Why I LOVE Books that Make Me Cry – Let’s Discuss

Posted February 27, 2015 by Nicole @ Feed Your Fiction Addiction in Let's Discuss / 54 Comments

I am a total sucker for books that make me cry. If a book makes me sob, all the better – it’s done it’s job well!! On my birthday, did I choose to read a cheery, happy book? Oh no. I spent the night of my birthday sobbing while reading All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven. And I loved it!

There is just something about reading a book that can make me feel so deeply – it’s cathartic. Pain can be therapeutic in a lot of ways – especially when you can live through it vicariously through the lives of fictional characters.

I love to be bowled over by a book and then stomped on a few times. Masochistic? Yeah, probably. But in all the best ways!

I cry while reading A LOT. But, here are a few books that stand out to me because I remember that they made me a blubbery mess (linked to my reviews – or to Goodreads if I haven’t written a review yet):

ForbiddenbyTabithaSuzumaRock AngelThings We Know by HeartAll the Bright PlacesAllegiantbyVeronicaRothBreaking Nova

Forbidden wins, hands down, as the book that made me cry the hardest. Seriously, I was a mess when I read that book.

So, what about you? Do you like a book that makes you break down and cry or do you prefer dry-eyed reads. Are you one of those people who actually has control over your emotions and you never cry when you read? I want to know!

Oh, and recommend some tear-jerkers for me. You never know when I might need to celebrate another milestone with some soul-wracking sobbing!

 2015 Discussion Challenge3

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54 responses to “Why I LOVE Books that Make Me Cry – Let’s Discuss

  1. I’m not much of a crier, but I’ve been getting way more emotional as I read lately. I think you’re right – it’s therapeutic to just let go and immerse yourself entirely in the world of your characters, even if that means bawling on the couch. The most recent books I cried for are Heir of Fire and Challenger Deep. Both of them were FANTASTIC, so if you haven’t read them yet, I highly recommend!

    Kritika recently posted: S&S Bingo Challenge: Update 2
  2. I like books that make me cry because I like books that make me “feel”, I want to feel for the characters and it is almost always the books that left me sobbing, with a lump in my throat, an aching heart and in tears that stays with me the longest. I think I am searching for that kind of books but I have to admit that sometimes I am so emotionally drained that I must pick up something light and funny just because I am tired of turning into an emotional wreck…
    Here are 3 books that have made me cry: The Storyteller by Antonia Michaelis, Bright Side by Kim Holden and The Coincidence of Callie and Kayden by Jessica Sorensen

    • I’ve been meaning to read Coincidence for a while now because I’ve loved Sorenson’s Nova series so much. Guess I need to get to that one sooner rather than later. And I’ll have to check out the other two too – I hadn’t heard of those!

  3. Joycedale

    When I saw the headline I immediately thought of Forbidden. I don’t think I’ve ever before cried as hard as I did when I read that.

  4. I have to admit, I love a book that makes me cry! Honestly, if I don’t feel emotion during a book (some kind, doesn’t have to be tears, but something strong), then the book probably wasn’t a 5 star for me. In fact, I can’t think of any favorite that didn’t have me in some kind of tears! I just saw that one of your commenters cried during Challenger Deep, and my goodness I adore Neal Shusterman so… can’t wait to read that one! And Forbidden, that has to be up soon on my TBR. And Things We Know by Heart… well, I have a lot of crying to do, I guess!

    A lot of books made me cry, so this is hard to narrow down. I think of all time, TFIOS made me cry the most frequently. And Mockingjay, even on my ninth reread, had me sobbing.

    Shannon @ It Starts At Midnight recently posted: Review: The Fire Sermon by Francesca Haig
  5. You’re right – there is something about books that make me cry that I can’t really help but love. Forbidden kind of destroyed my heart and then trampled it. It takes a good book to make someone feel that much so yes, our pain is a sign of amazing writing in a way. I guess that is why I keep doing this to myself over and over. I can’t say no to the pain if it means skipping out on an amazing book.

  6. I don’t cry while reading often, but it has definitely happened before! Forbidden… Seriously, that book just broke me at the end. SO SAD. Sometimes, I really love books that make me cry. At other times though, all I want to read is either a happy romance or most often, an awesome fantasy. I have to be really in the mood for books like Forbidden.

    So, a recommendation! I cried while reading The Song of Achilles by Madeline Miller. Even though I knew the myth of Achilles so well before I started reading, it still managed to surprise me, captivate me and reduce me to a sobbing mess.

    Jolien @ The Fictional Reader recently posted: Wrap Up: February 2015
  7. Karen G.

