Happy endings leave most readers feeling satisfied. You feel warm and comfortable when you close the book, while books with sad endings stay with the reader for a long time.
They can fill you with frustration and sadness. But sad endings make you want more because we all want a perfect happy ending. Here we recommend ten books with heartbreaking endings that will not let you sleep at night.
#1 All the bright places by Jennifer Niven
About The Book
Title: All The Bright Places
Author: Jennifer Niven
Genre: Young Adult, Mental Health, Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Knopf Publishing Group
Pages: 388 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.1/5
Finch and Violet meet at the top of the school’s bell tower. They both want to jump, but instead, they save each other from doing so. Finch is suicidal, and Violet has post-traumatic stress disorder. Finch persuades Violet to be his partner on their geography project, snapping her out of the comfort of her clique: the popular kids. They explore all of Indiana and see everything it offers before graduating. Eventually, Finch teaches Violet how to live when all he wants to do is die.
Why Do We Recommend This Book?
All the Bright Places is a heartbreaking book about mental illness and its powerful impact on those affected and those around them. The book explores heavy adult themes. It is a book that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it, and that is why it is at the top of my list of books with sad endings.
To buy All the bright places by Jennifer Niven now:
#2 A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini
About the Book
Title: A Thousand Splendid Suns
Author: Khaled Hosseini
Genre: Historical, War, Adult Fiction
Publisher: Riverhead Books
Pages: 372 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.4/5
Mariam is the illegitimate daughter of a wealthy businessman who is forced to marry a shoemaker – Rasheed- due to some tragic events. After eighteen years of marriage, Rasheed takes another wife, fourteen-year-old Laila, a bright and spirited girl. Mariam and Laila become allies in the fight against Rasheed, whose violent assaults are condoned by custom and law. Ultimately, each woman is forced to accept a path that will never be entirely happy for her.
Why Do We Recommend This Book?
Overall, the author addresses many important issues, such as how the war destroyed the lives of so many innocent Afghans who were forced to go to different countries for protection. Also, the rules of society restricted the freedom of women. The story of Laila and Mariam is heartbreaking. The violence they endured was cruel and unjust. This book is my absolute favorite with a sad ending, and I hope it finds a place in your heart.
To buy A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini now:
#3 A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara
About the Book
Title: A Little Life
Author: Hanya Yanagihara
Genre: Mental Health, Queer, Contemporary, Literary Fiction
Publisher: Doubleday
Pages: 790 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.3/5
When four classmates move from a small-town college to New York to make their way, they are broke and strengthened only by their friendship and ambition. There’s handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted Brooklyn-born painter looking to enter the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect; and the brilliant Jude, who serves as their center of gravity. Jude himself is an increasingly broken man, though his mind and body are scarred by an unspeakable childhood and haunted by a trauma he fears he not only cannot overcome that will define his life forever.
Why Do We Recommend This Book?
This title is inconsistent, unusual, and relentless. It moves quickly forward before slipping into a narrative of angst and chronic self-loathing. Nimble minds prefer elegant patterns throughout and not just at the end. Like its protagonist, this is a novel of many questions. So this book can’t be left off my list of books with sad endings.
To buy A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara now:
#4 Me before you by Jojo Moyes
About the Book
Jojo Moyes
Title: Me Before You
Author: Jojo Moyes
Genre: Romance, Drama, Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Michael Joseph
Pages: 369 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.2/5
Louisa Clark has no clear direction in her life. She shimmies from job to job to help her close-knit family make ends meet. But her cheerful attitude is tested when she takes on her latest professional challenge: a job as a caregiver and companion to Will Traynor, a wealthy young banker who has used a wheelchair since an accident. The cynical Will is no longer adventurous and has all but given up. That is until Louisa shows him that life is still worth living.
Why Do We Recommend this Book?
Books with sad endings are hard to read when you are constantly crying, which is often. The circumstances were unique, but everyone could relate or at least compare how they would feel. The characters are humanly flawed instead of just good or bad, which makes them much more sympathetic and realistic. The ending is tear-jerking.
