Hello, everyone, my name is Olivia, and today I wanted to give you six recommendations for books
that are all in different genres but all have the same vibe, in the way that they are quiet dramas,
very ambiguous reads, and have the same sort of melancholic, slow-moving atmosphere that I greatly
enjoy in a novel. And these are actually novels that I don't think are going to be for everyone.
They tend to have lower ratings because they don't answer all the questions that
they raise and they aren't as satisfying as other novels, but these are some of my favorite reads,
so let's get right into it and give you some recommendations for unsettling, ambiguous,
quiet reads that aren't explosive but really leave an impact on you. The first quiet drama that I
have to recommend to you is a mystery and it is called Leave the World Behind by Rumaan Alam.
This is a book that I listened to on audiobook and completely enjoyed. It was immersive. It was
engaging and it's an audiobook that I did not want to stop listening to. So we follow two different
families who are forced to converge with one another and kind of team together during very dire
circumstances. So we follow a family of four and the parents are Amanda and Clay. They are driving
their two children into Long Island to stay at a house for a weekend that they rented out,
and one night, during this vacation, they get a late-night knock at their door
and it is Ruth and G.H. They are a Black couple who owns the house that Amanda and Clay and their
children are staying at, and Amanda and Clay are white. Ruth and G.H. bring the news that New York
City has had a massive blackout, so they decided to leave Manhattan and drive up to Long Island to
the safety of their home, but Amanda and Clay, and the family begin to suspect that something
is wrong. They don't necessarily believe Ruth and G.H. They are off-putted by them because
they are different and they didn't expect these people to show up at the house during their--
their vacation, and they are unsure as to what is happening in New York City because they are so far
away from it. It says, “Leave the World Behind explores the complexities of parenthood, race,
and class,” and it is done in such an effortless way that just flows beautifully into this
subtle thriller that isn't necessarily in your face, trying to thrill you, but it's more of a
psychological thriller where you are putting yourself into the shoes of these characters.
You are learning about their inherent biases and you are witnessing as these two families
have to come together in order to kind of survive this very weird circumstance. So that's what I
greatly loved about Leave the World Behind. It's very subtle. It's very slow-moving,
but it's also entirely engaging because one of my favorite things to read about is blackouts because
I think that it's so scary, in the way that it could happen, but it's not entirely the end of
the world. The world is not crashing down around you. It's more like taking away all the tools that
we rely on and putting us in this very empty type of surrounding where we have to rely on our wit.
We have to rely on others, and I think it's such a great thing to explore in fiction,
and it was done so beautifully. Highly recommend the audiobook. Such a good book, but it's also
not for everyone because it's not going to answer all your questions, and it's very ambiguous, but I
feel like if you like ambiguous reads if you like murky type of stories, you would love this book.
The next quiet drama that I have to recommend to you all is a dark academia that I actually think
is very underrated due to the fact that it is slow-moving, introspective, quiet in its plot, and
it is The Truants. The Truants follows our main character, Jess, who goes to a school in England
due to the fact that this one professor teaches at this university and she is greatly interested
by this professor and wants to take a course with her. As Jess is taking this class with Lorna Clay,
she falls into a friendship with a group of people who are not necessarily the best for her. So it
says, “Seductive, unsettling, and beautifully written, The Truants is a debut novel for lovers
of Agatha Christie and The Secret History. A thrilling exploration of deceit, first love,
and the depths to which obsession can drive us.” One of my favorite things in dark academia novels
is the exploration of obsession. I love when a character is obsessed either with a topic or a
professor and that obsession fuels them in a way that is somewhat dangerous and self-destructive,
and you get to witness their downfall. The Truants is a novel that you have to really be patient
with. It takes a bit to get into, but it is such a wonderful read that takes its time unfurling and
there are so many different twists and turns that are woven into this narrative that will
