Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly meme created by The Broke and the Bookish and now hosted by That Artsy Reader Girl. I am not an emotional person, but through the years I’ve come to realize that I am an emotional reader. Years ago, I never would have admitted if a book made me cry, but today I’m here to unashamedly list the top ten books that made me shed a few tears – or just flat out sobbed.

1. THE BOOK THIEF
How could a book narrated by Death set during WWII not be a tearjerker? Some books stick with you forever, and for me I’ll never forget reading this amazing story for the first time. The entire book is really poignant and sad, but there’s a particular moment at the end where I lost it. This is one of my favorite books ever and I always recommend it to everyone.

2. THE BIRD AND THE BLADE
I read the reviews before I started this, and I familiarized myself with the opera in which the plot is loosely based, and so I knew going into it that the ending was going to hurt spectacularly. And yet even after preparing myself for the heartbreak, Megan Bannen was able to absolutely annihilate my emotions. The story ends in a way that is heartwarming, heart-wrenching, and altogether unforgettable. Of all the books on this list, this one produced the most tears.  [review]

3. MUSE OF NIGHTMARES
As anyone who’s read my reviews for this series knows, my two favorite characters are actually Erin-Fane and Azareen. And as anyone who’s read these books knows, those two have one of the most gut-wrenching and heartbreaking stories that I’ve ever read. Everytime another piece of their background was revealed, it was like being stabbed in the heart all over again. And then that happened in this book and I became a mess; I went through all five stages of grief. I don’t know what it is about Eril-Fane and Azareen’s tragic love story, but it just gets to me every time. The epilogue nearly put me in an early grave.  [review]

4. SWEET BLACK WAVES
Hey, remember when Kristina Perez wrote a beautiful, magical story set in ancient Ireland, based on the legend of Tristan and Iseult, with an amazing, wonderful love story between Branwen and Tristan and then DESTROYED EVERYTHING within the last ten pages? Yeah, me too. If you’ve read this book, you know exactly what scene I am talking about. When I read it I was dumbstruck. I must have yelled “what the fuck” half a dozen times and contemplated throwing my kindle across the room. Even just thinking about it right now, that particular part of the book still makes me sick to my stomach and want to curl up in a ball and sob. And from what I’ve read of the reviews so far, the sequel is just as heartbreaking, if not worse 🙃  [review]

5. ORDER OF THE PHOENIX
This book came out so long ago, and yet I remember vividly reading this for the first time. I also remember exactly when I read about Sirius’ death. He quickly became my favorite character after Prisoner of Azkaban, so his death hit me hard. The book also released a couple months after my grandmother had passed, so I also think that had something to do with all my emotions while reading. Sirius’ death is the worst in the series and I won’t be convinced otherwise.

6. A SHORT HISTORY OF THE GIRL NEXT
My expectations of what was going to happen in this book and what actually happened were vastly different. There is a plot-twist that basically comes out of nowhere and sucker punches you straight in the face. Except getting punched in the face would actually have hurt less. My heart broke so hard for the main character, Jared. I’ll admit I cried some ugly tears as I whispered to myself, “oh no” over and over. This is such a touching and emotional story and yet unfortunately a really underrated YA contemporary.  [review]

7. RUIN AND RISING
This book only made me cry for one particular scene and – lo and behold, what a surprise – it happened to be the death of my favorite character. I remember feeling so despondent because I couldn’t believe it was happening. All I wanted was for him to have the happy ending with Alina that he deserved and then Leigh Bardugo went and betrayed me.

8. ME BEFORE YOU
Reading this was an emotional rollercoaster. I laughed. I cried. I’m pretty sure I screamed obscenities at one point (the ending). The relationship between Lou and Will was so honest and beautiful. The reactions and choices the characters made in the book were absolutely realistic and natural. The book also brings to light some ethical dilemmas and thought-provoking situations that have stuck with me for a long time, especially as someone who works in health care. [review]

9. THE FAULT IN OUR STARS
Some of the most beautiful love stories are wrapped in tragedy. We all knew what was going to happen by the end of this book, and yet it didn’t stop me from hoping and believing in a happy ever after. This is an iconic YA contemporary book that really started a whole trend of other tragic YA stories in a similar vein. This book taught me that anything can happen and to never trust the author.

10. FURY
This remains one of the endings I hated the most for any book or series. Without spoiling too much, I spent all three books rooting for two characters to finally realize their feelings for each other, only for it to happen LITERALLY pages before one of those said characters dies. There was no gratification for me as a reader, which was upsetting, and then we added up the death which was even more upsetting given the story. To put in shortly, I cried in both despair and anger at the last chapter.