Major character death
32 books tagged with this warning.
The Song of Achilles
by Madeline Miller · 2011 · Historical / Mythology / LGBTQ+
A retelling of the Trojan War through Patroclus's eyes, tracing his bond with Achilles and their fated path.
Me Before You
by Jojo Moyes · 2012 · Romance / Contemporary
Lou is hired as carer for paralyzed Will; their bond reshapes both lives.
The Fault in Our Stars
by John Green · 2012 · YA / Romance
Two teens with cancer meet at a support group and fall in love.
The Time Traveler's Wife
by Audrey Niffenegger · 2003 · Romance / Speculative
Henry involuntarily time-travels; Clare waits her whole life for him.
One Day
by David Nicholls · 2009 · Romance / Literary
Em and Dex meet on the same date each year for two decades.
The Hunger Games
by Suzanne Collins · 2008 · YA / Dystopia
Katniss volunteers to take her sister's place in the deadly Games.
They Both Die at the End
by Adam Silvera · 2017 · YA / LGBTQ+
Two teens meet on the last day before their predicted deaths.
We Were Liars
by E. Lockhart · 2014 · YA / Thriller
A wealthy heiress's summer on a private island hides a truth she doesn't remember.
Never Let Me Go
by Kazuo Ishiguro · 2005 · Literary / Dystopia
Boarding school students slowly learn the purpose of their existence.
Verity
by Colleen Hoover · 2018 · Thriller / Romance
Lowen ghostwrites for comatose author Verity and finds a hidden autobiographical manuscript.
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation (Mo Dao Zu Shi)
by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu · 2015 · Danmei / Xianxia / LGBTQ+
Wei Wuxian is reborn 13 years after being driven to his death.
Stars of Chaos (Sha Po Lang)
by Priest · 2015 · Danmei / Steampunk / LGBTQ+
In a steampunk Da Liang empire, a general and a prince fight to save the realm together.
Re:Zero — Starting Life in Another World
by Tappei Nagatsuki · 2014 · Light Novel / Isekai
Subaru is sent to another world where his death resets time.
Your Name
by Makoto Shinkai · 2016 · Light Novel / Fantasy / Romance
A city boy and a country girl swap bodies and try to stop a comet disaster.
The Great Gatsby
by F. Scott Fitzgerald · 1925 · Classic / Literary
Jazz-Age Long Island: Gatsby tries to reclaim Daisy and is pulled into the betrayals around Tom's marriage.
The End of the Affair
by Graham Greene · 1951 · Literary / Postwar British
During the Blitz, novelist Bendrix's affair with his friend's wife Sarah ends abruptly; he investigates why.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being
by Milan Kundera · 1984 · Literary / Philosophical
Around the Prague Spring, surgeon Tomas oscillates between wife Tereza and mistress Sabina against a political backdrop.
Lessons in Chemistry
by Bonnie Garmus · 2022 · Romance / Feminist / 1960s
A 1960s woman chemist pushed out of academia accidentally becomes a TV cooking-show host who teaches housewives via chemistry.
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo
by Taylor Jenkins Reid · 2017 · Romance / LGBTQ+ / Hollywood
A reclusive Hollywood icon picks an unknown journalist to tell the truth about her seven marriages — and the one love of her life.
In Five Years
by Rebecca Serle · 2020 · Romance / Friendship / Magical Realism
On the night of her engagement Dannie has a vivid five-years-later dream — and her real life starts drifting off-script.
If I Stay
by Gayle Forman · 2009 · YA / Contemporary
After a car crash, 17-year-old cellist Mia hovers between life and death, replaying her family and first love.
Looking for Alaska
by John Green · 2005 · YA / Boarding School
Miles transfers to an Alabama boarding school and meets the mercurial Alaska Young.
Scythe
by Neal Shusterman · 2016 · YA / Dystopia
In a post-mortal world, the only sanctioned killers — Scythes — take on two reluctant teen apprentices.
Jade City
by Fonda Lee · 2017 · Fantasy / Urban / Mafia Family
In a city-state where jade grants martial powers, the Kaul family fights a rival clan for control.
Gideon the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir · 2019 · Fantasy / Space Gothic / LGBTQ+
Foul-mouthed swordswoman Gideon is forced to escort her detested necromancer to a gothic space trial.
The Bear and the Nightingale
by Katherine Arden · 2017 · Fantasy / Russian Folklore
Medieval rural Rus'; Vasya can see house-spirits and clashes with the new priest's purifying faith.
Qiang Jin Jiu
by Tang Jiuqing · 2019 · Danmei / Historical Politics / LGBTQ+
A frontier general and a fallen noble use — and shelter — each other through court intrigue.
Dinghai Fusheng Records
by Fei Tian Ye Xiang · 2017 · Danmei / Xuanhuan / LGBTQ+
Late-Song China; demons rise. A young swordsman and an amnesiac demon king set out to subdue them.
Guardian
by Priest · 2012 · Danmei / Urban Fantasy / LGBTQ+
A special-investigations chief and an envoy of the underworld span lifetimes together.
Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World
by Tappei Nagatsuki · 2014 · Light Novel / Isekai / Time Loop
Subaru has 'Return by Death' — every death rewinds him to a checkpoint to try again to save those around him.
Pachinko
by Min Jin Lee · 2017 · Literary / Family Saga
An early-20th-century Korean girl marries into Japan; four generations endure discrimination — an epic saga.
Station Eleven
by Emily St. John Mandel · 2014 · Literary / Post-apocalyptic
Twenty years after a flu pandemic, a traveling Shakespeare troupe wanders a depopulated North America.
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