Bleaker books than the blackest bleakness on the bleakest day in the bleakest world

1.
A Fine Balance
A Fine Balance 4.38 avg rating — 156,856 ratings
2.
Crime and Punishment
Crime and Punishment 4.28 avg rating — 1,024,694 ratings
2.
1984
1984 4.20 avg rating — 5,226,750 ratings
4.
We Need to Talk About Kevin
We Need to Talk About Kevin 4.08 avg rating — 207,225 ratings
5.
The Plague
The Plague 4.02 avg rating — 300,363 ratings
6.
Breeder
Breeder 3.96 avg rating — 299 ratings
7.
Burial Rites
Burial Rites 4.04 avg rating — 121,016 ratings
8.
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao
The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao 3.89 avg rating — 274,968 ratings
8.
A Girl is a Half-formed Thing
A Girl is a Half-formed Thing 3.48 avg rating — 13,673 ratings
8.
Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go 3.85 avg rating — 813,313 ratings
11.
The Underground Railroad
The Underground Railroad 4.06 avg rating — 433,354 ratings
12.
Milkman
Milkman 3.53 avg rating — 68,165 ratings
13.
American Pastoral (The American Trilogy, #1)
American Pastoral (The American Trilogy, #1) 3.95 avg rating — 86,082 ratings
14.
Mayflies
Mayflies 3.94 avg rating — 25,403 ratings
15.
Emmeline
Emmeline 3.80 avg rating — 547 ratings
16.
Blow Your House Down
Blow Your House Down 3.78 avg rating — 932 ratings
16.
Purge
Purge 3.91 avg rating — 20,152 ratings
18.
The Wild Laughter
The Wild Laughter 3.82 avg rating — 1,175 ratings
19.
No Country for Old Men
No Country for Old Men 4.17 avg rating — 233,407 ratings
20.
The Good People
The Good People 3.82 avg rating — 22,590 ratings
21.
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World
10 Minutes 38 Seconds in This Strange World 4.09 avg rating — 77,626 ratings
21.
Star of the Sea
Star of the Sea 3.93 avg rating — 11,823 ratings
23.
Shuggie Bain
Shuggie Bain 4.30 avg rating — 180,999 ratings
24.
Apeirogon
Apeirogon 4.25 avg rating — 25,713 ratings
25.
Blindness
Blindness 4.18 avg rating — 324,695 ratings
25.
The Mercies
The Mercies 4.01 avg rating — 50,789 ratings
27.
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox
The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox 3.94 avg rating — 50,754 ratings
28.
The Heart's Invisible Furies
The Heart's Invisible Furies 4.51 avg rating — 197,360 ratings
29.
A Little Life
A Little Life 4.29 avg rating — 859,132 ratings
30.
Atonement
Atonement 3.95 avg rating — 551,999 ratings
31.
The Tsar of Love and Techno
The Tsar of Love and Techno 4.27 avg rating — 18,026 ratings
32.
Thérèse Raquin
Thérèse Raquin 3.73 avg rating — 36,725 ratings
33.
Bastard Out of Carolina
Bastard Out of Carolina 4.14 avg rating — 46,996 ratings
34.
Lincoln in the Bardo
Lincoln in the Bardo 3.75 avg rating — 169,923 ratings
35.
Life and Times of Michael K
Life and Times of Michael K 3.87 avg rating — 20,652 ratings