Have you ever been in one of those moods where all you needed as a good cry? Maybe you listen to that one song that always gets you or that movie that always hits you right in the feels. It’s the words that effortlessly connect us to the characters and storylines, giving us a reason to ride out our true emotions. We feel so deeply sometimes that we need something to pull us out of our darkness and allow us to ball our eyes out for a hot second (or two hours). Sometimes we just need a good cry and we’ll feel better after, so next time you reach for something that you know will definitely make you cry, pick up one of these books.
1. 13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher
What’s it about? Clay Jensen returns home from school to find a strange package with his name on it lying on his porch. Inside he discovers several cassette tapes recorded by Hannah Baker—his classmate and crush—who committed suicide two weeks earlier. Hannah’s voice tells him that there are thirteen reasons why she decided to end her life. Clay is one of them. If he listens, he’ll find out why.
Why should you read it? This book changed the way I look at the world and at the people around me. When a book affects the way you breathe, you know it is powerful.
“You don’t know what goes on in anyone’s life but your own. And when you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re not messing with just that part. Unfortunately, you can’t be that precise and selective. When you mess with one part of a person’s life, you’re messing with their entire life. Everything. . . affects everything.”
2. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
What’s it about? Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
Why should you read it? Ah, John Green, the things you do to me. If you aren’t prepared for heartbreak, continue scrolling – this is not the book for you. If you are ready to have your heart torn to shreds and ask for more, you will definitely be interested. P.S. I want a man like Augustus Waters, please.
“Some people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them," I said. "Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway.”
3. The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
What’s it about? Charlie is a freshman in high school. And while he's not the biggest geek in the school, he is by no means popular. Shy, introspective, intelligent beyond his years yet socially awkward, he is a wallflower, caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it. He is attempting to navigate his way through uncharted territory: the world of first dates and mix tapes, family dramas and new friends; the world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. But he can't stay on the sideline forever. Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.
Why should you read it? I adored how this book was written because you were reading from a personal point of view. The letter/journal style writing was endearing and insightful and the main character enough to break your heart, especially as you learned what he had been through. So many brilliant minds do not fit into the mainstream, so they are bullied, picked on or considered slower than their peers when in fact they are light years beyond.
“I am both happy and sad at the same time, and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be.”
4. Why We Broke Up by Daniel Handler
What’s it about? Min Green and Ed Slaterton are breaking up, so Min is writing Ed a letter and giving him a box. Inside the box is why they broke up. Two bottle caps, a movie ticket, a folded note, a box of matches, a protractor, books, a toy truck, a pair of ugly earrings, a comb from a motel room, and every other item collected over the course of a giddy, intimate, heartbreaking relationship. Item after item is illustrated and accounted for, and then the box, like a girlfriend, will be dumped.
Why should read it? You know when you're going through a breakup and keep looking back on the entire course of your relationship and start to pick up on little things you missed about your ex. Things that should have told you then and there that this was only going to end in heartbreak. Well, this book does exactly that. If you've had your heart broken you will relate to this book.
“This is like a cookie, it tastes like a cookie having sex with a doughnut.”
5. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
What’s it about? Tells the stories of two sisters, separated by years and experience, by ideals, passion and circumstance, each embarking on her own dangerous path toward survival, love, and freedom in German-occupied, war-torn France—a heartbreakingly beautiful novel that celebrates the resilience of the human spirit and the durability of women.
Why should you read it? The Nightingale opens with this amazing first line: “If I have learned anything in this long life of mine, it is this: In love, we find out who we want to be; in war we find out who we are.” I mean that right there is enough to know the book will be nothing but amazing.
“Lately, though, I find myself thinking about the war and my past, about the people I lost. Lost. it makes it sound as if I misplaced my loved ones;”
6. The Outsiders by S. E. Hinton
What’s it about? No one ever said life was easy. But Ponyboy is pretty sure that he's got things figured out. He knows that he can count on his brothers, Darry and Sodapop. And he knows that he can count on his friends—true friends who would do anything for him, like Johnny and Two-Bit. But not on much else besides trouble with the Socs, a vicious gang of rich kids whose idea of a good time is beating up on “greasers” like Ponyboy. At least he knows what to expect—until the night someone takes things too far.
Why should you read it? It will give you TOO MANY FEELS. When you read it, you can feel the fear and anger of the protagonist inside you. According to Ernest Hemingway, the mark of a great novel is that after reading it you feel that all the things that have happened to the main characters have happened to you personally.
