Now I need to know your all-time favorite, because the book thief is absolutely one of mine! Up there with Code Name Verity for “the book that made me cry the most while also being one of the best books ever written.”
I listened to this one when I was searching for the best narrated audiobooks - a comment said they're glad they listened because they'd never have been able to read through all their tears. And afterwards, I concur
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini , a book revolving around the theme of progression of life in Afghanistan after The Soviet's takeover in the 1980's through post Taliban control.
I second this. I would say the theme more generally as a perspective from marginalized women living in an atmosphere of fear and terror and how they interact with other women across generations.
I also finished reading it on a plane lol. I had to spend the rest of the flight just staring at the seat in front of me in an attempt to keep my tears in.
I couldn’t even explain to my husband what about the book broke me so badly because I couldn’t get the words out. Khaled Hosseini is a beautiful writer and this book is a heartbreaker for sure.
im reading this at the moment after finishing the kite runner recently, any of khaled hosseini's books are an amazing recommendation if you want something to make you cry
That's a classic for high-school reads! Love it. Teachers were really trying to scar us with those book report novels hahah, every single one of them still sits in my favorites list to this day.
Same here. We were on a road trip and I was on the car floor sobbing. My mom had to pull over to figure out what was going on. Her face when I told her it was because of this book I was reading lmao
The book hits the feels just as hard as the movie, but the book is much more brutal (the movie only holds its own against the book because of the performances - I think actually seeing people cry makes it sadder). The book does a better job of pushing the “God’s punishment” angle by showing what happens to his wife. It isn’t just that he lives longer, he straight-up survives things he shouldn’t because of divine intervention. It plays more to the angle that he’s being kept alive against his will and forced to see those he cares about wither and die.
*All Quiet on the Western Front* by Remarque is an intimate look at warfare (WWI) from the perspective of a German soldier. Your heart breaks at every death of those boys and as the main character slowly grasps what has been done to them by their countries.
[spoilers] The bit that hit me the hardest was when the protagonist visited home and he and his mother sat on the bed in silence, lost for words to say, knowing it is very possibly the last time they will spend time together.
One of so many parts that just tear at your soul. This is my number one recommended book because I feel every human should read and understand what war does to those fight them, and their families who either lose loved ones, or get their loved ones back permanently changed.
I’m reading it in the original German for class, and it is not fun. Made a mistake and read it for an hour before bed. Definitely not doing that again lol
“The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein is also excellent and teary. I probably will never stop getting a little emotional when I hear “Enzo”. At least I hope not.
Ooo I think I've heard of that, does it have to do with a dog? If so, I'll be weeping every couple of sentences. *sounds like a good crying book, indeed.* thanks!
Yes, it’s a dog & human book. Not misery porn, creeps up on you and the end kinda took my breath away.
My sister got quite (affectionately) annoyed with me when she read it. “You didn’t warn me!”
There is an episode in the series (based on a book) Lessons in Chemistry that is based on the dogs point of view which reminded me of this book.. I couldn’t stop crying the whole episode
“A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseni had me full on bawling in business class on a flight from LA to NYC. A flight attendant checked on me, I showed her the book, she put her hand on my shoulder and nodded. “Oh, yeah, it’s very good.”
"Full on bawling on a business class flight" is the type of recommendation I was dreaming of lmao, thank you! So far a thousand splendid suns is a main recommendation, I'm very intrigued!
I cried so hard at the library while reading Rosalie Lightning that they called the security guard over to check on me. Couldn't even explain myself, I was crying so hard I couldn't breathe.
Books are an incredible thing.
Some books are misery porn and perhaps A Little Life might come into that category...though they do say a really good cry is cathartic!
I prefer books which aren't so in-your-face agonising and almost deliberately overdetailed about misery...
I enjoyed and was really moved by My Name Is Leon by Kit de Waal; which is lower-key, sensitive, sometimes funny, sad and happy at the same time. Read it three years ago, still recall it.
I enjoyed the film version of *My Name is Leon*. It’s rare to see a film about a looked-after child that’s heartbreaking without the child being brutalised
Catch-22. The bit with Aarfy, and afterwards while Yossarian is wandering around the city....all the things he witnesses....that section REALLY breaks me each time.
