The Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry

So normally I would have done this on Tuesday with everyone else but I had something else scheduled for that day. However this feature is still hosted by the ladies of The Broke & The Bookish no matter when I post this.

This week’s topic was The Top Ten Books That Will Make You Cry. This post was both easy and hard for me as I cry a lot when I’m reading. So I may or may not be able to keep it to ten books. We shall see. I’ll try to keep them in order but no promises.
1.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by J.K.Rowling.

This book destroyed me. I cried so much and so hard that I was essentially hyperventilating on the floor of my (ex) best friend’s bedroom floor. I seriously considered sending JKR my therapy bill after this one. I mean…really Jo. Why kill them. Yes I’m being vague for the few people who haven’t finished the series yet.Chapters 32 & 33 did serious emotional damage.

2.

The Program (The Program #1) by Suzanne Young

This book had me basically locked in a fetal position for pretty much the entire book. I loved it, I adored it and I repeatedly told people that it was my favorite read of 2013. I pushed this book so many times but also told people to load up on kleenex.

3.

Faking Normal by Courtney C. Stevens

It’s been no secret that I loved this book. I’ve basically told everyone what an amazingly beautiful and heartbreaking book this is. It’s beautifully written and it made me cry so much. To the point of having to catch my breath between the sobs.

4. 

If You Leave (Beautifully Broken #2)

Okay first of all Courtney Cole is a goddess. She knows how to write wonderfully real characters that people can relate to. I loved this story as I could relate so well to Madison and what she experienced as a child. I understood why her childhood experiences made her tentative about love.Watching her realize that she was not going to be her mom and that she deserved love was beautiful and it filled me with a lot of hope.

5. 

Where The Stars Still Shine by Trish Doller

Beautiful book about family and how you can overcome things. That just because you experienced things that no child should ever experience, does not mean you are “tainted” or “dirty” or unlovable. Watching Callie evolve from being fiercely loyal to her mom and suspicious of her dad and stepmom to realizing that her dad wanted only the best for her and her mom wasn’t it, was beautiful and at the same time, heart wrenching.

6.

Mockingjay (The Hunger Games #3) by Suzanne Collins

There were two parts that I cried over but they were major parts that involved major characters. I remember finishing the book and just being heartbroken at some of the things that happened. It involved killing off my favorite male character (which I STILL haven’t forgiven Suzanne for) I am not looking forward to those parts in the book.

7.

Maybe One Day by Melissa Kantor

This book was more than just another one of those “cancer books” It was a book about loyalty, family and friendship. I remember vividly, finishing my e-ARC of this and just sobbing so hard I was sure I was going to puke. It was beautiful and heartbreaking and gosh just so wonderful.

8.

The Fault In Our Stars by John Green

So I cried in this book as did many MANY other people. Yet it was funny too which I didn’t expect from a “cancer book” However the last 75 or so pages, I sobbed. It was so heartbreaking and at times I couldn’t believe that this was happening. At this point, I ran out of kleenex so I had to use paper towels.

9.

Pushing The Limits (Pushing The Limits #1) by Katie McGarry

I probably could have put this one further up on the list but I had forgotten about some of the others on the list. Or maybe my brain helped me forget how much I cried over this one. Not sure. Anyway, this book was beautiful and both Noah’s and Echo’s back stories were heartbreaking and pretty much caused a flood of tears through a good chunk of the book.

10.

The Summer I Wasn’t Me by Jessica Verdi

Now this one doesn’t come out until April but I read it and loved it. I cried through a lot of it. The journey that Lexi goes through is inspiring that alone was enough to make me cry. Not to mention the crap that one of her friends’ goes through.

-Honorable Mentions-

Dare You To (Pushing The Limits #3) by Katie McGarry

I love Beth and reading her story was heartbreaking. She is so fiercely loyal to her mom which I understand because I am the same way. Yet she knows that her mom is an adult and she insists on making bad choices. My heart ached for Beth.

The Sea Of Tranquility by Katja Millay

Beautiful writing and beautiful characters. I had managed not to cry until the very end and that’s when the tears started falling. These characters were great characters and I found myself rooting for the couple but also liking Josh’s best friend.

