The Driver's Seat by Muriel Spark

Lise is thin, neither good-looking nor bad-looking. One day she walks out of her office, acquires a gaudy new outfit, adopts a girlier tone of voice, and heads to the airport to fly south. On the plane she takes a seat between two men. One is delighted with her company, the other is deeply perturbed. So begins an unnerving journey into the darker recesses of human nature.

Bright clashing colors
on the hunt for her dream man
she'll know him on sight.

closer to 3.5 but i rounded up.

What a strange book. Not what I expected but can't see much point to it other than the twist.

This was pretty damned wow. Even without the plot, which are not given until the very end, it is full of incredible scenes and dialog. I am reminded of the movie, Brazil. I questioned, multiple times, whether of this was actually happening or not. It's impossible to review without giving too much away. I just read another review (and I plan to read many more because now I want to go over and over what just happened) who described it as a “horror novel in broad daylight”. Yup, I agree. I can also say I can't think of any thing else I have ever read that is similar to it (and how often do I say that?) But I will put this out there, I think in tone at least I was reminded of [b:Eileen 23453099 Eileen Ottessa Moshfegh https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1479545528l/23453099.SX50.jpg 43014905]. Here's a link to the review I read: https://theasylum.wordpress.com/2013/10/21/muriel-spark-the-drivers-seat/