Guest post written by The Lamb author Lucy Rose
Lucy Rose is an author and award-winning writer/director with an interest in gothic, girlhood, and horror. Her fiction and nonfiction have been published in Dread Central, Mslexia, and other publications. Lucy’s films have visited BAFTA and Oscar-qualifying film festivals internationally. She lives on the North East coast of England with her black cat, Figgy, and is currently working on her next book.
About The Lamb (out February 4th): With this gothic coming-of-age tale, debut novelist Lucy Rose explores how women swallow their anger, desire, and animal instincts—and wrings the relationship between mother and daughter until blood drips from it.
There are some stories that pass us by and there are some that awaken something in us. As the world descends into chaos, it’s not the demure and cutsie novels I crave, but the ones that make me feel feral and resilient. From fiercely feminist critiques on our cultural true crime obsession to utterly stunning and depraved short story collections, here is your list of novels (both published and publishing in 2025) to keep your TBR feral.
The Book of X by Sarah Rose Etter
The Book of X is about a girl called Cassie, who is born with a knot in her stomach. Written in a series of vignettes, it’s a stunning book which lives on the edge of magical realism but there is always an underlying sense of dread and it follows Cassie and her knot wherever she goes.
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica
Cannibals and anti-capitalism? Yes please. Tender is the Flesh is one of those once in a lifetime, unforgettable novel that is unapologetically grotesque and political. Through Marcos, we are guided through a deftly told horror story about the nature of exploitation and the rise in anti-empathy.
I Make My Own Fun by Hannah Beer
I don’t think anyone is ready for I Make My Own Fun. It’s 2025 and there’s still something about fame and celebrity which just makes us feral. This is a brilliantly gross novel about a celebrity who is a little bit of a monster behind the mask. Darkly humorous and outrageous, this is your next obsession.
No and Other Love Stories by Kirsty Logan
This is Angela Carter meets Shirley Jackson, but make it millennial. These are savage, strange and spicy stories, which I want to say I devoured, but I fear that they devoured me instead. I’ll s(l)ay no more. Kirsty is a fearsome writer, and this collection is a must have for your feral shelf.
Spoilt Creatures by Amy Twigg
Do you, too, have a complicated relationship to true crime? Set on a commune in the south of England, where women can be outspoken and hungry, Spoilt Creatures forces us to explore and confront our relationship to sensationalising true crime. It’s feral women and a deeply unsettling sense of dread.
Creep by Emma Van Straaten
Another novel for channeling our inner infatuation, Creep (or This Immaculate Body in the U.K.) is the brilliantly addictive and stirring book about a cleaner called who becomes infatuated with her client, Tom. Thrust into a world of fantasy and obsession, I found this novel to be a deeply religious experience which I may never recover from.
Fragile Animals by Genevieve Jagger
Vampires and religious trauma? Fragile Animals is a Scottish coastal gothic about an ex-catholic who develops a relationship with a vampire and I ate it all up. Laced with bisexual longing and mommy issues, It’s a queer literary novel you simply must add to your TBR.
Mammoth by Eva Baltasar
This hazy summer in Catalonia follows a disenchanted lesbian who leaves town to pursue the human act of gestation. Eva Balthasar is the weird girl of weird girl fiction, and has written a tour de force of a novel. It’s wild. It’s feral. It’s one you will literally never forget as long as you live.
The Goldens by Lauren Wilson
Are you looking for a sapphic, coquettish social media cult influencer? I got you. The Goldens is going to be the book of the summer. I predict it now. It’s filled with sultry summers on a champagne soaked commune and ride or die toxic girlhood friendships, and I remain obsessed.
The Hounding by Xenobe Purvis
The Crucible meets The Virgin Suicides meets Nightbitch: The Hounding is an animal of a novel. It follows the Mansfield sisters and the uncanny rumour that they’re turning into dogs. It’s a page turning historical fiction coming out in Summer 2025 and trust me, you don’t want to miss it.
She’s Always Hungry by Eliza Clark
An unforgettable collection of short stories by cult author Eliza Clark. From parasites to perfect skin, creatures from the depths and more, She’s Always Hungry is wicked down to its bones, and all the stories in the collection are laced together with the compulsive and animal theme of human hunger.
The Tryst by Monique Roffey
Have you ever read a book and said What the heck did I just read? The Tryst is an enthralling (and wildly explicit) psycho-sexual thriller about a tired married couple who meet a succubus at a bar in London and invite her back to their house. Need I say more? I don’t think so.
