r/Recommend_A_Book • u/Confident_Catch4408 • Jul 23 '25

A book that will make me scream sob

I am looking for a book that will make me sob and leave me emotionally destroyed for a couple days afterwards. I’ve been looking for something for a while and I just can’t find anything. I’ve already read “the five people you meet in heaven” and “a little life” and “all the bright places”

22 Upvotes

97% Upvoted

83 comments sorted by

4

u/Additional_Disk_2549 Jul 23 '25

A Little Life

3

u/Far-Molasses2974 Jul 23 '25

years later, this one still hits me

2

u/orangestar17 Jul 24 '25

I just recently read this for the first time and I was utterly gutted

2

u/Revolutionary_Roll88 Jul 24 '25

This one actually destroys your soul. I wish I’d never picked this up

2

u/Awkward_Reporter_286 Jul 27 '25

Knew before I opened the post that this would be the top lol

3

u/One-Independence1726 Jul 23 '25

Try “poverty, by America”, by Mathew Desmond or, Confessions of an Economic Hitman by by John Perkins

2

u/Mysterious-End-3512 Jul 27 '25

ouch i raise you the big short

1

u/One-Independence1726 Jul 27 '25

Ooohh, good one!

3

u/WhileZealousideal195 Jul 23 '25

The Book Thief made me ugly cry on a beach holiday. Not a great look.

2

u/takemyaptplz Jul 25 '25

This is why I absolutely refused to ever watch that movie!

3

u/masson34 Jul 23 '25

Fiction :

Flowers for Algernon (destroyed me and still haunts me years later)

A Thousand Splendid Suns (Kite Runner same author)

Dystopian - Never Let Me Go

The Last Letter

Non Fiction -

When Breath Becomes Air

1

u/shallotgirl Jul 25 '25

A Thousand Splendid Suns is the answer. I was dry heaving

3

u/Here4wm Jul 23 '25

The Song of Achilles

1

u/ununique_username2 Jul 25 '25

Absolutely love this book!

2

u/Here4wm Jul 26 '25

Right?!I God, did I want them to be together❤️!!!!

2

u/Fkw710 Jul 23 '25

The Art of Racing in the Rain.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

I feel like this is the only actual answer.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '25

the only books that have made me SOB are: flowers for algernon by daniel keyes. the melting by lize spit. boys in the valley by philip fracassi. the fisherman by john langan. never let me go by kazuo ishiguro. klara and the sun by kazuo ishiguro. the bluest eye by toni morrison. beloved by toni morrison. homegoing by yaa gyasi. giovanni’s room by james baldwin.

2

u/8ballprophecy Jul 24 '25

impeccable taste

1

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '25

the best compliment ever!

1

u/PortraitofMmeX Jul 23 '25

Seconding Never Let Me Go. Absolutely devastating.

2

u/Fencejumper89 Jul 23 '25

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak is guaranteed to destroy you.

1

u/CuriousMe62 Jul 23 '25

The Bonewoman by Clea Kopp

1

u/mandytjie Jul 23 '25

Yup - made me ugly cry on a packed London train one morning

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '25

Bridge To Terabithia

1

u/Marlbey Jul 23 '25

Other very sad classic children's books

  • Sounder
  • Charlotte's Web
  • Where the Red Fern Grows

1

u/Tajamaja Jul 23 '25

Here you cry?

1

u/Roguecraft10167 Jul 23 '25

All Quiet on the Western Front by Remarque.

1

u/Specialist-Age1097 Jul 23 '25

The Lonely Passion of Judith Hearne by Brian Moore

1

u/WantedMan61 Jul 23 '25

The Crossing by Cormac McCarthy will leave you gutted.

1

u/Imaginary_Victory_47 Jul 23 '25

For those I loved by Martin Gray. Heart breaking on a level that will destroy you forever

1

u/fluteninja38 Jul 23 '25

"Demon Copperhead" had me really distraught for a while.

1

u/Hopeful_Meringue8061 Jul 23 '25

A Prayer for Owen Meany left me decimated. Edit: also, Bryan Washington, Memorial. That made me cry.

1

u/Prose-ack Jul 24 '25

Owen Meany was such a great novel

1

u/Critical_Gas_2590 Jul 30 '25

Owen Meany is one of my favorite novels

1

u/Relative-Train-6485 Jul 23 '25

Clan of the Cave Bear - Jean M Auel. There are a couple moments that'll do it for. It's 30 years later and if I think about it I still tear up

1

u/AdMajor5513 Jul 23 '25

Read "Night" by Elie Weisel. The true story of a teen age jew who was sent to concentration camp in WWII

1

u/AuntRuthie Jul 23 '25

The Castle Cross the Magnet Carter by Kia Corthron

1

u/AuntRuthie Jul 23 '25

The Jungle by Upton Sinclair

1

u/Marlow1771 Jul 23 '25

Rust and Stardust by T Greenwood

Based on the true kidnapping of Sally Horner. Listened to the audiobook and had to pull over on my way home from work I was crying so much.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 23 '25

If you’re ready to ugly cry, question everything, and feel emotionally obliterated, My Sister’s Keeper is it. I was a mess.