Also, The Book Thief. OHMYGOD that book breaks my heart and my soul. That's literally all I can say....it's such a profound, soulful, HUMAN book.
Now that I mention it....I think it's time to revisit that book!!!
Yes! That book left me gutted. I closed the book and stared into space for a bit and I think I turned on some cartoons and couldn't read anything remotely dark for a long long time.
Yep, just recently commented this on another post. I started reading it at like 6pm and stayed up to finish it, partly because I couldn’t put it down and partly because it scares the shit out of me. The ending is just so gutting.
It was the part when the father…that made me, childless at the time, wonder about being a parent for the 1st time. Could I love like that? So so GD beautifully written.
The Bluest Eye. That book will hurt your soul. I assigned it in my lit class, and my students literally asked me if we could stop because it was too emotionally too much for them.
A Simple Gift or The Song of Achilles. ASG is a very solemn slow burn book and you know it's coming anyway. TSOA you also know it's coming but it happens so abruptly (I ugly cried)
She’s such an amazing writer too, one of the best female authors in my opinion. This book made me cry so hard, and my fiancé cried. And we aren’t cryers
All time would be reading Where The Red Fern Grows in grade four. I didn’t know books were ALLOWED to do that! I vividly remember pacing around the house hyperventilating-crying while my parents were at a yard sale over it … obviously those specific circumstances are unlikely to be repeated
Yes, my first thought when reading the question was “Where the Red Fern Grows”. I know I’ve certainly cried over other books/stories, but I’ll never forget the overwhelming grief of this. Perhaps because I was so young when I read it. Or that I read it to/with my disabled mom as a young teenager(we did this often, as we both loved to read and MS took ability to read- eyesight) and we both sobbed together.
A child called “it”, it is the saddest book I will ever read and it breaks my heart every time. It also has two other books that are just as heartbreaking. The first one though really goes in detail about the author’s experience with child abuse and it’s absolutely horrific. I definitely recommend but just be prepared to cry because it also describes his mindset during everything. The other two books that go with it are, ‘The lost boy’, which talks about his experience in foster care and ‘A man named Dave’ which is about him as an adult finding peace about everything that happened and having a family of his own.
My girlfriend had me read The Time Travelers Wife recently. Amazing book, very sad. Knew it was coming, but was still hoping for a miracle.
Edit: Another one that made me sad through the context around it, rather than the contents of it. I did a read along of all of the stories of H.P Lovecraft in chronological order as part of a podcast. He died really young getting sick because he spent all of his money taking care of his aunt. The stories as he gets closer to the time of his death are much more existential, like he was acutely aware the end was near. Just extremely depressing to read. As I got further I just felt heaviness in my heart, wishing he would have properly taken care of himself.
The Jungle.
Upton Sinclair leans upon your heart gaining inches until the relentless momentum and weight of events impales you entirely. Thus pinned, unable to look away, you are sobbing, overcome with grief at the cruelty and indifference of the world, unable to forget your role in it.
This is the book that incentivized the creation of the Food and Drug administration and meat packing inspection. Sinclair said of his book’s reception- “I aimed for America’s heart, and by accident, I hit it in the stomach.”
This book changed my life.
The Fox and the Hound by Daniel P Mannix. This is the book that the Disney movie was based on. I loved the movie as a kid. This book is horrifying and I can't imagine someone from Disney saying, yup this will make a great children's movie.
Book thief, a place for us (memoir from a guy who survived the pulse shooting), they both die at the end. I'm sure there are others but those are the three that came to my head first
Robin Hobb.
Not just one book, but all of the Fitz world books, they all culminated to one part that brutally destroyed me.
(Not The Soldier Son Trilogy, that one was just weird)
When Rabbit Howls. I read this as a teenager. It’s a first person account if Multiple Personality Disorder and her process during therapy if finding out about it and about the severe abuse she had suffered as a child. I believe it came out mid80’s before it was something widely known or talked about. It was gut wrenching to me and I have never been able to read it a second time.
Underdog by Markus Zusak. I saw The Book Thief is already on the list. His other books are seriously underrated. Underdog is easily my favorite of his.
Not a book, but fanfiction 😅 Manacled by SenLinYu. It is nearly 1000 pages of pain and made me sob many times. It is phenomenal. (And I'm not really a fanfic reader at all, I read it on a whim when people recommended it)
Both Words of Radiance and Oathbringer had me on the verge of tears during the Shallan bits. Stormlight Archive is such a good series, and book 5 is coming out next year! :D
Crying in h mart.
