Top Ten Books That Broke Your Heart A Little

1. Time Traveller's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger Because the ending is just heartbreaking. When she can't reach him before he disappears... I was distraught. It really is the saddest thing. What's worse is that you don't expect them to meet, but it still seems so cruel when it actually happens.
2. The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery The ending of this threw me into a slump for weeks afterwards since the pure sadness that took over stopped me from enjoying anything. It's an amazing book, it really is, but I hate that that had to be ending. And it was foreshadowed (I realised on second read) which bothered me more.
3. Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins Most people probably know why this is heart breaking, because everything seems so disjointed at the end. I can't put my finger on it, but it just felt like all the joy and everything that was good in the book's world was lost and I just couldn't believe it ended so- to me- hopelessly.
4. The High Lord by Trudi Canavan The ending of this is kind of bitter sweet. Looking back, it made perfect sense and I can't fault it, but it was still so sad. To think that he who one is led to dislike becomes he who is loved and then once again his fate is turned on its head. I'm trying not to give it away, but I think you get the idea.
5. Enchanter's Endgame by David Eddings Not because of the love: because it was the end of the series I loved most! I found out there was a sequel series, plus two prequels, later on; but it killed me at the time to know that I had no more to read of that series. The others were good (especially the prequels) but never like reading those 5 books the first time.
6. To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee Less heartbreaking, more bitter sweet, was how I found the ending and the book in general. There is some heartbreak in the hopelessness of the case, but it is there and it is poignant.
7. The Girl Who Played With Fire by Stieg Larsson Mainly because we find out a lot more about Lisbeth and truly start to understand her situation. This is augmented by the next book (The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest) but realisng how terrible her life is just exemplifies the pity you already feel for her. But pity isn't the right word; since she is more than competent and above pity. Compassion, perhaps. Also, what happens in the end broke my heart in terms of how much had been done for such a small, empty even, gain.
8. The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern How things had to turn out with the Circus, and also the slow coming to this eventuality, just makes you ache with sorrow. It isn't particularly bad in some ways, but how much they gave up moves me into an area I can't express with words. 
9. The Road by Cormac McCarthy They go so far in this novel, and the father remains hopeful no matter what befalls them. He is rock in the story and is amazing though we basically know nothing about him. The ending, then, is all the more tragic because it symbolises so much more than a loss of a person, but the loss of hope and driving force in an otherwise empty and broken world.
10. Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë As most people probably know, this boils down to a book of unrequited love and the things it can do to different people. Despite all the evil things done and the amount of times I wanted to scream out in anger, one is constantly emphatic with Heathcliff. Anyone can understand his motives, so we question whether we might do the same should such a fate befall us. This book, in some ways, is something that just keeps breaking your heart in several places.