Bright Side: Books that break you

Sounds strange, but it's true. These books are incredible.
If I Stay and
Where She Went by
Gayle Forman. They are realistic, brutally honest and heartbreakingly beautiful. I somehow missed the
Shuffle article and song lyrics at the end of Where She Went the first time I read it. I read them this time, and cried and cried.
"Happy Birthday"Prepare For Landing, Track 4Another day, another year
To light the candles, without you here
It's still the day that you were born
She says we laugh as we mourn
Nothing, she tells me, is ever really gone
Not you, not me, not him, it all just rolls along
An object never disappears without any trace
In its absence, there still exists a kind of negative space
Fill it up, she says, with love, with song, with candles on a cake
Light the darkness, take my hand, it will all be okay
So happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday, we sing
Then plunge our fingers into cake with neon sweet frosting
Hands slick with sugar icing, we feed each other cake
Like a wedding we'll have someday, the family we create
Nothing, she tells me, is ever really gone
Not you, not me, not them, so long as we carry on
So light a candle, take a breath, blow deep now, blow strong
Because after darkness, there always comes the dawnBut sometimes, that's what you need. A good, cathartic cry. It's what Adam needed. I do not say this lightly, but Adam and Mia are one of my favorite Young Adult couples, in part, because they don't feel like a teenage romance. They feel like real people with fears and doubts as real as any you might have. I highly recommend these books. Just make sure you have a box of tissues handy. And possibly someone to hug. Very tightly.

Like Gayle. Who is a total sweetheart. I adore her. And her
shirt. It sums up her books perfectly. ALL THE FEELS. For reals.
What was your Bright Side today?