Books like 'The Quiet You Carry'
Readers who enjoyed The Quiet You Carry by Nikki Barthelmess also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary psychological realistic family dark drama coming-of-age high-school friendship female-mc
-
Ruby Finds a Worry by Tom Percival
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsA sensitive and reassuring story about what to do when a worry won't leave you alone. Meet Ruby—a happy, curious, imaginative girl. But one day, she finds something unexpected: a Worry. It's not such a big Worry, at first. But every day, it grows a little bigger... And a little bigger... Until eventually, the Worry is ENORMOUS and is all she can think about... -
Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey, Tom Kitt
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"A brave and breathtaking musical... -
An Unusual Boy by Fiona Higgins
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsMeet Jackson - a very unusual boy in a world that prefers 'normal'...Julia Curtis is a busy mother of three, with a husband often away for work, an ever-present mother-in-law, a career, and a house that needs doing up. Her fourteen-year-old daughter, Milla, has fallen in love for the first time, and her youngest, Ruby, is a nine-year-old fashionista who can out-negotiate anyone... -
The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt's been three months since The Night on the Bathroom Floor--when Lily found her older sister Alice hurting herself. Ever since then, Lily has been desperately trying to keep things together, for herself and for her family. But now Alice is coming home from her treatment program and it is becoming harder for Lily to ignore all of the feelings she's been trying to outrun...Categorized as:
realistic family friendship coming-of-age high-school romance mental-illness young-adult -
-
The Only Alien on the Planet by Kristen D. Randle
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsNew town, new school, new friends. It was difficult for Ginny at first, but her senior year is finally starting to feel kind of normal. That is, until she sees him—the beautiful mystery in her English class. He has never spoken a word to anyone. He moves through each day at school without making eye contact. His name is Smitty Tibbs, but everyone calls him the Alien... -
The Weight of Zero by Karen Fortunati
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSeventeen-year-old Catherine Pulaski knows Zero is coming for her. Zero, the devastating depression born of Catherine’s bipolar disorder, almost triumphed once; that was her first suicide attempt.Being bipolar is forever. It never goes away. The med du jour might work right now, but Zero will be back for her. It’s only a matter of time... -
Small Spaces by Sarah Epstein
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWe don’t pick and choose what to be afraid of. Our fears pick us.Tash Carmody has been traumatised since childhood, when she witnessed her gruesome imaginary friend Sparrow lure young Mallory Fisher away from a carnival. At the time nobody believed Tash, and she has since come to accept that Sparrow wasn’t real. Now fifteen and mute, Mallory’s never spoken about the week she went missing... -
How to Disappear by Sharon Huss Roat
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsVicky Decker has perfected the art of hiding in plain sight, quietly navigating the halls of her high school undetected except by her best (and only) friend, Jenna. But when Jenna moves away, Vicky’s isolation becomes unbearable.So she decides to invent a social life by Photoshopping herself into other people’s pictures, posting them on Instagram under the screen name Vicurious... -
No Child of Mine by Susan Lewis
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsFrom internationally bestselling British author Susan Lewis comes an unflinching, thoroughly suspenseful novel—perfect for readers of Jodi Picoult—about the darkest secrets a family can hide. Alex Lake’s life is centered on helping people. Her job as a social worker in a British seaside town is more than a career: It’s the very essence of who she is... -
Where The Story Starts by Imogen Clark
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA strange encounter. An unlikely friendship. But will it survive when they both know the truth?As single mother Leah struggles to get her children ready one morning, the doorbell rings. Standing on the doorstep of their terraced house in Whitley Bay is a well-dressed stranger, Clio, who feels an emotional tie to the house that she can’t explain... -
Christina by Leanne Davis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy entire life I’ve lived with shadows lurking behind what otherwise appears like the perfect family. My mother often disappears into her bedroom for days at a time because her life becomes too much to deal with. I never understood it. I know there are family secrets. I hear the whispers and innuendos. But no one wants me to know the truth. The thing is: I’m not a little girl anymore... -
Stronger Than You Know by Jolene Perry
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsAfter police intervention, fifteen-year-old Joy has finally escaped the trailer where she once lived with her mother and survived years of confinement and abuse. Now living with her aunt, uncle, and cousins in a comfortable house, she’s sure she’ll never belong. Wracked by panic attacks, afraid to talk to anyone at her new school, Joy’s got a whole list of reasons why she’s crazy... -
The Shadow Between Us by Carol Mason
