10 unreliable narrator books that will shock you
Hayley Dennings
Great Books With Unreliable Narrators:
The top unreliable narrator books to read:
Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn
A Town’s golden boy is thrown into the spotlight when his clever and beautiful wife disappears on their fifth wedding anniversary. While oddly evasive and seemingly a liar under mounting pressure from the police and the media, Nick might be bitter, but is he really a killer? “I devoured this. It was so unhinged, it felt like a dark comedy at times…” glowed Fable reader Tahls about this beloved text. “Just SO GOOD, I could not put it down.”
Grown by Tiffany D. Jackson
Equal parts a searing examination of misogynoir and rape culture, and a heartbreaking conversation about the vulnerability of Black girls, this riveting mystery exposes horrific secrets that come with being in the limelight. Enchanted gets her dream of being a famous singer when a legendary artist spots her, until she wakes up one day with blood on her hands, no memory of the night before and the artist dead.“I will always read anything written by Tiffany D. Jackson. Her words and stories are easy to read but written so deeply and powerfully that the reader cannot leave unchanged.” wrote Fable reviewer Sarah Briggs.
Looking for Smoke by K. A. Cobell
When a girl in a traditional Blackfeet Giveaway is murdered, all four members of the Giveaway group become a person of interest in the investigation. Despite their mistrust of each other, the four must work together to clear their names, even though one of them could be the murderer.“Highly recommend this book! Not only does it cover an incredibly important subject that deserves so much more attention it was also very well written. Definitely was crying in the last few chapters!” wrote Fable reviewer Brittany.
The Good Son by You-Jeong Jeong
This addictive psychological thriller explores the mysteries of the mind and the relationship between a mother and her son, posing the question “Who can you trust if you can’t trust yourself?” When a young man wakes to his mother’s murdered body and faint recollection of the day before he begins a frantic three-day search to uncover what happened and finally learn the truth of his family and himself.“The Good Son is one of my favourite books, always returning to it. With a gripping entrance into the story, there is many twists and turns, keeping you on edge waiting to find out what happens next. Definitely worth a read if you are into crime, mystery, thriller and a bit of first person perspective.” wrote Fable reviewer a.shaw_author about this book.
A Certain Hunger by Chelsea G. Summers
Through a dark, satirical lens of female desire, this story follows Dorothy Daniels, a food critic and convicted serial killer that eats her lovers. With a critique of how gender is defined and the satire of early foodieism, Dorothy tells the story of her life while in prison, leaving in all the gory details of her voracious appetite for food and men. “She’s crazy but iconic. She literally speaks about cannibalism in a way that would genuinely make you want to have a taste then you remember it’s human meat, she’s complex and I love how we slowly get to understand her more and more, understand and infer why she did what she did. I love me some crime book, blended with themes of love’s painful powers, feminism and art. A good quick read, not too dense but not too light.” wrote Fable reviewer dalya_hdj in a five star review.
Metal from Heaven by August Clarke
This bloody lesbian revenge tale and political fantasy is set in a world changed by industrial evolutions and class warfare. The nation’s most notorious highwayman masquerades as an aristocrat to win the hand of the daughter of her enemy so that she can get closer than ever to satisfy her need for revenge. This book is the perfect punk-rock murder ballad that calls out labor issues and empowerment against capitalism.“I was worried that maybe a revenge tale set amidst the poor and downtrodden of a society obsessed with greed would be too… lifelike… for January 2026. But I’m glad I picked it up anyway because far from reminding too much of the day to day, it pushed me to imagine a future with a path forward despite all of it. It is every ounce as heavy as I was warned, but also incredibly hopeful and incredibly joyful amidst its grief and anger. It’s ultimately the perfect book for the moment and even though Vico Ortiz did an excellent job on the audiobook narration, I immediately bought a print copy to annotate all of my favorite passages in,” wrote Fable reviewer StayCoolMommio about this book.
Mexican Gothic by Silvia Moreno-Garcia
This terrifying twist on gothic horror follows a woman who heads to a distant house in the Mexican countryside after receiving a frantic letter from her newly wedded cousin, begging to be saved from a mysterious fate. But the house invades Noemi’s dreams with blood and doom, and soon she finds she cannot trust anyone when the many secrets of the home are revealed while she’s uncovering stories of madness and violence.“Dear lord this book... What starts as an eerie mystery about why the cousin is writing such worrying letters, to some... pretty horrific moments. The story just kept getting more and more creepy and continues until you're left in shock. Very well written, and it really brought out so much emotion. Never have I felt so much hatred for a character. Brilliant,” wrote Fable reader Bexy after finishing this book.
A Game in Yellow by Hailey Piper
“Euphoria” meets “Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke” in this novel featuring a couple, whose desire to spice up their sex life, brings them maddening consequences. After discovering a strange play in a street drug den, Carmen falls into a game of lust on the edge of a nightmare and desires more time in the world of the play, no matter the nightmares she brings back.“queer, kinky psychological-cosmic horror tied up with the everyday horror bad communication in a non-monogamous relationship. everyone’s fucked up here in one way or another; all of the characters make stupid (but oh-so-real) decisions, and then reality comes crashing down in the end i can’t think of a book in the past couple of years that has made me so uncomfortable while at the same time being so compelling—” wrote Fable reviewer Phoebe in a five-star review. “and that’s exactly what I want out of my horror.”
The Eyes Are the Best Part by Monika Kim
A young woman from a family in turmoil develops a fascination and desire for eyeballs when her mother begins dating a white man. Determined to make sure he gets nothing from their family, Ji-won pulls readers into a gruesome world while also critiquing misogyny, Asian fetishization and stereotypes“Blue eyes have always unsettled me, but after this book, I’ll never see them the same way again. This book wasn’t what I expected, but I ended up loving it. It’s feminist horror, and that perspective is one of the things I loved the most. The discomfort feels intentional. I really connected with Ji-won as a character. Every action she takes felt justified to me, even when it became disturbing. The horror works as a way to explore rage and violence from a female perspective, without trying to soften it,” wrote Fiore X in a review of this book.
Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng
This terrifying and explosive horror novel is full of hungry ghosts. A young woman is haunted by more than just ghosts when she confronts the brutal violence experienced by East Asians during the COVD-19 pandemic. Since her older sister’s death, Cora Zeng can’t determine what’s real and what’s in her head.“Beautiful, harrowing, bleak, and hopeful all at once. I really thought I had COVID-fiction fatigue and was so over seeing it lazily referenced in books and TV just to timestamp when something was written, but this is completely different. COVID isn’t a backdrop here, it’s the backbone. This story simply wouldn’t exist without it,” wrote Fable reviewer emily🪐 in a five-star review. “This book absolutely broke me. I cried, which is not something books manage to do to me very often anymore. The author’s note says it best: “do not let your empathy stop at the borders of your own community.”” As you can see from this varied list, there are many books to choose from if you’re ever wanting that extra layer of intrigue and suspense added by unreliable narrators. Everyone needs something different and our values vary from person to person as well as our interests when it comes to what captures our attention. For that reason, we designed this list with different kinds of books that should work for many different kinds of people (and readers!). Whether you need a fast paced mystery with a narrator that can’t remember what’s happened to them, or a suspenseful horror/thriller that blurs the line between reality and fiction, we hope you find a story that keeps you captivated until the very last page in these books. And remember, reading itself is an important habit. Explore these titles and thousands more on Everand, available in both audiobook and ebook formats, and expand your perspective with unlimited narration styles!
Hayley Dennings