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Original poster

What was the last book you read that really got to your heart?

123 replies

Yourinmyspot · 23/08/2026 11:05

Mine is Project Hail Mary, I didn’t know anything about the story before I read it, just the cover blurb. I really, really enjoyed it and it really tugged at my heart strings. I won’t say anymore about it as I don’t want to give any spoilers away.

OP posts:
NeedToKnow101 · 24/08/2026 20:26

Brokedownpalace · 23/08/2026 23:23

I have just finished "The Last Act of Love". It's a true story and so so very sad, a wonderful tribute to the authors brother.

I was going to say this. It’s so incredibly devastating, but such a wonderful tribute.

NeedToKnow101 · 24/08/2026 20:31

Piknik · 24/08/2026 11:41

Oh also Never Let Me Go. heartbreaking

I cried from about halfway through this, and literally all the way through the film (watched after reading the book).

likeitshard · 24/08/2026 20:33

Next of kin Kia Abdulah it’s heartbreaking
to the end Clare Mackintosh

ShowDownTime · 24/08/2026 23:31

Heart the Lover by Lily King. I cried proper tears towards the end. Utterly moved.

PinkKimonos · 24/08/2026 23:52

ShowDownTime · 24/08/2026 23:31

Heart the Lover by Lily King. I cried proper tears towards the end. Utterly moved.

Did you read her Writers and Lovers, which is both sequel and prequel to it? And even better!

PeacockSpringy · 25/08/2026 07:52

PinkKimonos · 24/08/2026 23:52

Did you read her Writers and Lovers, which is both sequel and prequel to it? And even better!

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I’ve read this. Absolutely loved it! I’ll try a few more of Lily King’s books I think

JoeySchoolOfActing · 25/08/2026 08:13

PinkKimonos · 24/08/2026 23:52

Did you read her Writers and Lovers, which is both sequel and prequel to it? And even better!

Show quote history

Ooh no - thanks for the tip!

Divebar2021 · 25/08/2026 08:13

I have a bit of an issue with storylines about abuse. I question whether some authors have the talent to write without the obvious emotional manipulation. “ Look how serious a writer I am”. Anyway that’s a me issue. The last book that left me devastated was Foster by Claire Keegan and it was way way too short.

outerspacepotato · 25/08/2026 13:18

Philandbill · 24/08/2026 19:08

@outerspacepotato I'm currently reading The Road to Middlemarch: My life with George Eliot by Rebecca Mead. It's a reflection on the book and GE and is very readable.

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I've heard about that and just bought it. It sounds interesting.

PinkKimonos · 25/08/2026 13:42

Divebar2021 · 25/08/2026 08:13

I have a bit of an issue with storylines about abuse. I question whether some authors have the talent to write without the obvious emotional manipulation. “ Look how serious a writer I am”. Anyway that’s a me issue. The last book that left me devastated was Foster by Claire Keegan and it was way way too short.

I don’t disagree. It’s using a horrifying aspect of human experience to add automatic gravitas to any novel, like using the Holocaust as ‘edgy backdrop’ to your vapid love story. A lot of Holocaust survivors have criticised novels that use the concentration and extermination camps as background, and in so doing falsify horrors and make them bearable for the reader. I was abused as a ten year old, and the ethics of how Hana Yanigahara dangles the promise of more of the grotesque details of Jude’s abuse before the reader strikes me as, at best, unethical, as do the lazy generalisations of some Holocaust novels.

toastandegg · 25/08/2026 13:58

The snow child

apapuchi · 25/08/2026 22:12

Songbirds by Christy Lefteri. I read it on holiday last month and was a bit of a mess. The Beekeeper of Aleppo had a similar effect on me years before so not sure why I was surprised ❤️‍🩹

grinandslothit · 25/08/2026 22:14

Both of the robot and monk books

PinkKimonos · 25/08/2026 22:57

grinandslothit · 25/08/2026 22:14

Both of the robot and monk books

I wanted to like them, having enjoyed the Wayfarers series, but I couldn’t get past the utter clunky bizarreness of the sentences that were a natural consequence of Chambers refusing to tell the reader whether Sibling Dex was male or female, eg ‘That was a question they frequently asked themself’, ‘They dusted themself liberally with deodorant powder’, ‘They laughed to themself’. Aargh.

dreamingofgoodhair · 25/08/2026 23:13

EwwSprouts · 23/08/2026 12:32

Before the coffee gets cold. Wasn't sure at first but then made me cry twice.

I love those books.

dreamingofgoodhair · 25/08/2026 23:16

PinkKimonos · 25/08/2026 13:42

I don’t disagree. It’s using a horrifying aspect of human experience to add automatic gravitas to any novel, like using the Holocaust as ‘edgy backdrop’ to your vapid love story. A lot of Holocaust survivors have criticised novels that use the concentration and extermination camps as background, and in so doing falsify horrors and make them bearable for the reader. I was abused as a ten year old, and the ethics of how Hana Yanigahara dangles the promise of more of the grotesque details of Jude’s abuse before the reader strikes me as, at best, unethical, as do the lazy generalisations of some Holocaust novels.

Show quote history

Absolutely agree , The horrible Tattooist of Auschwitz for example. Auschwitz Museum itself has said it’s not accurate and a dangerous portrayal. It’s not something you can write lightly about, not really a subject for fiction.

Bambalama · 25/08/2026 23:31

The Windhover by Lorna Elcock - I was besotted with it and read it twice as fast as most books.

HighHeelsOnCobblestones · 25/08/2026 23:38

My Friends by Fredrik Backman.

loosestrife · 27/08/2026 04:32

Loved and Missed, Susie Boyt

Yapper73 · 27/08/2026 05:25

John of John by Douglas Stuart. Loved it

loveawineloveacrisp · 27/08/2026 06:48

Nesting. Debut by the author, about an abusive marriage. Stayed with me for ages.

IsItTimeToRetireYet · 27/08/2026 14:06

A far-flung life by ML Stedman. Beautifully written and heart-breaking in parts. I'm still thinking about it several weeks later.

Also loved John of John by Douglas Stuart

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