Books like 'The Burn Journals'

Readers who enjoyed The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon & Christopher Evan Welch also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.

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  • Glass by Ellen Hopkins

    Glass by Ellen Hopkins

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    Crank. Glass. Ice. Crystal. Whatever you call it, it's all the same: a monster. And once it's got hold of you, this monster will never let you go. Kristina thinks she can control it. Now with a baby to care for, she's determined to be the one deciding when and how much, the one calling the shots. But the monster is too strong, and before she knows it, Kristina is back in its grips...
    Categorized as:
    dark  drama  high-school  realistic  sad  teens  abuse  angst
  • Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

    Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

    Rated: 4.27 of 5 stars
    · 36 ratings
    Sometimes you don't wake up. But if you happen to, you know things will never be the same.Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act—suicide.Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  high-school  male-mc  realistic  sad  teens
  • More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer

    More Than We Can Tell by Brigid Kemmerer

    Rated: 4.32 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Rev Fletcher is battling the demons of his past. But with loving adoptive parents by his side, he’s managed to keep them at bay...until he gets a letter from his abusive father and the trauma of his childhood comes hurtling back.Emma Blue spends her time perfecting the computer game she built from scratch, rather than facing her parents’ crumbling marriage...
  • Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

    Perfect by Ellen Hopkins

    Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    Everyone has something, someone, somewhere else that they'd rather be. For four high-school seniors, their goals of perfection are just as different as the paths they take to get there.Cara's parents' unrealistic expectations have already sent her twin brother Conner spiraling toward suicide. For her, perfect means rejecting their ideals to take a chance on a new kind of love...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  high-school  male-mc  realistic  sad  teens
  • Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

    Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

    Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching ... for freedom, safety, community, family, love...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  high-school  male-mc  realistic  sad  teens
  • Burned by Ellen Hopkins

    Burned by Ellen Hopkins

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 35 ratings
    I do know things really began to spin out of control after my first sex dream.It all started with a dream. Nothing exceptional, just a typical fantasy about a boy, the kind of dream that most teen girls experience. But Pattyn Von Stratten is not like most teen girls...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  high-school  realistic  sad  teens  abuse
  • Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey, Tom Kitt

    Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey, Tom Kitt

    Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    "A brave and breathtaking musical...
  • The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart

    The Words We Keep by Erin Stewart

    Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    It'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...
  • Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

    Drums, Girls & Dangerous Pie by Jordan Sonnenblick

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 28 ratings
    Thirteen-year-old Steven has a totally normal life (well, almost): He plays drums in the All-Star Jazz Band, has a crush on the hottest girl in school (who doesn’t know he’s alive), frequently finds himself sitting across from his school counselor (who bribes him with candy), and is constantly annoyed by his five-year-old brother, Jeffrey (who is cuter than cute)...
  • You'd Be Home Now by Kathleen Glasgow

    You'd Be Home Now by Kathleen Glasgow

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    From the New York Times bestselling author of Girl in Pieces comes a breathtaking story about a town, its tragedies, and the quiet beauty of everyday life.For all of Emory's life she's been told who she is. In town she's the rich one--the great-great-granddaughter of the mill's founder. At school she's hot Maddie Ward's younger sister...
  • A List of Cages by Robin Roe

    A List of Cages by Robin Roe

    Rated: 4.23 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    When Adam Blake lands the best elective ever in his senior year, serving as an aide to the school psychologist, he thinks he’s got it made. Sure, it means a lot of sitting around, which isn’t easy for a guy with ADHD, but he can’t complain, since he gets to spend the period texting all his friends...
  • Light in the Shadows by A. Meredith Walters

    Light in the Shadows by A. Meredith Walters

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    In the bestselling sequel to Find You in the Dark, A. Meredith Walters continues the emotional story of Maggie, Clay, and the power of unconditional love.How do you keep going when you feel like your life is over?Maggie never thought she’d see Clay again. So, she attempts to put her life back together after her heart has been shattered to pieces...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  high-school  male-mc  realistic  sad  abuse
  • After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick, Nick Podehl