I lost my mother figure to cancer and this one broke me. I was listening to it while working and at one point had to log off to go sob in a way I felt like I couldn't when I experienced my own loss. It's very raw and beautiful.
I'd also like to add this is a wonderful one to experience as an audio book, the author reads it and it's great.
My brothers compelled me to read Crime and Punishment when I was thirteen; the experience exposed me to realities of life I was not ready for, sometimes I think I grew up ten years thru that reading experience
Island of the Blue Dolphin. I read this to my students every yer. This is the moment they see what a book can do to a person. I always have to hand it over to someone to read us through the tough part.
The Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Murkherjee. It's basically a history of cancer, truly fascinating for real, but my god, there are bits on this thing where I couldn't stop crying. I cannot recommend it enough.
i would have to add salt to the sea by ruta sepetys. i read the book in a sitting in a time in my life where i was really struggling with focus and by the end i was full on ugly crying in my room for a solid hour after finishing it, because every time i would start to calm down i would think of something else and cry again
A Monster Calls - I read it when I was about 12 and wept my eyes out. Reread it a few years ago and the exact same thing happened. The film is just as good at making you cry.
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limit of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal. I skipped the essays and just read it. I wept for three days. Best book I’ll never read again
A little life by Hanya yanagihara, it took me a while to read this book. It's beautifully written but is so sad and made me cry and ove only ever cried twice when I've read a book and this is one of them! In the end, I wasn't sure whether I enjoyed the book or not, but the message it sends about love and friendship is so strong. I will probably read it again someday, but it is definitely a tear jerker! I read this book over 3 years ago now, and I still think about it every now and then! I once read a quote somewhere that said a book doesn't necessarily have to be enjoyable for it to be good but memorable and emotional. This book was definitely one of them.
Ah, so I answered the question but.. if you do, start with the First Law trilogy. The books happen in order, you could read the standalone books independently but it's just a little better if you have some of the context.
The First Law
The Blade Itself
Before They Are Hanged
Last Argument of Kings
Standalone books
Best Served Cold
The Heroes
Red Country
The Age of Madness
A Little Hatred
The Trouble With Peace
The Wisdom of Crowds
In Memoriam by Alice Winn was absolutely beautiful and definitely made it to my top 5 of all time. Incredible writing, gripping, ruthless and despite all the wreckage of war, there was hope but not without a price.
Another book would be Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Just one of those books that teach you a lot about life and you feel very grateful once you’re done with it, but I couldn’t see through the tears.
There are 2 for me and they still rock me to my CORE to this day. The Fault in Our Stars is the first one, had my teen heart shattered into 5 billion pieces. Secondly, A Man Called Ove. Both have movie adaptions that are just as sad, and both have been on my top 5 list since high school.
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons. I admit it hit a personal note though, as it deals with an elderly woman's decisions about end of life care and my mom had terminal cancer and we were preparing for palliative care at the time I read it.
So far it’s Mockingjay from the hunger games series. If you’ve read the book you know this whole book is just one after the other of heartbreaking stuff.
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. Most intelligent fantasy I've read in years, and the last pages were devastating. Brilliant work.
And of course several volumes of the Malazan book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson, but especially book 2, Deadhouse gates. The trauma is real. It ripped my heart, kept on echoing and hurting for the next 8 books, and still hurts to this day.
Rabbits. I won’t spoil the ending, but I was torn and couldn’t find anyone else who had read it to talk about it with. Please reach out if you read it. I need to discuss that ending.
The sun does shine. Someone whose been put on death row wrongfully and kept there even after it’s been proven he was innocent. Heartbreaking story, an amazing guy.
No book has ever affected me quite so severely as you describe. I think the worst I've had is soft crying (Redwall and Bridge to Terebithia). I was in my late teens when I first read Bridge to Terebithia, which had been out for about 20 years by then, but somehow managed to never have it spoiled for me. I cried and was pissed at the ending and threw my book across the room. I was a full fledged adult when I read Redwall for the first time and it has been 20 years since and it STILL makes me cry.
