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Books & Comics

Books & Comics
Scrbzy's avatar

I literally just finished the perfect book for this bounty, The Sword of Kaigen.

Written by M.L Wang, SoK is a high fantasy fiction novel that I discovered on booktok. Originally published back in 2019, it gained a surge in popularity late last year when TikTok users started raving about it.

It's a brutal, intense, creative, satisfying, and hard-hitting book that centers around a legendary water-ice power wielding family/community that find themselves on the front lines of a war. It's this particular family dynamic that pulled at my heart strings, I don't want to give too much away but lets just say that it had me in tears on my daily commute.

Cannot reccommend it enough if you're a fantasy fan, it's that good that it's stolen the top spot off The Hobbit as my all time fav.

Philip's avatar

Flying Season of the Misrecorded - Book 4 of the Silo 49 series by Ann Christie. Its a fanfic made in the world of Wool by Hugh Howey.

In the first 3 books of the series you get the main story arc of the Silo Dwellers of Silo 49 and how they manage to break free from the control of Silo 1 and generations later eventually escape from their decrepit silo.

Flying Season of the Misrecorded goes into the past of one of the main characters and covers a tragedy in his youth that serves as his drive that explains his actions in the 3rd book.

I was unprepared for how this particular story yanked on my heart strings. I wouldn't want to spoil it and you do need to read the first 3 novels, because knowing the future actions of the central character make the tragic events so hard hitting. I was crying for multiple pages.

M

The Shadow of the Fox Trilogy by Julie Kagawa, is one of the series of books that had me on the edge of my seat whilst reading it. Inspired by Japanese folklore, the story follows Yumeko (a half kitsune, half human) and Tatsumi (a samurai) as they form an uneasy alliance to retrieve a mystical scroll.

No matter which book I was reading, each chapter kept me engaged whilst pulled on my heartstrings, making me feel happy, sad, excited, fearful, and other similar emotions, whether it was through the character’s interactions with each other, the character development, the action/ fight scenes, the world-building, the plot twists, the heartwarming moments, the sad moments, and the moments that made me laugh.

I don’t want to spoil the series for you, but I highly recommend giving this trilogy a go. These books may make you cry, but you will be grateful that you saw them through to the end.

Makster's avatar

A Little Life by Hanya YanagiharaThis book is a must-read for male readers. A story about 4 college friends and how their paths progress post-college. But it mainly focusses on Jude St. Jude -a physically disabled but incredibly talented lawyer and his very very traumatic past. This book broke me. It's a book that comes with a massive trigger warning but I think accurately describes and makes the reader feel some of the more depressive and psychological issues that can affect those with abusive pasts.

Thankfully I have not suffered from mental health before but this book really puts it into perspective how these things can happen and how it affects our characters. It is truly impressive a female author can capture the authenticity of male bonding and relationships as I really felt the bond and connection these four friends have.

At the end of the novel, I couldn't help but reflect through my tears and thank the friends that I had around me.

A

It had to be the most recent Dragon Ball manga that came out in Japan where I believe Goku or Vegeta were waving "Goodbye", It turned out Akira Toriyama (The Dragon Ball creator) has passed just before this got released and it was himself that did that drawing on the manga book, my childhood HURTS

Stella's avatar

A book that made me SOB was the poetry collection crush by Richard Sikin. His poems are beautifully crafted and are so poignant! It's an exploration of sexuality and masculinity.

This is the 24th stanza in 'you are Jeff' and is the one that made me cry the most.

You’re in a car with a beautiful boy, and he won’t tell you that he loves you, but he loves you. And you feel like you’ve done something terrible, like robbed a liquor store, or swallowed pills, or shoveled yourself a grave in the dirt, and you’re tired. You’re in a car with a beautiful boy, and you’re trying not to tell him that you love him, and you’re trying to choke down the feeling, and you’re trembling, but he reaches over and he touches you, like a prayer for which no words exist, and you feel your heart taking root in your body, like you’ve discovered something you don’t even have a name for.

Sturmer's avatar

The Tower of the Swallow by Andrzej Sapkowski

Original cover from wiki

it's hard to say why without a spoiler. But I was 14 years old and this book triggered quite strong emotions towards Ciri.

