In recent years, the “hot-girl book” has taken over a certain corner of the internet, one where literature, fashion, and existential dread meet and manifest in the form of aspirational social media posts. Building on trending concepts like “hot-girl summer” and the “hot-girl walk,” a “hot-girl book”—also sometimes referred to as a “sad-girl book”—is easy to recognize. It’s most often a work of literary fiction in which a beautiful (typically thin), sad and/or detached woman (typically white) navigates personal dramas. These are the zeitgeisty books that so-called it girls, influencers, and those who emulate them are often spotted reading, written by authors like Sally Rooney and Ottessa Moshfegh.