If you're looking for a book that makes you cry, this might be the list. TikTok has increasingly become a platform for sharing the kind of reading experience that sticks with you. This Collection presents popular BookTok selections, with accompanying Study Guides to help you gain an even deeper understanding of the stories you can't put down.
Publication year 2024
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Courage, Emotions/Behavior: Hope, Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Class, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Equality, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger
Tags Fantasy, Romance
Publication year 1813
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Relationships: Marriage
Tags Classic Fiction, Romanticism / Romantic Period, Romance, British Literature, Education, Education, History: World, Historical Fiction
Published anonymously in 1813, Pride and Prejudice is Jane Austen’s most well-known book. A “novel of manners,” which presents a realistic picture of society through the customs and manners of everyday life, Pride and Prejudice offers a glimpse into 19th-century English social hierarchies, as well as women’s roles and the importance of marriage. While Austen’s books were popular during her lifetime, she died before she was acknowledged as their author; when Persuasion was published posthumously, her... Read Pride and Prejudice Summary
Publication year 2023
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Relationships: Family, Self Discovery, Relationships: Teams, Identity: Sexuality
Tags Romance, Sports, LGBTQ, Love / Sexuality, Modern Classic Fiction
Publication year 2020
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice
Tags Fantasy, Romance, LGBTQ
Publication year 2021
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death, Relationships: Daughters & Sons, Relationships: Fathers, Society: Politics & Government, Society: War, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal
Tags Fantasy, Action / Adventure
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Natural World: Appearance & Reality, Emotions/Behavior: Conflict, Life/Time: Coming of Age
Tags Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Romance, Science / Nature
Red Queen by Victoria Aveyard (Harper Teen, 2015) is the first book in the Red Queen series, which follows one girl’s battle to bring equality to her people in a dystopian fantasy world where the power hungry Silvers oppress the lower Red class. The book won the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Debut Goodreads Author and was nominated for the 2015 Goodreads Choice Award for Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction. New York Times bestselling... Read Red Queen Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love
Tags LGBTQ, Romance, Modern Classic Fiction
Red, White & Royal Blue is the debut novel of author Casey McQuiston. When first published in May of 2019, it created an immediate sensation and rose to the top of the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists and earned awards from NPR, Kirkus, Library Journal, and others.Red, White & Royal Blue is the story of a gay romance between FSOTUS (First Son of the United States) Alex Claremont-Diaz and Prince Henry, a... Read Red, White, and Royal Blue Summary
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Memory, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Historical Fiction, WWII / World War II, Military / War, History: World, Romance, Action / Adventure
Salt to the Sea is a historical young adult novel written by Ruta Sepetys and published in 2016. Sepetys is known for similar young adult historical fiction works, such as I Must Betray You (2022) and Between Shades of Gray (2011). Set during World War II, Salt to the Sea is a coming-of-age story that follows four protagonists as they make and resist the journey to adulthood in a world characterized by war and trauma... Read Salt to the Sea Summary
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Family, Relationships: Friendship
Tags Education, Education, Modern Classic Fiction, Romance, Sports, New Adult
Publication year 2022
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Emotions/Behavior: Revenge, Relationships: Family, Society: Politics & Government, Values/Ideas: Justice & Injustice, Values/Ideas: Loyalty & Betrayal, Values/Ideas: Truth & Lies
Tags Fairy Tale / Folklore, Fantasy, Romance, New Adult, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Historical Fiction
Publication year 2016
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Action / Adventure, Fantasy, Grief / Death, Romance
