Books To Read if You Love Severance
While Severance is considered a psychological thriller, it really is a treat for genre-blending lovers. The show combines mystery, surrealism, societal horror, dystopian technocracy, and cults through dramatic visuals and enigmatic storytelling. The hit series details the day-to-day actions of employees who are limited to one floor in the Lumon Industries building. The biotech company is also the founder of the company town of Kier, where the employees also live. On the severance floor, Mark S. works as a Senior Macrodata Refiner, despite his outie’s (his outer self that lives in “our” reality) background as a history teacher. As the show evolves, viewers understand how those employees got there in the first place.
If you have already finished the latest season, you might be itching for more genre-blending psychological, horror thrillers that highlight how trauma and power can blur the lines of what is and what isn’t morally good. Here are 15 weird books that are equally unnerving and thought-provoking, just like the hit Apple+ show, Severance.
-
1
Add to BookshelfThe Dream Hotel: A Read with Jenna Pick
by Laila Lalami
Like the streaming series, this riveting tale shows how humans have an incessant need to make technology comparable or even better than human logic and reasoning skills. In this novel, Sara is stopped in the airport while traveling home from abroad. The agency responsible for interrupting her journey is known as the Risk Assessment Administration. Often referred to as the RAA, this fictitious agency operates as a crime deterrent by stopping crimes before they happen. Confused, Sara is escorted to a facility where she meets other women like her who are being held due to their dreams and the potential harm they pose to society.
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$29.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
2
Add to Bookshelf
Glory
by NoViolet Bulawayo
Animals have long served as an allegory in storytelling. Severance uses animals, specifically goats, as a sacrifice to their leader and founder, Kier Eagan. However, in this book, this world has a similar omnipresent antagonist but with a more humorous approach. The Old Horse is one of the longest rulers in the fictional kingdom of Jidada, which is based on some of the historical events that occurred in present-day Zimbabwe. However, in Glory, the animals are the main characters. Bulawayo takes an Orwellian and historical approach, giving anthropomorphic qualities to animals so that they make the questionable decisions in the name of perceived power.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
3
Add to Bookshelf
This Cursed House
by Del Sandeen
This book will remind you of some of the hurdles the character Mr. Milchick endured as an employee of Lumon. On the show, Milchick is an anal retentive, straight-shooter who enjoys keeping his employees in order. His dedication to Lumon’s causes makes him a model employee, but the undertones of his existence can be jarring. In this gothic, speculative mystery, Jemma finds herself in a similar position with the Duchon family, her new employers. After receiving a job offer to tutor in New Orleans, Jemma leaves Chicago to settle into her new job and life. While the Duchons are a prominent, Black family from Louisiana with passe blanc, distinct features, they are trapped in a reality that they believe only Jemma can rescue them from.
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$29.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
4
Add to Bookshelf
The Room
by Jonas Karlsson
The hit series depicts how easy it is for office culture to transform into a cult. Part of the awe of Lumon is how personally invested the employees are in the company and its founder. Bjorn seems like an ordinary employee on the surface until you discover how hard he tries to be a perfect employee. But when he discovers a hidden room in his office that no one else is aware of, his colleagues are convinced something is off with Bjorn because they often see him in a daze, talking to himself. Despite releasing more than a decade ago, this book continues to sweep readers by storm in this psychological, satirical genre-blending read.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$14.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
5
Add to Bookshelf
Life for Sale
by Yukio Mishima
Another aspect of Severance that keeps viewers engaged is the idea of trying to understand how these characters end up in a place like Lumon. As the series progressed, you come to empathize with the employees because they all encountered major setbacks in their outie lives. Now, add a bit of absurdist noir, and you will find similar themes in this book. Hanio is unhappy with his life and wants it to come to an end. Fed up with everything, he tries to end his own life but is unsuccessful. Determined to die, Hanio places an ad in the paper with the hopes he can find a person to finish the deadly job he could not. This leads to a peculiar adventure where people answer the ad to try their turn at fulfilling his last wish.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$17.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
6
Add to Bookshelf
The Snares
by Rav Grewal-Kök
Lose yourself in another weird company after watching this season of Severance where Lumon is a persona that’s quite daunting in itself. Told from the perspective of an American lawyer of Panjabi descent, Neel Chima, is recruited to work at a new government agency nobody knows about. But in a post 9/11 society, the new face of domestic terrorism is individuals who look like him and members of his community. While not as literal as the innie or outie situation like the streaming series, the moral dilemma Neel finds himself in can make or break not just his career, but his entire life.
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$29.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
7
Add to Bookshelf
All the Other Mothers Hate Me
by Sarah Harman
When it comes to confronting bullies and people with wealth like Severance, this book mirrors the notion that not all heroes are perfect and oftentimes, they can be antagonizing. In this breakout debut, Harman creates the perfect anti-hero main character named Florence Grimes, who is a lot like Ms. Cobel from the show. Florence, once a member of a girl band, now finds herself trying to save her son from being the main suspect in the murder of her son’s bully, who is also heir to a popular food brand. Florence has a lot against her, such as having all the school moms hate her.
