Last night I went down a rabbit hole. I decided to watch the first few videos of Shane Dawson’s documentary about Jake Paul. In it, Shane touches on something that fascinates me, sociopaths. What it is. How many people have it. Some say 1 in 25. Some say 1 in 100. Really I should mention that there is a spectrum and 1 in 25 to 100 would fall somewhere on that spectrum.
The idea of someone who doesn’t know how to feel emotions. Who lives there life with different masks. Who are charismatic and enjoyable to be around. Master manipulators. That’s fascinating. However, I do need to point out that I don’t know much about this. It’s why I wish there were more ya that touched on this in a way that didn’t make them all out to be serial killers. Because most sociopaths aren’t serial killers. Apparently, they are often some of the world’s most successful people as well as the most liked.
The only ya book I found that has a sociopath main character that isn’t also a killer is ‘Don’t You Trust Me?’ By Patrice Kindl. Here is the link to the article I found this book on.
“Patrice Kindl, best known for her romantic historical novels, steps into a new genre in this tale of a conniving teenager. Fifteen-year-old Morgan is blonde, blue eyed, and possesses a winning smile that instantly wins her the trust of everyone in the room. Oh, and she’s most definitely a sociopath. Emotions like love and fear are foreign to her, and she can’t recall ever having a conscience. When her parents ship her off to a school for troubled teens, she’s confident she can weasel her way out of it. That’s when she meets Janelle, a sobbing mess of a girl being torn from her boyfriend and sent to live with relatives she hasn’t seen since childhood. Originally dismissive of the other girl, Morgan changes her tune once she hears Janelle’s story and proposes that they switch places. Janelle runs off with her boyfriend, and Morgan settles in with a wealthy family who doesn’t have a clue that she isn’t their niece. Let the games begin. Fans of unreliable narrators and bad girls will eat this up.”
Even still, the book above is a thriller in a sense. Just not one about a killer. If sociopaths are so common, why isn’t there more books written about them? I’m not talking thrillers and horror stories. I’m talking real world contemporary.. even historical, fantasy, etc. There has to be writers out there who are sociopaths. Who know what it’s like to live inside their own minds. Why not write a story more true to themselves?
I’m not trying to think of this as some sort of controversy. I’m just a fascinated person whose curiosity leads me to wanting to understand others who live lives totally unlike my own. Be it mentally, ethnically, of a different sexuality, or disability. I like to learn about these things, because not only does it make me more aware, but it makes it so I can be more compassionate and understanding. Realizing that sociopathic tendencies affect a ton more people then I ever realized was a huge eyeopener into a world that the majority of us cannot ever fully understand.
Thanks for reading! If you know any other books that are not thrillers that have a sociopathic main character let me know in the comments below! I’d love to hear your thoughts on all this!
-Till next time!
Hi Tiana! I totally get what you mean, when there are books about Sociopaths they portray them as mind-less, conscience-less killers. If some circumstances yes, this is true but in others it is not. Some are lovely, kind people who are just different. I’m not sure of any books about sociopaths, as they can be quite rare but ‘Don’t You Trust Me?’ looks good. 😊
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I mean I do understand that it can be fun and interesting to write about a mindless killer, but I’d love to see more representation of the others who live with this and aren’t out to hurt/kill people. I wish there was more then one book I could possibly read that sort of gets into that.
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Yeah, if I read/see any books that are like that I will write a review and notify you 😊
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Ohh, awesome! Thanks for that!
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I’m wracking my brain as I’m sure I’ve come across a few books with sociopathic characters but I can’t think of any off the top of my head.
I suspect they are there though, probably not as a main character but as a villain or secondary character. Authors are probably wary of having a sociopath for a main character as I’m not sure readers would like them. They are fascinating and I wouldn’t mind reading a book with one but it’s difficult to care about or relate to a character who only cares about themselves and what they want.
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Exactly! It’s super interesting! But having a majority of them be villains and killers is probably unfair. It’s a real thing that a lot of people live with. I’d like to see what it is like for the majority and not just the ones that go off and kill and are criminals.
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Ah, yes—I would love to get into a relatively unusual mind like that of a sociopath!
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Right!? That would be so cool!
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Mr. Monster series has a sociopathic protagonist.
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That’s good to know! I’ll check it out!
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I don’t really know of too many books that have sociopaths as a main character without them being a psycho killer either. But the book you’ve mentioned in this post definitely sounds like a good read worth checking out. I find it interesting though that there aren’t a lot of books on this subject. Maybe someday that’ll change?
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Maybe? It’ll be nice to see!
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