Others: Mixed Secluded in his remand cell, a small-time criminal surrenders himself to sadistic fantasies of hatred and revenge. Selby's second novel is a claustrophobic descent into the tormented soul of a man trapped in a loveless society.
Lists: …
Matthew Stokoe
1998 · 192 pages · 1 review
Others: NegativeTwenty-five-year-old Steven faces a bleak life with a sadistic mother and a job at a slaughterhouse where he is confronted with extreme violence and death.
What made the match, strongest first
Steve Cavanagh
2023 · 460 pages · 6 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveThriller, mystery, revenge
Lauren Oliver
2013 · 396 pages · 2 reviews
Others: Mixed"While Lena navigates the increasingly dangerous Wilds, her best friend, Hana, lives a safe, loveless life in Portland."--
Robert Morey
2016 · 1 review
Others: MixedEveryone calls him "Sparrow." But his real name is Anthony Dominic Sparrano. A blond, blue-eyed youth of Italian descent. His home and The streets of a greying northeastern city. His The wilderness. This is the story of a boy, not yet a man, trapped in a time and place from which he must escape.
H. G. Wells
1897 · 170 pages · 7 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveThis book is the story of Griffin, a scientist who creates a serum to render himself invisible, and his descent into madness that follows.
Mona Awad
2023 · 384 pages · 4 reviews
Others: Leaning positiveFrom the critically acclaimed author of Bunny comes a horror-tinted, gothic fairy tale about a lonely dress shop clerk whose mother’s unexpected death sends her down a treacherous path in pursuit of youth and beauty. Can she escape her mother’s fate—and find a connection that is more than skin deep?For as long as she can remember, Belle has been insidiously obsessed with her skin and skincare videos. When her estranged mother Noelle mysteriously dies, Belle finds herself back in Southern California, dealing with her mother’s considerable debts and grappling with lingering questions about her death. The stakes escalate when a strange woman in red appears at the funeral, offering a tantalizing clue about her mother’s demise, followed by a cryptic video about a transformative spa experience. With the help of a pair of red shoes, Belle is lured into the barbed embrace of La Maison de Méduse, the same lavish, culty spa to which her mother was devoted. There, Belle discovers the frightening secret behind her (and her mother’s) obsession with the mirror—and the great shimmering depths (and demons) that lurk on the other side of the glass. Snow White meets Eyes Wide Shut in this surreal descent into the dark side of beauty, envy, grief, and the complicated love between mothers and daughters. With black humor and seductive horror, Rouge explores the cult-like nature of the beauty industry—as well as the danger of internalizing its pitiless gaze. Brimming with California sunshine and blood-red rose petals, Rouge holds up a warped mirror to our relationship with mortality, our collective fixation with the surface, and the wondrous, deep longing that might lie beneath.
What made the match, strongest first
MixedI had such a difficult time reading it because the content is so graphic, and it really affected me in a negative way. But, I think, yeah, it should be included on this because it is a really great novel, and it's certainly one worth shining the spotlight on.