OCD Love Story by Corey Ann Haydu

Yet another amazing debut. Corey Ann Haydu managed to be raw and honest about OCD and the various forms it takes while giving us characters to root for, to smile with and to laugh with. OCD Love Story made me cry mostly because I know what it’s like to deal with OCD on a daily basis and Corey Ann Haydu portrayed it wonderfully. 

So there ya go. What books were on your TTT this week? Put your links in the comments and I’ll do my best to stop by.

Review: Before We Fall (Beautifully Broken #3) by Courtney Cole

Book Title: Before We Fall (Beautifully Broken #3)

Author: Courtney Cole

Release Date: December 3rd, 2013

Publisher: Forever

Genre: NA/Romance/Contemporary

Series: Book 3 in Beautifully Broken series

Book Links: Goodreads

Purchase Link: Amazon, Barnes & Noble

Synopsis from Goodreads:

Sometimes, one dark moment is all it takes to turn your world black…

For 24-year old Dominic Kinkaide, that moment took place on the night of his high school graduation. One dark incident changed him forever. He’s a hardened actor now, famous in the eyes of the world, but tortured in his own. He doesn’t care about much of anything, except for losing himself in the roles that he plays.

23-year old Jacey Vincent doesn’t realize how much her father’s indifference has affected her. She is proof that sometimes it isn’t one specific moment that wrecks a person, but rather it’s an absence of moments. She’s like a bird with a broken wing-strong yet fragile, as she tries to float through life, finding acceptance in the arms of random guys, one after the other… to fill the void that her father left in her.

Until she meets Dominic.

After jaded Dominic and strong-willed Jacey are thrown together, his secret and her issues create a dark and damaged energy that will soon turn their attraction to each other into an explosive storm.

Even though when the clouds have cleared and the dust has settled, both of them are almost obliterated… they’ve learned a priceless lesson.

Sometimes, before we fall… we fly.

Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

Review:

Courtney Cole is a goddess, I have read both If You Stay and If You Leave and I have loved them both. So I was excited to find out that Before We Fall was Jacey’s story. Jacey deserved something good to happen to her after the events of If You leave. 

Jacey was a player in both of those books, but more so in If You Leave since it was her brother Gabe and Maddy’s story.She always seemed like a good person but one with an edge to her. Maybe it was her crappy childhood, maybe it was her poor choice in romantic partners or maybe it was a combination of both.I always liked her as she reminded me a bit of myself a couple of years ago.I never dealt with the absence of paternal love in the way that she did, but her messed up family definitely reminded me of my own.

To be honest, through about 65% of the book I disliked Dominic intensely.I thought he was an asshole and I was worried that Jacey was falling into her old habits. Except Dominic was a bit more adventurous sexually than even Jacey was. Dominic pushed people away so that they didn’t have to deal with him and his damaged self. However a life like he had is very lonely and girls and sex can only fill the void so much. 

Most people will say that the turning point came at the end when Dominic’s, Sin’s and Cris’s secrets all came to light. Yet, I think it was Dominic and Jacey’s trip to the Grand Canyon that changed everything.

When we finally learn about the woman Dominic loved previously, I felt like someone punched me in the stomach. I broke up with someone who’s girlfriend had died 3 years previously. It was all in my head but I was convinced that I wouldn’t measure up to how he had felt about her. They had been talking marriage and everything so they were just as, if not more serious than Dominic and Emma had been. I give Jacey a whole lot of credit for not being totally threatened by the memory of Emma. I wish I had had that strength. Jacey was definitely stronger than I was in that respect.

In the first two books, I didn’t mind the proposals but I just thought this one was too rushed. I was a little annoyed that they wouldn’t take it slower. I mean, no Jacey and Dominic didn’t strike me as being  the type to take it slow but proposing a month after all the secrets were out in the open was just a little much for me. However, the epilogue was my favorite part.

Unlike the first two, I didn’t cry at all. It brought the feels but in a much more understated way. I’m glad I wasn’t sitting on my bed, sobbing violently this time. It wasn’t my favorite of the series (that honor still goes to If You Leave) but I ended up understanding Dominic and Jacey more than I expected to. 