EveOnlineTutorials's avatar

My answer is going to have to be marked as a spoiler, as it is the ending of the book "Magicians End" so, if you are not planning to read this book, feel free to click, if you are, please don't, because it will ruin the book for you.

Pug turned to Thomas "Will you feel any pain?" Thomas stopped and smiled "No," he said "Once we start, I will simply close my eyes, let Ashen Sugar take over and I will cease to be, there will be no pain"

Wadd Enderas's avatar

100% agree. The series got me a couple of times, particularly surrounding some of the relationships in the The Riftwar Saga, but the snippet you've outlined above hit hard.

Gaypengwing's avatar

The dancing bear - Michael Morpurgo

Sinclair's avatar

its called A Silent Voice

It raises the themes of bullying, regret, and self-acceptance. Nishimiya (the girl) is deaf and gets bullied by her classmates. its touching story because i do feel that this story is very sad because I was once in Nishimiya's position, bullied for being "different".

This story is very real because many people feel it, especially for people with disabilities who are bullied and ostracized because they are considered unable to "communicate" with "normal", highly recommend reading this manga.

TheGreatestBanana12's avatar

For me it would have to be Anthem of the Heart this manga had such a beautiful story the main character is Jun Naruse and as a young girl she was very talkative but after seeing something she wasn't supposed to she ends up causing a rift in their family she then imagines a fairy egg that curses her by sealing her words so she won't hurt people again.

Lanah Tyra's avatar

Lord of the Rings

All 3 books are absolutely incredible and made me cry on many occasions so I won't list them all because we could be sitting here for days. I think it says a lot about talent when even the Appendix has stories which make you at least sniff. Probably my favourite bit was in The Silmarillion though the story of Beren and Luthien.

AirGaram's avatar

It’s a book that I’ve only read just recently. It’s a Japanese light novel called Brunhild the Dragonslayer.

Note : What I wrote below is based on the synopsis and what I've read.

The synopsis roughly goes like this, a human girl was washed up ashore on an island called “Eden” where a silver dragon acts as a guardian of the island. The island was repeatedly attacked by humans that wanted to claim it. When the dragon found the girl, He decides to take her in and raise her like his own daughter. A decade later the dragon’s life was taken when humans attacked the island. The girl was torn whether to avenge him or to forgive those that killed him, which was due to the teachings of the dragon, if she wanted to be reunited with the dragon, she must not hate others.

The story revolves around the relationship between a father and a daughter, be it biological or adoptive, and the wishes of what a father would want for his daughter.

The ending was a beautiful one for a lack of better word, the regrets, twists. It made me tear up at the end.

Limal's avatar

Hachiko: The True Story of a Loyal Dog by Pamela S. Turner

Its well known story, and I wanna cry even now, while typing this comment

Fras_Shoyo's avatar

Of course! Akame ga Kill! is a Japanese manga series written by Takahiro and illustrated by Tetsuya Tashiro. While it is known for being full of action and blood, it also packs an emotional punch that brings tears to my eyes.

So here are some moments from the manga that have evoked strong emotions: The Tragic Fall of Numa Seika

  • Numa Seika, dubbed as the "Hero of the South", met a brutal end at the hands of Esdeath.

  • Despite his brief appearance, his tragic downfall is very sad, especially considering how he once protected the Northern Tribe successfully before meeting such a grim fate.

Zanku's Sanity Lost:

  • Zanku, an executioner, lost her sanity from killing others.

  • Night Raid was contracted to stop her killing spree, and Akame carried out the merciless murder by slitting her throat.

  • His death was tragic due to the circumstances that caused it, and it gave him peace after a life of madness.

Esdeath’s Death:

  • Despite Esdeath's sadistic reputation, some fans were saddened by her death.

  • Her background and the destruction of her tribe evoked sympathy, even though her fight cost the other Night Raid members their lives.

  • Her complex character adds a layer of emotion to her death

those are all the sadnesses I experienced while reading the manga and watching the Akame Ga Kill anime

MargotCandy's avatar

I forgot to submit to this, but wanted to mention “I kill giants”. I was not expecting to cry but it was an emotional read for me.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6435893

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