Los patitos feos también besan

by Imelda Whelehan

Like Jemima, Bridget is navigating self-improvement and romantic mishaps through a deeply personal lens, but Fielding's diary format gives you that intimate, often hilarious internal monologue. Both heroines are wrestling with societal expectations about appearance and worth, though Fielding leans harder into the comedy of self-delusion—you'll recognize that same blend of vulnerability and humor.

by Graeme C. Simsion

This one's from 2013, so it gives you that contemporary voice but with a different decade's sensibility about dating and identity. Don Tillman's quest to find the 'perfect' partner through a questionnaire mirrors Jemima's journey toward self-acceptance, except Simsion explores how our checklists for ourselves and others often miss the actual person standing in front of us.

by Jennifer J. Baker

This is my surprise pick—it's fragmented, poetic, and deeply introspective in ways that might seem far from chick-lit, but it's actually about a woman's interior life and the gap between who she thought she'd be and who she's becoming. Offill writes about bodies, desire, and identity with the same unflinching honesty Green brings to Jemima's struggle, just through a more experimental lens.

by Beth O'Leary

Hepworth alternates between two narrators sharing an apartment and a bed on different shifts, and like Green's work, she's interested in how people present themselves versus who they really are. The dual perspective gives you that same voyeuristic pleasure of watching someone's carefully constructed image crack open, revealing something more complicated and human underneath.

by Bonnie Ohye

Set in the 1960s, this follows a female chemist navigating a world that's decided who she should be—and her refusal to comply. While it's historical rather than contemporary, Garmus captures that same tension between external judgment and internal worth that drives Jemima's story, but with the added satisfaction of watching someone actively dismantle the systems trying to contain her.