Challenging Yet Rewarding Books
This topic has taken me a lot of time to consider. There were no books that immediately came to mind when thinking about this topic, which was odd because I'm sure I've read some challenging books that I really enjoyed. There are many different things that make a book difficult or challenging. Sometimes it may be the length, the subject, the writing style. There are so many factors at work here.
I decided to go with a book that I absolutely loved. That book is All Good Deeds by Stacy Green. This isn't my favorite book of all time, but it is one of my favorite books. I had the opportunity to review it a few months ago. It's a thriller and it was a really fast read, so that wasn't the difficult part. Oh no, not for me. The hard part was the subject matter.
Lucy Kendall (this is the first in the Lucy Kendall series) used to work for Child Protective Services until she decided that what she was doing wasn't helping enough people. Her desire to help suffering children was spurred by the suffering of her sister when she was a child. So when she decided her work with CPS wasn't doing much good, she decided to take matters into her own hands. With the help of a few trusted friends Lucy goes about killing pedophiles.
The novels are told from Lucy's perspective, so we get to see into her thoughts and feelings. There are some heartbreaking situations throughout this book and so many questions raised. It wasn't that the book was excessively difficult to read and I really enjoyed it, it was more that it brought out some really deep questions about human nature and society.
It's a really fascinating book and I will likely read it again one day, but it's emotionally taxing. I love thrillers. There is always so much going on. This is probably the heaviest thriller that I've read in regards to subject matter, which is saying a lot because thrillers often have some deep concepts imbedded in their pages. This was definitely an emotionally and psychologically challenging novel, but it was definitely rewarding because it forced me to consider things that I might not have otherwise. Lucy is complicated, dark, and twisted. She does a lot of good, but does that justify her actions?
This was a short post, but there are some of my thoughts on a challenging yet rewarding read.
So what are some challenging or difficult novels that you've read and enjoyed? What did you get out of them? Why were they so challenging? Let me know your thoughts in the comments!
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