Substack - Paulina Esperanza Rodriguez

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I review literary fiction and publish bimonthly book recommendations on my site, Alienated Young Woman.

What's New

Alienated Young Woman • 27th June 2026

Pride Pairs, Part III: 10 LGBTQ+ Books and What to Watch With Them

The third annual mega-Book Club for queers and their allies.

Alienated Young Woman • 12th June 2026

The Five(ish) Summer Fiction Releases I'm Excited About

Two big announcements and five new contenders for the It Girl Novel of the Summer—plus one contender for It Dog.

Alienated Young Woman • 5th June 2026

A Book for People Who Just Found Out Someone Wrote A Book About Them

Book Club: June 5 - We Love You, Bunny by Mona Awad

Alienated Young Woman • 22nd May 2026

What If F. Scott Fitzgerald Wrote In the Heights?

Book Club: May 22 - Last Night in Brooklyn by Xochitl Gonzalez

Alienated Young Woman • 17th May 2026

The 24 Authors I’m Reading at 24

A special birthday edition of Book Club.

Alienated Young Woman • 2nd May 2026

Everyone Wants to Write a Sapphic Gothic Campus Novel

Book Club: May 1 - Spoiled Milk by Avery Curran

Alienated Young Woman • 10th April 2026

No One Should Have To Be 23

Book Club: April 10 - Mystery Box Surprise!

Alienated Young Woman • 3rd April 2026

Your New Favorite Frankenstein Adaptation

Book Club: April 3 - Chicano Frankenstein by Daniel A. Olivas

Alienated Young Woman • 13th March 2026

A Book Rec for Your Best Supporting Actress Pick

Or, the 2026 Oscar Weekend Trilogy: Part I

Alienated Young Woman • 6th March 2026

The Next Five(ish) Fiction Releases I'm Excited About: Spring Edition

A Big Announcement, plus the new & upcoming lit fic that caught my eye—again.

Alienated Young Woman • 30th January 2026

A Book Rec for Every Real Housewife of Salt Lake City

10 strange novels for the 10 strangest women on Bravo.

The Highlights

Alienated Young Woman • 20th October 2025

A Definitive Ranking of Frankenstein Media

Ranking the good, the bad, and the monstrous adaptations of the original science fiction.

Alienated Young Woman • 31st October 2024

A Definitive Ranking of Vampire Media

An ode to the vampire in all its forms—Carmilla to Lestat and everyone in between

Alienated Young Woman • 24th April 2026

'Yesteryear' Nails the Literary Tradwife

Book Club: April 24 - Yesteryear by Caro Claire Burke

Alienated Young Woman • 27th September 2025

Books For Grown-Up Percy Jackson Kids

Four new novels that reimagine old myths.

Alienated Young Woman • 30th August 2025

A Book Rec for Every Song on VIRGIN

Because the Song of the Summer is apparently MIA!!

Alienated Young Woman • 12th April 2025

John Proctor is the Villain—He Always Was

On Sadie Sink's Broadway debut, the end of #MeToo, and writing a teen girl's American South.

Alienated Young Woman • 28th March 2025

Books for the Last Days of The Girlboss

Everyone Is Beautiful And No One Is Okay, or lit fic's eulogy for the corporate feminist cult

Alienated Young Woman • 10th March 2025

In Defense of 'The Monkey'

Osgood Perkins can’t stop making movies about his famous parents’ deaths. They’re his best yet.

Alienated Young Woman • 30th September 2024

Coco Mellors' Empty Sisterhood

On 'Blue Sisters' and the strange fallacy of the sister novel

Alienated Young Woman • 26th June 2024

Pride Month Pairings: 10 Queer Films and the Books to Read With Them

A recommendation guide for finding your new favorite queer movie, and the perfect book to go with it.

Alienated Young Woman • 12th June 2024

The Stepford Tradwife

On the tradwife renaissance, half a century of 'The Stepford Wives,' and the empty promise of J. Nicole Jones's 'The Witches of Bellinas.'