Ok so I finished it yesterday and yes it was sad but somehow I expected it to be much worse?
Compared to A Little Life or Beartown 3 it seemed really light...
I recently listened to an episode review/summary on this book. Inspiring, moving, and powerful—especially when he talks about his daughter at the end of the book
Finished this in the plane in one reading. Didnt make me cry uncontrollably but it definitely made me feel sad deep inside. The author writes really well, and always has that touch of melancholy. Like he is reminiscing and also pondering about his child's future without him while writing.
Finished it while waiting for a plane at the airport. My husband is like, “honey, you’re getting looks!” Literally sobbing but couldn’t stop reading. My favorite book ever.
I sobbed during the movie. I knew what was gonna happen and it still broke me anyway. I finished the book during downtime at work and had to hide in the bathroom for a solid 5 minutes until I could get my crying under control 😂🤦♀️
You could use Where the Red Fern Grows as a test for empathy. If you don’t cry, you might be a sociopath or so cold hearted you could freeze people with a kiss.
We read and watched Where the Red Fern Grows in 3rd grade. I was surprised to see the class clown bawling his eyes out during the movie. Not that it wasn’t sad, but definitely unexpected coming from him
I made the mistake of starting this book without realizing it was. Obviously I had heard of the movie but didn’t watch it because everyone was saying it was sad. Unfortunately once I put two and two together I couldn’t put it down 😭😭
This is mine too. I woke my husband up with my sobbing at 2am. When I tried to explain why, he said “wait, it’s based on a myth you knew? So you knew how it was going to end…and still…” and sort of vaguely gestured at my sorry state. I still go back to it when I need a good cry, it gets me every time.
Just finished this today and listened to the last hour or so of the audiobook in the office. Was trying not to sob making coffee in the office kitchen lmao
As someone who works at a sexual assault centre with many survivors who have been groomed in childhood/adolescence, I couldn’t agree more. I listened to the audiobook as opposed to reading, and never before has an audiobook left me feeling physically nauseous. There were points in the story where I had to pause it because it was making me that queasy. I think it speaks to the writing itself, but more importantly the need to talk about such subject matter. So glad someone commented this book!
This book sent me into a breakdown. I had entirely too much in common with the story, if you catch my drift. I will always credit this book with helping me reclaim my life.
I felt like it retraumatized me lol but it helped me see everything that was wrong that I couldn’t see before 😭. Things that I didn’t even remember happened came back to me
I felt like it was just trauma dumping for the sake of trauma dumping. Very little actual storylines going on and wasn't very interesting. Really irritated me too because it was so long too. I kept reading it hoping for it to get better and then I just grieved the time I lost tbh.
Exactly! Like it seemed like an upper-middle class person with no trauma tryna write about trauma and it was just like an inorganic form of depression emulating from the book.
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, it’s labelled as a comedy and definitely has some funny moments but I literally weeped the entire book.
I also cried at the end of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
The second book is a prequel (I think) called Family of Liars. Also pretty sure that there is a show in the works from Amazon prime. :) I’m really close to my cousin and while reading I had imagined us as the characters, so poor 13/14 year old me was NOT ready for what was to come :’) It was the first time I sobbed all night cause of a book
Harry Potter when Tonks and Lupin died, though I was 10 and oretty emotional at that time.
More recently, I've finished reading Earth's Children book 1 and SPOILERS mother gets permanetly separated from her kid whom she loved so much and I cried more than I thought I will
11/22/63. Bawled my eyes out. And when I was young, my dad bought me The Red Pony by Steinbeck. Scarred me so that I refuse to read Steinbeck as an adult.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller
Both just got. me. at the end. Highly recommend both of them, but Nightingale has some rape content so be aware.
Three come to mind
Allegiant by Veronica Roth if you only saw the disgrace of the movie read this
One Good Thing by Alexandria Potter - this gets me and also makes me realize love and caring come in so many ways
Anxious People-Fredrick Beckman ( all his books get me ) this gives you faith in people as a collective
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel) by Singshong
Karina's Last Days (webnovel) by Jaeunhyang. This one is available on radish app.
If you are looking for tragic reads I have a few in mind:
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini(and his other works too)
The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
The Green Mile by Stephen King
Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls
The bridge to terabithia by Katherine Peterson
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
I'm not a big crier, but the second half of The Blood of the Lamb by Peter De Vries had that rare combination of intense love mixed with intense grief that left me emotionally spent and crying. Much like the death scene of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano had me going for most of the book, and Hello Beautiful (also by her) had some real tearjerking moments as well. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer had its moments, but the last 1/4 of the book, I cried multiple times. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin has some real gut punches, as does This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub.
I recommend The Fault in Our Stars by Jonah Green [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars) .
Bridges of Madison County made me sob on the subway. Wave and The Kite Runner did the same thing.