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhat is it about the coast that attracts people running from their past? Maybe there’s something in a sea breeze that blows away your problems. Maybe when you look out at the ocean you can see the future; forget the secrets and pain holding you back. Or at least you can forget them for a time. When Olivia moves to Port Townsend, her marriage is floundering, and her life is in pieces... -
My Name Is by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsKit Mason is a brittle ex-prostitue trying to outrun a past of abuse and cruelty. Frances Thornton is a lawyer from a privileged background shrouded in secrets. Alcohol could be their destruction. My Name Is follows the unlikely friendship between two very different women fighting their addiction to alcohol... -
-
A Life Worth Living by Louise Guy
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsAre some white lies simply too big to forgive?Eve and Leah are identical twins—but beyond that, they’re polar opposites. Struggling journalist Leah envies Eve’s seemingly perfect life—the loyal husband, the beautiful twin daughters, the stellar career—little knowing that what Eve longs for most is Leah’s independence... -
Letting Ana Go by Anonymous
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsIn the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Lucy in the Sky, a harrowing account of anorexia and addiction.She was a good girl from a good family, with everything she could want or need. But below the surface, she felt like she could never be good enough. Like she could never live up to the expectations that surrounded her. Like she couldn’t do anything to make a change... -
How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 25 ratingsHere is what happens when your mother dies.It’s the brightest day of summer and it’s dark outside. It’s dark in your house, dark in your room, and dark in your heart. You feel like the darkness is going to split you apart.That’s how it feels for Tiger. It’s always been Tiger and her mother against the world. Then, on a day like any other, Tiger’s mother dies. And now it’s Tiger, alone... -
The Last Time We Say Goodbye by Cynthia Hand
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsThere's death all around us.We just don't pay attention.Until we do.The last time Lex was happy, it was before. When she had a family that was whole. A boyfriend she loved. Friends who didn't look at her like she might break down at any moment.Now she's just the girl whose brother killed himself. And it feels like that's all she'll ever be... -
The Rise by Shari King, Shari Low
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWhen we bury our secrets, they always come back to haunt us...Their rise was meteoric.Only a few years before, they had been three friends from Glasgow, just trying to survive tough lives of danger and dysfunction.But on one Hollywood evening in 1993, they were on the world’s biggest stage, accepting their Oscar in front of the watching world.That night was the beginning of their careers... -
Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNo matter how many times Kyle rewrites the scene, he can't get it right. He tries it in the style of Hitchcock, Tarantino, Eastwood, all of his favorite directors—but regardless of the style, he can't remember what happened that day in the shed. The day Jason died... -
Dear Mother by Angela Marsons
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA story about three sisters brought together by the death of their cruel and abusive mother. Alex, the youngest, is a bitter, unforgiving woman who refuses to face the events of her childhood. She hides in a bottle and destroys any chance of happiness that comes her way. Her life is spiralling dangerously out of control but she doesn't have the strength to stop it... -
What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 19 ratingsA searing yet ultimately uplifting young adult novel about a teenage girl's recovery from anorexia.Sixteen-year-old Elizabeth has honed a dangerous skill: starving herself. Even when her parents send her to a treatment center, she can't stop. Then she begins receiving packages from someone she doesn't know... -
Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 22 ratingsNorah has agoraphobia and OCD. When groceries are left on the porch, she can't step out to get them. Struggling to snag the bags with a stick, she meets Luke. He's sweet and funny, and he just caught her fishing for groceries. Because of course he did. Norah can't leave the house, but can she let someone in? As their friendship grows deeper, Norah realizes Luke deserves a normal girl... -
Made You Up by Francesca Zappia
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 28 ratingsReality, it turns out, is often not what you perceive it to be—sometimes, there really is someone out to get you. Made You Up tells the story of Alex, a high school senior unable to tell the difference between real life and delusion. Alex fights a daily battle to figure out the difference between reality and delusion... -
-
Bad Romance by Heather Demetrios
Rated: 4.03 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA heart-wrenching novel about a sixteen-year-old girl trapped in an abusive relationship—and the path she takes to freedom and happiness, from award-winning author Heather Demetrios.“Like Speak, it is one of those rare books that can have a real, lasting impact on readers, and can start important conversations.” —Adi Alsaid, author of Let’s Get Lost and Never Always SometimesGrace wants out... -