“I lie to myself all the time. But I never believe me.”
7. Forgive Me, Leonard Peacock by Matthew Quick
What’s it about? Today is Leonard Peacock's birthday. It is also the day he will kill his former best friend, and then himself, with his grandfather's P-38 pistol. But first he must say good-bye to the four people who matter most to him: his Humphrey Bogart-obsessed next-door neighbor, Walt; his classmate Baback, a violin virtuoso; Lauren, the Christian homeschooler he has a crush on; and Herr Silverman, who teaches the high school's class on the Holocaust. Speaking to each in turn, Leonard slowly reveals his secrets as the hour's tick by and the moment of truth approaches.
Why should you read it? Although this book is incredibly sad, you need to read it because it ends with hope and is so brilliant in every respect.
“Not letting the world destroy you. That’s a daily battle.”
8. Chasing Trains by Mackenzie Herbert
What’s it about? Kaitlyn has always been on the outside-a lonely girl just trying to survive. However, she suddenly finds herself emerged in a world she never knew existed when she befriends the local wild child and her quirky group of perfectly imperfect friends. Kaitlyn's eighteenth summer is suddenly filled with heartbreak, adventure, car chases, falling in love, and everything else she's worked so hard to avoid. In this summer before college, she soon learns all about what it means to make memories, the mistake of growing up, and how you have to take a leap of faith in order to soar.
Why should you read it? A wonderful story of friendship and how sometimes it isn't until something ends that we truly discover who we are. The emotions, the characters, and the relationships are all so perfectly constructed that you feel like this is your story. And it is because everyone can find a piece of themselves in this beautiful, tragic, adventurous, and humorous tale of friendship, love, and finding yourself.
“Strange, how we often hate the ones who save us and love the ones that are like poison.”
9. Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
What’s it about? At the top of the stairs, there are four secrets hidden. Blond, beautiful, innocent, and struggling to stay alive… They were a perfect family, golden and carefree—until a heartbreaking tragedy shattered their happiness. Now, for the sake of an inheritance that will ensure their future, the children must be hidden away out of sight, as if they never existed. Kept on the top floor of their grandmother’s vast mansion, their loving mother assures them it will be just for a little while.
Why should you read it? V.C. Andrews certainly has a way of writing that sucks you in and keeps you reading all night. You care about this family, you feel for them, you are hungry when they are hungry. And finally, you feel like you were right there with them in the attic.
“People have a way of believing nothing terrible will ever happen to them, only to others.”
10. The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
What’s it about? Liesel Meminger is a foster girl living outside of Munich, who scratches out a meager existence for herself by stealing when she encounters something she can’t resist–books. With the help of her accordion-playing foster father, she learns to read and shares her stolen books with her neighbors during bombing raids as well as with the Jewish man hidden in her basement.
Why should you read it? And there it was, as the Kindle told me I was passing 95%, a rare and welcome surge of sadness, not because the book is coming to a sad ending, but simply because it is coming to an end. The author earns the tears with his characters and storytelling, but the tears are also from the ache of a beloved journey reaching its destination.
“Usually we walk around constantly believing ourselves. "I'm okay," we say. "I'm alright". But sometimes the truth arrives on you and you can't get it off. That's when you realize that sometimes it isn't even an answer–it's a question. Even now, I wonder how much of my life is convinced.”
11. Room by Emma Donoghue
What’s it about? To five-year-old-Jack, Room is the world. It's where he was born, it's where he and his Ma eat and sleep and play and learn. At night, his Ma shuts him safely in the wardrobe, where he is meant to be asleep when Old Nick visits. Room is home to Jack, but to Ma it's the prison where she has been held for seven years. Through her fierce love for her son, she has created a life for him in this eleven-by-eleven-foot space.
Why should you read it? This story is heavy, intense, and remarkable. It tells the story of 5-year-old Jack and his Ma, who are trapped inside of a 11×11 ft room. It is told in Jack's point of view, and how he is learning about the world outside, which he doesn't believe is real. There is so much more detail that I could go into for a summary of this amazing novel, but I don't want to give anything away. Seriously, just read it.
“When I was four I was watching ants walking up Stove and she ran and splatted them all so they wouldn’t eat our food. One minute they were alive and the next minute they were dirt. I cried so my eyes nearly melted off.”
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