Listed: Books With Shock Value #1
and no you won't find Gone Girl in this bunch!
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Hello!
After being on vacation last week I had planned on writing a longer essay about some of my thoughts on what I want from and how I’m approaching my reading1 and how it might be different than what many are currently talking about on Substack. I do intend to write about that, but I was hit with the flu as soon as I returned from Mexico and I’m a bit down and out, so deeper level thinking and writing will have to wait.
I had this post going in my drafts, so now’s the perfect time to dust it off and share with you many of my all time favorite books with shock value. After going through my entire backlist2 I started keeping a list in my notes app of the books I that shocked me in some way. The shocking elements are not necessarily “twists,” although in some cases they are, but some simply shocked me because I was unprepared (i.e. for a death) or simply didn’t see something coming. The fact that I read so many of these YEARS ago and still remember the “shocking” element speaks to just how good (for lack of a better word) the shocks or surprises were.
My criteria for a book’s inclusion on this list was as follows: at some point in the story I thought I didn’t see that coming, or I literally gasped out loud at something, or there was an actual plot twist that shocked me. What excites me about these book choices is that some of the shock value in certain books is plot driven and some is character driven, meaning there are some developments that are shocking because of what happens, but sometimes the shocks come from surprising behaviors of the characters themselves. The very best shock value books have a combination of both.
Because I have so many books on my master list, I’ve decided to break them into two parts of twelve. These are all books I’ve loved and given at least a 4 star rating3. As always I’ll include links so you can check out the synopsis. I’m not going to include other details because as is the case with books that have shock value, often the less you know going in the better and of course, I won’t tell you what type of shock to expect:) Rest assured, if you love a good surprise, these books deliver.
12 Books With Shock Value
Next of Kin by Kia Abdullah Bookshop.org | Amazon
Tall Oaks by Chris Whitaker Bookshop.org | Amazon