Books like Breathless

A devastating, tear-soaked exploration of bodily autonomy and the impossible burdens we place on those we love. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with Breathless.

heartbreaking
heavy
melancholic
tear-jerking

01
No Time to Cry
Lurlene Mcdaniel
A tender, tear-soaked exploration of survivor's guilt and the bittersweet journey of finding purpose after profound loss.
Shares:
- melancholic
- earnest
- compassionate
02
I Want to Live
Lurlene Mcdaniel
A tender and emotionally heavy exploration of a young girl's fight for survival and her poignant appreciation for simply being alive.
Shares:
- earnest
- somber
- compassionate
03
Ways to live forever
Sally Nicholls
A tender, tear-jerking exploration of what it means to truly live when time is running out.
Shares:
- tear-jerking
- earnest
04
Deadline
Chris Crutcher · 2007
A fiercely funny, ticking-clock tearjerker about living a lifetime's worth of rebellion and love in a single year.
Shares:
- earnest
05
Hold Still
Nina LaCour
A tender, aching exploration of the quiet spaces left behind by loss, and the slow, messy art of learning to breathe again.
Shares:
- melancholic
- earnest
- compassionate
06
Second Chance Summer
Morgan Matson
A bittersweet, sun-drenched summer of rekindled love and inevitable goodbyes.
Shares:
- melancholic
- earnest
- anticipatory grief
07
A time for dancing
Davida Wills Hurwin · 1995
An intimate, dual-perspective journey through the heartbreaking intersection of teenage friendship and terminal illness.
Shares:
- heartbreaking
- melancholic
- earnest
- anticipatory grief
08
The truth about forever
Sarah Dessen
A sun-soaked summer of chaotic catering gigs, found family, and learning to let go of the need to be perfect.
Shares:
- earnest
09
Flying solo
Ralph J. Fletcher
An inventive, hour-by-hour exploration of a sixth-grade classroom navigating sudden independence and the heavy, unspoken weight of grief.
Shares:
- earnest
10
By the time you read this, I'll be dead
Julie Anne Peters
A raw, unflinching look into the mind of a girl at the edge of her endurance, anchored by the fragile hope of unexpected human connection.
Shares:
- heavy
- melancholic
- earnest
- unflinching
11
The Summer of the Swans
Betsy Byars · 1970
A quiet, sun-drenched exploration of growing pains and the sudden, sharp realization of what truly matters.
Shares:
- earnest
12
The last time we say goodbye
Cynthia Hand
A raw, deeply intimate exploration of the messy, nonlinear journey through survivor's guilt and profound loss.
Shares:
- heartbreaking
- heavy
- melancholic
- earnest

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