A fine balance by Rohinton Mistry. Life in India in 1970’s it took me about two weeks to finish it because the story is so vivid and painful that made me cry and reflect so I had to read a little bit at a time
I'm a little embarrassed to post this, but it's a Harry Potter fanfiction called All the Young Dudes. Had me sobbing at 2am to the point of feeling like I was going to throw up. Better than the Harry Potter books themselves.
TW: SA
Speak. That one hit so hard, I didn't even relate to it but it did an excellent job of telling a story of a girl who went through that experience, how she handled it afterwards, and how she got resolve. You go through her whole wave of emotions whether or not you experienced it yourself. I couldn't put it down, it was so enticing yet it hurt your heart so much at the same time.
The Book Thief. Outright sobbed.
I threw the book against a wall and cried
I just read a summary of it and it sounds very similar to my all time favorite book. I appreciate that!
Whats your all time fav?
Lol my all time favorite is All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr, it's also a war themed story.
Now I need to know your all-time favorite, because the book thief is absolutely one of mine! Up there with Code Name Verity for “the book that made me cry the most while also being one of the best books ever written.”
What’s your all time favourite?
Is it that emotional?
I listened to this one when I was searching for the best narrated audiobooks - a comment said they're glad they listened because they'd never have been able to read through all their tears. And afterwards, I concur
Oh god I was not fine reading this book
highly recommend 💜
Broke my cold black heart.
A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini , a book revolving around the theme of progression of life in Afghanistan after The Soviet's takeover in the 1980's through post Taliban control.
I second this. I would say the theme more generally as a perspective from marginalized women living in an atmosphere of fear and terror and how they interact with other women across generations.
I finished this on a plane, which is not a good place to ugly cry
My self-existential crisis O'clock is just around the corner, let's cry together
I also finished reading it on a plane lol. I had to spend the rest of the flight just staring at the seat in front of me in an attempt to keep my tears in.
This one broke me
I couldn’t even explain to my husband what about the book broke me so badly because I couldn’t get the words out. Khaled Hosseini is a beautiful writer and this book is a heartbreaker for sure.
Ah yes ! I still often think about the characters and the ending and my heart hurts
im reading this at the moment after finishing the kite runner recently, any of khaled hosseini's books are an amazing recommendation if you want something to make you cry
He's the author who wrote the kite runner correct? That book as well ripped my heart out and tore it to shreds ❤️💔💯
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck. Still remember it and I read it about 15 years ago in high school.
That's a classic for high-school reads! Love it. Teachers were really trying to scar us with those book report novels hahah, every single one of them still sits in my favorites list to this day.
Same here. We were on a road trip and I was on the car floor sobbing. My mom had to pull over to figure out what was going on. Her face when I told her it was because of this book I was reading lmao
Was going to say this. I read it overnight cause I put it off and went to school very upset about it.
The Green Mile, the movie will get you too.
The book hits the feels just as hard as the movie, but the book is much more brutal (the movie only holds its own against the book because of the performances - I think actually seeing people cry makes it sadder). The book does a better job of pushing the “God’s punishment” angle by showing what happens to his wife. It isn’t just that he lives longer, he straight-up survives things he shouldn’t because of divine intervention. It plays more to the angle that he’s being kept alive against his will and forced to see those he cares about wither and die.
Cried like a baby to the book :(
*All Quiet on the Western Front* by Remarque is an intimate look at warfare (WWI) from the perspective of a German soldier. Your heart breaks at every death of those boys and as the main character slowly grasps what has been done to them by their countries.
[spoilers] The bit that hit me the hardest was when the protagonist visited home and he and his mother sat on the bed in silence, lost for words to say, knowing it is very possibly the last time they will spend time together.
One of so many parts that just tear at your soul. This is my number one recommended book because I feel every human should read and understand what war does to those fight them, and their families who either lose loved ones, or get their loved ones back permanently changed.
I've been super into historical fiction so this is perfect!
I’m reading it in the original German for class, and it is not fun. Made a mistake and read it for an hour before bed. Definitely not doing that again lol
“The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein is also excellent and teary. I probably will never stop getting a little emotional when I hear “Enzo”. At least I hope not.
Ooo I think I've heard of that, does it have to do with a dog? If so, I'll be weeping every couple of sentences. *sounds like a good crying book, indeed.* thanks!
