I know exactly when and where I was the first time my heart was broken. I was 8 years old and I was hiding in the library, hoping that no one would hear my colds while giant tears fell on the page of my book. It wasn’t a boy or a girl that broke my heart; no, they were the same pages I was reading.
It doesn’t happen often: total sobbing, shortness of breath, snot everywhere is the kind of reaction when I read a book, but when it does happen, it’s… weirdly nice? there’s something to be said for letting your emotions overwhelm you so much that you can’t do anything but feel them.
You are reading: Books that will break your heart
When a book breaks my heart this well, it stops my day. once I get up from the floor, I wash my face (because a handkerchief is useless after a cry like that, I have to wash my whole face), and I realize that yes, the world keeps turning, I hug the people who I love, I play with my dog and I appreciate life much more.
Books are powerful things.
and if you’re looking for a heartbreaking read in the best possible way, here are seven books that will have you looking for the nearest kitty to cuddle:
1. the book thief by markus zusak
Told from the point of view of death personified and set during the Holocaust, The Book Thief follows Liesel as she is orphaned and moves in with a family outside of Munich. what makes this book tear your heart out is the elegant way death describes a particular character near the end. It’s set during World War II, so you know this story is going to hit your heart, but there’s that one scene… that kiss. you may not survive. have a whole box of tissues on hand is what I’m saying.
See Also: John Jakes – Book Series In Order
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2. if i stay by gayle forma
mia was in a horrible car accident that killed her family. now in a hospital room, she is in a coma, but she can hear the voices of the people around her. some tell her to stay with them, that he get better; some promise her that she will be fine if she lets them go. Both options are tragic: a life without her family or no life at all.
What makes a book truly heartbreaking is when the character is presented with a choice. It’s not just a random tragedy that hurts them; they have to choose an impossible path. If I stayit’s about choosing… and how sometimes there is no right choice.
See Also: John Jakes – Book Series In Order
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3. The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
I read this book when my baby was only a few months old. let me tell you, sometimes she would get so tough that she would just hug him and promise that she wouldn’t let the world get as bad as it did in The Handmaid’s Tale.
Not your typical dystopian novel, this story brilliantly portrays a world that has already fallen under harsh rule. the book offers little hope. don’t read it expecting to be encouraged to fight like katniss. Please read it knowing that we often too easily accept the lives that come our way, and sometimes the only way we can fight back is through our own private rebellions.
See Also: John Jakes – Book Series In Order
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4. the girl on the train by paula hawkins
I was one of the last people to read this book, and I was expecting a murder mystery, not a story that would make me stop on the road and pause the audiobook while blinking back tears. at heart, the girl on the train is about terrible, horrible people. nobody is the good guy, least of all the storytellers. everyone has done something horrible.
but what makes this story so brilliant is the way it makes you sympathize with why people are doing such horrible things. I never thought I’d relate to a drunk, angry, lying loser, but there’s a scene in the book where Rachel explains why she’s so full of rage and turned alcoholic, and damn. heart.
See Also: John Jakes – Book Series In Order
click here to buy.
5. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. paddle
black syrian. Enough saying.
See Also: John Jakes – Book Series In Order
click here to buy.
6. deep challenging by neal shusterman
challenger deep is not a normal book. It’s about Caden, a boy who can see two realities. in reality, he heads to a rehab center where he participates in group therapy. in another, he is on a very strange pirate ship that changes in seemingly random ways. both realities are very, very real to him.
This book made me feel powerless. Caden is a good boy and he didn’t want him to feel bad or suffer. as one reality grows stronger than another, I wanted to rip it off the pages and protect it. but of course I couldn’t.
…and then there’s that scene in the middle when Caden calls his therapist “captain” and I’m not crying, you’re crying.
See Also: John Jakes – Book Series In Order
click here to buy.
7. a world without you by beth revis
When I wrote a world without you, I wasn’t trying to break anyone’s heart, least of all my own. but the deeper I sank my teeth into this story, the more personal it became. what started as a time travel adventure where a guy tries to save his girlfriend trapped in the past turned into a story about mental health when my narrator discovers that he is not in a school for superheroes, but actually resides in a boarding school for students with mental problems. health problems.
Because my own brother had suffered from mental health issues, the story became very personal and forced me to confront issues and feelings that I had kept buried for years. the end result is a book that hits so close to home that I often had to take breaks to write it, it just took me out of that world and back into mine. It broke my heart, but it also helped heal it, as it allowed me to write the kind of story I wish my brother had. I couldn’t change the past, but I could write this story about a boy who wishes he could.
See Also: John Jakes – Book Series In Order
click here to buy.
images: instagram/booksenchanted
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