The Bass Rock

The cover art drew me in, but if I knew it was essentially a treatise on violence against women, I wouldn’t have opened to the first page. In this case, I’m glad I did. It theorized on violence and oppression in a way that elevated it beyond despair porn (and made me think), but it’s real hook was a collection of viscerally relatable female characters whose caustic existence made my own vulgarities feel like evidence of aliveness.