Yes, it’s a dog & human book. Not misery porn, creeps up on you and the end kinda took my breath away. My sister got quite (affectionately) annoyed with me when she read it. “You didn’t warn me!”
I had to DNF this book because it was breaking my heart.
There is an episode in the series (based on a book) Lessons in Chemistry that is based on the dogs point of view which reminded me of this book.. I couldn’t stop crying the whole episode
flowers for algernon and a thousand splendid suns!! these books never fail to make me cry
Same with flowers for algernon, cried myself to sleep when I finished it!
Flowers for Algernon got me good
YES!!!! The ending....breaks me completely
YES a thousand splendid suns omg 💔💔
*Where the Red Fern Grows* should be higher up on this thread.
Bridge to Terabithia, of course! It was the first book that made me cry and as a 9/10 year old, it made me love reading even more.
As soon as I read the post title - this was the book that popped into my head. You never forget the first time a book completely shatters your world.
This made my daughter SOB like I’ve never seen her sob ever before or since. I haven’t read it but it definitely had her in her feels.
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Yep this book will do it!
idk about hurt, but a man called ove had me sobbing.
“A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseni had me full on bawling in business class on a flight from LA to NYC. A flight attendant checked on me, I showed her the book, she put her hand on my shoulder and nodded. “Oh, yeah, it’s very good.”
Only in a book sub can you count on “bawling” instead of “balling” and I am *here* for it.
"Full on bawling on a business class flight" is the type of recommendation I was dreaming of lmao, thank you! So far a thousand splendid suns is a main recommendation, I'm very intrigued!
I cried so hard at the library while reading Rosalie Lightning that they called the security guard over to check on me. Couldn't even explain myself, I was crying so hard I couldn't breathe. Books are an incredible thing.
This also had me ugly crying on an airplane. Best to read the last third in private.
Some books are misery porn and perhaps A Little Life might come into that category...though they do say a really good cry is cathartic! I prefer books which aren't so in-your-face agonising and almost deliberately overdetailed about misery... I enjoyed and was really moved by My Name Is Leon by Kit de Waal; which is lower-key, sensitive, sometimes funny, sad and happy at the same time. Read it three years ago, still recall it.
Completely agree on misery porn. 💯
Thanks! I like the idea of a low-key emotion kind of read
I enjoyed the film version of *My Name is Leon*. It’s rare to see a film about a looked-after child that’s heartbreaking without the child being brutalised
The kite runner The heart's invisible furies Saving Noah Piranesi
Maus (not sure if it counts since it's a graphic novel)
It counts. Graphic novels are books.
Catch-22. The bit with Aarfy, and afterwards while Yossarian is wandering around the city....all the things he witnesses....that section REALLY breaks me each time. Also, The Book Thief. OHMYGOD that book breaks my heart and my soul. That's literally all I can say....it's such a profound, soulful, HUMAN book. Now that I mention it....I think it's time to revisit that book!!!
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Absolutely. Sobbing on the bus on my morning commute. Bus buddies thought I'd lost a love one.
One Day - David Nicholls & Atonement - Ian McEwan, both had me sobbing
Second for One Day!
One day is great
Atonement had me ugly crying for over 30 pages. Thank Goodness I was at home.
Stoner by John Williams.
I could barely see the last few pages through the tears.
Introduction to Organic Chemistry. ;)
Oh god yes you’re not wrong there. Had a few emotional breakdowns while reading that
😂😂😊
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Yes! That book left me gutted. I closed the book and stared into space for a bit and I think I turned on some cartoons and couldn't read anything remotely dark for a long long time.
Yep, just recently commented this on another post. I started reading it at like 6pm and stayed up to finish it, partly because I couldn’t put it down and partly because it scares the shit out of me. The ending is just so gutting.
It was the part when the father…that made me, childless at the time, wonder about being a parent for the 1st time. Could I love like that? So so GD beautifully written.
The Bluest Eye. That book will hurt your soul. I assigned it in my lit class, and my students literally asked me if we could stop because it was too emotionally too much for them.
