Book picks similar to
Eloise - Loving a Sociopath by Catherine Lockwood


psychopathy
psychopaths-and-sociopaths
mental-health
sociopaths

My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward


Mark Lukach - 2017
    They fell in love at eighteen, married at twenty-four, and were living their dream life in San Francisco. When Giulia was twenty-seven, she suffered a terrifying and unexpected psychotic break that landed her in the psych ward for nearly a month. One day she was vibrant and well-adjusted; the next she was delusional and suicidal, convinced that her loved ones were not safe.Eventually, Giulia fully recovered, and the couple had a son. But, soon after Jonas was born, Giulia had another breakdown, and then a third a few years after that. Pushed to the edge of the abyss, everything the couple had once taken for granted was upended.A story of the fragility of the mind, and the tenacity of the human spirit, My Lovely Wife in the Psych Ward is, above all, a love story that raises profound questions: How do we care for the people we love? What and who do we live for? Breathtaking in its candor, radiant with compassion, and written with dazzling lyricism, Lukach’s is an intensely personal odyssey through the harrowing years of his wife’s mental illness, anchored by an abiding devotion to family that will affirm readers’ faith in the power of love.

Sybil: The Classic True Story of a Woman Possessed by Sixteen Personalities


Flora Rheta Schreiber - 1973
    What happened during those blackouts has made Sybil's experience one of the most famous psychological cases in the world.

Hell Night: A Dark & Bloody Anthology


Nikki Winters - 2021
    One town. What happens on Halloween night when the Devil comes to play?Raw Tendencies: Devil's Gate Fairgrounds. A place no one will ever forget. The night Kainan St. Clair unleashed his true self; letting his demons come out to play. A dark serial killer romance full of blood shed, gore, and suffering.They shall reap what they sow.Nikki WintersNight Stalker: A taboo dark/age-gap romance that follows Macie and her allusive former teacher, Emmet Graham. One night on Halloween was meant to be fun, but it changed Macie’s life forever. There is nowhere to hide from him.M. ReedsPurge: The Hunting Ground: A thrilling reverse harem full of carnage, mayhem, and blood lust that follows the dysfunctional lives of Reagan, Bishop, Kingston, and Maximus on the tenth anniversary of the famous Devil’s Gate Funhouse Massacre. There Will Be Hell To Pay. Liley Cruz

Every You, Every Me


David Levithan - 2011
    Someone is stalking him . . . messing with him . . . threatening him. Worse, ever since his best friend Ariel has been gone, he's been unable to sleep, spending night after night torturing himself for his role in her absence. And as crazy as it sounds, Evan's starting to believe it's Ariel that's behind all of this, punishing him. But the more Evan starts to unravel the mystery, the more his paranoia and insomnia amplify, and the more he starts to unravel himself. Creatively told with black-and-white photos interspersed between the text so the reader can see the photos that are so unnerving to Evan, Every You, Every Me is a one-of-a-kind departure from a one-of-a-kind author.

Violet Grenade


Victoria Scott - 2017
    But the voice inside her head has a different name. When the mysterious Ms. Karina finds Domino in an alleyway, she offers her a position at her girls’ home in secluded West Texas. With no alternatives and an agenda of her own, Domino accepts. It isn’t long before she is fighting her way up the ranks to gain the woman’s approval…and falling for Cain, the mysterious boy living in the basement. But the home has horrible secrets. So do the girls living there. So does Cain. Escaping is harder than Domino expects, though, because Ms. Karina doesn’t like to lose inventory. But then, she doesn’t know about the danger living inside Domino’s mind. She doesn’t know about Wilson.

Newspaper Diapers


M.T. Johnson - 2012
    T. Johnson spent two and a half years living and traveling in Southeast Asia, where he wrote this, his first book, Newspaper Diapers. Newspaper Diapers is a work of fiction that tackles child abuse and group homes, a fascinating collection of short pieces expertly woven together by a few brilliant interconnected threads. The book is a disturbing and graphic look at what we do to ourselves and each other, a blurring of the line between abuser and victim, and a glimpse into certain minds and realities we'd rather not see. The author's brutally honest writing style deals with sex and abuse with a candor and bluntness in the tradition of Henry Rollins and Hubert Selby Jr.M. T. Johnson said of the book, “Statistics about child abuse seem to bring about little, if any, change; it's the individual stories that inspire action, that get under our skin and keep us up at night. Newspaper Diapers is dedicated to the amazing kids I worked with, some of whom have already passed away at the hands of murder or suicide. This is an earnest attempt at moving forward with my own life, and an attempt at portraying certain realities, no matter how harsh or ugly they might be--for it's only by acknowledging reality that we can move forward.”

Lost It


Kristen Tracy - 2007
    Tess Whistle's junior year of high school is off to a fairly bizarre start. One might even say her life is spiraling out of control. But with her sense of humor firmly intact and her first real boyfriend on her arm, Tess is dealing with the ridiculous twists quite well, thankyouverymuch. Just wait until her shoes explode.

Lucky


Alice Sebold - 1999
    What propels this chronicle of her recovery is Sebold's indomitable spirit - as she struggles for understanding ("After telling the hard facts to anyone, from lover to friend, I have changed in their eyes"); as her dazed family and friends sometimes bungle their efforts to provide comfort and support; and as, ultimately, she triumphs, managing through grit and coincidence to help secure her attacker's arrest and conviction. In a narrative by turns disturbing, thrilling, and inspiring, Alice Sebold illuminates the experience of trauma victims even as she imparts wisdom profoundly hard-won: "You save yourself or you remain unsaved."

