#10 Kirsten King: Unlikable Heroines, Downward Spirals, and the Perils of Modern Dating

#10 Kirsten King: Unlikable Heroines, Downward Spirals, and the Perils of Modern Dating

The Everygirl Book Club interviews Kirsten King, author of the summer bonus pick A Good Person, about Lillian’s provocative downward spiral after the death of her situationship, Henry. King discusses embracing polarized reactions to an intentionally unlikable protagonist, her current reads and recommendations for “messy women” books, and how her background in journalism and screenwriting (including using Save the Cat) shaped her debut novel while feeling more creatively exposed than in collaborative film work. She explains writing the book during the 2023 WGA strike, building side characters to reveal Lillian’s flawed POV, and choosing not to give Lillian redemption. The conversation covers modern dating, virtue signaling, therapy-speak, female friendship breakups, LA spirituality, and the Daisy Edgar-Jones/Working Title adaptation. King also previews a 2027 dark-comedy novel about a breakup, AI chatbot companionship, and a self-help podcaster chatbot.

01:26 Unlikable Heroine Talk

03:04 Read Receipts

07:10 BuzzFeed Millennial Era

09:02 From Screen To Novel

12:12 Handling Criticism

16:56 Creating Lillian

28:49 Morally Gray Influences

36:44 Reader Prescriptions

46:35 Building Side Characters

48:47 Etsy Witch Culture

52:11 Modern Dating Morality

55:05 Adaptation Update

56:38 Kirsten's Next Book

59:50 Ranking Morally Grey Characters

01:01:51 LITigation

Books Mentioned

A Good Person by Kirsten King

I Who Have Never Known Men by Jacqueline Harpman

200 Monas by Jan Saenz

She's a Lamb by Meredith Hambrook

Salomé by Leslie Baird

Sky Daddy by Kate Folk

Famesick by Lena Dunham

Fruit Fly by Josh Silver

Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn

Bad Marie by Marcy Dermansky

The Guest by Emma Cline

Best Offer Wins by Marisa Kashino

Yellowface by R. F. Kuang

Big Swiss by Jen Beagin

My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante

Conversations with Friends by Sally Rooney

Beautiful World, Where Are You? by Sally Rooney

Empire of AI by Karen Hao

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