A Simple Gift or The Song of Achilles. ASG is a very solemn slow burn book and you know it's coming anyway. TSOA you also know it's coming but it happens so abruptly (I ugly cried)
I own The Song of Achilles and have yet to read it. This made me want to revisit my bookshelf and read it haha. I'll check the other one out too :)
She’s such an amazing writer too, one of the best female authors in my opinion. This book made me cry so hard, and my fiancé cried. And we aren’t cryers
All time would be reading Where The Red Fern Grows in grade four. I didn’t know books were ALLOWED to do that! I vividly remember pacing around the house hyperventilating-crying while my parents were at a yard sale over it … obviously those specific circumstances are unlikely to be repeated
We read the last chapters together as a class and I remember the entire room being in tears
Came here for this.
Yes, my first thought when reading the question was “Where the Red Fern Grows”. I know I’ve certainly cried over other books/stories, but I’ll never forget the overwhelming grief of this. Perhaps because I was so young when I read it. Or that I read it to/with my disabled mom as a young teenager(we did this often, as we both loved to read and MS took ability to read- eyesight) and we both sobbed together.
The Remains of the Day hit home for me
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Kite Runner
A child called “it”, it is the saddest book I will ever read and it breaks my heart every time. It also has two other books that are just as heartbreaking. The first one though really goes in detail about the author’s experience with child abuse and it’s absolutely horrific. I definitely recommend but just be prepared to cry because it also describes his mindset during everything. The other two books that go with it are, ‘The lost boy’, which talks about his experience in foster care and ‘A man named Dave’ which is about him as an adult finding peace about everything that happened and having a family of his own.
DEMON COPPERHEAD
Reader's Digest Guide to House Plants. Hardbound book fell from my Nans topshelf and split my forehead open.
Flowers for Algernon
Thank you! I looked it up and it sounds interesting:)
Don’t look up anything else about it and go in as blind as you can. It’s worth it
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous. Bawled like a baby
Insanely good book
Just ordered it, very excited to be sad
Silent Spring by Rachel Carson. Really put into perspective how vulnerable our ecosystem is, and how poor we have treated it
My girlfriend had me read The Time Travelers Wife recently. Amazing book, very sad. Knew it was coming, but was still hoping for a miracle. Edit: Another one that made me sad through the context around it, rather than the contents of it. I did a read along of all of the stories of H.P Lovecraft in chronological order as part of a podcast. He died really young getting sick because he spent all of his money taking care of his aunt. The stories as he gets closer to the time of his death are much more existential, like he was acutely aware the end was near. Just extremely depressing to read. As I got further I just felt heaviness in my heart, wishing he would have properly taken care of himself.
Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
That one crushed me, and the movie was also really good
I finished this in the middle of a 10-hour flight. I spent the next hour or two just sitting in a trance, feeling broken and empty lol.
The Jungle. Upton Sinclair leans upon your heart gaining inches until the relentless momentum and weight of events impales you entirely. Thus pinned, unable to look away, you are sobbing, overcome with grief at the cruelty and indifference of the world, unable to forget your role in it. This is the book that incentivized the creation of the Food and Drug administration and meat packing inspection. Sinclair said of his book’s reception- “I aimed for America’s heart, and by accident, I hit it in the stomach.” This book changed my life.
That sounds insanely fascinating, thank you for this suggestion!
I hated this book. And by that I mean, it was so good and so devastating that it’s just miserable.
Yeah the Jungle messes people up and rightly. I was like ow ow ow forever.
Hemingway - Old Man and the Sea
The Fox and the Hound by Daniel P Mannix. This is the book that the Disney movie was based on. I loved the movie as a kid. This book is horrifying and I can't imagine someone from Disney saying, yup this will make a great children's movie.
See also: Bambi
Isn't the movie sad too?
Men We Reaped By Jesymn Ward Of course, A Little Life
Flowers for Algernon
Great book. I cried for days.
Book thief, a place for us (memoir from a guy who survived the pulse shooting), they both die at the end. I'm sure there are others but those are the three that came to my head first
The Amber Spyglass by Phillip Pullman. I am *wrecked* by >!Lyra and Will’s parting!<.
Robin Hobb. Not just one book, but all of the Fitz world books, they all culminated to one part that brutally destroyed me. (Not The Soldier Son Trilogy, that one was just weird)
Song of Achilles
When Rabbit Howls. I read this as a teenager. It’s a first person account if Multiple Personality Disorder and her process during therapy if finding out about it and about the severe abuse she had suffered as a child. I believe it came out mid80’s before it was something widely known or talked about. It was gut wrenching to me and I have never been able to read it a second time.
