Quicksand

by Junichiro Tanizaki (1931). This novel features an obsessive friendship that flares into a fiery lesbian affair—and then a bizarre four-way that includes the women’s husbands. It was written by a man, and I can’t lie, there are times when the narrative practically drips with lechery. But I enjoyed the hell out of it.

by Rita Bullwinkel (2018). All of this book’s short stories are great, but “Arms Overhead,” about two teenage girls who bond over their shared desire to cannibalize men, has earned a special place in my heart. One review called the book “bloodless,” but I couldn’t disagree more—I could practically feel the blood dripping down my chin as I read.

by Genevieve Sly Crane (2018). Another massively underrated story about a sorority. (It’s almost as if novels about complicated female friendship are rarely given their critical due!) A sister dies, and then everything goes rapidly to hell. Still, the most disturbing aspect of Crane’s novel is not the death at its center, but the terrifying and tortuous relationships the sorority’s members have with one another.