Day 5: Recommend a Tear Jerker

Well, this is a hard one. I’m an emotional person so lots of books make me cry, for both being sad, and for being funny. So I narrowed it down to FIVE.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

Seriously, John Green, what is your problem? You write these amazing novels about teens, that really captures the intelligence of teens out there. I don’t think people realize how intelligent teenagers can be. I think there are a lot of stupid teenagers out there, because you’re kind of supposed to be stupid when you’re a teen. But there’s a lot of smart ones too. And he captures that and really, really makes you love Hazel, and Augustus and Isaac. And then HE GOES AND KILLS SOMEONE. Sorry, spoiler alert haha. I SOBBED. I sobbed so hard when I read this book. I couldn’t stop crying. Especially the very last few pages of the book. So beautiful. Its not even fair what you did to us, Mr. Green, but we all love you anyway!

Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare

I don’t want to say too much about this because I’m constantly pushing people to read the Mortal Instruments and the Infernal Devices. Clockwork Princess is the finale to the Infernal Devices. I’ve never had the end of a book break me up so much (besides one that is later) as this one. The epilogue took the longest to read because I just kept crying! And it was like 3 or 4 a.m. when I was reading this so I was exhausted too. Cassandra Clare was pulling me emotions in two different directions. I was SO happy and so heartbroken at the same time. It was WAY too much to handle. I was TORN up. And for some reason, I’m getting this huge desire to reread that book. You know, just for torture

Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell

This book is one of my favorite books of all time, period. It was beautiful written, and fairly historically accurate, although it tended to glorify the south a bit. But its just such a great novel. It has you crying the entire novel. It centers around the American Civil War, which was such a bloody war, with so many dead, so many YOUNG Americans dead. Margaret Mitchell creates these deep, amazing characters and for connecting with them…and then killing them in harsh, sudden ways, the ways that came with this war. But she also makes you cry with the relationship between Scarlett and Rhett and the idiocy of Scarlett for not realizing what she had in Rhett until its too late and she’s left heartbroken. I cry every time I read that book because I’m so MAD at her. I know she screws it up but I’m still upset about it, because I get SO angry.

Winger by Andrew Smith

This is a newer read of mine, a newer discovery. I admit, I had never heard of Andrew Smith before I met him at the Ontario Teen Book Fest. Carrie Arcos pointed him out to me, and told me about Winger making it into the New York Times before it was even released. Then after I talked to him, about his book and about writing, I immediately knew I had to read his book. It took me a bit to get there (the library didn’t have it!) and I sat and read it in ONE sitting. It made me cry several times and for different reasons. First off, it made me cry because I couldn’t stop laughing. Ryan Dean, the main character, is so incredibly funny. His thought process, the jokes, the sarcasm, all of it, is just SO funny. I wanted Ryan Dean to be my best friend, just so I could listen to him talk. Then Smith brings in a sudden tragedy toward the end of the book, and I was literally yanked from one emotion to another and I was in shock, and I couldn’t stop crying. And I think I couldn’t stop crying because of the pure realism of what had happened. Such a brilliant novel. I’m pushing this on everyone right now.

And lastly, but certainly not leastly (yeah, I know, not a real word)….

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K. Rowling

As soon as Hedwig dies basically within the first, what, 25 pages of the novel, I knew I was in for a VERY emotional ride…and then Mad-Eye Moody died just a few pages later. And then Fred and Tonks and Lupin and Ron leaves Harry and Hermione and there’s so many emotions. I was…19 years old when I read this book, nine years after I first picked up Sorcerer’s Stone and it was all coming to an end for me, and in such a seriously heartbreaking way. It had a happy ending, with Harry finally defeating Voldemort but it was such a bittersweet ending. The Resurrection Stone scene and the Prince’s Tale, and the entire last half o fth ebook was just WAY too much for anyone with an emotional range larger than a teaspoon could handle. Every time I read it, I spend the entire book, crying.

*     *     *

What are some books that made you cry? As always, share in the comments!