Neal Shusterman’s 2016 YA science fiction novel Scythe tells the story of two teenagers in the dystopian future who live in a world where death has been defeated. Weighty existential and philosophical questions abound in this first entry of the Arc of the Scythe Series, which has been highly praised for its insight and readability. The second book, Thunderhead, was released in 2018, and 2019’s The Toll completed the trilogy. This first installment explores themes... Read Scythe Summary
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Relationships: Friendship, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality
Tags Romance, Fantasy, Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Religion / Spirituality
Publication year 2012
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed
Tags Fantasy, Magical Realism, Action / Adventure, Middle Eastern Literature, Romance, Religion / Spirituality
Shadow and Bone (2012) by Leigh Bardugo is a young adult fantasy adventure and romance novel. It is Bardugo’s debut novel and the first book in her Shadow and Bone trilogy, also called the Grisha trilogy. Inspired by 19th-century Tsarist Russia, Bardugo creates a darkly magical world characterized by strange armies, extreme wealth and poverty, and personifications of light and shadow. The novel was a New York Times best seller, a Los Angeles Times best... Read Shadow and Bone Summary
Publication year 2006
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Depression / Suicide, Horror / Thriller / Suspense Fiction, Mystery / Crime Fiction, Modern Classic Fiction
Gillian Flynn’s Sharp Objects tells the story of Camille, a crime reporter living in Chicago. After a little girl goes missing in Camille’s hometown of Wind Gap, Missouri, Camille’s boss talks her into going home to report on the disappearance. Although she is reluctant to revisit her hometown, a place she hasn’t seen in over ten years, she is eager to please her boss and gives in to his pleas. Most the novel takes place... Read Sharp Objects Summary
Publication year 2011
Genre Novel, Fiction
Tags Science-Fiction / Dystopian Fiction, Romance, Religion / Spirituality
Shatter Me is a young adult dystopian novel by Tahereh Mafi. The book was first published in 2011, and soon afterward, 20th Century Fox bought the rights for a film adaptation. Exploring the themes of The Impact of Physical and Emotional Isolation, The Importance of Resisting Tyranny, and Embracing Hope as a Form of Defiance, the novel has become a bestseller in young adult fiction. It is followed by two other books, Unravel Me and... Read Shatter Me Summary
Publication year 2013
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Determination / Perseverance, Values/Ideas: Power & Greed, Values/Ideas: Win & Lose, Values/Ideas: Safety & Danger, Values/Ideas: Religion & Spirituality, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Society: War, Self Discovery, Natural World: Animals, Emotions/Behavior: Loneliness
Tags Fantasy, Action / Adventure, Addiction / Substance Abuse, Leadership/Organization/Management, Love / Sexuality, Military / War, Politics / Government, Trauma / Abuse / Violence, Religion / Spirituality, Romance
Publication year 2015
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Revenge
Tags Fantasy, LGBTQ, Action / Adventure
Published in 2015, Leigh Bardugo’s young adult fantasy novel Six of Crows, the first in a two-part series, received starred reviews in Publishers Weekly, VOYA, and Kirkus Reviews. A fantasy heist story, the novel shifts between the alternating points of view of five teenagers who team up to pull off the ultimate prison break.Six of Crows begins in Ketterdam, an invented version of 17th-century Amsterdam, and the novel’s main characters hail from the seedy criminal... Read Six of Crows Summary
Publication year 2013
Genre Autobiography / Memoir, Nonfiction
Themes Life/Time: Coming of Age, Emotions/Behavior: Grief, Life/Time: Mortality & Death
Tags Science / Nature, Humor, Grief / Death, Biography
Publication year 2019
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Love, Life/Time: Coming of Age, Relationships: Friendship, Society: Community, Values/Ideas: Good & Evil, Self Discovery, Emotions/Behavior: Courage
Tags Fantasy, Romance
Publication year 2018
Genre Novel, Fiction
Themes Emotions/Behavior: Shame & Pride, Values/Ideas: Beauty
Tags Fantasy, Romance, Fairy Tale / Folklore
Published in 2018 by Nebula Award-winning author Naomi Novik, Spinning Tales is a modern take on coming-of-age fairy tales. The novel explores the dangers of pride and the complexity of responsibility set in a Slavic fantasy world made of the familiar and the fantastic alike. While the story centers around Miryem Mandelstam, other character perspectives demonstrate the quintessentially human experiences of life—frustration, longing, confusion, and growing up.Plot SummaryThe teenage Miryem finds herself in a do-or-die... Read Spinning Silver Summary