Top 5 Wednesday | Books with “Hard” Topics

Hello and welcome back to another Top 5 Wednesday! Top 5 Wednesday was created by Lainey from gingerreadslainey over on YouTube and is now hosted by Sam from Thoughts On Tomes over on YouTube. They’re both great bloggers so be sure to check out their channels! This week’s topic is “Books with “Hard” Topics (ie mental health, sexual assault, illness, etc)”! Due to We Need Diverse Books, there’s a growing number of YA books covering “hard” topics. It’s still not enough, but it’s a start. Here are a few of my favorites along with two I haven’t read but which have been highly praised.

Magonia by Maria Dahvana Headley

This is a fantasy book featuring a protagonist with a life threatening illness. Aza Ray, the main character, talks about death and what it feel like to be chronically ill and to know you’re going to die.

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

This is a more famous one which I’m sure everyone’s heard of. But just in case you haven’t, The Fault in Our Stars is the story of two kids with cancer falling in love.

All The Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

Another fairly popular one. Similar to TFiOS in that it features two teens falling in love, but in this one they’re suicidal. Niven focuses a lot on what it’s like to want to die, but in a sensitive manner.

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

I have yet to read this one, but I really want to. The story focuses on a girl with OCD who’s incredibly popular and has to hide the fact that she has OCD. I’ve heard it a very good portrayal of OCD and from the sample I listened to, that seems to be true.

If I Stay by Gayle Forman

I’ve yet to read this one either, but I have seen the movie and I loved it! If I Stay is the story of a girl in a coma having to choose between whether or not she lives or dies after her family is killed in a tragic accident. It’s about whether or not we can truly live through tragic events that take our will to live away ad I think it’s a pretty good metaphor for depression.