🏷️ Unreliable Narrator
85 entries tagged with this trope
None of This Is True
Lisa Jewell · 2025
In 'None of This Is True,' Lisa Jewell plays with the concept of truth and deception in a way that will keep you guessing. The characters are richly developed, and the plot twists are nothing short of brilliant.
None of This Is True
Lisa Jewell · 2023
A podcaster interviews a woman who shares her birthday. The deeper she digs, the more unhinged the truth becomes. Lisa Jewell at her most twisted.
Everyone Here Is Lying
Shari Lapena · 2023
A nine-year-old vanishes. Every neighbor saw something. Every neighbor is hiding something. The slow unraveling of a suburban street's secrets is masterfully done.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski · 2000
A family moves into a house that is bigger on the inside than the outside. The book itself is a labyrinth — footnotes within footnotes, pages with three words, text that spirals. Nothing else like it.
Yellowface
R.F. Kuang · 2023
A white woman steals her dead Asian friend's manuscript and publishes it as her own. The satire of publishing, race, and cancel culture is razor-sharp. Kuang is furious and it's glorious.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly the maid finds a dead guest in his room and becomes the prime suspect. She's fastidious, literal-minded, and completely endearing. Agatha Christie meets Eleanor Oliphant.
The 7½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle
Stuart Turton · 2018
Groundhog Day meets Agatha Christie. A man relives the same day in different bodies, trying to solve a murder. Each host has different abilities and limitations. Brilliant.
Rock Paper Scissors
Alice Feeney · 2021
A couple wins a weekend at a remote Scottish chapel. They write each other anniversary letters they never read. The secrets they're keeping will make your jaw drop.
The Push
Ashley Audrain · 2021
Blythe can't bond with her daughter Violet. Is something wrong with the child? Or with Blythe? A searing, uncomfortable exploration of motherhood and inherited trauma.
None of This Is True
Lisa Jewell · 2023
A podcaster meets her 'birthday twin' and decides to make her the subject of her show. The woman's stories get darker and darker. Lisa Jewell at her absolute creepiest.
In a Dark, Dark Wood
Ruth Ware · 2015
A reclusive writer is invited to a hen party at a remote glass house in the forest. Then someone ends up dead. Ruth Ware's debut that launched a thousand 'girl in the...' thrillers.
My Heart Is a Chainsaw
Stephen Graham Jones · 2021
Jade Daniels is a slasher-movie obsessive who becomes convinced her lakeside Idaho town is the setting for a real-life slasher movie. She might be right.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski · 2000
A house that's bigger on the inside than the outside. A manuscript about a documentary that may not exist. The most terrifying novel ever written about architecture.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke · 2020
Piranesi lives in a House of infinite halls filled with statues and tides. He knows every room, every skeleton, every bird. But something is very wrong with his world. Hauntingly beautiful.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly is a hotel maid who loves order and cleanliness. When she discovers a dead body in a suite, she becomes the prime suspect. A cozy mystery wrapped in a thriller.
The Woman in Cabin 10
Ruth Ware · 2016
A journalist on a luxury cruise witnesses a woman thrown overboard. But the cabin she saw it from is empty. No one is missing. She knows what she saw... right?
Rock Paper Scissors
Alice Feeney · 2021
A couple win a weekend in a Scottish chapel. He can't recognize faces. She writes him anniversary letters he never opens. The twists keep twisting until the very last page.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski · 2000
A house that's bigger on the inside than the outside. A documentary about it that may not exist. A man reading about it who's losing his mind. The book itself is the horror.
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson · 1959
Whatever walked in Hill House, walked alone. Four people spend a summer investigating a supposedly haunted mansion. The horror is in what you're not sure you saw. The original.
Klara and the Sun
Kazuo Ishiguro · 2021
Klara is an Artificial Friend observing the world from a store window. When she's chosen, she learns what it means to love, to hope, and to be expendable. Nobel Prize-winning devastation.
Annihilation
Jeff VanderMeer · 2014
Four women enter Area X, a quarantined zone where nature has gone wrong. What they find defies biology, physics, and sanity. The less you know going in, the better.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke · 2020
A man lives in a vast House full of marble statues and tidal oceans. He knows no other world. Slowly, clues suggest everything he believes is wrong. Haunting and beautiful.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly is a hotel maid who reads people differently. When she discovers a dead body, she becomes the prime suspect. Clue meets cozy mystery with a heroine you'll root for.
The It Girl
Ruth Ware · 2022
At Oxford, April was the glamorous It Girl. Now she's dead. Hannah is sure the man convicted is guilty — until a journalist's call changes everything.
Rock Paper Scissors
Alice Feeney · 2021
A couple wins a weekend at a remote Scottish chapel. Both have secrets. The letters between them reveal a marriage built on lies. Triple twist ending.
None of This Is True
Lisa Jewell · 2023
A podcaster meets a woman who wants to be her next subject. As she digs into the story, she realizes nothing is what it seems. The format is genius.
