I’m looking for literary fiction similar to The Piano Teacher by Elfriede Jelinek, AND Madonna in a Coat by Sabahattin Ali

I specifically want a female protagonist who is sexually repressed or frustrated, longs for romantic love and male desire, but experiences rejection, unrequited longing, humiliation, or the pain of never being chosen.

Strictly female protagonists, please. I’d prefer literary fiction rather than romance novels.

Saw this post in another sub about song recommendations

Gothic horror, preferably no heavy romance. Anything with medieval ghosts, vampires or other supernatural creatures living amongst humans. High fantasy works with these elements is fine too.

An atmospheric book with traveling, maybe a mission, different areas/levels.

I’ve already read most Stephen King 🥲

Doesn't have to be Ice Age humans but that's just what my brain keeps going back too. What it would be like to live back then.

Im looking for a fantasy romantic book that has this ethereal vibes...

Hi! Im looking for a really specific kind of book. I would really appreciate it if you gave any suggestions or recommendations 💗
I’m looking for a book that feels cozy, preferably one in which the story takes place during the fall season (because it’s my favourite season!). I would also really like for it to include a really kind supportive family, and for it to talk about nature. I really don’t enjoy horror, or fantasy.
I enjoy Donna Tartt’s and Tara Westover’s style of writing very much.

Hoping that someone here is sitting on my next dream read!

Requirements:
- Has somewhat of the same vibe as the pictures provided
- Is somewhat original (not just a copy and paste of different tropes)
- Has some kind of mystery/other major problem that has to be solved.

Bonus points:
- Nicely written
- First person pov
- Multiple main characters
- Forbidden love element
- Takes place around 2010
- Non-fantasy or low-fantasy elements in a contemporary, real-world setting

Similar to/contains elements of what I’m looking for:
- Life is strange (game)
- Twin Peaks (show)
- The Circle (Swedish book by Sara Bergmark Elfgren and Mats Strandberg)

I would really like to see some recommendations on seriously unknown books. Like if your the only person you have ever met who have read a book with the vibe I’m looking for, or maybe even have written something like this yourself, please please please recommend it to me!!!

PS: If someone here is from Sweden, you’re welcome to recommend Swedish books too!

War of the Worlds by HG Wells is one of my all time favs.

Looking for protagonists/plots that feel like:

- Sarah Linden from “The Killing”
- Danvers & Navarro from “True Detective: Night Country”
- Mare Sheehan from “Mare of Easttown”
- Camille Preaker from “Sharp Objects”

Looking for imperfect women investigators with peak grittiness, broken/breaking families, and busted coping mechanisms.

Bonus points for supernatural / horror / gothic elements

Bonus, bonus points for BIPOC characters

Something akin to discovering untouched nature. Cozy, slightly melancholy, but hopeful!

(Light romance is ok, but not the focal point!)

I’m looking for an epic book set in the country where the earth is not so much a setting as a character. I also want it to focus on the simple everyday aspects of human life. Preferably focused on family who might live in a solitary location but still have a community.
Some of my favourite books that have elements of this vibe are East of Eden, A Far-Flung Life, Buckeye, Lonesome Dove and 11.22.63.
They don’t all have the same country aspects to them but they have the heart of what I’m looking for.
I wouldn’t mind something that touches on our relationship with the earth either.

What fantasy books have this Breath or Tears vibe? Looking for something that captures the atmosphere, exploration, and solitude of Zelda.

Books like Roadside Picnic or Annihilation, or the video games S.T.A.L.K.E.R., Active Matter, Pacific Drive and ZERO Sievert. What interests me most is the Zone itself as a central character: a singular, strange place within an otherwise ordinary world, where the laws of nature no longer apply.

I am NOT looking for post-apocalyptic fiction like the METRO 2033 series, unless for some reason an Anomalous Zone is a major conceit of the story.

I tonya and black swan was the main inspo.

I've already read "In the Miso Soup" and love it.. Magical realism is okay, too. I just love these alleyways in Tokyo where people are eating and drinking, and who knows what else is happening behind the scenes.

Novels that come to your mind after watching Bong Joon Ho's Memories of Murder.