A Guide to Unreliable Narrators in Fiction

A narrator tells you their version of events. That does not mean they are telling you the truth, the whole truth, or anything remotely adjacent to it. This guide to unreliable narrators is for readers who love that delicious moment when a story tilts sideways and you realise the person holding the literary microphone may be the problem.

An unreliable narrator can turn a mystery into a mind game, a romance into a warning sign, or a speculative thriller into a full-scale reality crisis. Think less “here is what happened” and more “here is what I would very much like you to believe happened”. For readers who enjoy a plot that makes them immediately want to reread chapter one with narrowed eyes, this is the good stuff.