Friday Mood Recs: Voicey novels with narrators who steal the show
As inpsired by OYE and a great episode of The Stacks
This week I read and loved the debut novel Oye by Melissa Mogollon. It’s a fun, vibrant, emotional novel told entirely through one-side of ongoing phone calls between two sisters. The voice in this novel is incredible. Luciana is funny and snarky and sassy and sooooo eighteen—I couldn’t get enough of her!
Then I was delighted to open Spotify this week to find that
had interviewed Melissa for an episode of The Stacks Podcast. In the episode (the whole thing is great….go listen!), Traci asks Melissa about the term “voicey” and whether she likes it as a descriptor for her novel or whether it feels dismissive. Thankfully Melissa views voicey as a compliment, because I love that descriptor! and I love a novel told in a strong narrative voice that creates a crystal clear picture of the narrator.So today I’m going to share some super voicey (in a good way!) books. This was a particularly fun list to create. I went about it by browsing my bookshelves and my Goodreads and—if I could “hear” the characters’ voices in my head immediately upon seeing the cover, it went on the list. I loved remembering some of these characters and I hope you enjoy meeting them too!