To buy Me before you by Jojo Moyes, click the link now:
#5 
Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
Wuthering Heights by Emily BronteAbout the Book
Title: Wuthering Heights
Author: Emily Bronte
Genre: Gothic, Romance, Classic Literature
Publisher: Thomas Cautley Newby
Pages: 460 pages
Goodreads rating: 3.8/5
It is the story of Heathcliff’s fierce love and passion for Catherine. It follows the life of Heathcliff, a mysterious, gypsy-like person, from childhood to his death in his late thirties. Heathcliff rises in his adopted family and is then reduced to a servant. He runs away when the young woman – Catherine, whom he loves – decides to marry someone else. He later returns, wealthy and educated, and sets out to take revenge on Catherine and her family, believing they have ruined his life.
Why Do We Recommend this Book?
It is a chaotic novel, beautiful in its complexity but terrible in its viciousness. What makes this book special is that none of the characters is sympathetic. Everyone is portrayed in a way that highlights their weaknesses, from the narrator to the servants to the main characters. Somehow, the characters’ weaknesses draw the reader in. One cannot help but look to the characters for redemption and, when disappointed, regret their existence.
To buy Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte now:
#6 Atonement by Ian McEwan
About the Book
Title: Atonement
Author: Ian McEwan
Genre: Bildungsroman, Romance, Psychological Fiction
Publisher: Jonathan Cape
Pages: 351 pages
Goodreads rating: 3.9/5
In the summer of 1935, Briony notices her older sister, Cecilia, undressing and falling into the fountain in the garden of their country home. The housekeeper’s son, Robbie Turner, a childhood friend who has just graduated from Cambridge, watches Cecilia do so. By the end of that day, the lives of all three will change forever. Robbie and Cecilia will have crossed a line they had never ventured, becoming victims of the younger girl’s scheming imagination. And Briony will have committed a terrible crime, the guilt of which will shape her entire life.
Why Do We Recommend this Book?
Atonement is brilliant and riveting in depicting childhood, love, war, England, and class. At its core, the novel is a profound and profoundly moving exploration of shame and forgiveness and the difficulty of absolution. This book is a must for the collection of books with sad endings.
To buy Atonement by Ian McEwan now:
#7 Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
About the Book
Title: Never Let Me Go
Author: Kazuo Ishiguro
Genre: Dystopia, Contemporary, Romance, Science Fiction
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Pages: 288 pages
Goodreads rating: 3.8/5
Hailsham appears to be a pleasant English boarding school. The students are well cared for and encouraged, taught art and literature, and become just the people the world expects them to be. But strangely, they are taught nothing about the outside world and have little contact with it.
On the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from a schoolgirl into a young woman, but it’s not until she and her friends leave the safe grounds of the school that they realize the whole truth about what Hailsham is. The children are clones bred to harvest their organs and save the rest of humanity from deadly diseases.
Why Do We Recommend this Book?
Good books with sad endings must have all these qualities, such as a thoughtful, sophisticated, and ultimately alarming look at the effects of dehumanization on any group. The people in it are not heroic. The ending is not comforting. Nonetheless, this is a brilliantly executed book by an incredible author who has chosen a complex subject: ourselves, seen through a dark glass.
To buy Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro now:
#8 The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller
About the Book
Title: The Song Of Achilles
Author: Madeline Miller
Genre: Greek Mythology, Queer, Fantasy, Romance
Publisher: Ecco Press
Pages: 378 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.3/5
Achilles is a strong, beautiful, and irresistible book with a sad ending. Patroclus is an awkward young prince who has been banished from his homeland. When they meet by chance, they forge an inseparable bond. They are trained in the arts of war and medicine, but when news comes that Helen of Sparta has been kidnapped, all the heroes of Greece are called upon to besiege Troy in her name. Seduced by the promise of a glorious destiny, Achilles joins the cause, and Patroclus, torn between love and fear for his friend, follows. Little do they know that cruel fate will test them both as never before and demand a terrible sacrifice.
