Okay? Okay. TFIOS fans will agree that just these two words were enough to shatter our hearts. From the moment we met Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters, The Fault in Our Stars became more than just a story. It was an unforgettable romance that brought in a rollercoaster of emotions that left us sobbing, questioning fate, rooting for love, and wondering about the meaning of life.
If you’ve been chasing a similar heartache, you are at the right place. We have collected the most emotional books like The Fault in Our Stars that hit the same nerve. These novels explore loss, hope, and the beauty of loving deeply even when it hurts. Get ready to sob in your pillow, because each of these stories promises an emotional journey you won’t soon forget.
Heart-Wrenching Books Where Love And Illness Collide
Illness narratives are a common trope in literature. However, only a few have managed to portray them with the depth, sensitivity, and emotional honesty that truly resonates with readers. Let’s take a look at some of the books to read after The Fault in Our Stars that are sure to have an emotional impact on you.
1. Bright Side by Kim Holden
Key Themes & Tropes:
- College setting with found-family friendships
- Slow-burn romance rooted in emotional connection
- Terminal illness
Kate is living her life to the fullest and she is an optimistic person. She forms a deep connection with Keller Banks and soon their friendship turns into endless flirts and eventually.
Sadly, there’s a devastating truth about Kate’s health. She has cancer. The novel explores love, friendship, and loss. If you liked The Fault in Our Stars, you are going to love Bright Side too.
2. A Walk to Remember by Nicholas Sparks
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Small-town, first-love romance
- Personal growth and redemption
- Terminal illness storyline
- First love
One among the best classic emotional books of all time, A Walk to Remember, is quite a heartbreaking one. It’s a small-town romance novel that follows Landon Carter, a popular and directionless teenager whose life changes after he is forced to participate in a school play.
He meets Jamie Sullivan there whom he falls in love with. Jamie’s illness devastates him and transforms his understanding of love, life, and faith.
3. They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera
Key Themes & Tropes:
- High-concept, speculative setting
- Strangers to lovers trope
- Love and friendship formed under time pressure
- Exploring mortality and fear
They Both Die at the End is one of my favorite Adam Silvera books. It has a unique storyline. The characters live in a world where Death-Cast alerts people on the day they are going to die.
The protagonists, Mateo Torrez and Rufus Emeterio, also receive the same devastating call. They start off as strangers but as they spend their last hours together, an unexpected bond forms.
4. Love Story by Erich Segal
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Rich boy, poor girl romance
- Lethal love
- Class difference and societal expectations
If you are a romance book lover, you must have heard of Love Story by Erich Segal. I heard about this book from a fellow reader who said, “It’s one of the books that made me cry and sob like a baby.” And I love sad books so I gave it a shot and I am glad I did.
It’s about a wealthy Harvard student falling in love with a music student from a working-class background. Despite their differences, the two fall deeply in love and build a life together. Unfortunately, their happiness is cut short when Jenny is diagnosed with a terminal illness.
5. Full Tilt by Emma Scott
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Moral dilemmas
- Fast-paced romance
- Character-driven
- Music and art
- Poetic and lyrical storytelling
Jonah Fletcher has only a few months to live. He is a musician who meets Kacey Dawson, a free-spirited woman who is determined to live life on her own terms. They meet at a carnival and develop an intense and transformative connection.
Soon their love deepens and the truth comes out. Their whirlwind romance is disrupting and they must face reality. Many people have compared this book with A Star is Born, starring Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga.
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Emotional Books About Grief And Loss
Grief and loss have a way of reshaping everything we thought we knew about love and life. These emotional books portray the pain of losing someone, the silence that follows, and the slow journey toward healing. Each book offers comfort, heartbreak, and moments of quiet hope.
6. A Monster Calls by Patrick Ness
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Having uncomfortable truths
- Anticipating death
- Magical realism
Patrick Ness is one among the authors like John Green who can write awe-inspiring sentences and intriguing plots. In A Monster Calls, 13-year-old Conor O’Malley is struggling to cope with his mother’s disease.
He is overwhelmed and shockingly, a monster begins to visit him at night. This monster helps Conor face his deepest fear, which is losing his mother. It’s a terrific YA novel that beautifully captures grief from a child’s perspective.
7. The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Sudden death and mourning
- Marriage and identity
- Lyrical and reflective
- Difficult health circumstances
If you love reading memories and tragic stories, then pick up The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion. She narrates what she went through after the sudden demise of her husband, John Gregory Dunne. This isn’t it.
While she is recovering from her husband’s death, she is also taking care of her daughter who is severely ill. In her novel, Didion examines grief, denial, and the fragile logic human minds create to survive and cope with loss.
8. The Dark Interval by Rainer Maria Rilke
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Philosophical introspection
- Healing through art
- Emotional growth
Raina Maria Rile is a phenomenal writer who is famous for his novel, Letters to a Young Poet. But honestly, I liked The Dark Interval better. It is a contemplative collection of prose and letters where the author reflects on solitude, love, creativity, and loss.
