“What he knew, he knew from books, and books lied, they made things prettier.”
Sometimes, the best books are the ones that break our hearts, the ones that leave us with a bittersweet ache and a deeper understanding of life’s many joys and pains. These are the types of stories that reach into our souls and remind us of the power of love, loss and resilience. There’s something beautiful about a novel that throws our emotions around and stays with us long after the final page has finished. Which is why we here at What We Reading thought we would compile a collection of some of the most deeply moving books that are guaranteed to tug at your heartstrings and perhaps even bring a tear or two to your eyes. From unforgettable love stories to tales of friendship, family and self-discovery, grab a box of tissues and prepare for a serious case of the feels with these heartbreaking books!
A Little Life – Hanya Yanagihara
First up on our list of the best heartbreaking books is Hanya Yanagihara’s acclaimed novel, A Little Life. The story centres around four friends in New York City, focusing particularly on Jude St. Francis, an enigmatic, brilliant, albeit troubled, man with a mysterious and painful past. As readers follow the friends as they grow up, they discover more about the physical and emotional scars that Jude carries with him. His efforts to hide his abusive childhood lead to a heartbreaking journey as his friends try and support him through his silent suffering.
What makes A Little Life so devastating is its raw portrayal of trauma and the resilience required to continue fighting. Yanagihara’s writing is beautiful and unflinching, pulling readers into Jude’s experiences with a candid rawness that captures all the complexities of love, friendship and healing.
Check Out The Best Books Like A Little Life
Me Before You (Me Before You #1) – Jojo Moyes
Louisa Clark is an ordinary girl living a perfectly ordinary life. She has a steady boyfriend, a close family and has barely ventured beyond the perimeters of their tiny village. In need of a break, she takes a job caring for Will Traynor, a wheelchair bound man who had previously been surrounded by big deals, extreme sports and treks across the globe.
Unable to adjust to his new circumstances, Will is initially cold and aloof toward Louisa. Yet, she soon finds his happiness means more to her than anything else. And when she discovers that he has some shocking plans of his own, she sets out to show him that life is worth living. Jojo Moyes’ Me Before You is a remarkable novel about two people who couldn’t have less in common and the life-affirming journeys that keep them intertwined.
An American Marriage – Tayari Jones
Newlyweds Celestial and Roy are the embodiment of both the American Dream and the New South. He is a high-flying executive, and she has a promising future as an artist on the cards. But, as they settle into the routines of their new life together, they are ripped apart through circumstances neither of them could have seen coming. Roy is arrested for a crime that he didn’t commit, and Celestial finds herself bereft with loneliness and longing for the company of Andre, her childhood best friend.
When Roy’s conviction is suddenly overturned after five years, Tayari Jones’ An American Marriage picks up again with the three characters who find themselves both bound by and separated by forces beyond their control. A book that absolutely promises to break your heart, Jones’ storytelling offers an intimate look into the souls of people who must reckon with the past to face the future.
The Lovely Bones – Alice Sebold
Alice Sebold’s The Lovely Bones is the story of fourteen-year-old Susie Salmon. On December 6, 1973, Susie was murdered. She finds herself in heaven, adjusting to her new surroundings which are hardly like she imagined they would be. From her vantage point, she is able to watch life continue on without her on Earth.
Her friends exchange gossip about her sudden disappearance, her killer attempts to cover up his crime and her grief-stricken family gradually begins to unravel. Through Susie’s observations and commentaries, this heartbreaking book presents a poignant portrait of life, death, love and loss. Blending tragedy with hope, it is one of the best tear-jerking reads for any mood.
Check Out The Best Books Like The Lovely Bones
Before We Were Strangers – Renee Carlino
Matt and Grace are two former college sweethearts whose passionate relationship was brought to an abrupt end when life took them in separate directions. Fifteen years on, Matt glimpses Grace in a crowded New York City subway, igniting memories of their shared past together. This urge to reconnect leads to him posting a heartfelt message in the ‘Missed Connections’ section on Craigslist, hoping that he will be able to find her once again.
