So by now you’ll all know that I love reading fantasy and science fiction novels best. Unfortunately, I believe these books also have the highest mortality rates in the fiction world… Me, and undoubtedly countless of others, get uber attached to characters, and when something happens to our babies you can count on us sobbing our eyes out.
I thought it would be fun to relive those heartbreaking moments by putting together this list of books that made me cry the most.
WARNING! This post will contain spoilers about:
– The Mistborn Trilogy
– King’s Cage
– A Storm of Swords
– Empire of Storms
– Muse of Nightmares
If you have not yet read these books and plan to, proceed with caution!
The Mistborn trilogy – Brandon Sanderson
Let me start off with my all-time favorite series, the Mistborn trilogy. Fun story about this trilogy: like a lot of book lovers, I hang out at the local bookstore way too much. To the point that the employees start recognizing you and they know what you will like. Well one of the employees kept recommending the Mistborn trilogy to me, and I finally bought the first book after much pestering on his part. Anyway, I read it on vacation within the first few days. Big mistake, because I was so heartbroken I couldn’t read anything else for the rest of that vacation. When I came back I immediately purchased the other two books.
In the first book, one of the most important MCs dies, and you kind of don’t want to believe it, because first of all, he is the Main Dude. The OG man. The Mind behind the Plot. Additionally, Sanderson has a way of writing that makes you think that all will be okay and everything is rainbows and puppies until it’s not. That’s what happened in the first book.
AND THEN IT HAPPENED AGAIN IN THE THIRD BOOK
Let me tell you that I have never read a book that had such a heartbreaking, yet satisfying ending. If you’ve read the books, you know what I mean. Was it the happily ever after I was looking for? No. Was it still a great ending to the series? Absolutely. Either way, I ugly cried through the entire end.
King’s Cage – Victoria Aveyard
I’m aware that quite a few people abandoned the Red Queen series when they read Glass Sword. To be honest, I get it. I love this series and will defend it with my life, but when I recommend it to others, I always warn them that they have to get through the second book.
Anyway, King’s Cage was just so much better. And sob worthy. Fun fact: I thought this was supposed to be a trilogy, which probably contributed a lot to why I was so sad at the end of the book… If you’ve read the book you know that Cal ends up picking the crown, despite two books worth of character development and overall becoming more likable. Alas, it was all for naught. Thank god things turned out okay in War Storm.
A Storm of Swords – George R.R. Martin
Hey remember that time when the Game of Thrones books and the show were still comparable in plot? Yeah good times. I’m currently crying more over the fact that we still don’t have The Winds of Winter to put on our shelves, but me venting about that is not the point right now.
Whether you’ve read the books or watched the show, book/season 3 was heartbreaking. I’m talking about the Red Wedding of course. I remember reading book 1, when Ned Stark died, and I was thinking: surely someone will swoop in and save the day. Of course that never happened, and I thought I learned my lesson. Alas, I was wrong.
I think the most heartbreaking part of this entire situation was that Arya was so close to being reunited with Robb and Katelyn Stark. I seriously thought everything was going to be alright from this point. Wrong again!
I remember reading this particular chapter late at night, and closing my book in anger. I picked it up five minutes later to continue reading and ended up going to sleep at a ridiculous time.
Empire of Storms – Sarah J. Maas
Throne of Glass is another one of those series that will always have a special place in my heart. The entire series is honestly heartbreaking, but I think Empire of Storms was the most heartbreaking of all. That massive cliffhanger ending was something else.
When I first read Empire of Storms I actually stopped reading when it got too intense, and I read the entire series all over again. The second time I did push through those last couple of chapters. The story was made all the more bitter by the events that happened in Tower of Dawn. Not to mention that we had to wait eons until Kingdom of Ash would come out.
Muse of Nightmares – Laini Taylor
This book, guys. I’m having a really hard time putting it into words, even months after I finished it. I already love Strange the Dreamer, and with that massive cliffhanger, this story was already heartbreaking enough. It got all the more heartbreaking in its sequel.
We are introduced to another character, and her arc made no sense at all to me up until the very last moment, and all I could think was “OH. OH NO.” Those last few chapters were so intense. I spent the last fifty pages straight sobbing to the point I couldn’t see the words anymore. It was ridiculous. But imagine the heartbreak when one of the characters finally gets the chance to be free of his guilt, only to be killed off. Repeatedly. With the love of his life dying by his side. Also repeatedly. This was straight torture for the soul. It was brilliant.
And that concludes my list of books that made me sob the most. There have been many books that made me cry (I cry a lot for some reason) but these were the most heartbreaking for me, and thus these are the ones I still find myself occasionally thinking about. Let me know which books made you cry the most!
Do you cry easily when reading books? Which books were the most heartbreaking to you?
