Julie Gourinchas

is it weird if I say I want to read a speculative novel, similar to the evolution of the Goncharov meme, where a collective unreality is collaborated on by a wide and disparate community, until eventually the lines between what's true and what isn't are thoroughly blurred #mswl

this is the ULTIMATE aesthetic, pls when will someone give me a book/show/video game/ttrpg set in a world like this I am on my KNEES

#mswl obviously

also to be clear! I do consider YA (preferably upper YA) but anything middle grade and younger is not for me, sorry!

I'll add on more to this thread whenever I can, but that should be a good start, hey? but tl;dr— I love stories that make us question the world and how we understand it. I love a frisson. I love the things that go bump in the night. I love writing that melts on the tongue.

#MSWL

- anything set in a part of the world different to the US, Canada, or the UK (or, if set in the UK, set in the north of England, northern Ireland, rural spaces, etc)

#MSWL

- neo-western
- unconventional, unreliable, unlikeable narrators and central characters
- trans and queer joy, but also trans and queer rage
- diverse perspectives

#MSWL

- suspense and psychological thrillers, but specifically with a textured, vibrant sense of setting (think Gillian Flynn’s SHARP OBJECTS)
- folklore and mythological retellings, particularly non-Eurocentric traditions
- magical realism

#MSWL

- speculative fiction
(I prefer grounded, literary sci-fi + fantasy. no secondary worlds, but rather our world steeped in liminal magic and/or technology. anything creepy, toothy, gritty, strange, something that sends a shiver down your spine.)

#MSWL

in terms of GENRES and NARRATIVES, I love:

- historical, particularly 19th and 20th century and particularly focused on international, BIPOC, and LGBTQIA+ stories
- alternate history
- dark academia
- horror and gothic
- character-led literary fiction

#MSWL

first, I'm someone who's always been gripped by VOICE, WRITING STYLE, and PROSE. so I'm looking for:

- anything in the book club, upmarket, literary spaces
- lush, poetic writing
- deep and intricate world/lore-building (when applicable)

#MSWL

#mswl frankly

I have *obsessively* been playing Hades for the past nine days, so, naturally: #mswl for folklore or myth retellings; #mswl for fraught family dynamics, particularly difficult fathers; and #mswl for a polyam triad in the vein of Thanatos x Zagreus x Megaera 💕

casual #mswl I'm just saying !!!

where oh where is my upmarket/literary retelling of the Tiresias myth from a trans perspective, I will beg for it once a month until it materialises into existence by sheer force of will #mswl

or a female-led gothic thriller set in rural Yorkshire. or a dark academia story, rife with ghosts and hauntings and murder, set in Scotland against the lashes and winds of the North Sea

I'm trying to put my #mswl together for y'all but every time I write something I want to read I get way too specific about it

like yes please I would like a queer retelling of the Morrígan myth set during the Irish War of Independence with speculative magic vibes

pls pls pls #mswl for a historical novel about this fascinating character!!!

yea yea we're all sick of Greek myth retellings but WHAT IF: a retelling of Tiresias's life (and death)??? clairvoyant blind prophet ... transformed into a woman for 7 years (trans myth! trans myth!!!) ... occupying the liminal space between humanity and godhood ... #mswl pls 🙏

tbh ... a historical fiction intrigue novel that has the vibes and grit and tragedy of Brel's Dans Le Port D'Amsterdam ... I want it #mswl
youtube.com/watch?v=OjYtY1…

just want more dark academia storylines tbh ... more Secret History, murdery, lush and twisty stories set against the backdrop of stifling academia, bonus points if it's historical (1940s or 60s would be fascinating, pls) ty and good night #mswl