Unlikeable Female Characters

On this very special Unlikeable Female Characters, Kristen, Layne, and Wendy say goodbye (for now) with a look back at their favorite episodes and what they’ve learned in four years of being professional bitches on the internet.

Favorite episodes in case you missed them:

Episode 11: Mediocre White Men

Episode 24: Anniversary Sexpisode

Bonus Episode: Jonathan Mallory Davis

Episode 56: I Hate Men

Episode 65: Megan Abbott

Episode 69: Rachel Harrison

Episode 73: Sara Gran

Episode 79: Young Rich Widows

Episode 99: Wanda Morris

Also mentioned in this episode:

Buzzfeed article about women writing men

Netflix movie Do Revenge

Amazon Prime series The Rings of Power

Such Sharp Teeth by Rachel Harrison

Netflix series Wednesday

Meghan Markle’s *Archetypes* podcast

Thanks for listening, and stay unlikeable!

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Wendy welcomes Wanda M. Morris to discuss her new historical thriller Anywhere You Run, what it takes to make the past come alive on the page, and finding joy and hope in dark books (and darker times).

Anywhere You Run is available now wherever books are sold!

Also mentioned in the episode:

Wanda’s debut novel All Her Little Secrets

The official Spotify playlist for Anywhere You Run

Find out more about Wanda on her website, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Kristen is joined by author Kelly J. Ford to discuss her new Southern noir novel Real Bad Things, the maddening minefield of apologizing as a woman, and why we’re in a golden age for writing weird queer shit.

Real Bad Things is available now wherever books are sold!

Also mentioned in the episode:

Kelly’s debut novel Cottonmouths

Crime fiction author Cheryl A. Head (who Kristen interviewed back in 2020)

Powers and Thrones: A New History of the Middle Ages by Dan Jones

Siren Queen by Nghi Vo

The Strange Love of Martha Ivers

Midsommar

Pachinko by Min Jin Lee (and the Apple TV+ adaptation)

Find out more about Kelly on her website, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Layne welcomes Courtney Summers to the show for a chat about her harrowing new novel I'm the Girl, the significance of writing about girls who are super gay for each other, and how to hype yourself (and your work) without apology.

You can buy I’m the Girl now, as well as Courtney’s previous books The Project, Sadie, All the Rage, This is Not a Test, Fall for Anything, Some Girls Are, and Cracked Up to Be.

Find out more about Courtney on her website, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Layne talks with Ashley Winstead about her absolutely badass new novel The Last Housewife, the problem of female pleasure under the patriarchy, and how she stays sane by toggling between thrillers and romantic comedies.

The Last Housewife is available now!

Also mentioned in the episode:

Ashley’s other books In My Dreams I Hold a Knife and Fool Me Once

The Cut’s exposé on the Sarah Lawrence sex cult

Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood

Justine by the Marquis de Sade and the movie Quills

Find out more about Ashley on her website, Instagram, or Twitter.

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Layne’s celebrating spooky season early with feminist horror author Gwendolyn Kiste! Tune in for their chat about Gwendolyn’s feminist as hell Dracula meets Jane Eyre mashup Reluctant Immortals, why women are so good at controlling our murderous urges, and what makes horror the ideal genre for rule-breaking, rage-fueled fiction.

Reluctant Immortals is out now, as are Gwendolyn’s previous books Boneset & Feathers, The Rust Maidens, Pretty Marys All in a Row, and And Her Smile Will Untether the Universe.

Also mentioned in the episode:

Dracula by Bram Stoker

Jane Eyre by Charlotte Brontë

Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë

Shirley Jackson, author of The Haunting of Hill House

Angela Carter, author of The Bloody Chamber

The Babadook

Something Borrowed, Something Blood-Soaked by Christa Carmen

To Be Devoured by Sara Tantlinger

Yellowjackets

Find out more about Gwendolyn on her website, Instagram, or Twitter.

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Layne interviews Sarah Zachrich Jeng about her speculative feminist thriller The Other Me, why selfishness is necessary to make art, and the men we should all watch out for.

Sarah’s debut The Other Me is available now in both paperback and hardcover.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Black Mirror

Russian Doll

“Once in a Lifetime” by Talking Heads

The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger

Find out more about Sarah on her website, Instagram, or Twitter.

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Layne welcomes Amina Akhtar (and her celebrity pup Bean!) back to the show to talk about her new novel Kismet, the Christopher Columbusing of wellness culture, and why we’re all getting weirder.

Kismet is out now! Also mentioned in the episode:

Amina’s first book #FashionVictim

Our previous interview with Amina

Beanie the Coyote Vest Pup’s official Insta

Bean on The Late Late Show with James Corden (eff you James Corden, Beanie looks fabulous)

Find out more about Amina on her website, Instagram, and Twitter.

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Layne celebrates Hot Goth Summer with Isabel Cañas, author of The Hacienda (remember that Hot Priest book from our summer reads episode? This is it, bitches!). Plus: how the hell Isabel completed this book while also getting her PhD, why we all love a forbidden romance, and which classic Gothic heroine drove her so batshit crazy she had to rage-write about it.

Isabel’s debut The Hacienda is out now wherever books are sold!

Also mentioned in the episode:

Episode 86: Queen Shit with Hannah Whitten

Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier

Fleabag

Quills

Story Genius by Lisa Cron

Save the Cat! Writes a Novel by Jessica Brody

Find out more about Isabel on her website, Instagram, or Twitter.

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Layne chats with author Margarita Montimore about her new novel Acts of Violet, writing stories based on your personal obsessions rather than what’s popular, and success comes to those who stay stubborn as hell.

Pick up your copy of Acts of Violet from Bookshop.org or your favorite local indie bookstore.

Also mentioned in this episode:

Margarita’s first two books Oona Out of Order and Asleep From Day

Macmillan Audio’s EPIC *Acts of Violet* audiobook

The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson

The Echo Wife by Sarah Gailey

Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Find out more about Margarita on her website, Instagram, or Twitter.

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