Fans of Mona Awad’s Bunny and Ottessa Moshfegh’s My Year of Rest and Relaxation rejoice—your newest “weird girl” antiheroes are finally here in this unflinching feminist campus novel.
When introverted loner Penny transfers to a Midwest university in search of the all-American college experience, she finds herself under the intoxicating influence of Stella, a glamorous, damaged sorority girl with a razor-sharp wit and a bottle full of secrets. As their unlikely friendship deepens into obsession, both young women spiral into a hall of mirrors—haunted by frat-house cruelties and the brutal expectations of modern femininity.
“A powerful exploration of what it means to survive, and transform, in the gilded cage of modern campus life.” —BookTrib
“Think Mean Girls on uppers. By turns savage and sympathetic, Heather Colley’s The Gilded Butterfly Effect skewers the absurd theatre of college life with ferocious wit and style.” —Damian Fowler, author of Falling Through Clouds
