Forget March Madness—this year, we’ve decided to try something new: March Sadness. That’s right, folks: this literary bracket is full of the most devastating novels we could think of, all with the goal of choosing the saddest of the sad. These are the books that have broken our hearts in the best and worst ways, the ones that will compel any reader to go on a long, long walk while playing the same depressing songs on loop and contemplating the tragedy of life.
You, dear reader, are going to help us decide which of these books has single-handedly accounted for thousands of dollars in revenue for the Kleenex brand (we assume) thanks to readers blotting their eyes and blowing their noses. Voting starts Monday, March 25 on our Instagram and Twitter (sorry, did we say Twitter? We meant “X”).
Fill out a bracket to predict the winner, then head to our social media channels to vote in the polls. And stay tuned to find out whether your top devastating read takes the win!
Round 1
A Little Life vs. Shuggie Bain
Anna Karenina vs. Madame Bovary
We the Animals vs. On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous
The Bluest Eye vs. The House of Mirth
Earthlings vs. Beautyland
Revolutionary Road vs. Giovanni’s Room
The Bell Jar vs. Normal People
The Nickel Boys vs. Edinburgh
Bridge to Terabithia vs. Where the Red Fern Grows
The Book Thief vs. The Notebook
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close vs. Flowers for Algernon
The Fault in Our Stars vs. The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Kite Runner vs. The Road
All the Light We Cannot See vs. The Song of Achilles
Atonement vs. Never Let Me Go