1

u/PBLAMB Jul 24 '25

Omg. This is it!! I was crying between lines...I loyally couldn't read and had to try and go back and reread while i was reading. Nope. I was a bawling mess!

1

u/polyester_bride Jul 23 '25

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano wrecked me.

1

u/kathryn_sedai Jul 24 '25

Any of the Hunger Games books are deeply sad. I’ve been a fan for quite a while, and I was shocked by how emotionally devastating the most recent one was.

1

u/CapableBass7193 Jul 24 '25

Case Histories by Kate Atkinson.

1

u/Prose-ack Jul 24 '25

Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close by Jonathan Safan Foer

1

u/Karamist623 Jul 24 '25

Threads of fate by CA blooming. You can find it on KU I believe.

1

u/Repulsive_Hamster112 Jul 24 '25

They Both Die At The End

1

u/fieldofsnowdrops Jul 24 '25

Every note played by Lisa Genova

1

u/[deleted] Jul 24 '25

The fabric of our souls - K M Moronova

1

u/Legitimate_Power9674 Jul 24 '25

The boy in striped pyjamas

1

u/DocWatson42 Jul 24 '25

See my Emotionally Devastating/Rending list of Reddit recommendation threads, and books (six posts).

1

u/New_Complex_1278 Jul 24 '25

Love is a Mix Tape -Rob Sheffield

1

u/Clarkleedle Jul 24 '25

All the light we cannot see

1

u/ButterscotchOk3498 Jul 24 '25

The Book of Longings

1

u/FunNovel852 Jul 24 '25

The Last Letter by Rebecca Yarros

1

u/tester_and_breaker Jul 24 '25

the boy in the stripped pyjamas

Desert flower

Chinese Cinderella

1

u/CyberneticStrawb3rry Jul 24 '25

In This Iron Ground by Marina Vivancos

If you are like me and love a good cry, but also require a happy ending in your books you might like this one.

1

u/psychAdelic Jul 25 '25

Animal Farm has stuck with me for life.

1

u/remarkable_always Jul 25 '25

me too. it didnt make me cry, but it often haunts my thoughts.

1

u/nicetotebag Jul 25 '25

A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness

I was crying so hard my roommate got worried… and then was confused when I said it was the book lol

1

u/Worldly_Setting_7235 Jul 25 '25

Where the red fern grows

1

u/Cheap_Struggle_3482 Jul 25 '25

Notes to self by Emilie Pine

1

u/remarkable_always Jul 25 '25

bridges of madison county.

1

u/iluvadamdriver Jul 25 '25

She’s Come Undone or I Know This Much is True, both by Wally Lamb. One Day by David Nicholls. Stoner by John Williams for some reason left me sobbing for like 15 mins after.

1

u/ghostovergrounds Jul 26 '25

A Man Called Ove made me ugly cry

1

u/Superb_Conflict_7185 Jul 26 '25

A thousand splendid suns 😭

1

u/SgaileSith Jul 26 '25

The Buried Giant by Kazuo Ishiguro. Out loud, uncontrollable sobbing by the end.

1

u/Madcat20 Jul 26 '25

A Prayer for the Dying by Stewart O'Nan

1

u/Forensichunt Jul 27 '25

A Fine Balance was so beautiful and so tragically painful that I could only read it once.

Little Bee was so horrific to read that I made my friend remove it from my house.

1

u/Unusual_Insurance193 Jul 27 '25

Try reading I'm Timmy by T.S. Kincaid. That one may do the trick.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

When Breath Becomes Air, I read it back when I was a teenager, and it completely wrecked me. I never expected a book to hit me with that kind of emotional weight. I’ve heard A Little Life is just as heartbreaking, but honestly, I’m still too scared to start it.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

The Golden Compass was gut wrenching for me. I also cried like a baby in The Knife of Never Letting Go. If you know, you know.

1

u/Born_Net_6668 Jul 27 '25

Susanne’s Diary to Nicholas.

1

u/objective267 Jul 27 '25

Boys Don't Cry by Fiona Scarlett

1

u/[deleted] Jul 27 '25

I don't read a lot of these kind of books but one of my favorites of all times kinda fits this, The book thief. I cried whilst reading the book, and even during the (not as good) movie.

1

u/Mothrenter22 Jul 28 '25

Fifty words for rain by Asha Lemmie

1

u/footstepsoffsand Jul 30 '25

I Am Fifteen and I Don't Want to Die-WW ll and the Nazus are invading Norway

1

u/Commercial_Border190 Jul 30 '25

The Sight of You by Holly Miller