    After Ever After by Jordan Sonnenblick, Nick Podehl

    Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Even though the cancer should be far behind him, Jeffrey still worries that it will return. He's got normal teen stuff to deal with, too - friends, parents, girls, school.Normally, he'd ask his older brother, Steven, for advice. But Steven, always the trusty, responsible one, is finally rebelling and has taken off to Africa to join a drumming circle and 'find himself.'Jeffrey feels abandoned...
  • Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

    Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin

    Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    The first thing you’re going to want to know about me is: Am I a boy, or am I a girl?Riley Cavanaugh is many things: Punk rock. Snarky. Rebellious. And gender fluid. Some days Riley identifies as a boy, and others as a girl. The thing is…Riley isn’t exactly out yet...
  • Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

    Challenger Deep by Neal Shusterman

    Rated: 4.12 of 5 stars
    · 26 ratings
    An Alternate Cover Edition for this ASIN can be found here.A captivating novel about mental illness that lingers long beyond the last page, Challenger Deep is a heartfelt tour de force by New York Times bestselling author Neal Shusterman.Caden Bosch is on a ship that's headed for the deepest point on Earth: Challenger Deep, the southern part of the Marianas Trench...
  • All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

    All the Bright Places by Jennifer Niven

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · 49 ratings
    The Fault in Our Stars meets Eleanor and Park in this exhilarating and heart-wrenching love story about a girl who learns to live from a boy who intends to die.Soon to be a major motion picture starring Elle Fanning! Theodore Finch is fascinated by death, and he constantly thinks of ways he might kill himself. But each time, something good, no matter how small, stops him...
  • Her by Felicia Johnson

    Her by Felicia Johnson

    Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    In many ways, Kristen Elliott is a normal, seventeen-year-old girl. Kristen loves her family. She works hard academically, and tries to please her mother. She takes on the additional responsibility of caring for her twin siblings, Nick and Alison...
  • Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman

    Backlash by Sarah Darer Littman

    Rated: 4.11 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    He says: You're an awful person. He says: What makes you think I would ever ask you out? He says: The world would be a better place without you in it. Lara just got told off on Facebook. She thought that Christian liked her, that he was finally going to ask her to his school's homecoming dance...
  • This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston

    This Is Our Story by Ashley Elston

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Five went in. Four came out.No one knows what happened that morning at River Point. Five boys went hunting. Four came back. The boys won’t say who fired the shot that killed their friend; the evidence shows it could have been any one of them...
  • Letting Ana Go by Anonymous

    Letting Ana Go by Anonymous

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    In 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...
  • More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova

    More or Less Maddy by Lisa Genova

    Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    A breathless, riveting novel about a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy.Maddy Banks is just like any other stressed-out freshman at NYU. Between schoolwork, exams, navigating life in the city, and a recent breakup, it’s normal to be feeling overwhelmed...
  • My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

    My Sister's Keeper by Jodi Picoult

    Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars
    · 84 ratings
    New York Times best-selling author Jodi Picoult is widely acclaimed for her keen insights into the hearts and minds of real people. Now she tells the emotionally riveting story of a family torn apart by conflicting needs and a passionate love that triumphs over human weakness. Anna is not sick, but she might as well be...
  • Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton

    Words on Bathroom Walls by Julia Walton

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Adam is a pretty regular teen, except he's navigating high school life while living with paranoid schizophrenia. His hallucinations include a cast of characters that range from the good (beautiful Rebecca) to the bad (angry Mob Boss) to the just plain weird (polite naked guy). An experimental drug promises to help him hide his illness from the world...
  • How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow

    How to Make Friends with the Dark by Kathleen Glasgow

    Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars
    · 25 ratings
    Here 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...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  high-school  realistic  sad  tragedy  abuse
  • The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

