9 Books That Are Emotional Roller Coasters
Can a book have as many ups and downs as this coaster? We think yes.
August 16 is National Roller Coaster Day (yes, really), so we asked our NYPL book experts:
What’s your favorite book that’s an emotional roller coaster?
They came up with examples that range from raw memoirs to Gothic dramas—stories with twists and turns, emotional ups and down, drama and angst and laughing and crying and everything in between.
Magic for Liars by Sarah Gailey
Ivy Gamble, a private eye struggling to meet ends meet, is given an offer she can’t refuse: figure out who committed a grisly murder at her estranged sister’s boarding school. At turns terrifying, disgusting, hilarious, romantic, and cringe-worthy, Ivy's story had me hooked. I couldn't put it down. —Kate Fais, Bloomingdale
What’s more of an emotional roller coaster than being a parent? In Amateur Hour: Motherhood in Essays and Swear Words Kimberly Harrington takes us for a ride through her days as a Mom from the hilarious highs of her "job description" for motherhood to the painful lows of "Please Don’t Get Murdered at School Today." Raw, honest, funny, sarcastic, smart, and real. My favorite essay was "Let’s Have the Wedding Later." If only. —Maura Muller, Volunteer Office
The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fishby Katya Apekina
From the moment 16-year-old Edie finds her mother after a failed suicide attempt, you know this book will be a wild ride. While their mother recovers, Edie and her sister Mae spend time with their estranged father in New York City. There is a lot of confusion, mental illness, and shifting loyalties, and as a reader, you're likely to feel uncomfortable at least some of the time. But you'll keep turning the pages, without a doubt. —Emily Pullen, NYPL Shop
The Sorrows of Young Werther by Johann Wolfgang von Goethe
Werther is an influencer. Frankenstein’s monster identified with his sorrow, chaps dressed like him in the 18th century, and heartbroken souls copied his suicidal behavior. Written from personal experience, Goethe touches the quick of his reader’s emotions. —Jessica Cline, Picture Collection
The Summer Country by Lauren Willig
In 1854 Barbados, a British vicar’s daughter unexpectedly inherits a mysterious, derelict sugar plantation from her grandfather. Filled with historical details of colonial Barbados and high emotional stakes, this is an epic family drama of lies, greed, romantic intrigue, and betrayal. Reminiscent of The Thorn Birds by Colleen McCullough. —Anne Rouyer, Mulberry Street
In a deeply revealing first memoir, The Last Black Unicorn, Tiffany Haddish recounts the surprisingly brutal reality of her rags-to-riches rise to comedic superstardom and shows how her trademark sense of humor was honed through intense hardships and hard-won triumphs. —Michael Maxwell, Columbus
What could be more of an emotional roller coaster than being a teenager at a performing arts school? Susan Choi’s Trust Exercise is a sharply written metafictional revenge tale with major twists and turns. —Nancy Aravecz, Jefferson Market
The Gothic genre: dramatic from all sides! Wuthering Heights takes an eerie family drama to a truly weird and imaginative intergenerational level. Love, ghosts, vengeance, and a uniquely unsettling tone dominate Emily Bronte’s first and only novel. —Emily Wejchert, Mid-Manhattan
After Wuthering Heights, I would propose the masterpiece of Emily Brontë’s sister Charlotte as an even giddier roller coaster ride. Jane Eyre is told in the first person, so we experience all the headlong emotional soaring and plummeting through one young woman’s eyes and heart, as she moves through too many stages to name…but reader, no spoilers here. —Kathie Coblentz, Rare Materials
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"Roller Coaster Ride" courtesy of NeedPix.com.
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Staff picks are chosen by NYPL staff members and are not intended to be comprehensive lists. We'd love to hear your ideas too, so leave a comment and tell us what you’d recommend. And check out our Staff Picks browse tool for more recommendations!