Why Some Books Break You And Others Don’t

What makes one reader sob into a pillow while another turns the page without a tear? We dive headfirst into the messy, fascinating divide between feeling fiction in your bones and filing it away in tidy boxes. From Where the Crawdads Sing to Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, we trace why certain stories crack us open—and why a film adaptation can hit the plot but miss the heartbeat. The conversation stretches across fantasy and realism too: dragons and magic can ignite deep empathy for some, while others connect only when the stakes feel possible. Fourth Wing gets a nod for making the impossible feel sign-up plausible; dense worldbuilding in other series raises questions about when lore supports emotion and when it smothers it.

We also compare how we physically read. One of us climbs inside the protagonist’s body, feeling sun on skin and water in the pool, which makes clunky edits impossible to ignore. The other doesn’t visualize much at all, yet picks up emotional cues and devours chapters with high comprehension. That distance becomes a shield—trauma-trained compartmentalizing that enables razor-sharp plot awareness while dulling the urge to ugly cry. Is that a loss of catharsis or a survival skill? Maybe both. And when a book doesn’t detonate the heart, moving on to the next story in minutes feels not just possible, but natural.

Finally, we talk structure. Standalones often feel unfinished in romance, because love keeps living after the last page. Interconnected series and duets let characters evolve across multiple arcs, giving us the slow-burn bond and layered payoff readers crave. In fantasy, depth needs room—absurdly long books or multi-part sagas—to make the world worth bleeding for without drowning in exposition. Come for the tear meter, stay for the craft notes, and leave with a reading lens that might change how you choose your next obsession.

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Transcript

Emma 0:01

Welcome to the Wrecked by Fiction podcast. Yes, it is. Did I read it on my lunch break?

Amanda 0:08

Yeah. I made I made notes because I didn't know there was gonna be a quiz.

Amanda’s Last Emotional Read

Emma 0:13

Hey, everything's for a great while I was watching a movie with my six-year-old. Yeah. I didn't know I could be both right and so fucking wrong. Wrecked by fiction, where we read, cry, and question our emotional stability. Amanda here is um a self-proclaimed cold-hearted bitch. And I have some people that would agree with that. Because of that, um, you don't cry at books, typically. Yeah. Um I would like to know what is the last book that made you have an emotional response. Maybe not crying. Maybe you sat and stared at a wall for two hours after you finished it. Um, but I would like to know what the last book was that you finished.

Amanda 1:10

Where the crawdads sing. Because um I related to that character in more ways than I would like to admit.

Emma 1:24

Okay.

Amanda 1:25

Um it also has a twist at the end that I did not predict, which is interesting for me because I typically do catch on to those things. Um it did not help that I also read Witchcraft for Wayward Girls right before. I should have had some sort of refresher in between.

Emma 1:46

Right.

Amanda 1:46

You needed a buffer piece. Yeah. Um, so I was already kind of worked up at that point because Witchcraft was also the one that that one really got to me. And then the Liberty Lost podcast right after was Yeah. That whole that that few months was brutal. Um, but yeah, Brother Crawdad Sing was it's very beautifully written, and I was very late to the game on it. Um and then I turned around and watched the movie, and the movie does not do the book justice.

Emma 2:21

I have heard that at all. I have never read the book. That is not a book that has made it into my hands. Yeah. Um, but I have heard that the movie does not even remotely in you're talking. Have they made is the most recent production of it the only one that exists, or is there an earlier I don't remember for sure, but I do believe that there was an earlier filming.

Amanda 2:49

I thought that there was. But I watched the most recent and it was not the what was that?

Emma 2:55

Reese Witherspoon? Okay, that's what I thought.

Amanda 2:58

Yep. Um It was good. And had I not read the book, it probably would have been plenty. Yes. Okay. But having read the book and looking for specific things that were in the book that were not included, it was like, okay, well, now I don't feel as tied to the movie as I did the book.

Relating To Fantasy Or Not

Emma 3:18

Okay. So the last book that you had that fucked you up. How long ago was that? Six months ago, seven months ago. And you read a dozen books on probably maybe more than that. Interesting. I think it's so interesting that not only do you not or not only do you have to relate to a character, but it also has to be real world. So if you from what I understand about the way that you absorb content is that if it's fantasy, typically, but not only do you struggle to find yourself within those characters, but that means like you can't relate at all. And so you can't draw those connections.