Why Do We Recommend this Book?
This wonderfully heartbreaking and tragic book is a brilliant retelling of a mythic friendship. The book does not simply retell Homer’s Iliad. Instead, it looks at the Iliad from a new perspective: that of Patroclus. In Miller’s novel, the Greek demigod Achilles turns out to be a great fighter and a passionate lover.
To buy The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller now:
#9 The Book Thief by Markus Zusak
About the Book
Title: The Book Thief
Author: Markus Zusak
Genre: Holocaust, War, Young Adult, Historical Fiction
Publisher: Picador
Pages: 552 pages
Goodreads rating: 4.4/5
It tells the story of Liesel, a little girl who is taken to a new home because her mother cannot afford to take care of her. The story is told of death, which becomes a character that people begin to respect. The book is set in Nazi Germany at the beginning of World War II.
Liesel’s younger brother dies while traveling to her new home, and she steals her first book. She suddenly has a new mom and dad when she arrives at her new home. Every night she is haunted by nightmares about her brother’s death. Liesel and her dad take it upon themselves to read the book about Liesel’s last connection to her brother.
Why Do We Recommend This Book?
Undoubtedly, this is not your average war story. It is full of metaphors and symbolism and is narrated by a fascinating character – Death. This book truly deserves to be included in the list of sad endings. The text is full of irony and humor. But it is also profound, as we see the growing threat of Nazism and the effects of war and poverty on the residents of Himmel Street, where Liesel and her foster parents live.
To buy The Book Thief by Markus Zusak now:
#10 My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult
About the Book
Title: My Sister’s Keeper
Author: Jodi Picoult
Genre: Young Adult, Family, Contemporary, Realistic Fiction
Publisher: Simon & Schuster
Pages: 423 pages
Goodreads rating: 4/5
It tells the emotionally compelling story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and passionate love. Anna is not sick, but she might as well be. At age 13, she has undergone countless surgeries and transfusions so that her older sister Kate can somehow fight leukemia that has plagued her since childhood. Anna was conceived as a bone marrow donor for Kate. Like most teenagers, Anna begins to wonder and question who she is. But unlike most teens, she has always defined herself by her sister – and so Anna makes a decision that will tear her family apart and perhaps have deadly consequences for the sister she loves.
Why Do We Recommend this Book?
It is a painful book that addresses the harshness of life and the fact that life is not fair. It may seem bleak, but there are also some sweet, funny, and touching moments. My Sister’s Keeper is about sisterhood, choices, and the sacrifices we all have to make.
It would be best to grab a box of tissues before diving into any of these titles. All of these books are thought-provoking and harrowingly good. That’s it for this recommendation of books with sad endings.
To buy My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult now:
Reading books with sad endings improves the reading experience and the reader overall. It helps develop critical thinking skills. I hope you find something that speaks to you and makes you think.
That’s it for recommendations for books with sad endings that you should read.
Finally, I’d like to share with you the top 10 books with sad endings that you should have on your wish list.
| 1 | All the bright places by Jennifer Niven | Buy Now |
| 2 | A thousand splendid suns by Khaled Hosseini | Buy Now |
| 3 | A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara | Buy Now |
| 4 | Me before you by Jojo Moyes | Buy Now |
| 5 | Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte | Buy Now |
| 6 | Atonement by Ian McEwan | Buy Now |
| 7 | Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro | Buy Now |
| 8 | The Song Of Achilles by Madeline Miller | Buy Now |
| 9 | The Book Thief by Markus Zusak | Buy Now |
| 10 | My Sister’s Keeper by Jodi Picoult | Buy Now |
Read every book on this list. I am sure it won’t disappoint you.
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Disclosure: All our recommendations are honest; most importantly, some links in this post are affiliate links (i.e.) we may receive a commission if you click a link and purchase something we recommend.
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