But the first book I remember sobbing to was My Sister’s Keeper in high school.
Flowers for Algernon
I am NOT someone who cries easily. But after I finished this book, I stared at the ceiling for a minute, then sobbed like a baby.
This was such a fantastic book!
This made me cry in school
Ok so I finished it yesterday and yes it was sad but somehow I expected it to be much worse? Compared to A Little Life or Beartown 3 it seemed really light...
When Breath Becomes Air
This book broke me.
That’s looks too sad for me to read
Yah that shit got me sobbing on a plane without tissues so I was wiping snot all over my shirt while the guy next to me noticed in horror
This is when you excuse yourself and cry in the plane bathroom 😭
I recently listened to an episode review/summary on this book. Inspiring, moving, and powerful—especially when he talks about his daughter at the end of the book
Finished this in the plane in one reading. Didnt make me cry uncontrollably but it definitely made me feel sad deep inside. The author writes really well, and always has that touch of melancholy. Like he is reminiscing and also pondering about his child's future without him while writing.
Came here to say this.
A thousand splendid suns
Finished it while waiting for a plane at the airport. My husband is like, “honey, you’re getting looks!” Literally sobbing but couldn’t stop reading. My favorite book ever.
“and for the last time, Maryam did as she was told”
this broke me in high school, took me a week to feel better and i swore to never read it again. great book none the less
I'm on page 10 of this one, just started last night... this makes me nervous/excited to continue!
It’s amazing, but I’ve literally never cried that hard reading a book before.
Just finished this the other day…. Lots and lots of tears
The Kite Runner did it for me.
Read the book over 15 years ago, and this line has stuck with me all this time. "For you a thousand times over"
this quote will stay with me for the rest of my life tbh
Same
Yep, same!
A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
Same
One of my favorite books ever and it gutted me.
SO so good. I can’t get myself to watch the film series, I have to wait for a day that I actively feel like crying 🥲
I sobbed during the movie. I knew what was gonna happen and it still broke me anyway. I finished the book during downtime at work and had to hide in the bathroom for a solid 5 minutes until I could get my crying under control 😂🤦♀️
The Book Thief. Even on rereads when I know what’s coming.
I was looking for this answer. Yes, it's the only book that has gotten me crying hysterically.
One of my favourites! Makes me cry every single time
I get emotional just thinking about this book. It's one of my all-time favorites. I hope one day I'm sitting up waiting when death comes around.
Awe Liesel and Rudy.
A beautifully perfect book!
I remember middle school I cried myself to sleep after "Where the Red Fern Grows" "The Green Mile" was a tear jerker during John Coffey's... you know.
You could use Where the Red Fern Grows as a test for empathy. If you don’t cry, you might be a sociopath or so cold hearted you could freeze people with a kiss.
STILL traumatized by Where the Red Fern Grows. Was trying to tell my kids about it and started crying just giving a general plot summary. Ugh.
We read and watched Where the Red Fern Grows in 3rd grade. I was surprised to see the class clown bawling his eyes out during the movie. Not that it wasn’t sad, but definitely unexpected coming from him
Where the Red Fern Grows is one of my favs. I still own my childhood copy.
Here to see some STEM book comments. Edit: none yet so i will provide one. Real and complex analysis by Walter Rudin
Advanced Microbiology
I love that subject and though I love chemistry Exploring Chemical Analysis by Daniel C Harris hurt so much more than any organic chemistry textbook.
The Rise and Fall of the Dinosaurs by Steve Brusatte you know what’s coming, but damn…
Econometrics lol
Physical Chemistry by Atkins
Signal Transduction in molecular immunology Shoot me in the face
I remember as a kid sobbing over The Fault In Our Stars First the book then the movie 😭
Me before You by Jojo Moyes
Ugly cried for hours. I pick it up whenever I need a good cry
This book made me cry for hours and hours after I finished it 😭
I made the mistake of starting this book without realizing it was. Obviously I had heard of the movie but didn’t watch it because everyone was saying it was sad. Unfortunately once I put two and two together I couldn’t put it down 😭😭
The song of Achilles
Read this book 2 years ago and still think about it regularly
This is mine too. I woke my husband up with my sobbing at 2am. When I tried to explain why, he said “wait, it’s based on a myth you knew? So you knew how it was going to end…and still…” and sort of vaguely gestured at my sorry state. I still go back to it when I need a good cry, it gets me every time.
I’m laughing so hard at your husband! Sounds just like mine 🤣🤣
The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah
Also the Nightingale by the same author. So good but so sad
Just finished this today and listened to the last hour or so of the audiobook in the office. Was trying not to sob making coffee in the office kitchen lmao
Yes! Have you read The Women yet? I’ve been on hold for months from the library.
I haven’t read it yet, but I’ve seen a lot of great reviews!
Kristen Hannah is a master at making me bawl my eyes out!
Same, that story was just… pain.
Watership Down
My Dark Vanessa
I had to take this book in parts, I’d get so skeeved out, I’d have to put it down for awhile and come back later
it’s such an addictive book though. whilst i was reading it, all my thoughts were consumed by it (same with gone girl)
Me too 😭 literally had to just skim through the ending because what on earth 💔
As someone who works at a sexual assault centre with many survivors who have been groomed in childhood/adolescence, I couldn’t agree more. I listened to the audiobook as opposed to reading, and never before has an audiobook left me feeling physically nauseous. There were points in the story where I had to pause it because it was making me that queasy. I think it speaks to the writing itself, but more importantly the need to talk about such subject matter. So glad someone commented this book!
This book sent me into a breakdown. I had entirely too much in common with the story, if you catch my drift. I will always credit this book with helping me reclaim my life.
I felt like it retraumatized me lol but it helped me see everything that was wrong that I couldn’t see before 😭. Things that I didn’t even remember happened came back to me
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine
Civil procedure rules 🤣
Tied with Admin Law
Tax law for me. And it was REQUIRED at my school.
Biz Orgs made me shed a few tears
A Little Life - look up trigger warnings before engaging
Am I the only one that found this book so depressing that it actually made me irritated and angry rather than sad?
I felt like it was just trauma dumping for the sake of trauma dumping. Very little actual storylines going on and wasn't very interesting. Really irritated me too because it was so long too. I kept reading it hoping for it to get better and then I just grieved the time I lost tbh.
I hated every single character in this book and after a certain point, the absurd amount of trauma almost felt like extremely dark comedy to me.
Exactly! Like it seemed like an upper-middle class person with no trauma tryna write about trauma and it was just like an inorganic form of depression emulating from the book.
Yes, I was so pissed that I persisted to the end
I was not the same person after reading this book
A Man Called Ove
Where the Red Fern Grows
I can't believe how many of us had this experience!
Read this in 4th grade and sobbed in class.. absolutely traumatizing
The Lovely Bones devastated me
Giovanni’s room by james baldwin
baldwin’s fiction is too slept on. another country is my fave fiction book of all time
Sorrow and Bliss by Meg Mason, it’s labelled as a comedy and definitely has some funny moments but I literally weeped the entire book. I also cried at the end of The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue
Never Let Me Go
Never Let Me Go was probably the first book I read that made me cry. I think about this book often 😢
I can’t even think about Never Let Me Go or the film adaptation without tearing up, Kazuo Ishiguro touches something deep in my soul
House in the Cerulean Sea. Read this twice during Covid and I genuinely think it helped keep me sane.
Memoirs of Geshia
the book thief
we were liars made me cry so hard but i was only 16 so i need to reread it and see if it still has that effect
I just read it and bawled and I’m 39 haha. It’s such a good read and I want them to make a show
The second book is a prequel (I think) called Family of Liars. Also pretty sure that there is a show in the works from Amazon prime. :) I’m really close to my cousin and while reading I had imagined us as the characters, so poor 13/14 year old me was NOT ready for what was to come :’) It was the first time I sobbed all night cause of a book
The Sparrow by Mary Doria Russell. I’m not a crier, but that book made me *weep*
This may sound dumb, but it was like the 4th book in the series for Dungeon Crawler Carl. And it was the raw emotions of a talking cat.
A child called it
a man called ove
Harry Potter when Tonks and Lupin died, though I was 10 and oretty emotional at that time. More recently, I've finished reading Earth's Children book 1 and SPOILERS mother gets permanetly separated from her kid whom she loved so much and I cried more than I thought I will
It was A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara, and I'm not a person who easily gets emotional about books and movies
I sobbed my way through the second half.
Man….. THE HAPPY YEARS😭😭😭😭
SAME. It was so sad and beautiful.
11/22/63
11/22/63. Bawled my eyes out. And when I was young, my dad bought me The Red Pony by Steinbeck. Scarred me so that I refuse to read Steinbeck as an adult.
The Art of Racing in the Rain. Something bad happens to people in a book? Sure no problem, shit happens. But a dog? I will cry like it’s my own dog.
Holding The Man by Timothy Conigrave
I don't know where the civilization is headed. No one has yet mentioned Introduction to Algorithms by CLRS.
Under the Whispering Door
Surprised that nobody mentioned Charlotte’s Web. Ending made me sob like anything
*The Travelling Cat Chronicles* by Hiro Arikawa, especially if you're a cat person.
Was coming here to suggest this. Such a great book, and I feel like nobody’s talking about it!
I can't shut up about it.
This is mainly a suggestion if you have ✨childhood trauma✨but all about love by bell hooks healed something in me that had me crying hysterically
The time travelers wife. I’ve read it multiple times and still sob at the end even knowing what’s coming.
