Which Book Worlds Would I Absolutely Not Survive In?

As much as I love getting lost in fictional worlds, I’ve come to accept a hard truth: I would absolutely not make it in most of them. Sure, reading about brutal dystopias, magical wars, and haunted forests is fun from the safety of my cozy couch. But me? In those worlds? Let’s just say I’m not built for high-stakes survival.

Here are a few book universes I’d definitely perish in:

1. Panem – The Hunger Games

Listen, I’d be the first one out. I have asthma, I hate running, and I panic when I’m even slightly dehydrated. The second the countdown hits zero, I’m either sprinting away from the Cornucopia or tripping over my own feet and getting wiped out in the first minute. My strategy is to hide and hope I die off-screen.

2. The Grishaverse – Shadow and Bone / Six of Crows

Do I want to be a Dregs-style criminal mastermind with a tragic backstory and a cane? Yes. Would I instead get scammed in Ketterdam within twenty minutes and cry in a dark alley? Also yes. I’d accidentally insult a Fjerdan, and it’d be game over.

3. Prythian – A Court of Thorns and Roses

The fae are beautiful, dangerous, and have too many rules. I’d say the wrong thing at some High Lord’s dinner party and immediately get turned into a fox. Plus, I cannot emotionally handle centuries-long political drama. I can barely answer emails.

4. The Maze – The Maze Runner

Drop me in a giant ever-changing death labyrinth with no memory of who I am? No. I would sit down, cry, and befriend a beetle blade. 

5. Westeros – Game of Thrones / A Song of Ice and Fire

I’d last as long as a minor character with no lines. I can’t swordfight, I’m not that politically savvy, and I don’t trust medieval plumbing. My best hope would be hiding in the library at Oldtown and never speaking to anyone.

6. The World of The Poppy War

Absolutely not. I respect Rin, but that world is brutal. I stub my toe and spiral...no way I’m making it through a war college or literal shamanic possession.

7. Any Horror Book with a Haunted House

The second a door creaks on its own or a ghost whispers my name, I’m gone. You wouldn’t even have time to say “don’t go into the basement.” I’ve already moved across the country and blocked the house on Zillow.

I love these worlds. I love the drama, the danger, the chaos. But I know myself. I’m a background villager with a nice herb garden, not a chosen one with a destiny.

Which fictional world would you definitely not survive in—and which one do you secretly think you’d thrive in?