7 Scandalous Books for People Who Love a Little Drama 

The inspiration for the hit drama TV series, Gossip Girl, focusing on the young socialites of New York City, was Cecily von Ziegesar’s YA series of the same name, based on the author’s own experiences at an elite all-girls’ school on the Upper East Side. 

Much of the series focuses on the on-and-off friendship between Blair Waldorf and Serena van der Woodsen, along with their romantic entanglements, wicked parties, and shopping sprees, all chronicled by an anonymous blogger who exposes their secrets to the world. Overall, a very fun and enjoyable series to binge-read. 

Like Gossip Girl, Anna Godbersen’s book Luxe is also set in Manhattan, but a century apart. This historical chick-lit novel focuses on two socialite sisters who realize that their erstwhile position of privilege is rather precarious. 

Godbersen paints a very vivid, glittering portrait of extravagance and decadence, but we all know that all that glitters isn’t gold.  

Torn between duty, love, social codes, and their own desires, the novel follows five teenagers from one scandal to another, against the historical backdrop. 

The OG drama novel, F. Scott Fitzgerald’s The Great Gatsby, is a sumptuous tragedy wrapped in glittering prose. 

A tale of unrequited love and passion unfolding in the Jazz Age on Long Island, the novel is mediated through the gaze of Nick Carraway, a friend of the enigmatic millionaire Jay Gatsby, who is hopelessly pining after his former lover, the socialite Daisy Buchanan.

Inspired by the author’s own youthful affairs and Long Island parties, The Great Gatsby isn’t just a filler read, but a deep examination of class, gender, and race relations—and how the promise of wealth can sometimes make or break a romance.

If you’re in the mood for a delightfully queer love story with dollops of drama, you can’t go wrong with Casey McQuiston’s bestselling M/M romance novel, Red, White and Royal Blue.

Following a British prince and the first son of the American President as they fall in love, the pair come to terms with their identities and the pressures of going public with their relationship, while also balancing election campaigns, political reputations, royal galas, and schoolwork. 

The relationship at the book’s core is tender enough to make you squee, but there’s plenty of twists, tension, and high stakes to keep you invested till the finish line.

Those who have a fondness for suspense-ridden thrillers and mysteries will surely have a blast with E. Lockhart’s intricately-plotted book, We Were Liars, which features, among other things, a private island, broken friendships, accidents, and, as the title hints, lies upon lies. 

With an unreliable narrator and plenty of twists, the book encourages the reader to be sceptical, read between the lines, and be rewarded with unexpected turns. This one’s best enjoyed if you go in blind!

The novel that kick-started the dark academia obsession on Tumblr, The Secret History by Donna Tartt, is a deceptively engaging read that follows a group of tight-knit, mostly wealthy Classics students at an elite New England college as they grapple with the murder of one of their own. 

Divided into two halves, the book first examines the events leading up to the friend’s death, before dealing with its aftermath. 

The prose is decadent and exquisite, unfolding a vivid character study of some pretty terrible people, yet rendered so compellingly that you won’t be able to stop reading. 

Finally, if you prefer stories with romantic drama, will-they-won’t-they relationships, and torrid affairs, you may find Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends charmingly relatable. 

It chronicles the friendship of two young women who get involved with an older couple, along with musings on art, philosophy, morality, and politics. 

Lucidly written with sharp observations and poignant moments, Conversations with Friends is a definite conversation starter as well.