The Woman in the Window
A.J. Finn · 2018
Anna Fox hasn't left her apartment in months. She watches her neighbors through the window. Then she sees something she shouldn't. Hitchcockian thriller done right.
The Push
Ashley Audrain · 2021
Blythe doesn't feel the bond with her daughter. Something is wrong with Violet. Or is something wrong with Blythe? A motherhood thriller that will haunt you.
The Hollow Places
T. Kingfisher · 2020
Kara finds a hole in the wall of her uncle's taxidermy museum. It leads to another world. That world has willows. The willows are watching. Cozy narrator meets cosmic dread.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski · 2000
A house that's bigger on the inside than the outside. The footnotes have footnotes. The text itself becomes a labyrinth. There is nothing else like this book.
Klara and the Sun
Kazuo Ishiguro · 2021
Klara is an Artificial Friend waiting in a store to be chosen. Her observations about humans are both naive and devastating. Nobel Prize-winning author at peak form.
Elder Race
Adrian Tchaikovsky · 2021
A warrior princess seeks help from a wizard. He's actually a depressed anthropologist with advanced tech. Same story, radically different perspectives. Brilliant novella.
The Last Thing He Told Me
Laura Dave · 2021
Hannah's husband disappears with a note: 'Protect her.' She must unravel his secrets while earning the trust of his teenage daughter who wants nothing to do with her.
None of This Is True
Lisa Jewell · 2023
Alix makes podcasts. Josie wants to be her next subject. What starts as a quirky story turns into something much more sinister. Every chapter peels back another layer of dread.
The Only Survivors
Megan Miranda · 2023
Nine survivors of a school trip tragedy reunite ten years later. Then one of them vanishes. Someone knows what really happened that night. A taut, twisty reunion thriller.
The It Girl
Ruth Ware · 2022
At Oxford, April was the girl everyone wanted to know. Then she was murdered. Ten years later, Hannah discovers the man convicted might be innocent. Time to dig up the past.
Horrid
Katrina Leno · 2020
After her father's death, Jane moves into her mother's childhood home. The locked room upstairs is full of books. And something is reading them at night.
Sundial
Catriona Ward · 2022
Rob's daughter might be a psychopath. She takes her to the desert compound where she grew up — a place with its own dark history. Layers upon layers of unreliable narration.
The Appeal
Janice Hallett · 2022
Told entirely through emails, texts, and letters from a community theater group. A fundraiser, a sick child, and then a murder. You're the detective. Good luck figuring it out.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke · 2020
A man lives in a vast House of infinite halls filled with statues and tides. He doesn't remember how he got there. Slowly, the truth reveals itself. Utterly unlike anything else.
The Maid
Nita Prose · 2022
Molly is a hotel maid who doesn't always read social cues. When she discovers a dead body in a suite, she becomes the prime suspect. A cozy mystery with a protagonist you'll root for fiercely.
The Woman in the Window
A.J. Finn · 2018
Anna Fox hasn't left her apartment in months. She spends her time watching her neighbors. Then she sees something she shouldn't. Classic Hitchcockian thriller.
In the Woods
Tana French · 2007
Detective Rob Ryan investigates a child's murder in the same woods where his two friends vanished twenty years ago. He was there that night. He remembers nothing. Literary crime at its finest.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski · 2000
A house that is bigger on the inside than the outside. A documentary about that house. Footnotes about that documentary. A book that makes you feel genuinely unsafe reading it.
Annihilation
Jeff VanderMeer · 2014
Four women enter Area X — a quarantined zone where nature has gone wrong. The biologist narrates. Something is changing them. Eco-horror that burrows into your brain.
The Housemaid's Secret
Freida McFadden · 2023
Millie is working as a housemaid again. Her new employers seem perfect. But there's something wrong in the penthouse, and the wife's bruises tell a story she can't ignore.
Never Lie
Freida McFadden · 2022
Tricia and Ethan are trapped in a snowstorm in a mansion that belonged to a missing psychiatrist. In the attic, Tricia finds recorded therapy sessions. Each tape reveals something worse.
The It Girl
Ruth Ware · 2022
April was the glamorous, magnetic center of Hannah's college life. Then she was murdered. A man was convicted. Ten years later, Hannah discovers he might have been innocent.
Rock Paper Scissors
Alice Feeney · 2021
Adam and Amelia's marriage is dying. A weekend at a remote Scottish chapel is supposed to fix things. But both of them are keeping secrets. The letters between chapters change everything.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski · 2000
A house that's bigger on the inside than the outside. A documentary about the house. A man's notes about the documentary. A book about the notes. It will break your brain in the best way.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke · 2020
A man lives in an infinite house of statues and tides. Then he starts finding clues about who he was.
Gone Girl
Gillian Flynn · 2012
On their fifth anniversary, Amy disappears. Nick is the prime suspect. The twist you already know, still earned.
The Silent Patient
Alex Michaelides · 2019
Alicia shoots her husband, then never speaks again. A therapist becomes obsessed with why.
The Girl on the Train
Paula Hawkins · 2015
A drunk divorcée obsesses over strangers from the train. Then one of them disappears.