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$29.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
8
Add to Bookshelf
Beauty in the Blood
by Charlotte Carter
There are consistent, underlying horror themes throughout Severance which stem from traumatic events in the main characters’ lives that pushed them to sever themselves. Sarah is a beautiful and successful lawyer, but she is hiding a secret. Lately, she’s been suffering in silence because the death of her mother has resulted in her being tormented internally. Simultaneously, another woman named Yvonne tries to reinvent herself after years as a prison guard. As she embraces being a foodie, a former inmate finds her and demands she help find the person who murdered her brother. As Yvonne tries her best to keep these worlds from colliding, the inmate also turns up dead. Desperate to clear her name, she obtains the legal services of Sarah, who is trying not to break.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
9
Add to Bookshelf
Tiny Threads
by Lilliam Rivera
The innies on Severance constantly project how much they love their job at Lumon. Could you imagine loving your job so much that you ignore all the red flags you see in your professional environment? That is what happens to Samara once she lands her dream job in California with Antonio Mota, a seasoned and posh, high-end fashion designer. But once Samara finds herself knee-deep in Mota’s zaniness, she gets to see the designer up close and personal. With an important fashion show soon approaching, Samara finds herself drinking alcohol more and hearing unknown voices.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$18.00Preorder from:
-
10
Add to Bookshelf
William
by Mason Coile
Even though the technology that goes awry in Severance isn’t a malfunction of the tech itself, it still falls under the umbrella of techno-thematic themes. Here we have Henry, who is a brilliant engineer. But for the longest time, he has spent all his leisure time creating the first artificial consciousness known to mankind. Now that his project is complete, he has decided to name him William. As Henry continues to keep himself locked away in his attic from his expecting wife and esteemed colleagues, he finally decides to reveal his pet project to his close friends. Now, all the techie-friendly upgrades that were supposed to keep his family safe have turned their home into a deathtrap.
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$27.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
11
Add to Bookshelf
The Snap
by Elizabeth Staple
The characters on the show each face different crossroads as they decide which part of themselves deserves to live or die. If Poppy Benjamin were real, she would also be a fan of the show, and her favorite characters would probably be Milchick or Irving because she can relate to exuding professional readiness by any means necessary. But Poppy doesn’t work for a mysterious tech company. Instead, she works on a toxic, patriarchal football team that she’s been employed at for over 15 years. As she tries to keep her work ethic intact by relying on Women Against Groping Shitheads (WAGS), her coach turns up dead surrounded by mysterious letters that Poppy must reckon with.
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$28.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
12
Add to Bookshelf
The Galaxy Game
by Karen Lord
Let your imagination run wild in this space opera where the psionic powers can be something both celebrated and met with trepidation. Both the show and this book explore how people with power wield it to control others and form cults. Rafi is enrolled at Lyceum – a specialized school for those who have psionic abilities. Rafi meets fellow students Serendipity and Ntenman, who come from supporting communities that appreciate their gifts while enjoying Wallrunning; a game that focuses on speed and agility. But what lies ahead of them in a galaxy where war looms?
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$17.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
13
Add to Bookshelf
City of Orange
by David Yoon
Leading up to the season finale of Severance, Mark S. unearths things about Lumon and even himself that are hard for him to intellectualize at first. In contrast, the narrator of this book is unreliable because he does not know where he is or who he is. He can recall some memories, but they are hazy at best. Now, he is all alone, wandering around, looking for clean water sources and food to eat. Throughout his journey, he meets a young boy, an elder, and a mysterious crow, but quickly realizes nothing seems real. Over time, he begins to forget what he used to look like as his haunting experiences seem inescapable.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
14
Add to Bookshelf
Scarlet in Blue
by Jennifer Murphy
If you love the opening title sequence of Severance and the high-brow fine art throughout the series, then this book is perfect if you are still looking for something eerie yet vivid to fill in the void now that the second season is over. Scarlet is a talented painter, but she also lives in fear as she and her daughter, Blue Lake, are trying to run from someone who is allegedly stalking them. But Blue is now a teenager, and she is tired of the nomadic life and wants to be a regular teenager. As Blue thrives in their new home community, Blue worries that her mother’s art and paranoia will pressure them to relocate again, but before that happens, Blue will get help from a psychoanalyst.
Add to BookshelfHardcover
$27.00Buy from Other Retailers:
-
15
Add to Bookshelf
The Book of Strange New Things
by Michel Faber
Peter is an honorable and honest man who loves his faith and family. When the opportunity arises, Peter is presented with a unique position from the USIC. This offer that Peter accepts allows him to travel to new, uncharted space territories where he is welcomed into a friendly, extraterrestrial environment where the beings are anticipating Peter’s teachings. Peter’s lessons are nothing more than verses from his Bible that the beings regard as a “book of strange new things.” As these new beings cling to Peter’s Bible and faith, Peter finds himself emotionally conflicted because his loving wife continues to send letters detailing the destruction of planet Earth.
Add to BookshelfPaperback
$18.00Buy from Other Retailers:
