This is an obvious answer but “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara.
“The Bright Hour” by Nina Riggs absolutely destroyed me. What a sad, tragic, beautiful little book.
maniacalmeow on
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes shattered me
Honestliltwisty on
Sounds bizarre but Ian Reid’s ‘I am thinking of ending things.’
I won’t give it away but throughout the entire book you have a sinking feeling something horrible is/ has happened and when the realization hits.. dam
Murky_Deer_7617 on
House of Sand and Fog
ZeeepZoop on
Learned By Heart by Emma Donahue is absolutely heartbreaking. It’s about Eliza Raine, the first lover of the first modern lesbian Anne Lister, who suffered a nervous breakdown and in the intolerant social climate of the 19th century, was institutionalised until her eventual death. Though the book starts in her teenage years, when she and Anne had a relatively happy stable relationship before Eliza’s mental health began to spiral, having already read Anne Lister’s journals, I was filled with a feeling of absolute dread from the beginning because in adulthood, she wrote about visiting Eliza in an asylum after Eliza had suffered with psychosis so severe she no longer recognised Anne, and it’s absolutely devastating over the course of the
story to watch bright vibrant teenage Eliza deteriorate into the broken lost adult featured in Anne’s journals.
Human-Time-4114 on
*use the search feature….this question gets asked a dozen times aday
iiiamash01i0 on
Requiem for a Dream, by Hubert Selby Jr.
Shagret on
The Tennis Partner. Still think about that book
catsplantsbooks on
The God of Small Things. Terribly sad and upsetting throughout.
tragicsandwichblogs on
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
BernardFerguson1944 on
*First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers* by Loung Ung. Geak, Loung’s youngest sister, was only about six when she was taken. “Geak” translates as “Jade”. Loung has only one photo of Geak, and no grave site.
ambientocclusion on
Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo
XxxGoldDustWomanxxX on
High on Arrival by Mackenzie Phillips (actress and daughter of John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas)
It’s a memoir. The environment this woman grew up in…jfc…I knew about what her father had done to her but never knew of a lot of other things she’d gone through in her life.
Another non-fiction book: Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker. Six brothers in a family of 12 children diagnosed with schizophrenia. There’s also a documentary about them in HBO Max and other sites I’m sure.
Mountain-Mix-8413 on
A Fine Balance.
Vegetable-Day5989 on
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Read it in one day. I sobbed. It is very emotional.
MMJFan on
A Fine Balance by Mistry
Night by Elie Wiesel
Outrageous-Sense-688 on
The Ruins, and a book by a Jewish Dr at aushwitiz. Ones not real, one is, both bleak.
Nataliabambi on
Everything I never told you by Celeste Ng
I’m glad my mom died by Jeannette Mccurdy
My sister keeper by Jodi Picoult
Before I die by Jenny Downham
The Lovely bones by Alice Sebold
Raff57 on
Mila 18 by Leon Uris. Read it 40 yrs ago and it still hits me if I think about it.
taggartbridge on
When Breath Becomes Air. It’s non-fiction and you know from the start how it is going to end. But I still ugly cried and am tearing up again just thinking about it.
atemplecorroded on
Obvious answer probably, but The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Also The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan. So good.
EnvironmentalSite465 on
The Kite Runner
CanuckGinger on
A Little Life
The Swallow of Kabul
espeonage777 on
The Song Of Achilles
LeighSF on
Flowers for Algernon and also We Were Liars.
BirdyL17L6363 on
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholaus by James Patterson. Beautiful love story and oh how I cried!!! 🥲 This is one that you don’t cry until the end. It is not a long book so a very quick read. Totally worth it!
30 Comments
This is an obvious answer but “A Little Life” by Hanya Yanagihara.
“The Bright Hour” by Nina Riggs absolutely destroyed me. What a sad, tragic, beautiful little book.
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes shattered me
Sounds bizarre but Ian Reid’s ‘I am thinking of ending things.’
I won’t give it away but throughout the entire book you have a sinking feeling something horrible is/ has happened and when the realization hits.. dam
House of Sand and Fog
Learned By Heart by Emma Donahue is absolutely heartbreaking. It’s about Eliza Raine, the first lover of the first modern lesbian Anne Lister, who suffered a nervous breakdown and in the intolerant social climate of the 19th century, was institutionalised until her eventual death. Though the book starts in her teenage years, when she and Anne had a relatively happy stable relationship before Eliza’s mental health began to spiral, having already read Anne Lister’s journals, I was filled with a feeling of absolute dread from the beginning because in adulthood, she wrote about visiting Eliza in an asylum after Eliza had suffered with psychosis so severe she no longer recognised Anne, and it’s absolutely devastating over the course of the
story to watch bright vibrant teenage Eliza deteriorate into the broken lost adult featured in Anne’s journals.
*use the search feature….this question gets asked a dozen times aday
Requiem for a Dream, by Hubert Selby Jr.
The Tennis Partner. Still think about that book
The God of Small Things. Terribly sad and upsetting throughout.
The Road by Cormac McCarthy
*First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers* by Loung Ung. Geak, Loung’s youngest sister, was only about six when she was taken. “Geak” translates as “Jade”. Loung has only one photo of Geak, and no grave site.
Johnny Got His Gun, by Dalton Trumbo
High on Arrival by Mackenzie Phillips (actress and daughter of John Phillips of The Mamas and the Papas)
It’s a memoir. The environment this woman grew up in…jfc…I knew about what her father had done to her but never knew of a lot of other things she’d gone through in her life.
Another non-fiction book: Hidden Valley Road by Robert Kolker. Six brothers in a family of 12 children diagnosed with schizophrenia. There’s also a documentary about them in HBO Max and other sites I’m sure.
A Fine Balance.
A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Read it in one day. I sobbed. It is very emotional.
A Fine Balance by Mistry
Night by Elie Wiesel
The Ruins, and a book by a Jewish Dr at aushwitiz. Ones not real, one is, both bleak.
Everything I never told you by Celeste Ng
I’m glad my mom died by Jeannette Mccurdy
My sister keeper by Jodi Picoult
Before I die by Jenny Downham
The Lovely bones by Alice Sebold
Mila 18 by Leon Uris. Read it 40 yrs ago and it still hits me if I think about it.
When Breath Becomes Air. It’s non-fiction and you know from the start how it is going to end. But I still ugly cried and am tearing up again just thinking about it.
Obvious answer probably, but The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood
Also The Narrow Road to the Deep North by Richard Flanagan. So good.
The Kite Runner
A Little Life
The Swallow of Kabul
The Song Of Achilles
Flowers for Algernon and also We Were Liars.
Suzanne’s Diary for Nicholaus by James Patterson. Beautiful love story and oh how I cried!!! 🥲 This is one that you don’t cry until the end. It is not a long book so a very quick read. Totally worth it!
Klara and the Sun is sad af
Wave (non-fiction) by Sonali Deraniyagala
*Go to Costco and get Kleenex in bulk.
Us Against You by Fredrik Backman
If We Were Villains by ML Rio
Alone with You in the Ether by Olivie Blake
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong
The Last Lettwer by Rebecca Yarros