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I've been reading a bunch of past replies in this thread and elsewhere (since most discussion about Umineko obviously occurred long before I read it), and I'm genuinely confused by people who don't seem to understand Yasu's motives (when they're already aware of the details, that is, because I can understand thinking her actions are bizarre if you believe the issue is just Battler not returning). I think that it's a flaw of Umineko's that the motive isn't made more clear, but it should make perfect sense once you understand it.
Like, this person has a mutilated body and suddenly discovered (while already in a romantic relationship with someone who constantly talks about wanting children!) that she's physically a different sex than she thought and was born from incestuous rape (not to mention the stuff about Genji and Kumasawa lying to her). That's some pretty heavy shit! It's not unreasonable at all (especially in 1980's Japan) for her to assume that her physical condition means that finding love will be virtually impossible, or even that George might flip his shit and murder her or something if he finds out (since this is kinda a thing that actually happens in real life). Even ignoring love, it means that she'll have to hide a very important part of "who she is" from other people, because of a (completely reasonable) fear of how they might react.
Basically you have someone with almost no social support system in a situation where they feel completely trapped and subhuman (both because of her body and the conditions of her conception). The bomb is very appealing, because she sees it as the only way that she can effectively preserve the legitimacy of her identities and romantic relationships. Post-bomb, as far as the rest of the world is concerned, Shannon was a normal girl who had just become engaged to George. If not for the bomb, she almost certainly would have never committed any murders, but the bomb is a particularly appealing form of mutual suicide for the aforementioned reasons (in addition to being instantaneous and likely painless). Even then, there's a big part of her that realizes this is crazy and wrong (this is expressed through Kanon's opposition to Beatrice).
As for why she doesn't just express her feelings and identity to Battler (and instead plans to take the roundabout method of pressuring him to solve the murders), I think the issue is that she both wants him to understand while also being terrified of him understanding (both because she's afraid of him rejecting or being disgusted by her, and because it might effectively mean erasing her other public faces). It's not perfectly rational, but I think it's very understandable to have both those feelings, even if they seem contradictory. Also, it is very debatable whether she could have actually carried out the "first-hand" murders (as opposed to the bomb, which I think she definitely could have done). It's one thing to write about smashing someone's face, and another thing entirely to actually do it.
Ultimately, you're not supposed to think her actions are entirely rational. Obviously the completely rational thing would be for her to realize that there's more to life than Rokkenjima and her current personal relationships. But I think it's entirely reasonable for someone in her situation (who has basically been confined to this small, limited environment their entire life) to have difficulty conceiving of anything more. The story even brings this up multiple times, like when Shannon says something along the lines of "To these fish, this tank is no different from the ocean" while in the aquarium with George. As far as she's conceived, Rokkenjima and the Ushiromiyas are her entire life.
edit: The worst thing is the people who act like Yasu had some self-pity complex, when her problems were actually really, really bad! It's like looking at transgender suicide rates and saying "heh clearly they just couldn't stop pitying themselves" (and Yasu's situation is arguably even worse than that in a variety of ways). It's an attitude that clearly seems to stem from a person having a sheltered, easy life themselves.
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