9 Books about Grief, Loss, and other Heavy Topics

As most of you know if you’ve been following for very long, my family suffered a loss near the end of last year and we’ve really struggled to move past that. That loss has really affected my reading preferences because I’ve really been looking for novels that reflect what we’ve been through lately. I haven’t really been able to read just anything, as per usual. So, I thought I’d write up a post about some books I’ve really enjoyed dealing with some of the heavier topics like grief and mental health, but feel free to give me your suggestions if you have them!

How to Make Friends with the Dark – A story about parental loss. This reeeaaaally hit me right in the feels because it was unexpected and so beautifully written. It was one of my absolute favourite books this year!

How it Feels to Float – Also, includes parental loss, but the main character is not quite as bereft as in HTMFWTD. This was also really well done, but doesn’t tackle quite as many topics as the previous. Really worth the read, though!

A Heart in a Body in a World – A book about gun violence and loss. This took me by surprise because I picked it up without reading the synopsis, but it would have been an amazing story either way.

All We Could Have Been – Also a story about loss and dealing with grief and blame, but in no way similar to the books already mentioned. This blew me away because I actually couldn’t figure out what the main character was dealing with, but once the twist is revealed it’s nearly mind-blowing! So good..

My Mother’s Daughter – This book had so much going on start to finish, but was, in essence, a story about how much mother’s are willing to sacrifice and take on to protect their children. It was so poignantly written and tackled a lot of hard themes, such as cancer, parental loss, open relationships, and domestic abuse. I highly recommend this one!

The Truth about Keeping Secrets – Parental loss, again…are you seeing a trend here? This also tapped into things like mental health and domestic violence, so there’s a lot happening in this novel. Brown has done a fantastic job of it, though. Another amazing read!

See All the Stars – I didn’t rate this one highly, but it was a story about dealing with loss and a fatal accident. The topics that were discussed in this were done so well.

Asking for It – As the name hints, it’s a story about rape and how that’s dealt with in a small Irish town. Basically, a girls life is ruined because of the way she portrays herself and the boys being allowed to take advantage. It was a hard read, but also so well written.

The Last to Let Go – A book about murder, loss, and the resilience of children. Sometimes it’s difficult to accept things that happen in your life, but it’s a million times healthier to do so and move forward than to dwell on the past. I really loved this book..

Let me know if you’ve read any of these or have other books you’d recommend to this list! I would love to get my hands on some reads similar to these – especially ones similar to the top two of this list.

Until next time, Wayfarers xx