What makes Before We Were Strangers one of the most heartbreaking books is its exploration of the many missed opportunities and ‘what ifs’ that come with love. Carlino masterfully captures the magic of young romance and the aches of losing it, leaving readers to root for Matt and Grace’s rekindled relationship and their courage in finding happiness again.
The Lido – Libby Page
Kate is a twenty-six-year-old woman plagued by anxiety and panic attacks working for a local paper in Brixton, London. When she is assigned to a story about the closing of a local lido, she encounters Rosemary, an eighty-six-year-old widow who has visited it every single day since it opened its doors. It was at the lido where she met her husband, George, who found communion during their marriage and in the aftermath of his death. Now, this cornerstone of her life is under threat of being demolished in favour of a plush new apartment complex.
As Kate dives deeper into the lido’s history, she begins to piece together a portrait of the pool and of Rosemary herself. What starts out as a humble interest story soon blooms into a beautiful friendship that provides sustenance for both women as they fight for the lido’s future. One of the best heartbreaking and heartwarming books for fans of authors like Fredrik Backman, Libby Page’s The Lido captures the heart and spirit of community across generations.
Everything I Never Told You – Celeste Ng
Celeste Ng’s Everything I Never Told You is a story about a Chinese American family living in small-town Ohio in the 1970s. Lydia is the favourite child of Marilyn and James Lee, and her parents are determined that she will fulfill the dreams they weren’t able to aspire to during their younger days. But, when Lydia’s body is discovered in the local lake, the tense balancing acts that have been keeping the family together is severed, tumbling them all into chaos.
What makes Everything I Never Told You such a heartbreaking book is its blend of being a gripping page-turner and a profoundly moving portrait of a family and how each one of its members struggles to understand one another.
Check Out The Best Books Like Everything I Never Told You
P.S. I Love You (P.S. I Love You #1) – Cecelia Ahern
Holly couldn’t live without her husband, Gerry until the day she was forced to. They were the sort of young couple who would finish each other’s sentences. But, when Gerry is diagnosed with a terminal illness and dies, thirty-year-old Holly is jettisoned off and left to pick up the pieces.
Through a series of letters her husband left her before he died and a little nudging from an eccentric collection of friends and family, she gradually learns to laugh again, overcome her fears for the future and rediscover a world she never knew existed. Cecilia Ahern’s P.S. I Love You is an endearing romance novel all about holding on, letting go and learning to love again perfect for readers looking for a heartbreaking novel with an endearing final message.
This Is How It Always Is – Laurie Frankel
Claude is five years old and the youngest of five brothers. He loves peanut butter sandwiches. He also loves wearing dresses and dreams of one day becoming a princess. When he grows up, Claude says that he wants to be a girl. Rosie and Penn want Claude to be whoever Claude wants to be. Yet, they’re unsure if they’re ready to share that with the rest of the world. Which is how the entire family finds themselves keeping Claude’s secret, right up until it explodes out in the open with devastating effect.
Laurie Frankel’s This Is How It Always Is is a heartbreaking novel about revelations, transformations and family. It offers readers one of the most most poignant explorations of how change is always hard, how parenthood always comes with a leap into the unknown and how families with secrets are never able to keep them buried forever.
They Both Die At The End (Death-Cast #1) – Adam Silvera
On September 5, a little past midnight, Death-Cast informs Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio to give them some bad news: they’re both going to die today. The two men are total strangers to one another but, for very different reasons, they’re both looking to make a new friend on their final day on Earth.
Thankfully, there’s an app built specifically for this. It’s called the Last Friend. Through it, Rufus and Mateo are able to meet up for the ultimate adventure of living a lifetime in a single day. One of the most famous heartbreaking books of all time, They Both Die at the End reminds readers that there is no life without death and no love without loss in this devastating yet affirming story about two people whose lives are forever changed in the span of a single day.
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Part-time reader, part-time rambler, and full-time Horror enthusiast, James has been writing for What We Reading since 2022. His earliest reading memories involved Historical Fiction, Fantasy and Horror tales, which he has continued to take with him to this day. James’ favourite books include The Last (Hanna Jameson), The Troop (Nick Cutter) and Chasing The Boogeyman (Richard Chizmar).
