Guess who changed the topic this week, again? Please, contain your shock. Instead of Unpopular Bookish Opinions I decided to go on a different path entirely with Books That Broke My Heart.

The original topic was something I contemplated for a minute or two before deciding against it. Well, you guys know me. I'm not one for unpopular vs. popular opinions because we all have drastically different tastes. While I enjoy hearing what other's prefer when it comes down to opinions, I don't really care enough about my unpopular opinions--at least not in the sense that I think I want to share them.

So, I decided to take it back a bit. When I first started religiously reading more and more, I had three requirements. They had to be either (1) Shallow, trashy, Gossip Girl-ish books (2) Witches/Wizards and other forms of magic or (3) Lurlene McDaniel levels of emotion.

Since I've already tackled some old favourites from all three categories earlier this year, I decided to go with the more emotional stuff. I think that reading that type of a novel is hit or miss. Sometimes, they feel like after school specials. Other times, they feel like preparations for your life. I've learned a lot from reading such novels about myself and how to deal with certain emotions.

And honestly? A lot of books and music shaped parts of who I am, and how I approach others, and life, and that's so important.

That being said, these are ten of the novels that broke my heart in a good way.


Candle in the Wind was one of the first books I read in class that I really and truly loved. That was a good year for me in terms of reading--we read Candle in the Wind, The Outsiders and Killing Mr. Griffin and in a way each of them were very prominent in me picking up even more books as the year moved forward. Eventually that road led to Lurlene McDaniel, which is why Too Young to Die (and Goodbye Doesn't Mean Forever) is on this list.

For those of you who don't know, the duology that Too Young to Die is the inspiration to my real-life nickname. 


The Hate U Give is such a timely work. It's been two or so years, I think, since I read it. I still think about it often and about how relevant it is in society. This is a book that will truly stand the test of time when it comes to YA contemporaries. I have different feelings towards Hate List nowadays, but I read it so quickly when it came out and it's another one of those novels that linger at the back of my mind.


They Both Die at the End made me feel so many different things in the course of such a small book. It isn't small-small, but with how emotionally charged it is--it felt like a lifetime in a fraction of one. I was blown away with it, really, and it made me cry A LOT more than anticipated. Which is hilarious, because I expected a lot of crying anyways. The same can be said about A Girl Like That, which was very heartbreaking and thought-provoking. I felt a great deal of anger to how the main character was treated.