Hello everyone,
We have made it to March and it is officially springtime here in the UK. There are not many people happier than I am about that, but true to form, here I am to dampen the mood by talking about the most unsettling books I have read.
My list does not include books that focus on or are set during a particularly grim period of history. Instead, I have chosen to focus on the contemporary titles which I have found most unsettling to read or have made me feel uncomfortable and made my skin crawl.
On with the list!
The Lie by C.L. Taylor
I was not prepared for how twisted this one ended up becoming. The ordeal that the main character experiences when she joins a commune of British travellers in India was very tough to read at times, and even though it was fast paced, I could not get through too much at once.
The Last Thing To Burn by Will Dean
I have rarely felt so tense while reading a book than I did when making my way through the final chapters of this one. It is a harrowing story about human trafficking, written magnificently to leave maximum impact and the way the author captured Thanh’s voice certainly did that.
You by Caroline Kepnes
It is hard to deny that this is an impressive book in what it sets out to do, and it quite addictive to see what happens. However, it is also the most twisted, messed up thing I have ever read and after finishing it I could spend no more time in the head of Joe Goldberg. I have watched, and mostly liked the Netflix show, but the book was so unpalatable to me that I dispensed with my physical copy.
A Song Of Isolation by Michael J. Malone
An author who you may not have come across, Michael J. Malone has written some very hard-hitting and impactful books. This one made me feel a lot of strong emotions and there were occasions where I was so on edge that I had vice-like grip on my Kindle.
Girl A by Abigail Dean
I did not particularly like this book as I found the narrative really confusing to follow, but the unsettling subject matter was palpable throughout. The main character and what she had experienced was hard to read, even though much of the story focused on the aftermath.
Honourable Mentions
Let’s Chat
Have you read any of these books? What are some of the most unsettling books you have read? Let me know in the comments!
Happy reading :)
Stephen Reads Books 
I’ve only read You by Caroline Kepnes from this list. It has been a long time since I’ve read it. I remember not liking it but I couldn’t tell you why I didn’t like it. I read this pretty early on when I was first really getting into reading. I think I want to reread it to see what I would think about it now and maybe even continue with the series.
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I’ve only read Girl A and I liked it more than you did but definitely agree that it was disturbing. I remember you mentioning The Last Thing To Burn before and being intrigued then too. And I love the TV series You but havent gotten around to reading the book yet. I also have my eye on a few of your honorable mentions.
What springs to mind for me when it comes to disturbing reads are Sharp Objects and Written In Blood. The former had such an unsettling atmopshere that somehow seemed to seep from the pages. And the latter literally gave me nightmares whilst reading it. Its not often that a book has disturbed me so highly that its done that but the killers journal was insanely dark.
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The Last Thing to Burn was a tough read at times, but very well executed and I have hardly been more tense while reading. I really like the show You as well, I mean that is dark but the book made me feel nauseous at times 😂
Thank you for sharing the ones that stand out to you. I’ve definitely wanted to read Sharp Objects for some time.
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