Top 5 Most Painful Books

I recently went through my bookshelves, searching for the handful of books that I considered to be the most heartbreaking , painful  novels I have read in the over 20 years of reading I have done. I'm only 26, but I have read enough books to be able to narrow it down to the top 5 out of the hundreds I have experienced, that have caused me so much pain that I have cried for days over them.  And most of them I'm sure, a lot of you have agonized over as well.

1.) Clockwork Princess by Cassandra Clare:  Don't even get me started on this book. I still can't talk about it without starting to get teary eyed. At first I was excited because I had gotten it weeks earlier then everyone else. But then it became very apparent that I would then have to suffer through it alone until everyone else got it on release day. Like I said, I cried. It's not so much that it had its sad 

parts, it was more of the intensity of the book that got to me. It was just one emotional crescendo after another. The ride was insane going into the climax and the end was bittersweet because I wanted them all to be together forever. Will, Jem and Tessa. But sadly it couldn't happen like that. But I couldn't imagine a more perfect way to end this series. I was just incredible,

 

2.) The Fault in Our Stars by John Green: Like you didn't see this one coming. I mean come on ! A list of painful books,? This book is usually at the top and for me it came in at number 2. I knew it was going to be heartbreaking going in, its all people on Twitter talked about.  So I was somewhat prepared. And I was hooked from the very first sentence. Heck I was hooked from just opening the book to the copyright page! It was just such an amazing stand alone novel and who cant fall in love with Hazel and Augustus. And who didn't die a little inside by the end

3.) The Perks of being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky: Oh this book, this book. It wasn't that it was sad in the traditional sense of sad books, but it has its sad moments. Mostly because it reminds you just how painful and awkward high school is and just how hard life can be if you're a little bit different. I fell in love with Charlie and found myself often wanting to jump into the book and hug him and tell him it was going to be ok. And most of all that it will get better



4.) Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson: Wow. I don't even know how to go into how I feel about this book. It was just so haunting and dark, and funny despite its heaviness. Short synopsis: Melinda gets raped at a party before school starts in the fall and she doesn't tell anyone and this book shows how she interacts with the people around her who have no clue what really happened..I had such an emotional connection to the story because I had a similar experience. I wasn't raped at a party like  the main character was, but I was raped when I was 7 and have found it hard to read books about the subject my whole life. But then I saw the lifetime movie based on this book and in turn went out and bought the book. It changed my feelings about reading about such a sensitive subject and because of that, it is both a top painful and top favorite book of mine

5.) Somebody up there hates You by Hollis Seamon: I recently finished this book and have compared it to The Fault in our Stars just based on subject matter alone. I loved TFIOS more, but this book was different from the John Green novel about kids with cancer and I still enjoyed it. Just for the simple reason that it was not as depressing as I was thinking it would be. And most novels about kids with cancer are depressing. But not this one

So there you have it, my list of the most painful books I have read thus far. I'm sure there will be even more the next time I do a post like this, especially if those books are by Cassandra Clare. Let me know if any of you have read them and what were your thoughts and reactions.

Happy reading !!!