At this point in the millennial life cycle, sad girl literature is inescapable: it has taken on a sprawling life of its own, with a distinctive cover design style as well as a tonal aesthetic.
From Sally Rooney to Ottessa Moshfegh to Melissa Broder, the typical novel goes something like this: twentysomething woman (likely white and middle-class) has a crisis; is selfish; does messy, chaotic things. Sometimes she might have a revelation; other times she won’t. She’s often unlikeable, she’s usually untrustworthy, but she is, above all, relatable.
