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Valentine’s Day is right around the corner, but since it’s February 13, it’s time to focus on celebrating the gals. If you’re a horror fan and you love stories about female friendships, here are three must-read books that are perfect for celebrating the girls in your life.
Read them today for Galentine’s Day, or read them any day you want to explore the intensity and complexity of female friendships. Cue “Girl, So Confusing” by Charli XCX featuring Lorde, and get your hands on these books.
The Return by Rachel Harrison
Rachel Harrison’s debut horror novel follows a group of college friends who reunite after their friend, Julie, suddenly reappears after vanishing mysteriously two years ago. To reconnect, the four friends book a weekend getaway in an isolated locale.
But something isn’t right about Julie. She has no memory of what happened to her or where she’s been. It’s not just that she seems sickly or has lost some weight. No, she seems to be literally falling apart.
Dread Nation by Justina Ireland
This YA horror novel, which reimagines the Civil War coming to an end when the dead begin to rise from their graves, centers on Jane and Katherine. These two girls are both attending Miss Preston’s School of Combat. The government has passed a law that forces Black and Indigenous children into combat schools to train and serve as “Attendants,” or bodyguards for wealthy whites. At first, Jane and Katherine are rivals, but when the pair uncover a conspiracy, they become allies and friends.
If you dig this book, you can also pick up the sequel, Deathless Divide.
Bunny by Mona Awad
Dear Bunnies, if you love horror and female friendships, then you probably already know about this book. It’s such a great horror novel for Galentine’s Day.
Samantha is a scholarship student in the prestigious MFA program at Warren University. She feels like a complete outsider within her cohort, especially when she compares herself to the Bunnies, a group of wealthy girls who call each other “Bunny” and seem to act and think as one. Then Samantha gets an invite to the Bunnies’ infamous Smut Salon, and before she knows it, Samantha gets swept up in the world of the Bunnies.
Great news for fans of Bunny or those who race through it and want more, there’s a sequel, We Love You, Bunny.
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Enjoy your Galentine’s Day today, but don’t forget to celebrate your friendships all year round–and it doesn’t have to be through reading horror. Here are even more books about female friendships worth a read!