    The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 94 ratings
    Sylvia Plath's shocking, realistic, and intensely emotional novel about a woman falling into the grip of insanityEsther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time...
  • Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe

    Freeze Frame by Heidi Ayarbe

    Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    No 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...
  • In Her Wake by K.A. Tucker

    In Her Wake by K.A. Tucker

    Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Before you knew him as Trent in Ten Tiny Breaths, he was Cole Reynolds—and he had it all. Until one night when he makes a fatal, wrong decision…and loses everything.When a drunken night out at a Michigan State college party results in the death of six people, Cole must come to terms with his part in the tragedy...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  male-mc  realistic  sad  angst  audiobook
  • What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard

    What I Lost by Alexandra Ballard

    Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars
    · 19 ratings
    A 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...
  • Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

    Rumble by Ellen Hopkins

    Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Can an atheist be saved? The New York Times bestselling author of Crank and Tricks explores the highly charged landscapes of faith and forgiveness with brilliant sensitivity and emotional resonance."There is no God, no benevolent ruler of the earth, no omnipotent grand poobah of countless universes. Because if there was ..
  • Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

    Under Rose-Tainted Skies by Louise Gornall

    Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars
    · 22 ratings
    Norah 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...
  • Hate List by Jennifer Brown

    Hate List by Jennifer Brown

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 33 ratings
    Five months ago, Valerie Leftman's boyfriend, Nick, opened fire on their school cafeteria. Shot trying to stop him, Valerie inadvertently saved the life of a classmate, but was implicated in the shootings because of the list she helped create. A list of people and things she and Nick hated. The list he used to pick his targets...
  • Collision Course by S.C. Stephens

    Collision Course by S.C. Stephens

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    Lucas had it all—popularity, a devoted girlfriend, a brotherly best friend, and a loving mother who would do anything for him. His life was right on course to be successful and fulfilling…until the crash changed everything.Late at night, during a sudden downpour, three young lives are lost and Lucas, the lone survivor, is left to face the consequences...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  high-school  male-mc  realistic  sad  angst
  • Lucy in the Sky by Anonymous

    Lucy in the Sky by Anonymous

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    A 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...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  drama  high-school  realistic  sad  teens  book
  • Split by Swati Avasthi

    Split by Swati Avasthi

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Sixteen-Year-Old Jace Witherspoon arrives at the doorstep of his estranged brother Christian with a re-landscaped face (courtesy of his father’s fist), $3.84, and a secret...
  • Crazy by Han Nolan

    Crazy by Han Nolan

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 17 ratings
    Fifteen-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...
  • The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson

    The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    For fans of Thirteen Reasons Why, This Is How It Ends, and All the Bright Places, comes a new novel about life after. How do you put yourself back together when it seems like you've lost it all?May is a survivor. But she doesn't feel like one. She feels angry. And lost. And alone...
    Categorized as:
    bullying  dark  drama  high-school  north-america  realistic  sad  usa
  • Bait by Alex Sanchez

    Bait by Alex Sanchez

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 15 ratings
    After Diego lands himself on probation for fighting, he doesn't trust his probation officer, Mr. Vidas. But as he begins to open up, Diego realizes that he needs Mr. Vidas's help to get his anger under control. To do that, Diego will need to face the nightmares from his past head-on and confront the memories he's been avoiding...
    Categorized as:
    coming-of-age  dark  high-school  male-mc  realistic  sad  teens  abuse
  • The Quiet You Carry by Nikki Barthelmess

    The Quiet You Carry by Nikki Barthelmess

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    Victoria Parker knew her dad's behavior toward her was a little unusual, but she convinced herself everything was fine--until she found herself locked out of the house at 3:00 a.m., surrounded by flashing police lights...
  • The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick, C. Kennedy

