6 books like Cruella
- The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith — Like Cruella, this novel follows a protagonist who invents himself through theft, charm, and an obse…
- Confessions of a Shopaholic by Sophie Kinsella — Like Cruella, this novel builds its plot around a protagonist whose relationship with fashion is bot…
- The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid — Like Cruella, this novel follows a woman who builds a career by controlling her public image with ru…
- American Psycho by Bret Easton Ellis — Like Cruella, this novel treats surface aesthetics as the primary language of power and identity.
- The Secret History by Donna Tartt — Like Cruella, this novel builds a world where aesthetics and intellectualism become their own moral …
- Eileen by Ottessa Moshfegh — Like Cruella, this novel hands you a deeply unlikable protagonist and dares you to stay with her as …
Picked for the feeling of Cruella, not its genre. Each one is explained below. One movie isn’t much to go on: rate four more and the books are picked for you.
Why these books
Cruella gives you a villain origin story that refuses to apologize for its protagonist's ambition or sharp edges. The film moves fast, layering punk rock aesthetics over a revenge plot structured like a heist caper, where every fashion show becomes an act of psychological warfare. It treats social climbing and creative genius as equally valid forms of power, and it never asks you to feel sorry for anyone. These books offer protagonists who scheme their way upward, narratives that glamorize ambition without moralizing, and plots where style and substance are the same thing.
The Talented Mr. Ripley
Like Cruella, this novel follows a protagonist who invents himself through theft, charm, and an obsessive attention to surfaces. Tom Ripley climbs social ladders by studying the aesthetics of wealth and then performing them better than the people born into privilege. Highsmith writes his crimes as acts of self-creation rather than moral failure. The pacing is sleek and cold, the tone never winking, and you root for someone who absolutely should not win. It treats ambition as its own justification and makes you complicit in every calculated move.
Confessions of a Shopaholic
Like Cruella, this novel builds its plot around a protagonist whose relationship with fashion is both identity and weapon. Becky Bloomwood schemes, lies, and reinvents herself to sustain a lifestyle she cannot afford, treating every outfit as strategic self-presentation. Kinsella writes shopping as performance art and ambition as a legitimate form of desire. The tone is bright and unapologetic, the humor sharp rather than cutesy, and the narrative never punishes its heroine for wanting more. It glamorizes reinvention and treats material ambition as something other than a moral failing.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
Like Cruella, this novel follows a woman who builds a career by controlling her public image with ruthless precision. Evelyn Hugo calculates every marriage, every scandal, every headline to engineer the fame she wants, and the narrative treats her manipulations as strategic genius rather than villainy. Reid structures the plot as a series of reveals, each one recontextualizing the choices that came before. The tone is glamorous and matter-of-fact, the ambition unapologetic, and the emotional stakes grounded in the cost of performing a self the world will love while hiding the self you actually are.
American Psycho
Like Cruella, this novel treats surface aesthetics as the primary language of power and identity. Patrick Bateman narrates his life through brand names, grooming routines, and restaurant reservations, using style to construct a self that passes in elite circles. Ellis writes violence and vanity with the same clinical detachment, refusing to moralize or explain. The pacing is obsessive and repetitive, the humor pitch-black, and the social satire as sharp as anything in Cruella's fashion-world takedowns. It asks you to spend time inside a mind that values appearance over humanity and never softens the proposition.
The Secret History
Like Cruella, this novel builds a world where aesthetics and intellectualism become their own moral systems, separate from conventional ethics. Richard Papen narrates his entry into a tight circle of classics students who treat beauty, language, and ritual as justifications for anything they do. Tartt writes ambition and belonging as twin obsessions, both seductive and destructive. The pacing is deliberate and immersive, the tone glamorous even when describing terrible acts, and the narrative never distances itself enough to let you off the hook for finding these people compelling.
Eileen
Like Cruella, this novel hands you a deeply unlikable protagonist and dares you to stay with her as she calculates her way toward transformation. Eileen Dunlop narrates her escape from a suffocating life with cold precision, treating every small cruelty and theft as a rehearsal for reinvention. Moshfegh writes ambition as something ugly and urgent, stripped of glamour but no less compelling. The tone is dark and sardonic, the pacing coiled and patient, and the emotional register refuses warmth. It treats self-invention as an act of violence against the person you used to be.
Is Cruella based on a book?
Cruella isn’t based on a book — it’s an original screenplay by Dana Fox and Tony McNamara.
What should I read if I loved Cruella?
Start with The Talented Mr. Ripley, Confessions of a Shopaholic and The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. 6 books on this page were picked for the feeling of Cruella, not its genre, with a reason for each.
Which book is most like Cruella?
The Talented Mr. Ripley by Patricia Highsmith. Like Cruella, this novel follows a protagonist who invents himself through theft, charm, and an obsessive attention to surfaces.
These are for everyone who loved Cruella. Want books picked for you?
Someone who loved Cruella and Get Out reads different books from someone who loved Cruella and Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse. One movie isn’t much to go on. Rate four more — Cruella already counts — and the books are picked for you.
Rate four more moviesOr read one book with friends — three of you rate movies, one book you’ll all like.