Lucy in the Sky by Anonymous
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsA riveting first-person tale of addiction, in the tradition of Go Ask Alice and Jay’s Journal.The author of this diary began journaling on her sixteenth birthday. She lived in an upper middle class neighborhood in Santa Monica with her mom, dad, and Berkeley-bound older brother. She was a good girl, living a good life...but one party changed everything... -
Faultlines by Barbara Taylor Sissel
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIt’s the phone call every parent dreads: in the middle of the night, Sandy Cline learns that her twenty-year-old son, Jordan, has been in a car accident. Her nephew, Travis, was also in the car, along with Travis’s girlfriend. All three are alive—but barely. The car was smashed against a tree along a remote and winding road, beautiful but deadly, in their rural Texas Hill Country town... -
Crazy by Han Nolan
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 17 ratingsFifteen-year-old Jason has fallen upon bad times—his mother has died and his father has succumbed to mental illness. As he tries to hold his crazy father and their crumbling home together, Jason relies on a host of imaginary friends for guidance as he stumbles along trying not to draw attention to his father’s deteriorating condition... -
Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor readers of Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s "Secret Daughter" and Nancy Richler’s "The Imposter Bride", a breathtaking novel from Anita Kushwaha about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apartVeena, Mala and Nandini are three very different women with something in common...Categorized as:
realistic family coming-of-age female-mc fiction contemporary literary-fiction audiobook -
Rape Girl by Alina Klein
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsValerie always wanted to be the smart girl. The pretty girl. The popular girl.But not the rape girl.That’s who she is now. Rape Girl. Because everyone seems to think they know the truth about what happened with Adam that day, and they don’t think Valerie’s telling it.Before, she had a best friend, a crush, and a close-knit family... -
The Art of Insanity by Christine Webb
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsHigh schooler Natalie Cordova has just been diagnosed with Bipolar disorder. Her mom insists she keep it secret.Putting up a front and hiding her mental illness from her classmates is going to be the hardest thing high schooler Natalie Cordova has ever done. It’s her senior year, and she’s just been selected to present her artwork at a prestigious show...Categorized as:
realistic high-school coming-of-age drama romance mental-illness young-adult contemporary -
The Other Half of Me by Katherine Slee
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsShe ran from her past, abandoned her dreams. But is it too late to start again?Since the death of her big sister, Beth has felt lost, a shadow of her former self...Categorized as:
family female-mc friendship coming-of-age fiction contemporary audiobook young-adult -
The Horse Dancer by Jojo Moyes
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsFrom the New York Times bestselling author of The Giver of Stars, a novel about a lost girl and her horse, the enduring strength of friendship, and how even the smallest choices can change everythingWhen Sarah's grandfather gives her a beautiful horse named Boo--hoping that one day she'll follow in his footsteps to join an elite French riding school, away from their gritty London... -
The Odds of Loving Grover Cleveland by Rebekah Crane
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAccording to sixteen-year-old Zander Osborne, nowhere is an actual place—and she’s just fine there. But her parents insist that she get out of her head—and her home state—and attend Camp Padua, a summer camp for at-risk teens.Zander does not fit in—or so she thinks. She has only one word for her fellow campers: crazy... -
-
A Quiet Kind of Thunder by Sara Barnard
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsA girl who can’t speak and a boy who can’t hear go on a journey of self-discovery and find support with each other in this gripping, emotionally resonant novel from bestselling author Sara Barnard. Perfect for fans of Morgan Matson and Jandy Nelson.Steffi doesn’t talk, but she has so much to say. Rhys can’t hear, but he can listen. Steffi has been a selective mute for most of her life... -
What Happens Next by Colleen Clayton
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsHow can you talk about something you can’t remember?Before the ski trip, sixteen-year-old Cassidy “Sid” Murphy was a cheerleader (at the bottom of the pyramid, but still...), a straight-A student, and a member of a solid trio of best friends... -
Journey by Danielle Steel
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsEveryone knows Madeleine and Jack Hunter. Maddy is an award-winning TV anchorwoman. Jack is the head of her network. To the world, theirs is a storybook marriage. But behind the doors of their lush Georgetown home a different story emerges. Maddy has always tried to deny Jack's subtle put-downs, control, and jealousy... -
Skinny by Donna Cooner
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFind your voice. Hopeless. Freak. Elephant. Pitiful. These are the words of Skinny, the vicious voice that lives inside fifteen-year-old Ever Davies’s head. Skinny tells Ever all the dark thoughts her classmates have about her. Ever knows she weighs over three hundred pounds, knows she’ll probably never be loved, and Skinny makes sure she never forgets it... -
