isolation
who do you become when you’re cut off from the rest of the world?
books in which a person or group of people are physically isolated and have to contend with who they really are.
created by leylines
last updated October, 2026
Comments
i LOVE this niche and i’ve read all but one book on this list—if you need recs please let me know!!
Train Dreams by Denis Johnson. It’s short but impactful! Edit: oops I gave a rec instead of asking! Which one would you recommend for me?
leylinesOP
adding that, AND recommending the white road by sarah lotz! one of my favorite books and a really fascinating look at isolation in extreme enviroments!
I adore this trope in movies, I'm excited to explore it more in books! Thanks for the list!!
ooh love this! what would be your number one recommendation from this list (so far)?
Not op, but of the ones I've read The Luminous Dead is my favourite! Claustrophobic cave horror from the author of The Starving Saints.
I loved this one too!
leylinesOP
i LOVED the luminous dead, it ’s second only on this list to the white road by sarah lotz—it includes caving and high altitude mountaineering and it’s SO GOOD
ooh what an interesting list!!!! I have a similar movie list about isolation (physical or social) making characters start to question their own sanity and what is real or not, but I haven’t read any of these besides hatchet in school! do you have a rec that would be similar to the movie The Thing? or something where the reader can’t tell what’s real and what’s imagination/hallucination/not human?
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