Amanda 4:16

Um I had some connection with Fourth Wing. Okay. Mostly because I feel like if it were something that were real, it would have been something that I would absolutely have signed up for and done. Like going to that school and riding dragons would have been your uh lifestyle of choice?

Emma 4:40

Yeah.

Amanda 4:41

Yeah, absolutely. Well, and like Harry Potter was kind of the same thing. Sure. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. I would have loved to have gone to a school that taught me magic.

Emma 4:49

Yeah.

Amanda 4:49

That would be incredible.

Emma 4:51

Yeah.

Amanda 4:52

Um, so Fourth Wing was kind of similar to that in that if it were something that existed, I would absolutely have been on board and gone for.

Emma 5:02

Yeah.

Worldbuilding Fatigue And Audiobooks

Amanda 5:03

So there was a little bit of a connection there. But things like Aquatar and Throne of Glass, where it's just there's so much world building that it gets exhausting and you can't keep up with it, especially when you're listening on an audiobook and it's going back and forth between characters and you're not sure, you know, it's hard to keep up with what character they're talking about. And it's all the same voice in an audiobook. It gets gets to be a lot. So and harder to relate to.

Sobbing Through Romance And Fantasy

Emma 5:35

Yeah, I get that. I think that that is that's just so vastly different of the way that I feel my emotions while I read. Because I could list off, I mean, probably five books in the last what is it, the first end of the first week of January, first, first full week of January. And I probably could list you five books from the last maybe six weeks that just tore me apart. That I'm I'm like sobbing, snodding, like I'd say number one was um Between Two Kings, okay, which was the spit and swallow um duet part two. That the end of that book just fucked me up. I was sitting here crying my face off, like I couldn't even read the words because my eyes were like swollen because I was crying so bad. Um swap to a different realm of the fantasy romance world where uh it's a monster fucker book, and he almost dies, um, and he thinks that like he almost dies, and his partner actually dies, and they can't find each other again, and they don't know if they're gonna be able to find each other, and I'm sobbing at the end. Like, I'm not I don't I don't have to personally relate. Yeah, I just feel those characters feeling so fucking strongly, right? Um because I think, and then I mean several books from last year just absolutely tore me apart. Right.

Emotional Guardrails And Catharsis

Amanda 7:42

So I'm a little envious, honestly. Like I there's a side of me that wishes I could allow my emotions to feel all of that, but there's a lot of me because of my past that shuts that down very quickly, and I I don't because even with where the crowd sing and with witchcraft, there were lots of emotions, right? But I would stop myself from fully allowing them to take over and and I wouldn't fully feel them. I did cry when reading both of those books, but I didn't sob. I didn't allow myself to.

Compartmentalizing vs Immersing

Emma 8:27

Someone take notes to have Amanda take to her therapist, because that sounds like something we need to break into. Good God. I don't allow myself to feel my feelings strongly enough to sob. It is so good for you. Oh, I I'm aware. The cathartic piece of just absolutely melting into a puddle. It's also really fucking distracting, and I don't get a lot done. Because I I mean, I think that there is just the idea of this whole thing is why do I read what I read?

Amanda 9:08

Yeah.

Emma 9:09

Because I have a list, you know, in my phone of my of friends who are like, oh, Emma would really like this book because I saw on TikTok that it made everyone cry. Like, I mean, you're not wrong. I probably will really like that book because it's gonna make me cry. I just I think it's so beautiful that I can, you know, that myself uh uh as well as so many people feel so strongly about literally fictional characters that they stop everything they're doing to fall in love in through a book.

Amanda 9:49

Yeah.

Emma 9:50

I think that's so cool.

Amanda 9:52

It is really cool. Like I said, I'm envious that you guys are able to do that.

Emma 9:57

See, here's the thing. I don't think you don't do that. I just think that you have uh robot eyeballs, and if you cry, you will rust. And because I do think I listening to you talk about I thought when we got into this that I was going to it was a little bit worrisome um when I was like, oh, I want Amanda to read these books because we can have a good conversation and you know she's gonna have feelings about these characters. Excuse me. I don't think it's not I'm gonna triple negative us right now. I don't think it's not that you don't have feelings.

Amanda 10:46

Oh my god.

Visualizing The Story Or Not

Emma 10:47

I think that it's that you have a trauma-induced compartmentalization thing going on in your brain. Absolutely not that you don't feel it's not that you don't get connected to the characters you're reading. Yeah. I think it's that you are able to place them in a box. Yeah. And so that allows you to be probably, and like we have discussed in when we discussed Flock, was that you were able to see all of the pieces, whereas like I was around every corner, what the fuck is happening? Because I was too deep. Right. Whereas you are like like uh an out-of-body experience situation. Right.

Amanda 11:41

Um I'm the drone. Right. I'm watching it from up the top. Yeah, I'm not in it.

Emma 11:46

Yeah, and I'm in it. Yeah. And so I think that that having both pieces is very cool when we are able to discuss something that we have both read. Right. Because we get two entirely different viewpoints.

Amanda 12:01

So haven't you also said, and this is a little off topic, but when you're reading, are you imagining it? No. See, and that's I am imagining, like I can visualize. When Cecilia is at the pool, I'm literally visualizing there's a mansion behind me. She's at the pool, she's laying on a lounger, the pool water's blue. So here's the thing.

Emma 12:29

So we have talked about this, right? Where it's like you are. I think it's important for me to understand whether you mean you are Cecilia or you are watching Cecilia.

Amanda 12:41

I am it depends on the on how the book is written. But when she says that she is laying at the pool, I am in her body.

Speed Reading And Comprehension

Emma 12:50

And I am You are looking at the sky or looking at the pool. Yes. Okay. Yeah. So I think that that is so interesting. So I there are times when I will read like that where I am the main character. Right? I am the female main character. I don't give a shit who she is, what she looks like, what she does. That's me. Okay. There are other times I don't hallucinate when I read. Even if I am in the space where I am the main character, I don't live it. I don't walk it while I'm reading. Um, it's also why the very super, super, super, super, super intense world building I struggle with because I don't need all of that background because I'm not trying to picture it in my head. Right. I'm not building that world in my head.

Amanda 13:42

Uh I don't need all of that. See, and I am, and I still don't need it.

Emma 13:47

Yeah.

Amanda 13:47

There are some books that could cut in half what they use for descriptors, and it would still be enough.

Emma 13:56

Yeah, for you to create uh yeah. Yeah, I get that. I will say, um, for the most part, I do not do that. Um I am it's interesting because like emotionally, I'm in it. Visually, I'm not. I I'm not living right what those people are living.

Amanda 14:18

To me, I wonder if that's how you're able to read so quickly, too. Oh, for sure. Probably. Because I think that definitely slows me down, especially if a book has been edited poorly.

Emma 14:30

You struggle with that so bad.

Amanda 14:32

I do, because it like it catches, and then my brain is like, that should have been fixed, and then I have to read it like three times before I can move on.

Emma 14:40

No, I don't yeah, I I think that's possible that's a possibility that that is part of Oh, it's my turn. He's visiting. Hi. Um God, no, I'm covered in cat here. He's so happy with them. I do think that's part of why I am able to go through. I I also think that unless something is so fucked up and wrecks me, so like devastated changes my life. I think that's also the reason why if it doesn't do that, I'm able to move on immediately into the next book.

Amanda 15:19

Yeah.

Series, Duets, And Interconnected Worlds

Emma 15:19

Um I do not have a buffer period, I do not have a pause. Like I can finish a book at 10 o'clock in the morning, and then by 10 30, I have started another book. Yeah. Um I also am able to recognize that that is not normal. Most the speed at which you read books is absolutely amazing. Most of the people that I know that I discuss books with, like the royal king over here, um, most of the people that I read either through book clubs with or we just discuss books, or they, you know, whatever it is. They consistently send me memes about how fast I read and how they cannot grasp how fast I read.

Amanda 16:15

The other thing that amazes me is that not only do you read it quickly, but you store the information.

Emma 16:22

Oh, the comprehension is high. High.

Amanda 16:24

Yeah. Where I am like, I don't remember what just happened. I just read a whole chapter and I don't remember a thing about it.

Emma 16:32

No, the comprehension is high. Um and I will say that is not the case for everything. If I am not emotionally invested, then you don't. It is in one ear. I finish that book, and tomorrow, who is the main character? Right. Yeah. I don't know. Um, there are, you know, and the thing is too, I read I'm not a big standalone person. I don't love a book that exists by itself. I get that. Um, especially within the romance world. Um, I I I need a duet or longer.

Amanda 17:12

Yeah.

Emma 17:12

Um, when it comes to fantasy, I think that in order for a fantasy book to be successful for me, it has to actually or it has to be absurdly long or multi-parties. Yeah. Because I don't get enough. You know, there there is not enough space to build in a fantasy if it's one book and it's 400 pages long. Yeah. I need whatever. And Quicksilver isn't even the only book, the second book came out this uh at the end of last year. But that's what I mean. It's like I need that piece. I need more of it. Right. Um, and even so, most of the romance series I read, they're what they like to call interconnected standalones. Which so every book is about its own couple or whatever.

Amanda 18:03

Yeah.

Reading Volume And Yearly Counts

Emma 18:04

But the characters are in every single book.

Amanda 18:07

Yeah.

Emma 18:07

All of the characters. Um, like I I need that like longer piece where because one doesn't feel like the story is done. Right. Even if that couple's story is finished, it doesn't feel like the entire right piece.

Amanda 18:25

Because it could be friends or whatever. So you're still getting bits of them in the next book. There was a series I read earlier last it's so weird to say last year. Earlier last year. I cannot remember the name of it. That was like that. It was a like BDSM similar um kink club kind of thing. Um they were good. I don't I couldn't tell you. I'd have to go back and look at it.

Emma 18:53

What were they?

Amanda 18:54

I don't remember.

Emma 18:54

Do you know remember the author?

Amanda 18:56

No.

Emma 18:56

I could name a few, because I know at least one. There's that right there. Sarah Kate? Praise, give me more mercy, madam.

Amanda 19:05

Maybe.

Emma 19:06

Uh the there's two more I don't have. One is Eyes on Me. Um that's a good series. Um, yeah. Sarah Kate is incredible. And that's it's called The Salacious Players Club is the series. And the title of their BDSM Club. Is it Sarah Kate? Entering Stronghold.

Amanda 19:36

No idea what it is. Entering Stronghold by the Golden Angel. Whoa. Okay.

Emma 19:52

Oh yeah. I think that my the way I read is Uh difficult to describe unless you read like me. Right. Um and I don't know very many. I know people who read the same books I do. Um I, however, do not know people who read the amount that I read. I have never met anybody that reads the number of books that you read. It's a lot. Last year was a lot. It won't be this much this year, is my guess. I don't foresee me uh surpassing the amount of books I read last year.

Amanda 20:27

I mean, unless you just give up give up sleep entirely. So Right.

Emma 20:30

I work during the day and then No, that won't be happening. I have, it is what?

Amanda 20:36

They Which does give me an opportunity to actually stay caught up with the year.

Emma 20:42

What what day is it? The seventh? That's a day. I have uh in 2026, I have finished three books already. Oh Jesus.

Amanda 20:50

I have no chance.

Wrap-Up And Production Credits

Emma 20:53

It's seven. Hey, that's way better. But at this point last year, I don't want to know. I'd read like seven books. I I was reading a book a day. That's wild. Um, for a very large portion of last year. I read um, I think the top count by New Year's Eve was like uh 281 books, I think, in the year of 2025. So Goodreads will tell you I only read 260 something because they stopped counting after a while, like the 20th of J December or whatever.

Amanda 21:30

That's lame. Goodreads to fix that.

Emma 21:32

Yeah. Well, when they took my information, like to make the cap, you know, snap Snapchat end of the year, whatever, Spotify wrapped, my Goodreads wrapped, basically. Um, said I won't I read like 259. Um but that was also like on the 7th of December.

Amanda 21:52

That's weird.

Emma 21:54

So and then I read like twenty-ish more books.

Amanda 21:58

Yeah.

Emma 21:58

But okay. Good job. Yay. We did it. Wrecked by Fiction is recorded and produced by West House Productions. They handle all the audio, video, and post production so we get a clean sound, smooth edits, and zero tech headaches. Westhouse Productions aligns with podcasts, live music, and creative projects that want to sound professional without losing their edge.