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Books that’ll make you cry
Warning: tissues required
Are you the kind of person who seeks out sad, slow songs when you're feeling down, drawing you all the way to the bottom of your sadness?
Or do you put on tearjerking movies when you're in a good mood, thrilling in the swings between emotions and the cathartic release of getting out a good cry?
Maybe you do both—and who can blame you for wanting to feel the biggest feels? Here's a list of books that will get the tears flowing, one way or another. There's tragedy, pathos, heartbreak, and to help you pick the right book for your appetite for weeping we've added ratings on a "Weepometer" scale of 1 💧 to 5 💧 💧 💧 💧 💧 tears.
(And if this kind of reading is a habit for you, maybe look into waterproof eReaders.)
A Thousand Splendid Suns
A solid follow-up to the internationally bestselling The Kite Runner (a bonafide tearjerker in its own right), Khaled Hosseini’s A Thousand Splendid Suns is sure to make your heart ache. Hosseini has a way with describing feelings and imbuing scenes with emotion, and the characters will haunt you long after you turn the last page. When one of us put it in our dad's hands, we got this text back: “Why’d you recommend such a sad book?”
Weepometer rating out of 5: 💧💧
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A Little Life
In a non peer-reviewed study (we asked around the office) when asked about this book the first thing anybody who's read it will tell you that it made them cry.
Weepometer rating out of 5: 💧💧💧💧💧
The Time Traveler’s Wife
Henry and Clare’s love story is completely engrossing. And while the whole book is beautifully written the last chapter—no spoilers—is especially moving. Expect a mix of tears from all over the emotional spectrum.
Weepometer rating out of 5: 💧
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The Song of Achilles
Janis, a Kobo reader, left this review on www.kobo.com:
“So many writers have been fascinated by the fall of Troy from the Trojan perspective, but this looks at the long, drawn out destruction from the Greek side. The way Miller paints the love between Achilles and Patrocles binds us into their emotions.”
Nailed it, Janis.
Weepometer rating out of 5: 💧💧💧
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The Nickel Boys
You’ll follow Elwood’s journey, root for him, empathize with his suffering, and just when you come up for some air and think you’ll make it to end unscathed, the story takes a turn and hits you with a final gut punch. "Tough read" is an understatement.
Weepometer rating out of 5: 💧💧💧💧
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The Nightingale
Kristin Hannah's heartbreaking, female-centric WWII tale made one Kobo employee cry so hard that their partner Uber'ed them ice cream to make them feel better. Need we say more?
Weepometer rating out of 5: 💧💧💧
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The End of the Alphabet
Ambrose Zephyr and his wife Zappora Ashkenazi's lives are turned upsidedown when they receive the news that Ambrose has contracted a mysterious illness and will die within the month. Together, they embark on his life's ambition: to travel the world in a pilgrimage through the alphabet, from Amsterdam to Zanzibar. Word around the Kobo office is that this is short, powerful, and will get you bad.
Weepometer rating out of 5: 💧💧
The Great Believers
The Great Believers is a story of friendship and redemption in the face of tragedy and loss set in 1980s Chicago and contemporary Paris. Speaking from personal experience, if you read this alone in your bedroom, your roommate will hear you sobbing, and they will think something terrible has happened to you. Don't say we didn't warn you.
Weepometer rating out of 5: 💧💧💧💧
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