The Forgotten Ones by Steena Holmes
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA spellbinding novel about an unspeakable secret that could destroy a family, from the New York Times bestselling author of Finding Emma. Elle is a survivor. She’s managed to piece together a solid life from a childhood of broken memories and fairy tales her mom told her to explain away bad dreams. But weekly visits to her mother still fill Elle with a paralyzing fear she can’t explain... -
Loyalties by Delphine de Vigan
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsFrom the bestselling French novelist. Adults are as lost as the children they should be protecting, in this compelling exploration of the destructive secrets and loyalties that are kept behind closed doors Thirteen-year-old Théo and his friend Mathis secretly drink on an almost daily basis... -
52赫茲的鯨魚們 by Sonoko Machida, 町田苑香
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings52赫茲的鯨魚,是世界上最孤獨的鯨魚。其他鯨魚無法接收到牠發出的高頻率叫聲。雖然有很多同伴,但其他同伴聽不到牠的呼喚,牠也聽不到其他同伴的聲音。就像總是無比孤單、無人理解,無人在乎的我一樣⋯⋯ 沒有人能理解、無法將內心呼喊、求救傳達出去的你,並不孤單。「我會傾聽你那無法傳達給任何人的52赫茲的聲音。」 日本九州一處偏遠的海邊小鎮。斷絕所有一切,獨自移居此地的貴瑚,在某個下雨天遇到了跟自己一樣散發孤單感的一名少年。 他身上有和我相同的氣味。那是沒有父母關愛的孤獨氣味。這種氣味很棘手,無論再怎麼仔細清洗都洗不掉。孤獨的氣味不是滲進皮膚或是肌肉,而是滲進內心。 她彷彿從少年身上看見當年的自己──悲慘、絕望、被踐踏、了無生趣。當時的貴瑚遇見了這世上唯一能聽到她求救呼喊的人,她才得以倖存。如今,貴瑚想要對少年伸出援手……... -
Your Voice Is All I Hear by Leah Scheier
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 13 ratingsI was the one he trusted. I was the one he loved, the only one who believed him, even when his own mother had locked him up and thrown away the key.And now, I was going to pass down the white tiled hallway, knock on his doctor’s office door, slam his secret notebook on her desk and make her read it, make her understand what he was hiding, make her see what only I had seen... -
Secret Whispers by V.C. Andrews
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThere's no place like home...On the eve of her graduation from an exclusive private school, shy wallflower Semantha Heavenstone is caught in a whirl of scandal and betrayal. Now, she's returned to the grand Kentucky mansion where painful memories of her mother and her older sister, Cassie, are as potent as newly mown bluegrass... -
On Little Wings by Regina Sirois
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis is a story of the countless ways we get love wrong. And why, despite every disappointment, we keep fighting to get it right. Jennifer must do the impossible – bring her mother home. When a family is torn apart by death, two sisters take violently divergent paths and the story of their family appears to end terribly and abruptly... -
-
Red Tears by Joanna Kenrick
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsEmily Bowyer is a normal, confident teenager. But beneath the surface she has a wretched secret. Because, for Emily, life isn't as much fun as it would appear. Her friends are going off her and her parents only seem to care about her troubled brother...Categorized as:
realistic drama high-school coming-of-age young-adult mental-illness contemporary fiction -
On the Spectrum by Jennifer Gold
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsGrowing up in the shadow of a famous mother, Clara has never felt good about her body. Now, at sixteen, she has an unhealthy obsession with healthy eating. After a social media disaster, she decides to escape for the summer to Paris to stay with her estranged dad and her six-year-old brother, Alastair, who is on the autism spectrum...Categorized as:
family realistic friendship coming-of-age romance young-adult contemporary mental-illness -
Someone Else's Child by Kylie Orr
Rated: 3.88 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA gripping contemporary novel from a magnificent new talent that tackles the almost unbreakable loyalty of female friendships, the generosity of community and the lengths we will go to save a child.Ren will do anything for her best friend, Anna... -
The Sound of Us by Sarah Willis
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAlice Marlowe accepts her life the way it is. She's single, in her late forties. She lives with a cat named Sampson, and has imaginary conversations with her dead twin brother. As a sign-language interpreter for the deaf, she is used to standing between people, facilitating their conversations with each other... -
Rosie Girl by Julie Shepard
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsLittle Peach meets We Were Liars in this haunting YA debut about a troubled teen searching for her birth mom who uncovers disturbing family secrets along the way. After her father passes away, seventeen-year-old Rosie is forced to live with her abusive stepmom Lucy and her deadbeat boyfriend, Judd, who gives Rosie the sort of looks you shouldn’t give your girlfriend’s step-daughter... -
Ready to Fall by Marcella Pixley
Rated: 3.83 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWhen Max Friedman's mother dies of cancer, instead of facing his loss, he imagines that her tumour has taken up residence in his brain. It's a terrible tenant - isolating him from family, distracting him in school, and taunton him mercilessly about his manhood. With the tumour in charge, Max implodes, slipping farther and farther away from reality...
Or - use our amazing romance book finder to get recommendations based on your favorite content tropes and themes. Mix and match at will.