keep you on the edge of your seat and have you raising your eyebrows at these characters because
every single one of them is inherently terrible. There's not one good character in this novel,
and that's also what I love about dark academia novels because all of these characters are
flawed. All of them are interconnected with one another and all of their secrets will eventually
be revealed by the end of the story. So if you're a fan of slow-moving fiction, underrated reads,
and a different side of a dark academia novel, then I would highly recommend this one because
I don't see a lot of people reading it and it's definitely not everyone's cup of tea
because it is so slow-moving, but I feel like, if you like a novel that explores the complexities of
people's lives and how their secrets can greatly impact others, then you would greatly enjoy The
Truants. The next novel that I have to recommend to you actually is the novel that I saw a review
for on NPR and NPR said that, “it was more like a surrealist novel, a quiet drama at that,” and I
loved that description of a quiet drama. A quiet drama, to me, is something that greatly changes
the protagonist's life. They are learning secrets, their lives are falling apart at the seams,
but essentially, to the rest of the world, everything is business as usual. So a quiet drama
is something that greatly affects the protagonist of the novel, but it doesn't necessarily affect
the rest of the world, hence, why it's called quiet. So the book that was coined a quiet drama
is The Memory Police. So it says, “On an unnamed island, off an unnamed coast,
objects are disappearing. First hats, then ribbons, birds, roses, until things become much
more serious.” Most of the people on this island do not notice that these things are disappearing,
except a select few who still recall these things that previously existed. Those people are a threat
to society and are being taken away by the Memory Police. So we follow our protagonist, who is a
young writer when she discovers that her editor is in danger from the Memory Police, so she decides
to hide him in her house. It's pitched as an Orwellian tale, but I would like to deviate from
that a bit, although that is one of the reasons why I picked up this novel. It's not as explosive
as 1984. 1984 is action-packed. There is something bigger happening at the core of the novel,
but The Memory Police is a very introspective type of read. You're not going to get all the answers
to the questions that you have. It's ambiguous. It is just following this protagonist, and, because
we follow this sole protagonist, they don't know everything about the world that they live in. They
don't know everything about the government that is controlling them in this dystopian society,
so due to the fact that we are limited to this one character's perspective, we're not going to learn
everything about the world. So this is a very obscure read and a sleepy nightmare that explores
the power of memory and how easily that can be manipulated by the government or society,
in general, and I absolutely adored it. If you are a fan of 1984, if you are a fan of
very obscure and murky type of sci-fi novels, then I would highly recommend this one because,
it's not too heavy on the sci-fi, but the concept is something that will live in your mind for
months upon months and it will kind of haunt you. It somewhat feels like a Twilight Zone episode
come to life in a book, and it will absolutely live in your heart and your mind
for months upon months. The next novel that I have to recommend is a pandemic, quiet drama
and it follows a simple town in California as they are succumbed to a sleep sickness. So The Dreamers
starts out on a college campus where a girl falls asleep and her roommate is unable to wake her up
and eventually, another student falls asleep and another and another, and the sleep sickness begins
to spread throughout this college town. Then we follow another point of view of a young couple who
recently just had a baby, and in another point of view, we follow these two sisters who are living
with their father, who is a doomsday prepper and he has been prepping for this type of situation
his entire life. Through these three points of views, we follow this sleep sickness as it takes
over this town and this town is eventually put under quarantine, and these three different groups
of people have to deal with this pandemic in a very different way. What made me love
The Dreamers was the fact that we follow so many different points of views. It's an omnipresent
type of third person that drifts around this town as we follow these different characters dealing
with the situation where people are succumbing to the sleep sickness. It's atmospheric while also
capturing the absolute chaoticness of quarantine, and it feels like a radio drama in your head.