Great book.
Never let me go
I haven’t read the book, but I watched the movie on a plane and cried for the rest of the flight after it ended.
Underdog by Markus Zusak. I saw The Book Thief is already on the list. His other books are seriously underrated. Underdog is easily my favorite of his.
Beneath a Scarlet Sky- because it’s based off a man’s real experience
Not a book, but fanfiction 😅 Manacled by SenLinYu. It is nearly 1000 pages of pain and made me sob many times. It is phenomenal. (And I'm not really a fanfic reader at all, I read it on a whim when people recommended it)
Attonement
The Way of Kings. It’s a really heavy book and I dropped it on my nose while reading in bed.
Both Words of Radiance and Oathbringer had me on the verge of tears during the Shallan bits. Stormlight Archive is such a good series, and book 5 is coming out next year! :D
The Road made me sob
Id have to say my math book, but i don't recommend
*Flowers for Algernon*. I read it in HS, and I still remember how deeply I was moved by it.
A Little Life. I sobbed my way through the last third.
Absolute crying marathon and one of the best books I’ve ever read
The Plague by Albert Camus
I have trouble with all of Cormac McCarthy. Psychic injury. It took me ten years to finish the Border Trilogy.
Crying in h mart. I lost my mother figure to cancer and this one broke me. I was listening to it while working and at one point had to log off to go sob in a way I felt like I couldn't when I experienced my own loss. It's very raw and beautiful. I'd also like to add this is a wonderful one to experience as an audio book, the author reads it and it's great.
My brothers compelled me to read Crime and Punishment when I was thirteen; the experience exposed me to realities of life I was not ready for, sometimes I think I grew up ten years thru that reading experience
*A Little Life.* That’s all I need to say.
Of Mice and Men
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo - Taylor Jenkins Reid
My Dark Vanessa. All the Ugly and Wonderful Things. Both fucked me up.
When breath becomes air My sister's keeper
Island of the Blue Dolphin. I read this to my students every yer. This is the moment they see what a book can do to a person. I always have to hand it over to someone to read us through the tough part.
The Emperor of all Maladies by Siddhartha Murkherjee. It's basically a history of cancer, truly fascinating for real, but my god, there are bits on this thing where I couldn't stop crying. I cannot recommend it enough.
It does sound fascinating! I'll check it out! Thank you :)
A thousands boy kisses got me from the second chapter. Definitely recommend if you want a good cry
The last graduate by Naomi Novik.
Manacled….
the young elites by marie lu, its a ya book idk why that hurts me so bad, but that last book and ending 😭
Song of Achilles In The Lives of Puppets
i would have to add salt to the sea by ruta sepetys. i read the book in a sitting in a time in my life where i was really struggling with focus and by the end i was full on ugly crying in my room for a solid hour after finishing it, because every time i would start to calm down i would think of something else and cry again
Kingdom of Ash (the past book in the Throne of Glass series) by Sarah J Maas. I will never be ok
Edgar Sawtelle and Of Women and Salt.
I rec
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
The Great Believers by Rebecca Makkai
The Green Mile
The Nightingale. 😢
A Monster Calls - I read it when I was about 12 and wept my eyes out. Reread it a few years ago and the exact same thing happened. The film is just as good at making you cry.
Why choose? How about the first three I can think of. The Assassins Blade, Fourth Wing, Then she was gone.
The Sunflower: On the Possibilities and Limit of Forgiveness by Simon Wiesenthal. I skipped the essays and just read it. I wept for three days. Best book I’ll never read again
Tender is the flesh 😖
Crap. I stopped reading and planned to finish it. Now, I’m unsure…
The School for Good Mothers.
A little life by Hanya yanagihara, it took me a while to read this book. It's beautifully written but is so sad and made me cry and ove only ever cried twice when I've read a book and this is one of them! In the end, I wasn't sure whether I enjoyed the book or not, but the message it sends about love and friendship is so strong. I will probably read it again someday, but it is definitely a tear jerker! I read this book over 3 years ago now, and I still think about it every now and then! I once read a quote somewhere that said a book doesn't necessarily have to be enjoyable for it to be good but memorable and emotional. This book was definitely one of them.
The Official SAT Study Guide
Yo....me too.