    The Red Sheet by Mia Kerick, C. Kennedy

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 10 ratings
    One October morning, high school junior Bryan Dennison wakes up a different person helpful, generous, and chivalrous a person whose new admirable qualities he doesn't recognize. Stranger still is the urge to tie a red sheet around his neck like a cape.Bryan soon realizes this compulsion to wear a red cape is accompanied by more unusual behavior...
  • Rape Girl by Alina Klein

    Rape Girl by Alina Klein

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 8 ratings
    Valerie 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

    The Art of Insanity by Christine Webb

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    High 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...
  • Runaway Train by Lee Matthew Goldberg

    Runaway Train by Lee Matthew Goldberg

    Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars
    · 6 ratings
    They told me I was an out-of-control train about to crash…Everything changed when the police officer knocked on the door to tell me – a 16-year-old – that my older sister Kristen had died of a brain aneurysm. Cue the start of my parents neglecting me and my whole life spiraling out of control.I decided now was the perfect time to skip town...
  • The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

    The Rules of Survival by Nancy Werlin

    Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    This National Book Award Finalist is a thought-provoking exploration of emotional abuse, self-reliance and the nature of evil. A heart-wrenching portrait of family crisis, this is perfect for fans of Laurie Halse Anderson’s Speak and Jay Asher’s Thirteen Reasons Why.   For Matt and his sisters, life with their cruel, physically abusive mother is a day-to-day struggle for survival...
  • Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon

    Finding Jake by Bryan Reardon

    Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars
    · 24 ratings
    A heart-wrenching yet ultimately uplifting story of psychological suspense in which a parent is forced to confront what he does—and does not—know about his teenage son, in the vein of Reconstructing Amelia, Defending Jacob, and We Need to Talk about Kevin.While his successful wife goes off to her law office each day, Simon Connolly takes care of their kids, Jake and Laney...
  • Boy Toy by Barry Lyga

    Boy Toy by Barry Lyga

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 20 ratings
    Josh Mendel has a secret. Unfortunately, everyone knows what it is.Five years ago, Josh’s life changed. Drastically. And everyone in his school, his town—seems like the world—thinks they understand. But they don’t—they can’t. And now, about to graduate from high school, Josh is still trying to sort through the pieces. First there’s Rachel, the girl he thought he’d lost years ago...
  • Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich, Steven Levenson

    Dear Evan Hansen by Val Emmich, Steven Levenson

    Rated: 3.95 of 5 stars
    · 32 ratings
    From the show's creators comes the groundbreaking, bestselling novel inspired by the hit Broadway show Dear Evan Hansen.Dear Evan Hansen, Today's going to be an amazing day and here's why...When a letter that was never meant to be seen by anyone draws high school senior Evan Hansen into a family's griefover the loss of their son, he is given the chance of a lifetime: to belong...
  • Clean by Amy Reed

    Clean by Amy Reed

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    You’re probably wondering how I ended up here. I’m still wondering the same thing.Olivia, Kelly, Christopher, Jason, and Eva have one thing in common: They’re addicts. Addicts who have hit rock bottom and been stuck together in rehab to face their problems, face sobriety, and face themselves. None of them wants to be there. None of them wants to confront the truths about their pasts...
  • Skinny by Donna Cooner

    Skinny by Donna Cooner

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 18 ratings
    Find 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...
  • Ironman by Chris Crutcher

    Ironman by Chris Crutcher

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    Bo has been at war with his father for as long as he can remember. The rage he feels gives him the energy as a triathlete to press his body to the limit, but it also translates into angry outbursts toward his teachers.Now dangerously close to expulsion from school, Bo has been assigned to Anger Management sessions with the school "truants...
  • Bang by Barry Lyga

    Bang by Barry Lyga

    Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars
    · 16 ratings
    A chunk of old memory, adrift in a pool of blood.Sebastian Cody did something horrible, something no one--not even Sebastian himself--can forgive. At the age of four, he accidentally shot and killed his infant sister with his father's gun.Now, ten years later, Sebastian has lived with the guilt and horror for his entire life...
The Burn Journals by Brent Runyon, Christopher Evan Welch
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