BE

BE — Bad / Tragic Ending

The Song of Achilles

by Madeline Miller · 2011 · Historical / Mythology / LGBTQ+

BEMajor character deathWar violence

A retelling of the Trojan War through Patroclus's eyes, tracing his bond with Achilles and their fated path.

No Longer Human

by Osamu Dazai · 1948 · Japanese Literature / Literary

BESuicidal ideationSubstance abuse

Three notebooks chronicle one man's self-destruction — Dazai's semi-autobiographical masterpiece.

Me Before You

by Jojo Moyes · 2012 · Romance / Contemporary

BEMain character deathAssisted dying

Lou is hired as carer for paralyzed Will; their bond reshapes both lives.

The Fault in Our Stars

by John Green · 2012 · YA / Romance

BEMain character deathTerminal illness

Two teens with cancer meet at a support group and fall in love.

One Day

by David Nicholls · 2009 · Romance / Literary

BEMain character death

Em and Dex meet on the same date each year for two decades.

They Both Die at the End

by Adam Silvera · 2017 · YA / LGBTQ+

BEMain character deathGrief

Two teens meet on the last day before their predicted deaths.

All the Bright Places

by Jennifer Niven · 2015 · YA / Romance

BESuicideDepression

Two teens meet on a bridge ledge and try to save each other.

Thirteen Reasons Why

by Jay Asher · 2007 · YA / Issue Novel

BESuicideSexual assault

After her suicide, Hannah leaves behind 13 cassette tapes.

We Were Liars

by E. Lockhart · 2014 · YA / Thriller

BEChild deathFire

A wealthy heiress's summer on a private island hides a truth she doesn't remember.

A Little Life

by Hanya Yanagihara · 2015 · Literary / LGBTQ+

BEChild sexual abuseSelf-harm

Four college friends in NYC across decades, centering one man's trauma.

Never Let Me Go

by Kazuo Ishiguro · 2005 · Literary / Dystopia

BEMajor character death

Boarding school students slowly learn the purpose of their existence.

1984

by George Orwell · 1949 · Dystopia / Classic

BETortureAuthoritarian control

Winston tries to resist the Party in a totalitarian state.

Brave New World

by Aldous Huxley · 1932 · Dystopia / Classic

BESuicideAuthoritarian control

A future where chemical control and consumption replace freedom.

The Silent Patient

by Alex Michaelides · 2019 · Thriller / Psychological

BEViolenceSuicide

Painter Alicia goes silent after killing her husband; therapist Theo tries to make her speak.

Madame Bovary

by Gustave Flaubert · 1856 · Classic / Literary

BEInfidelity (protagonist)Cheating

Emma, a country doctor's wife, chases romantic fantasies through two affairs and slides into ruin.

Anna Karenina

by Leo Tolstoy · 1877 · Classic / Literary

BEInfidelity (protagonist)Cheating

Anna leaves her marriage for Count Vronsky as Tolstoy threads in Levin's parallel love story across imperial Russia.

The Great Gatsby

by F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1925 · Classic / Literary

BECheating (multiple)Infidelity

Jazz-Age Long Island: Gatsby tries to reclaim Daisy and is pulled into the betrayals around Tom's marriage.

In Five Years

by Rebecca Serle · 2020 · Romance / Friendship / Magical Realism

BEBest friend deathCancer

On the night of her engagement Dannie has a vivid five-years-later dream — and her real life starts drifting off-script.

The Poppy War

by R. F. Kuang · 2018 · Fantasy / Military / China-inspired

BESexual violenceWar

Orphan Rin enters a military academy, discovers shaman-fire powers, and is consumed by total war.

Gideon the Ninth

by Tamsyn Muir · 2019 · Fantasy / Space Gothic / LGBTQ+

BEMajor character deathGore

Foul-mouthed swordswoman Gideon is forced to escort her detested necromancer to a gothic space trial.

The Couple Next Door

by Shari Lapena · 2016 · Thriller / Domestic

BEInfant abductionMarital abuse

A couple comes home from a dinner party next door to find their baby gone.

Flowers for Algernon

by Daniel Keyes · 1966 · Science Fiction / Literary

BEPet deathAnimal death

Charlie, an intellectually disabled adult, undergoes an experimental intelligence procedure first tested on a lab mouse, Algernon.