Not Feelin' the Love; Books That Made Me Bawl

I don't have anything against Valentine's Day. First of all, there's chocolate everywhere! And love! And hearts, and everyone is supposed to be happy, etc. 

But today has been a depressing, heartbreaking day for reasons completely outside of books and more in the lines of my favourite sports team and player as you could probably tell by my rant on Twitter. So, I'm not exactly feeling the love. I was going to do some type of romance book today, but I'm not in the mood. Seriously, I'm even wearing black. 

I know Valentine's Day isn't the best day for a lot of people, so here's a list of books that made me cry or generally feel very sad and awful. Sorry in advance. Oh, and if you can click on the book covers to get a link to the Goodreads page. 

It begins with this book. The Fault in Our Stars by John Green made me bawl. I was sickened, I was disgusted, and I was so angry. You can see I haven't rated this book. I can't do that. This book disturbed me so badly. It's a book about a girl with cancer and it's written incredibly well so that every paragraph is entertaining in it's own right. It lures you in and breaks your heart. It's actually quite cruel so I will warn you about that. 

Next book I have to give a shout out to is Where She Went by Gayle Forman. It's the sequel to an already pretty heartbreaking book in If I Stay. I feel like Where She Went hits harder, is much more sad, and Adam is a better protagonist than Mia. He's so genuine, raw, and lost and the book reeks of nostalgia. Ever lost something or someone you loved? This book is all about that. What I did like is that while there is some type of bright side in the end, it's not cliched. It comes from lots of work and the promise of happiness is not a sure thing. It's a possibility, a tentative one at that. Definitely worth a read. 

Yeah, yeah, I have a thing for sequels. I liked The Summer I Turned Pretty, It was sad, and completely unexpected. I liked however, It's Not Summer Without You by Jenny Han even more. It's the story of what happens after your life has completely changed. It's about trying to hold things together, and at what point should you let everything go. It's also about growing up. This book is Belly's journey, and it's the second in the trilogy. I have yet to read the third, but I feel this book is good enough. 

Undoubtedly, I'm missing a good chunk of books. However, when I think of books that made me bawl, these three are the first that come to mind. I had a hard time reading every one of them and they made an impression in my mind. Did anyone read any of these? Which books have made you cry the most?

Review: Where She Went

Author: Gayle Forman
Pages: 264
Publisher: Dutton Juvenile
Source: Library
Other Books in Series: If I Stay Amazon / The Book Depository
Challenge: The Ultimate Reviewers' Challenge Book 11
Synopsis: It's been three years since the devastating accident . . . three years since Mia walked out of Adam's life forever. 


Now living on opposite coasts, Mia is Julliard's rising star and Adam is LA tabloid fodder, thanks to his new rock star status and celebrity girlfriend. When Adam gets stuck in New York by himself, chance brings the couple together again, for one last night. As they explore the city that has become Mia's home, Adam and Mia revisit the past and open their hearts to the future - and each other. 


Told from Adam's point of view in the spare, lyrical prose that defined If I Stay, Where She Went explores the devastation of grief, the promise of new hope, and the flame of rekindled romance.


Buy the Book (Amazon)
Buy the Book (The Book Depository)

Were She Went= Sob Fest. I cried so much, a few chapters in, and then about every other chapter for the most part. I will admit that I'm not one of those people who never cry. Some stories just hit me hard and this was one of them.

I'm glad I read this book. It's not just for entertainment. It's written in a way to make the reader understand what Adam is going through. He's been through a lot and he feels alone. He has pushed everyone away and is on the verge of a breakdown. Then he sees Mia again for one night that will change his life.

In If I Stay, Mia was in a hard place but at the end she made a choice and broke through. In Where She Went, Adam has the same possibility of making that choice. Watching Adam go through all his emotions was powerful. At some parts I hated Mia for what she did, but I couldn't hate her for living her life. There was so much raw emotion pouring out through Adam, the prose, the lyrics to the songs (which I loved, btw) that I was overwhelmed.

I love Adam even more than Mia. There is so much to him and I loved his perspective. He's no saint but he is a genuinely good person. A man. His love for Mia is consuming. The kind of love that can last forever if pruned, the kind of love that can save or take a life.

There were several revelations Adam had but the one I loved the most was the idea of closure. I'm bad at goodbyes. They can be painful for me when I don't think about them, and I always end up upset on the last few days of vacation or when a good thing is happening because I'm scared of letting go. The way the idea of closure was presented here really resonated with me in a beneficial way. I thought closure was being over that pain, that sadness but what it really is is excepting the pain and eventually letting it go.

I'm not going to go more in depth than that. Where She Went made me feel strongly, which is exactly why I love it. In most books you see other people, experience others' lives. Where She Went was a personal read, and exactly what I needed. 5 stars,

*****

Book Trailer: Where She Went

I love book trailers! This week's book trailer is for Where She Went, a book I need to read. Check it out and tell me what you think!