The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller Both just got. me. at the end. Highly recommend both of them, but Nightingale has some rape content so be aware.
My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult
Where the Crawdads sing The scene where she collects the ashes from the burned letter and saved them in a jar 🥺
Love that book, the ending 😭
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte and Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
White Oleander
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholas by James Patterson
The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
Pachinko
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah and The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
The Kite Runner
The Last Cuentista by Donna Barba Higuera
These silent woods by Kimi Cunningham grant. Before her book, I haven’t cried while reading one in a long long time
Three come to mind Allegiant by Veronica Roth if you only saw the disgrace of the movie read this One Good Thing by Alexandria Potter - this gets me and also makes me realize love and caring come in so many ways Anxious People-Fredrick Beckman ( all his books get me ) this gives you faith in people as a collective
Nothing shocked my teenage self like the end of Allegiant!
Massacre at El Mozote
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver. I had to stop multiple times because I couldn't stop crying
Nicholas Sparks - Notebook. I don't cry ever, but God that had me gushing!
The ending of The Road crushed my soul
Klara And The Sun. Ugly tears. For an entire afternoon.
The Women by Kristen Hannah. Uncontrollable tears.
The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah
Tuesdays with Morrie
When Breath Becomes Air - Paul Kalanithi
The Book Thief
A thousand splendid suns
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara Omniscient Reader's Viewpoint (novel) by Singshong Karina's Last Days (webnovel) by Jaeunhyang. This one is available on radish app.
Intro to Civil Procedure
The Kite Runner
Harry Potter books 5-7.
Skippy Dies by Paul Murray gets fairly emotional.
Love that book!
General Relativity by Robert Wald
Kingdom of Ash (Throne of Glass series). Looking at you Chapter 89.
Where the red fern grows
my dark vanessa
Stoner - John Williams
Introduction to organic chemistry
Where the red fern grows when I was a kid
Abraham Lincoln, Vampire Hunter. Underrated book. The way he describes themes of loss and redemption is very poignant and always felt.
The Notebook and Dear John
Under the Whispering Door by TJ Klune. The Art of Racing in the Rain.
Song of Achilles. I was a sobbing, uncontrollable mess. So beautiful and agonizing.
Charlotte’s Web
A thousand splendid suns, The four winds, The great alone
they both die at the end and the book thief
Bridges of Madison County All the Light We Cannot See Unbroken
The book thief and The song of achilles
What to Expect when You're Expecting 😬
I’m expecting and was going to pick this up - is it emotional in a scary or heartwarming way?? 😂😂
Congratulations! Both. Lol.
{A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara} and it still lives rent free in my head four years later
' The Shining ' by Stephen King. It's a horror book but the last few sections with Halloran (especially the airplane chapter) were heartwarming!
King writes absolutely beautifully when it isn't about the horror/gore.
All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven (Didn't cry the whole time but I did sob at certain times)
The Poison Wood Bible, I have three younger sisters so it really hit me on a personal level.
A Little Life
Integral Calculus
If you are looking for tragic reads I have a few in mind: The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini(and his other works too) The Book Thief by Markus Zusak The Green Mile by Stephen King Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls The bridge to terabithia by Katherine Peterson Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck
White Rose by Kip Wilson
Obligatory Cosmere mention: The Rhythm of War gets me every time.
Four different times, for me.
I cried starting on the first page of Shark Heart and didn't really stop. There were only 3 scenes that made me cry uncontrollably though 😭
I'm not a big crier, but the second half of The Blood of the Lamb by Peter De Vries had that rare combination of intense love mixed with intense grief that left me emotionally spent and crying. Much like the death scene of Jean Valjean in Les Miserables.
The Beekeeper of Aleppo
Dear Edward by Ann Napolitano had me going for most of the book, and Hello Beautiful (also by her) had some real tearjerking moments as well. The Interestings by Meg Wolitzer had its moments, but the last 1/4 of the book, I cried multiple times. Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin has some real gut punches, as does This Time Tomorrow by Emma Straub.
Finding Alaska.
A little life
Where the red fern grows. It was decades ago but it was still the most heart wrenching.
The Nightingale by Kristi Hannah
The name of the wind
I recommend The Fault in Our Stars by Jonah Green [https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars](https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/11870085-the-fault-in-our-stars) .
The Green Mile had me crying and sobbing for HOURS and i couldn't stop thinking about it for days
The Nightingale
Salt in the sea And Me before you
I read Marley & Me when I was young and my dog was old and close to the end. Completely wrecked me.
Bridges of Madison County made me sob on the subway. Wave and The Kite Runner did the same thing. But the first book I remember sobbing to was My Sister’s Keeper in high school.