- Squick: A trademark of the books, given that their point is to show the grosser side of history. Some examples would be the "wigglers" (either mosquito larvae or parasitic worms) in the water supply in You Wouldn't Want to be an American Pioneer!, or the plague-ridden prisoner covered in purple sores from You Wouldn't Want to be in a Medieval Dungeon! Arguably, this and the violence is what makes it appeal to certain kids.
- Unfortunate Character Design: One Amazon review for You Wouldn't Want to be a Civil War Soldier! complained that an illustration of soldiers lying dead on a battlefield looked less like corpses, and more like a few hungover drunks. This is probably due to the art style, which often gives characters beer guts.
- The Woobie: The author of You Wouldn't Want to be Tutankhamen! considers the titular pharaoh to be this. The back of the book proclaims "it's too sad!" in regards to Tut's life, in which Tut had to marry his sister, had two children who died in infancy, and eventually died in his late teens.
http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Ymmv/YouWouldntWantToBe
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