i read yellowface not too long ago and really enjoyed it! especially the fact that it was told from the perspective of a character that we were not supposed to like. it was interesting to get into her head and read about her justifying her morally incorrect actions. i want more of that!
open to any genre, though i particularly love mysteries, contemporary fiction, magical realism, and elements of sci-fi (time travel stuff and advanced tech). bonus points if it's good as an audiobook 🙂
by joliestfille
9 Comments
All of Joanne Harris’ Malbry books, but especially the paraquel *blueeyedboy*! Unreliable, unlikeable, AND interesting!
I think that one’s only available in abridged audiobook, which I do not recommend. If you wanna try an audiobook from that series first, I’d recommend the first book, *Gentleman and Players*.
[In a Lonely Place](https://books.google.com/books/about/In_a_Lonely_Place.html?id=9NodMQAACAAJ) is really good. It follows a disillusioned, out of work writer in post-WWII Los Angeles. You gradually learn that he’s a terrible person doing terrible things, but you’re only told things from his perspective in between those moments and you’re never shown them directly. He’s not technically the narrator, since it’s written in third person, but it sticks so closely to his point of view and thoughts and self-justifications that he might as well be (I’d actually misremembered it as being in first person before I went and checked). It’s also just very well written, with a very strong noir atmosphere.
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G Summers!
The Last Days of Jack Sparks
I love how much I hated the MC in Yellowface!!
Hateable MCs: {{The Secret History}}.
Unreliable narrators: anything by Chuck Palahniuk. {{Invisible Monsters}} in particular is one of my favourites. {{Rant}} is my favourite book, period. In Rant in particular, my take is that >! The story keeps changing because it’s an oral history and people, in general, are unreliable !< My wife’s take is that >! The story is changing because they’re actively fucking with the timeline !<
Lolita. I read the book for the first time when I was 15 and I didn’t understand that Humbert is a liar.
Fyneshade by Kate Griffin. It’s the account of a new governess with questionable motives and mystery
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov – the gold standard of unreliable narrators. The main character knows he’s in the wrong, but he really wants you to believe he’s not.
Atonement by Ian McEwan – a masterclass in toying with perspective.
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn – a wickedly clever thriller where the plot hinges on not one, but two unreliable narrators, one clueless and one devious.
American Psycho by Brett Easton Ellis – well, he’s a psycho. Enough said. Not for those with feeble constitutions.
Fyneshade by Kate Griffin. The account of a new governess. A modern prequel to the victorian written “Turn of a screw”? Its a mystery/thriller/unsure questionable motive. Surprises its fantastic and tragic loved it