Comment what books have caused you to become distressed, traumatized, or unsettled in any way. Please elaborate as to why.
Tender is the Flesh by Agustina Bazterrica had me thinking about it for weeks after. Evidently I’m still thinking about it now, having read it a year ago.
The subject matter is horrific. The ending is devastating, yet inevitable. Afterwards I felt like I had gaslit myself into ignoring the real character traits I was observing, wanting to believe there was a redeemable aspect to the depicted broken society.
Bunny by Mona Awad. The content of it isn’t necessarily the most distressing I have read, but the way it was written and the way the story was woven made me feel like I was literally dissociating while reading it which added a lot to the unsettling factor.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy, it’s just so goddamn bleak. Nothing ever goes well and just about everybody is horrible, not a book I’ll likely read again even though I did enjoy it. Same with the movie, it’s just such a kick in the guts that I won’t be rewatching it even though it was great.
This is funny, I immediately thought of Blood Meridian when I read the post title, then came in and saw another Cormac McCarthy book!
I’m not even sure why I think of Blood Meridian over The Road. Maybe now that I have child rereading the road would make it worse. But I feel that especially upon a few rereads Blood Meridian has some really dark things happening that aren’t immediately apparent.
And I suppose part of my choice might be because I find The Judge to be both the most fascinating and horrifying character in anything I’ve read or seen.
Lolita, it’s simply unsettling.
Also Starship Troopers as I used to be in the military for a bit.
The Blood Bond saga. I’m just so genuinely baffled as to how the everloving f*ck it has such high ratings. By the time I was halfway through the first book I was hate-reading it. Pushed myself to finish the whole saga because it was so bad it made me feel comparatively good about myself and my life decisions. I now have zero doubts that anyone in this world can become a published author, including me. But also, this has me seriously worried that ANYONE in this world can become a published author… including me :/
