The name on everybody’s lips is Chappell Roan, and we’re not mad about it. If you’re somehow not familiar with the name Chappell Roan, get ready to meet your new favorite singer, performer, creative and icon.
Chappell Roan is the drag persona of Kayleigh Rose Amstutz, a 26-year-old self-proclaimed “midwestern princess” from Willard, MO. Roan’s rise to stardom over the past year is one-of-a-kind, and it’s no surprise why. Attending one of her shows is a unique experience, and something that keeps fans wanting more each time. Many of the songs on her debut album, The Rise and Fall of a Midwest Princess, are inspired by early 2000s hits and 1980s synth-pop.
Roan has been recognized as the “queer pop moment,“ and she deserves this title. During her tour(s), Roan hires local drag performers as her opening act. Then, she hits the stage in an extravagant outfit, one that usually involves lots of sparkles, fringe, and hot pink.
Because we can’t get enough of Chappell, we’ve rounded up six books that match the vibe, aesthetic, and beautiful queer chaos of Roan.
Your Driver Is Waiting by Priya Guns
Damani is barely holding it together, much like the ex Chappell sings about in “My Kink Is Karma.” She is dealing with the sudden loss of her father, lives paycheck to paycheck in a basement, caring for her mother and works as a rideshare driver. Everything starts to change when our protagonist meets Jolene, whose perfection and privilege are both enticing and infuriating…
Bunny by Mona Awad
Samantha Heather Mackey couldn’t try to fit in less at her small, highly selective MFA program if she tried. A scholarship student who prefers to spend her time immersed in her dark imagination to that of most people, she is repelled by a clique of rich girls from her writing cohort who call each other Bunny. Despite her dislike towards them, Samantha receives an invitation to the Bunnies’ “smut salon,” and finds herself infatuated with their world, ditching her only friend Ava in the process. At first she’s repelled by the group, but they quickly turn into her “Guilty Pleasure.”
Big Swiss by Jen Beagin
Greta becomes infatuated with Big Swiss, a tall woman from Switzerland whose therapy sessions she anonymously transcribes. Big Swiss has a husband, but when Greta and Swiss meet in the local dog park, their friendship evolves into chaos. Despite Greta’s efforts to deny her feelings, nothing about their relationship is “Casual.”
Pizza Girl by Jean Kyoung Frazier
When you’re 18 years old, pregnant and working as a pizza delivery girl, you need a bit of a distraction … or maybe an obsession. Enter Jenny, a stay-at-home-mother new to the neighborhood who is reliant on weekly deliveries of pickled covered pizza’s for her son. Jenny quickly becomes pizza girl’s new addiction, similar to how Chappell is trying to get the person she sings about in “HOT TO GO!”
I Kissed Shara Wheeler by Casey McQuiston
Chloe Green is so close to having it all, but she won’t stop until she wins valedictorian over her rival, prom queen Shara Wheeler. But a month before graduation, Shara kisses Chloe then disappears. As Chloe looks for answers, she realizes she isn’t the only one Chloe kissed. Chloe kissed Smith, Shara’s boyfriend, and Rory, Shara’s next-door neighbor. The three characters follow clues Shara left behind to get closer to finding her, and also learn a lot about themselves and Shara along the way. As the search progresses, Chloe begins to have similar realizations that Chappell sings about in “Good Luck Babe!,” and starts to understand she may care more about Shara than she thought.
Perfume and Pain by Anna Dorn
Astrid Dahl is a freshly canceled novelist who moves to LA and is instantly absorbed into the glamour of the city, indulging in more than a few sexy distractions … Astrid can’t seem to stay away from the crazy visions of herself in LA, much like Chappell in “Pink Pony Club.”