This book will be getting 4 stars. Mostly it’s because Dominic was an asshole through about 2/3’ds of it.However, I will still read basically anything that Courtney Cole writes because she knows how to write characters that her readers can relate to.

Review: If You Leave (Beautifully Broken #2) by Courtney Cole

Book Title: If You Leave

Author: Courtney Cole

Published Date: August 6th, 2013

Publisher: Forever

Genre: NA/Romance

Series: Book 2 in the Beautifully Broken series

Book Link: Goodreads

Purchase Link: Amazon

Synopsis from Goodreads:

26-year old Gabriel Vincent is a badass hero. Or he used to be, anyway. As an ex-Army Ranger, Gabe never thought he needed anyone. But after one horrible night in Afghanistan scars him in a way that he can’t get past, he needs someone who can help him heal…even if he doesn’t realize it.

25-year old Madison Hill doesn’t need anybody…or so she thinks. She grew up watching her parents’ messed-up abusive relationship and she knows there’s no way in hell that she’s ever letting that happen to her.

They don’t know it in the beginning, but Gabriel and Madison will soon develop a weakness: Each other.

But Gabriel’s got a secret, a hidden monster that he’s afraid Maddy could never overcome… And Maddy’s got issues that she’s afraid Gabe will never understand. They quickly realize that they need each other to be whole, but at the same time they know that they’ve got demons to fight.

And the problem with demons is that they never die quietly.

Disclaimer: This e-book was a personal purchase.

Review:

I read If You Stay at the very beginning of my blogging endeavor and I had absolutely loved it. I wasn’t sure if If You Leave would have the same special-ness that book one had had. I needn’t have worried. If possible I loved If You Leave even more than the first book.

We had gotten snapshots of Madison in the first book but I had no idea how much alike we were until this book. Like Madison, I had to deal with my mother’s marriage to an abusive man right in my teenage years. The very time that I was starting to notice boys was the very time my mother was married for the second time. I knew that the way he was treating my mother was not okay and I got angry with her for not leaving sooner. It took her 12 years to leave the marriage, something Madison’s mother was not brave enough to do. 

Because of having to watch my mom get treated in such a terrible way, I built up walls. Walls the size of The Great Wall of China. I was not going to put myself in a position to get hurt like my mother had. So I resonated big time with Madison. I knew what it felt like to have those walls up.It’s never really said outright but I am guessing that Madison had friends that told her that she could overcome this if she really wanted to and that she was not her mother. Trust me, I had friends tell me the exact same thing. But it’s not easy. It’s not easy to let your guard down if you’ve been a witness to some truly shitty things.

“It’s because of my parents that I’m afraid to get involved with anyone.It’s because of them that I am afraid any relationship I get into will hurt me.Just like my dad hurt my mom.” -Madison

Oh sure Madison dates, like the guy Ethan who she has known since kindergarten and who had puked up chocolate milk all over her.Too bad he’s vanilla and Madison isn’t interested in him at all.

“Oh yeah,that’s just what I want. The guy who vomited up his chocolate milk on me in kindergarten doing my pap smear.” -Madison

In comes sexy as hell Gabriel Vincent.Oh man he was cocky and arrogant from the beginning but I suspected that was a facade for the demons that were buried inside of him. He definitely did not make the best of impressions the first night they met,but over time he softened up and in turn so did Madison. She got to see his softer side and his protective side as he dealt with his sister Jacey and her crazy as hell boyfriend. Gabriel began to make Madison feel safe. 

When crap goes down,Gabriel begins to realize that he cannot just push his issues aside. He’s got to deal with them. If he doesn’t he could lose Madison…forever. 

Watching Madison’s walls slowly inch down was awesome. It was inspiring and it gave me a lot of hope. Watching her let Gabe in, in every way was heartwarming and it made me cry on multiple times. Gabe’s decision to get help for his issues was awesome too. I liked that he realized that he couldn’t deal with it on his own and that it wasn’t a crime or a mark against his manhood to need and therefore get help. 

Getting to see Mila and Pax was an awesome surprise. I loved how they were still so close as they were in the first book.

This book gets 5 stars from me. If at all possible, I loved this book more than If I Stay mostly because of how well I related to Madison and how she was feeling. I cannot wait to read the next book in this series.

“Love is deathless.”