Just ordered some pre-lubed Akko Lavenders, having looked at some lubing guides and decided that was an amazingly terrible idea

Happy to take your word for it

Dark Forest forced me to establish a hard 'do not continue' rule for hated books. It's saved an awful lot of time and hassle.

There's some value in reading bad books. But those that are horrible enough to regret buying them? Nope. Gone.

The Dark Forest is the most profoundly depressing book I've ever read. Nothing else comes remotely close. I had to just not read at all for a good 3 months after finishing it because it sucked every shred of joy out of the experience. Being reminded of that makes me want to remove the books from my home. I will never read Death's End

However, that wasn't because of the way the breaking of humanity was described as per your quotes, but because Cixin Liu's take was so profoundly nihilistic. He, as an author, apparently lacks any faith in humanity whatsoever.

This was most clearly demonstrated by devoting 200+ pages to the protagonists.... imaginary girlfriend. And the mad scramble for his handlers to find the direct human equivalent of said imaginary girlfriend. That creeped me the fuck out in a way I honestly never imagined possible.

For you to see yourself reflected so clearly in his writing strongly suggests that you need some for real help with your own mental state, and I recommend you look into that as soon as possible

Reading Classics. By which I mean the Mythological Pantheons of old cultures. Greek and Roman in particular, with a healthy dose of Egyptian and Celtic as well.

It's honestly outright bonkers just how often knowing knowing about Gods/Heroes and their stories has come in incredibly useful - sometimes in impressing managers, but more often in finding stories in/directly applicable to real-life scenarios and using them to find solutions