    I love reading a book that makes me feel all my emotions. I will laugh out loud, yell at the character if they are doing something stupid, embarrassing, dangerous, etc., hyperventilate when it is really scarey or intense and go thru boxes of tissues crying. My husband just shakes his head at me. haha A couple books that made me ugly cry are Fault in Our Stars, The Edge of Never by J.A. Redmerski, and Making Faces by by Amy Harmon. Thanks for the post!

  8. I definitely love a book that makes me cry because it doesn’t happen often! If I’m left in tears, it means the book has done its job 🙂 I’m trying to remember the last book that made me cry but only the books im writing stand out and that doesn’t count. Lol. Oh! I cried reading the last book in Marie Lu’s Legend series and in Jodi Meadows’s Incarnate series. I really need to read for pleasure more often.

    S. J. Pajonas recently posted: Conbini!
  9. Sue G.

    I tend to cry easily and don’t mind little cries but I do not like the bawling type of crying. I hate how wiped out I feel afterwards. One year on our beach vacation I brought the book One Day by David Nicholls. I sat there on the beach bawling through parts of this one…very emotional.

      • Sue G.

        I just finished reading Slow Burn by K. Bromberg. Ugly cry at least for me. Went through 1/2 a box of Puffs! It was so emotional, especially if you have a hard time with any stories that have cancer in it. It was really good, but it drained me!

  10. I do love when books (or TV or movies) make me cry. It’s not that easy though, especially with books. I may get teary eyed, but sobbing takes a deep emotional tug. One book that did that for me was If I Stay by Gayle Forman. I was a mess with that book and even with the sequel, which is technically not as sad. I can’t think of others right now but I think if something makes me cry hard (or even a little) is almost an automatic favorite then, because it means it was really capable of wrapping me into it emotionally.

    Bruna recently posted: Tips and Tricks: How To Read More
  11. Kim

    I love books that make me cry too, because it means that the book really got to me. I loved All the Bright Places, Allegiant and Things We Know by Heart as well, although I only cried in Things We Know by Heart. Happy reading! 🙂
    Kim @ Divergent Gryffindor: BLOG || VLOG

    Kim recently posted: Stacking the Shelves - February
  12. Forbidden totally ruined me!Tabitha Suzuma broke my heart into shreds.
    I love tearjerkers.I love those books that will leave me as an emotional wreck.Some authors just take my heart out and trample it,but I can’t help but let them do that:)

    Mishma @ Chasing Faerytales recently posted: February Wrap Up
  13. Oh I LOVE a book that can make me cry. It is something special to feel something for the characters while reading. The author puts it out there and then it transforms me. I don’t seek out books that make me cry, but when it happens it is wonderful. Most recently, Wreckage by Emily Bleeker made me cry. 5 kisses for that one. Great topic!

    Karen Blue recently posted: The Sunday Post #24
  14. I love books that made me cry! I am not typically a crier, so if a book pulls so much emotion out of me… BRILLIANT. Here is one – Love Always, Kate. I was a mess over this book!!

    Also, I am picking up Forbidden today at the library. *EEEK*

    tonyalee recently posted: Weekly Wrap Up (48)
    • Oh, I hope you love Forbidden!! (Now I’m all worried that I’ve set your expectations really high since I adored it so much). I’ll have to check out Love Always, Kate. I haven’t heard of that one!

      • Oh, funny! I had already commented on your tearjerker post and somehow forgotten – I must have stored it away subliminally and decided to write this post! Thanks for the inspiration! 🙂

  15. I love a book that can make me cry. However, I feel like I’ve had such an overload of them this year that it’s turning from therapeutic into depressing. I’m hoping all of the HEAs aren’t disappearing.

    Alison recently posted: The Sunday Post ~ 3/1/15
    • I know – it doesn’t seem like the type of book that you should love, right? That might be what makes it even more powerful.

  16. Ryan S. Taylor

    I can’t name any real crying books, Wonder got me good, but I do love books, and I do find the crying when a character dies or sacrifices themselves for the greater cause, in the mallorean, (continuum of the Belgariad by David Eddings) one of the characters dies, Toth, a huge towering mute, but you can tell at heart he’s probably one of the best people of the book, I blubbered like a walrus at his death, but that feeling after the crying, inexplicable, I’m writing a book, I just barley got past one of the saddest parts at the end, and hear I am, crying at what I wrote… Is that weird? It’s just, your writing your book, you get attached to your own characters, and, for the sake of the story, (in my case I killed the main character) you kill one of them off, and I had decided to do this long before, but I cried… Kinda the feeling I want the readers to feel, if your interested in fiction, fantasy, Dragons, and a sad ending, Keep your eye out for a book called Dusk, by Ryan S. Taylor,

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