” literature mean, exactly?

I would define this recent literary wave as an extension of the similarly angsty feminist texts that interspersed the 20th century (think Eve Babitz’s Sex and Rage and Joan Didion’s Play It as It Lays). Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar is widely considered to be the OG “sad girl” novel and, while there aren’t specific parameters for what makes a book “sad girl,” most recent releases classified as such follow the general formula pioneered by Plath’s Esther Greenwood.

It goes a little something like this….

A young female protagonist, dreadfully disillusioned by life, detaches herself from larger society. She is attractive, privileged, and woefully dislikeable. Men are typically not present in the story or are, at most, peripheral characters. The narrative tends to be in first person and excruciatingly intimate, often meandering erratically and senselessly.

What marks this new variant from its Babitz/Didion predecessor is the embedded goriness, grossness, horror, and violence. The “sad girl” trope is characterized by an almost gruesome unraveling and self-destruction event, of the protagonist accompanied by dark humor and surrealism.

While undeniably bizarre, this genre has become beloved by swarms of readers over the past few years. Although usually not outwardly feminist, these books are considered by many to be a refreshing depiction of women. It is cathartic to read about female characters that so unabashedly undermine the standards of perfection that have immured women for centuries. The protagonists in these texts might be painfully unlikeable, but they are, for better or for worse, more representative of a realistic spectrum of womanhood.

In keeping with this current literary zeitgeist, I have compiled a short list of my latest “sad girl” reads. It is important to note, though, that these books heavily feature sensitive topics and come with a trigger warning!

A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers

A Certain Hunger follows food critic turned cannibalistic serial killer Dorothy Daniels. The archetypical “sad girl” protagonist, Dorothy is equal parts chic, accomplished, sexy, and, of course, monstrous. I will say that this book is not for the faint of heart; it is intensely, sometimes nauseatingly, graphic. However, Summers captivates readers with exceptional writing and interesting messaging. Dorothy’s character completely upends gender roles, capitalizing on her assumed meekness to catapult her career and, well, barbarize victims. It’s a fascinating read, albeit not entirely comfortable, that also weaves in some thought-provoking commentary about the subjectivity of carnivorism.

Bunny by Mona Awad

When I’m asked about Awad’s Bunny, my response is usually that the book is simply impossible to describe. If I’m attempting to put Bunny into words, though, I would say that it’s an eccentric twist on dark academia, chock-full of fever-dream-esque absurdities. Bunny centers on the cynical main character, Samantha, who is enrolled in a creative writing program at an elite university. Samantha meets the tight-knit, eerily monolithic foursome who all refer to one another as “Bunny” and slowly becomes entrapped in their otherworldly shenanigans. Bunny captures the prevalence of misogyny in academia and, perhaps even more than that, satirizes the elitism and snobbery that dominate top-ranked institutions.

My Year of Rest and Relaxation by Ottessa Moshfegh

This list wouldn’t be complete without Moshfegh’s über-popular 2018 novel, My Year of Rest and Relaxation. The story features an unnamed female protagonist living in New York City at the dawn of the new millennium. Like The Bell Jar’s Esther Greenwood, the main character seems to have everything going for her. She is beautiful, well-off, and successful, and yet desperately unfulfilled. Her solution? To sleep away life for a year, using a potent dosage of sedatives. My Year of Rest and Relaxation is definitely a polarizing read. Some readers are quick to dub it as boring and slow. Another common criticism is that Moshfegh insensitively romanticizes mental illness. I suppose that beauty is in the eye of the reader and, while I understand these negative reviews, I personally enjoyed this book. To say that My Year of Rest and Relaxation glamorizes anything is a stretch, in my opinion.

The narration is gruesome, raw, and spotlights the darker and dare I say grosser parts of life that are often glossed over. From my perspective, Moshfegh provides a painstakingly on-the-nose depiction of a depressive haze and has crafted a powerful ode to the crippling nature of chronic mental illness.

Cleopatra and Frankenstein by Coco Mellors

I am constantly recommending Mellors’s Cleopatra and Frankenstein. Unlike the aforementioned books, Cleopatra and Frankenstein is incredibly easy to read and balances a captivating plot with thoughtful character development. The novel reads like a screenplay. Mellors lays out scenes in such exquisite detail and weaves such compelling dialogues that the story feels like a living, breathing entity that vibrates off the pages. While Cleopatra and Frankenstein involves a large cast of characters, the plot primarily centers on Cleo, a young, beautiful, troubled artist, and Frank, a charismatic and equally troubled media mogul. The novel follows their hasty elopement and eventual waning relationship. Cleopatra and Frankenstein is tragic, heartfelt, radiant, and profoundly human, all at the same time.

—Caitlin Scialla

UPCOMING BOOK EVENTS

Below, you will find a few bookish events coming up in Santa Barbara. If you are hosting a bookish event in Santa Barbara, be sure to submit the event to our online events calendar.

Storytime at Solvang Library
Tuesday, August 13, 10:30 a.m. | Solvang Library

Book Talk and Signing: Dr. Tania Israel
Tuesday, August 13, 6 p.m. | Chaucer’s Books

Storytime at Solvang Library
Wednesday, August 14, 10:30 a.m. | Solvang Library

Bilingual Songs & Stories for Kids
Wednesday, August 14, 11 a.m. | Franklin Elementary School

Romance Book Club
Wednesday, August 14, 5:30 p.m. | Virtual

Wiggly Storytime
Friday, August 16, 10:15 a.m. | S.B. Central Library

Summer Book Sale
Saturday, August 17–Saturday August 24; Tuesday and Friday: 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Wednesday and Thursday: 10 a.m.-7 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m. | Solvang Library

Book Talk: Olivia Gatwood
Saturday, August 17, 6 p.m. | Bart’s Books

Preschool Storytime
Monday, August 19, 10 a.m. | Carpinteria Community Library

Storytime at Solvang Library
Wednesday, August 21, 10:30 a.m. | Solvang Library

Wiggly Storytime
Friday, August 23, 10:15 a.m. | S.B. Central Library

Preschool Storytime
Monday, August 26, 10 a.m. | Carpinteria Community Library

LOCAL BOOK SPOTLIGHT

We at the Independent get many books sent to us by local authors, sometimes too many! It’s practically impossible for us to read and review them all, but just because we are busy bees does not mean that they aren’t worth the attention. In an attempt to not completely drop the ball, we have compiled a list of books here that have a local spin. They are all either written by a local author, feature someone in our community, or have another tie to Santa Barbara. I urge you to look through this list. Perhaps you will find your new favorite read!The following are the most recent titles that have been sent to us.

Click here for a more comprehensive list.

Book Reviews Courtesy of CALIFORNIA REVIEW OF BOOKS*

Thanks to the generous contributions of David Starkey, Brian Tanguay and their team of reviewers at California Review of Books, we are able to provide a steady stream of book reviews via our content partnership. Recent reviews at Independent.com include:

Dogland: Passion, Glory, and Lots of Slobber at the Westminster Dog Show by Tommy Tomlinson; review by George Yatchisin

Body Friend by Katherine Brabon

*At the present time, all of the Independent’s book reviews are provided in collaboration with California Review of Books (calirb.com).