When I say "out there" I mean books that cover topics and perspectives that are rarely hyped up in popular conversations around what people read. Like everyone can find a popular video recommending self-help productivity nonfiction or YA #relatable fiction but a recent fiction book that blew me away was "I'm thinking of ending things", it got a movie adaptation on Netflix but after the movie came out very little conversations about the book carried on. Fair warning, the book "I'm thinking of ending things" is a horrifically bleak exploration into the mental state of someone contemplating suicide at the end of his life and his reflections about himself and his mistakes throughout the years are not helpful if you're looking for a good time. But I've never seen a story go that far in depicting someone's mental state in that kind of situation so it blew me away but is also underrated imho.
Till We Have Faces by C S Lewis will always be one of my favorites. It's a retelling of a Greek tragedy that got totally ignored in modern media. The story follows the life of a princess in ancient times. She's ugly and not ladylike, so everyone - subjects, employees, and her parents - all prefer her sister. But her sister is spirited away to marry a minor god and the main character is left to take care of the kingdom.
The story is told in three parts, all of which are kind of like diary entries. Part one sets up the plot, part two talks about how she handles being queen, and part three is her on her deathbed regretting most of her life decisions. Watching the character grow and face the consequences of her actions isn't something you normally see in a book, and it's even better because it's in first person.
C S Lewis is such a well known author and the book was praised by Tolkien, but for some reason most avid readers haven't even heard of it. If you like stories about psychology or the human condition it's a great read (Although I'd recommend the audiobook if you can get it.)
I'd never heard of this story before, thank you for the detailed synopsis and it seems like there's rarely any stories focused on unattractive women and the lives they live without giving them a "cinderalla glow up" moment so hearing about how this story follows the main lead from start to finish where she still has to live her life sounds interesting. Added to my reading list