If you've ever listened to a fictionalized podcast, that's what The Dreamers felt like
when I was listening to it on audiobook. It captures the unsettling feeling of not being
in control of your own life and how characters react in such different ways and how they have to
go through different circumstances, and if you're looking for a sci-fi that is very ambiguous and
speculative, in the way where it raises so many questions and touches upon so many different
aspects of humanity, then you would love The Dreamers. The next quiet drama that I have to
recommend to you all is a sci-fi, and it's a book that I actually finished a couple of days ago,
and what's interesting is the fact that it has such a low rating on Goodreads, but I
decided to pick it up either way because it sounded interesting to me, and I'm so glad that I
listened to my heart rather than Goodreads because it became one of my favorite reads of 2021,
and I'm so glad I did not listen to the hype. And it is The Need by Helen Phillips. The Need follows
an exhausted mother who is taking care of her two kids when she begins to hear something in her
house and she comes face to face with an intruder who knows more about her life than she ever
thought could happen. That is the basic premise of the synopsis, but it's so much more than that,
and the reason why that is the basis for the synopsis and you aren't given any more information
is the fact that, if you were given any more information, the whole entire book would be
ruined for you. It's like a wonderful, speculative fiction that I just want more people to read,
but I feel like it only will hit the right type of people people who like weird books, people who
like books that don't give you all the answers, people who like being thrust into the action
and aren't given a lot of background information I feel like you would like this book if you are
a fan of fiction where you don't know what's really happening but you're just along for the
ride and you are just enjoying where this book is going to take you because you have to go into
this book without knowing too much, and you just have to trust the author to take you along this
journey into this Twilight Zone-esque situation that you were just in awe by and confused by,
and I feel like you just have to embrace being confused when reading The Need. That's the best
way I can describe it. I can't give you I can't give you any more information. Read this book,
if you like weird books. Read this book if you have the same type of taste as me.
It's such a good book, and I'm sad that so many people don't like it, but I can understand why
because the synopsis is so vague, and it makes you think about like a home invasion situation,
but it's not just a home invasion situation. It's the aftermath of that
and how this main character is dealing with this intruder in their life. And, last but not least,
I have an Indigenous, thriller, quiet drama recommendation that was just such an amazing read
that, again, feels like an episode in the Twilight Zone, and it is Moon of the Crusted Snow. Moon of
the Crusted Snow takes place during the winter and the Anishinabe community up in Canada. There
has been a blackout and this community is cut off from the rest of the world and everything changes
for this community when an outsider decides to come into this community seeking solace, and
that really tips the scales of the power dynamics in this community. To me, this not only felt like
a Twilight Zone episode, but in an A24 film in the way that this book starts out very slow,
and you don't really know where you're getting yourself into, and action is slowly happening.
People are starting to fight with one another. Tension is brewing, and right towards the end,
the action really peaks and so many things are happening at once, like an A24 film. This novel
effortlessly builds tension and it explores the power dynamics in a community during a dire
situation, and it also explores what people are like when they're completely cut off from society
when their phones don't work when their power doesn't work. So if you're looking for a quick,
tense read that is perfect for winter time, because it is set during such a harsh season,
then I would highly recommend Moon of the Crusted Snow. It is so completely unique and perfect for
fans of Leave the World Behind, and I think those two stories go really well together
because they both have the same situation, but they're so completely different. They're both
absolutely fantastic, very ambiguous, and they both kind of have the same vibe. Those are six
quiet dramas that I would highly recommend to you all and span a bunch of different genres,
so I feel like there's something for everyone, if you're looking for a weird read that is ambiguous,
that is full of apprehension and anxiety. Again, these books are not for everyone. I know that
people go into these books expecting one thing and they get another because all of these synopses are
very vague, because, if you were to get any more information from these synopses, then you would
ruin all these plot twists and you would ruin the intrigue that all of these books have. So let me
know if you have any book recommendations that are similar to the vibes that these six books have.
These books are all very different, but they all have that same overtone to it where it's vivid,
tension is brewing, it's kind of anxiety-inducing, but it's done in such a way that will completely
immerse you in a book and will leave you thinking about it long after you've finished it.
I would love to get your recommendations in the comments, and I would also appreciate if you were
to put the genre, as well, because all of these span different genres, but they all have somewhat
of the same vibe. So if someone's looking for something that is an ambiguous sci-fi, then they
can look into the comments for that. If you have made it this far in the video, leave that swirling
emoji that I really like but I never use because, like, when does anyone actually use that emoji?
Put that swirling emoji down below, so we can see who stays for the longest in my videos.
Let me know if you have other very specific book recommendation videos that you would like to see
from me. I feel like this is my most niche type of book recommendation video because I don't even
really know what to call it. They're all weird, but in a good way, like, they're not too weird.
They're definitely weirder books, but they all have this very weird type of vibe to them
that leaves you a little bit unsettled, and I loved that about them all. So thank you
so much for spending your time with me, and I will see you in another video very soon. Bye~