Top 5 Books that Will Bring You to Tears

After reading a couple of Colleen Hoover's shattering heartbreakers, I felt this week's listicle will be dedicated to those books that bring out the ugly tears in us all in a way that can only be accomplished through truly fantastic literature. Enjoy!

#1
Me Before You by Jojo Moyes


🔴Trigger Warning: Self-harm and suicide🔴

I hadn't and still haven't seen the movie based off this book. After reading it I can safely say I don't need to; Jojo Moyes tells the shattering story of an ordinary woman, content in her routine, falling in love with a brilliant but paralysed man intent on ending his life. It's got a bittersweet ending that had me in floods.

Official blurb:
Lou Clark knows lots of things. She knows how many footsteps there are between the bus stop and home. She knows she likes working in The Buttered Bun tea shop and she knows she might not love her boyfriend Patrick.

What Lou doesn’t know is she’s about to lose her job or that knowing what’s coming is what keeps her sane.

Will Traynor knows his motorcycle accident took away his desire to live. He knows everything feels very small and rather joyless now and he knows exactly how he’s going to put a stop to that.

What Will doesn’t know is that Lou is about to burst into his world in a riot of colour. And neither of them knows they’re going to change the other for all time.

#2
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

John Green has a real knack for playing with his readers' heartstrings through his words; the story of Hazel and Augustus finding love amidst terminal cancers is a happy yet harrowing adventure for them both. Bring the tissues for this one!


Official blurb:
'I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, then all at once.'

Despite the tumour-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.

#3
The Last Thing She Told Me by Linda Green

🔴Trigger Warning: Rape and abuse🔴

For all the women who have ever been made to feel shame at the hands of a man, this story is for you. Through a three-generational mystery, Linda Green takes us on an inspiring story of Nicola; a mother searching for the truth in her family's history which, according to her grandmother's dying breath, the key clue is buried at the bottom of her garden. Despite her own mother's warnings to leave the past alone, Nicola is set on a path to unearth the dark secrets that were kept for fear of shame.

Official blurb:
Even the deepest-buried secrets can find their way to the surface...

Moments before she dies, Nicola's grandmother Betty whispers to her that there are babies at the bottom of the garden.

Nicola's mother claims she was talking nonsense. However, when Nicola's daughter finds a bone while playing in Betty's garden, it's clear that something sinister has taken place.

But will unearthing painful family secrets end up tearing Nicola's family apart?

#4
Of Mice and Men by John Steinback


(I know there's a lot of Johns in this list - is there something in the heritage of that name that's particularly skilled in writing tearjerkers?!)

I was first introduced to this story back in high school; I thoroughly enjoyed it back then even when I didn't fully understand the themes of prejudice and cruelty, and I enjoy it even more now when reflecting on the true friendship between George and Lennie. If you didn't get to study this tale back in school, I'd highly recommend giving it a read now!

Official blurb:
Drifters in search of work, George and his childlike friend Lennie, have nothing in the world except the clothes on their back - and a dream that one day they will have some land of their own. Eventually they find work on a ranch in California's Salinas Valley, but their hopes are dashed as Lennie - struggling against extreme cruelty, misunderstanding and feelings of jealousy - becomes a victim of his own strength.

#5
Marley and Me by John Grogan


(This is the final John, I promise!)

I realise this book was included in my previous Top 10 Favourite Reads, but no tearjerkers list would be complete with the token tale of a dog, much-beloved, dying.

While this is definitely a story that had me howling in tears more times than I can count, I also laughed a great deal. John Grogan's way of conveying the crazy, almost cartoon-like, events with Marley are just fantastic. What's not to love?

Official blurb:
This No. 1 Sunday Times bestseller tells the heart-warming tale of how a wiggly yellow fur ball of a puppy could grow into a barrelling, ninety-seven pound steamroller of a Labrador retriever who would prove that unconditional love comes in many forms.

John and Jenny were just beginning their life together. They were young and in love, with a perfect little house and not a care in the world. Along comes Marley, mischievous, hyperactive and so unruly he is expelled from obedience school. How could they possibly know that this incorrigible dog could teach them more about love for life than they could hope to teach him?

And that's it for this list! I hope you enjoyed it. Follow me on Instagram for more BTS content and let me know the last book you read that got you tearing up.

See you this Thursday for my review of The Midnight Lock by Jeffery Deaver! 

Love and Light,

Melissa xoxo

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