He doesn’t address grief directly. Instead, he explores the emotional spaces between pain and understanding. The best part about this book is that it offers gentle, philosophical insights into enduring sorrow and transformation.
9. Notes on Grief by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Raw and unfiltered grief
- Personal memoir
- Anger and disbelief
The loss of a parent is inevitable and that’s exactly what Notes on Grief is about. Written after the death of her father, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie explores loss and documents the disorientation a person goes through after a tragedy.
The author doesn’t fall for platitudes and false comfort, instead she honors the ongoing nature of loss and the way love strives even in absence of the person. Millennials and young adults will love this book for its authenticity and rawness.
10. The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Grief shown from multiple perspectives within the family
- Blending the element of supernatural
- Life after losing a family member
Narrated from the perspective of a dead 14-year-old Susie, The Lovely Bones perfectly depicts the lives of those who are struggling to survive after losing a loved one. She is watching her loved ones from the afterlife.
As Susie observes their grief unfold, the novel explores how loss fractures and then slowly reshapes the lives of those left behind. The story is about mourning and healing at the same time.
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Tragic Stories About Learning To Let Go
The Fault in Our Stars is more than just a sad story. It prepares Hazel to live a life without Gus. Similarly, the books focus on the moments when holding on becomes impossible, but that’s the thing that needs to be done. They explore surrender, closure, and the quiet courage it takes to let go.
11. One Day by David Nicholls
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Missed opportunities and regret
- Tragic loss and emotional realism
- Friends to lovers
- Slow-burn romance
If you want to read books that have an emotional impact, then pick up One Day and go for it. It’s not as devastating as other books but it’s bittersweet. The novel is about Emma Morley and Dexter Mayhew who we see over the course of twenty years. They revisit their lives on the same date each year.
The novel shifts between friendship and love, timing, missed chances, and emotional distance that keeps them apart. It’s a classic book among romance book lovers. But what I liked the most about One Day is that the characters don’t always make the right choices.
12. The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Sisterhood
- Historical fiction
- World War II
- Sacrifice, survival, and love
Kristin Hannah brings quiet, everyday courage in her book, The Nightingale. It is set in the Nazi-occupied France during World War II. Through love, sacrifice, and unimaginable loss, the novel explores the strength it takes to endure.
And most importantly, the book teaches its readers the painful necessity of letting go. If you want to read a heartbreaking story, then this is the one to go for. The protagonist’s journey will leave you teary-eyed.
13. Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Moral questions about humanity
- Memory, nostalgia, and regret
- Dystopian tragedy
If there’s one book with a sad ending that you need to read, involving acceptance of your fate, it should be this one. Never Let Me Go is about three students at an English boarding school. Kathy, Ruth, and Tommy.
However, they slowly understand that it’s not a boarding school and the dark truth about their purpose in the world. As they grow up and drift apart, the novel becomes a heart-wrenching meditation on love, fate, and acceptance.
14. Still Alice by Lisa Genova
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Family dynamics
- Psychological grief
- Fear of losing yourself
Still Alice is one of those rare books that’s written with utmost compassion. Alice Howland is an accomplished professor at Harvard who is diagnosed with early-onset Alzheimer’s. Her world unravels when she finds out about her illness.
As her memories fade, the novel offers an intimate look at identity and family. It’s not about letting go of someone else in this book. It narrates the painful process of letting go of the self she once knew.
15. The Time Traveler’s Wife by Audrey Niffenegger
Key Themes & Tropes:
- Nonlinear storytelling
- Time travel romance
- Long-term relationship
The Time Traveler’s Wife has a huge fan base and I am most definitely a part of it. Published in 2003, it’s a heartbreaking YA novel. The story is narrated in a non-linear way with Clare Abshire and Henry DeTamble, a man with a genetic disorder that causes him to time travel unpredictably.
We see them grow old but with an ache of loving someone you can’t always hold onto. The best part about this book is that it shows time travel as a metaphor for absence and waiting. Go ahead and pick this one if you want to read books like The Fault in Our Stars.
Conclusion
Books like The Fault in Our Stars and authors like John Green deliver stories that take a place in our heart forever. Stories where love arrives knowing it will leave, where loss is inevitable, and where letting go becomes an act of courage. These are not your cute romcoms but they are sad romance books that show grief in a realistic yet haunting way. Grief is inevitable. Unavoidable. Lastly, the novels are heartbreaking yet they provide healing.
FAQs
1. What books will make me cry like The Fault in Our Stars?
Books like Me Before You, A Monster Calls, Five Feet Apart, They Both Die at the End, and Looking for Alaska have the same emotional depth and heartbreak.
2. Which YA books are most similar to TFIOS?
Five Feet Apart and Before I Die are a couple of books that are most similar to TFIOS.
3. Are there more books by John Green like TFIOS?
Yes, there are some other books by the author of The Fault in Our Stars that have a similar plot line. You can check out Looking for Alaska and Paper Towns.
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