Fairy Tales in Electri-City


Francesca Lia Block - 2011
    Elves and centaurs, nymphs and fauns inhabit this new collection of magical, erotic poems about a girl yearning for and searching for love in present-day Los Angeles.

Broken People


Scott Hildreth - 2013
    With an overbearing obnoxious attitude, he allows few people to enter his otherwise private life. Most of the people that he encounters come from his internet blog, and pose no real threat to him or to his odd lifestyle. The Fat Kid is a self-proclaimed therapist who devotes his life to help people that have difficulties helping themselves, people he considers to be ‘broken’. When he encounters a bulimic teenage girl through his internet blog who threatens to commit suicide, he begins to reflect on parts of his life that he has spent years repressing. He continues to assist her, and many other ‘Broken People’ through his blog. When he meets an extremely independent woman who challenges him, his way of living, and his way of viewing life, he reluctantly listens. In doing so he challenges his past mistakes, his future, and ultimately he finds himself. Five broken people, five points of view, one story. From each of five characters perspective, this story unfolds and grips you from the beginning. If there is any part of you that feels broken, this book is a mirror held before you. In the end, you'll see your true reflection. From time to time, a book comes along, and makes you stop. It makes you stop and second guess who you are, what you’re doing in life, with life, and for the ones you love. This is that book. Through colorfully painted characters, “Broken People” forces the reader to reflect on self. There will be a broken part of you in one (or all) of these characters, guaranteed. Through The Fat Kid, his reflections on past experiences, and his online assistance to others, we are exposed to everything that high school kids these days deal with. Additionally, we are exposed to what parents should be considering, thinking, and doing - but often don't. The writings of Catherine Ryan Hyde, John Green, and Donna Tartt are similar. If you loved those reads, you'll certainly love Broken People. The characters in this book come to life before your eyes, and you become one with them. The result is a book that will have you laughing, crying, contemplating your own life, and the lives of your parents and/or children. A must read for parents and children alike, regardless of age. It gives teens and young adults an honest look at what parents consider, and provides parents with a realistic view of what teens are exposed to in today’s competitive social networking world.

I See You


Ker Dukey - 2015
    I capture you in your vulnerability; that smile, your laugh, those tears. I document you and sell your secrets. When I watch you through my lens you’re mine until I pass you to the buyer. I, like most people, have a fetish for pretty things and in my job I get to be around a lot of pretty things. They pay me to watch them and capture them in a frame for many purposes, and sometimes I like my profession a little more than I should. I took a job to capture her… I wanted to capture and keep her in more than just the image. This time I will take myself away from the lens and become the client because I cannot resist her, she reminds me too much of my first, I need to have her.Traumatised from a vicious attack, Nina Drake finds herself shut off from the world until her neighbour brings her out of more than just her nightmares. Even after moving and changing her name, she still can’t shake the feeling of being watched. The memories are so close. And so is the shadow of the creator of them all.

Starved


Michael Somers - 2012
    The night his mother finds him collapsed in the living room is the night he nearly dies from his starvation. He is rushed to the hospital and admitted to an adolescent eating disorders unit. He weighs 112 pounds.Nathan rebels by pretending to go along with the program at first, until his parents refuse to help in his recovery. With only his treatment team and fellow patients to rely on, Nathan comes to terms with the boy who lost himself and the young man who gains himself back, one pound at a time.

Blackbird


Cheryl McIntyre - 2013
    I love you, Hope. And I'm not the only one. I know you care about me. I see it in your eyes. I feel it. Everybody needs love. Everybody. And some people need it more than others. You're a liar if you say you don't. I'll do that for you. I'll love you. All you have to do is let me." –Sometimes Never What happened in the years between the final chapter and epilogue of Sometimes Never? Blackbird is an 18,000+ word novella that continues Mason and Hope's story as they finish high school, start separate colleges, and confront their demons. Though Blackbird can be read on its own, it is better enjoyed after reading Sometimes Never. Recommended for 17+ due to harsh language and some sexual situations.

A Blue So Dark


Holly Schindler - 2010
    Her mother, a talented artist and art teacher, is slowly being consumed by schizophrenia, and Aura has been her primary caretaker ever since Aura’s dad left them. Convinced that creative expression is behind her mother’s deteriorating condition, Aura shuns her own artistic talent. But as her mother sinks still deeper into the darkness of her disorder, the hunger for a creative outlet draws Aura toward the depths of her imagination. Just as desperation threatens to swallow her whole, Aura discovers that art, love, and family are profoundly linked—and together may offer an escape from her fears.Booklist Starred ReviewTop Ten First Novels for Youth (Booklist)Silver Medal, Foreword INDIES Book of the YearGold Medal, IPPY Awards

Chosen


Barbara Elsborg - 2011
    She chose her apartment with care—a safe district with a good neighbor—a place where she can live a quiet, unassuming, under-the-radar existence. Then she makes one mistake and opens her door to accept a delivery of flowers from a secret admirer and her life will never be the same again. A guy she’s never seen before bursts into her apartment and asks her to marry him. Jack Thompson won’t take no for an answer and drags Kate on a cross country journey to hell.Invalided out of the police, Nathan Beranson works as a private investigator in San Antonio, Texas where he spends too much of his time following unfaithful spouses and delivering the bad news to their partners. When his fiancée cheats on him with Jack Thompson, the half-brother Nathan’s only just met, he becomes obsessed with Jack in the same unhealthy way as his revenge-seeking clients. By the time Nathan finally realizes putting the ghosts of the past to rest is a wiser option than settling an old score, it’s too late. He’s already been drawn into his sibling’s latest deadly game and Nathan and Kate find their nightmare is only just beginning.