Verity
Colleen Hoover · 2018
A struggling writer takes over a bestselling author's series and finds a horrifying autobiography.
None of This Is True
Lisa Jewell · 2023
A podcaster meets her 'birthday twin.' The other woman knows too much.
The Wife Between Us
Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen · 2018
Assume you know everything. You don't. The ex, the new wife, the husband — all lies.
The Woman in the Window
A.J. Finn · 2018
Rear Window for the agoraphobia era. An alcoholic shut-in thinks she witnessed a murder.
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson · 1959
The original haunted house novel. Nobody walks these halls alone.
Trust
Hernan Diaz · 2022
Four versions of the same story about a 1920s Wall Street tycoon and his wife. Pulitzer winner.
Fleishman Is in Trouble
Taffy Brodesser-Akner · 2019
Toby Fleishman's wife disappears. Then the story becomes about something else entirely.
Yellowface
R.F. Kuang · 2023
A white author steals her dead Asian friend's manuscript and passes it off as her own. It does not go well.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke · 2020
A man lives in a vast House full of statues and tides. He doesn't know how he got there. The mystery of who he is unfolds like a dream.
The Name of the Wind
Patrick Rothfuss · 2007
Kvothe tells the story of his life: from orphan to legend to innkeeper. The prose is gorgeous. The wait for book three is eternal.
The Woman in the Window
A.J. Finn · 2018
Anna Fox is agoraphobic. She watches her neighbors from her window. She sees something she shouldn't. But can anyone trust what she says?
In the Woods
Tana French · 2007
Detective Rob Ryan investigates a child murder in the woods where, as a boy, his two best friends vanished. Literary crime at its finest.
An Anonymous Girl
Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen · 2019
Jessica signs up for a psychology study to earn quick cash. The questions get personal. Then Dr. Shields starts crossing lines.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski · 2000
A house that's bigger on the inside. A documentary about it. A blind man's footnotes on the documentary. A madman's footnotes on those. This book will change how you see books.
The Haunting of Hill House
Shirley Jackson · 1959
Four strangers arrive at Hill House to investigate the supernatural. The house is alive. Eleanor is unraveling. The original haunted house novel.
Annihilation
Jeff VanderMeer · 2014
Four women enter Area X. The biologist documents what they find. Nature has been changed. So have they. Eco-horror that gets under your skin.
Piranesi
Susanna Clarke · 2020
A man lives in a House of infinite halls filled with statues and an ocean. He knows everything about the House and nothing about himself.
The It Girl
Ruth Ware · 2022
April was the It Girl at Oxford. Now she's dead, and Hannah isn't sure the right man went to prison. Dark academia meets whodunit.
The Housemaid's Secret
Freida McFadden · 2023
Millie takes a new housekeeping job. The wife is strange. The husband is charming. Something is very wrong in this penthouse.
None of This Is True
Lisa Jewell · 2023
Alix meets Josie on their shared birthday. Josie wants to be the subject of Alix's podcast. Alix should have said no.
The Only One Left
Riley Sager · 2023
A caretaker arrives at a clifftop mansion to tend to Lenora, who allegedly slaughtered her family in 1929. Lenora wants to tell her story.
Yellowface
R.F. Kuang · 2023
June steals a dead friend's manuscript and publishes it as her own. A razor-sharp satire of publishing, race, and who gets to tell what stories.
The Housemaid
Freida McFadden · 2022
Millie takes a housekeeping job with the Winchester family. The wife is cold. The husband is attentive. Something is very wrong. The twist is *wicked.*
Rock Paper Scissors
Alice Feeney · 2021
Adam and Amelia go to a remote Scottish cottage to save their marriage. Someone else knows they're there. Each chapter is a different year of their marriage.
The Turn of the Key
Ruth Ware · 2019
Rowan takes a nannying job in a smart home in the Scottish Highlands. She's writing from prison now. The house might be haunted. Or someone might be watching.
Local Woman Missing
Mary Kubica · 2021
A woman disappears. Years later a girl comes home — but she's been missing for eleven years and everything she says raises more questions than answers.
Fever Dream
Samanta Schweblin · 2014
A woman is dying. A boy who may not be a boy walks her through her last memories. Short, devastating, and deeply strange. Will haunt you for weeks.
House of Leaves
Mark Z. Danielewski · 2000
A house on Ash Tree Lane is slightly bigger on the inside than the outside. The footnotes spiral into madness. The most formally inventive horror novel ever written.
We Have Always Lived in the Castle
Shirley Jackson · 1962
Merricat Blackwood lives with her sister Constance and uncle Julian in their old house. Most of her family is dead. She's perfectly happy about it. Eerie perfection.
Draco Malfoy's Very Secret Diary
Violet_Azure · 2002
Draco's diary is a masterpiece of self-delusion and repressed feelings. This is one of the original Drarry classics and still one of the funniest things in the fandom.
Never Lie
Freida McFadden · 2022
Freida McFadden's 'Never Lie' is a gripping tale that keeps you guessing until the very last page. With its intricate plot and shocking twists, it's a must-read for any thriller enthusiast.