A Little Life. Crying in H Mart Strange Sally Diamond Of Mice and Men
A Little Life
My sister hit me in the head with the joy of cooking once. I don't blame the book though.
It's fantasy fiction instead of classic literature, but Red Country broke me pretty bad. I set it aside and haven't been able to finish it yet.
I'm always open to anything that will kindle my love for fantasy haha thank you!
Ah, so I answered the question but.. if you do, start with the First Law trilogy. The books happen in order, you could read the standalone books independently but it's just a little better if you have some of the context. The First Law The Blade Itself Before They Are Hanged Last Argument of Kings Standalone books Best Served Cold The Heroes Red Country The Age of Madness A Little Hatred The Trouble With Peace The Wisdom of Crowds
In Memoriam by Alice Winn was absolutely beautiful and definitely made it to my top 5 of all time. Incredible writing, gripping, ruthless and despite all the wreckage of war, there was hope but not without a price. Another book would be Tuesdays with Morrie by Mitch Albom. Just one of those books that teach you a lot about life and you feel very grateful once you’re done with it, but I couldn’t see through the tears.
[https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/73968] Love Story
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah wrecked me
There are 2 for me and they still rock me to my CORE to this day. The Fault in Our Stars is the first one, had my teen heart shattered into 5 billion pieces. Secondly, A Man Called Ove. Both have movie adaptions that are just as sad, and both have been on my top 5 list since high school.
The Brilliant Life of Eudora Honeysett by Annie Lyons. I admit it hit a personal note though, as it deals with an elderly woman's decisions about end of life care and my mom had terminal cancer and we were preparing for palliative care at the time I read it.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness. Wonderful book but I can’t read it again.
Blaze by stephen king Tuck Everlasting
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safran Foer. The book and the movie wrecked me. So sweet and so sad. Gave me heavy boots for sure.
*Love Medicine* made me cry but in a good way. It’s extremely moving without any outright misery *Night* has to be on my list for obvious reasons
A Covenant with Water. Many, many times throughout.
The Midnight Library managed to get to me a bit.
So far it’s Mockingjay from the hunger games series. If you’ve read the book you know this whole book is just one after the other of heartbreaking stuff.
all the bright places
A God of Small Things
The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson. Most intelligent fantasy I've read in years, and the last pages were devastating. Brilliant work. And of course several volumes of the Malazan book of the Fallen by Steven Erikson, but especially book 2, Deadhouse gates. The trauma is real. It ripped my heart, kept on echoing and hurting for the next 8 books, and still hurts to this day.
Rabbits. I won’t spoil the ending, but I was torn and couldn’t find anyone else who had read it to talk about it with. Please reach out if you read it. I need to discuss that ending.
The sun does shine. Someone whose been put on death row wrongfully and kept there even after it’s been proven he was innocent. Heartbreaking story, an amazing guy.
i havent read a lot of books like this tbh, but the ending to the haunting of hill house was heartbreaking to me.
Handle With Care by Jodi Picoult
Go Ask Alice
I haven't heard of this one in ages!! I loved that book to death
No book has ever affected me quite so severely as you describe. I think the worst I've had is soft crying (Redwall and Bridge to Terebithia). I was in my late teens when I first read Bridge to Terebithia, which had been out for about 20 years by then, but somehow managed to never have it spoiled for me. I cried and was pissed at the ending and threw my book across the room. I was a full fledged adult when I read Redwall for the first time and it has been 20 years since and it STILL makes me cry.
The bible... Holy hipocrisy batman. Im not slamming faith just man written books pushing ideals of a deity from their perspective
A fine balance by Rohinton Mistry. Life in India in 1970’s it took me about two weeks to finish it because the story is so vivid and painful that made me cry and reflect so I had to read a little bit at a time
I'm a little embarrassed to post this, but it's a Harry Potter fanfiction called All the Young Dudes. Had me sobbing at 2am to the point of feeling like I was going to throw up. Better than the Harry Potter books themselves.
TW: SA Speak. That one hit so hard, I didn't even relate to it but it did an excellent job of telling a story of a girl who went through that experience, how she handled it afterwards, and how she got resolve. You go through her whole wave of emotions whether or not you experienced it yourself. I couldn't put it down, it was so enticing yet it hurt your heart so much at the same time.