Books with immersive worlds and lovable characters?

Looking for fantasy/fiction books with heavy plot, clever world building, and characters to get attached to.

For reference, books I've enjoyed are:

-Cirque Du Freak (love the characters, very interesting plot, I like the supernatural theme)

-Mistborn (gen 1 more than gen 2; very logical and in-depth magic system and world building. LOVED the relationship between Tensoon and Vin, and the growth of trust process)

-Harry Potter (got heavily attached to some characters, the HP universe has a distinct vibe that I get sucked into)

-Red Rising (this one's kinda 50/50 for me, I'm not into space themes but I did enjoy the story and the rise to power element)

-The Hunger Games (Amazing, no complaints, very interesting story and immersive universe. Truly love everything about it)

-Divergent (60/40 like to dislike. The idea is very cool, and I think the author could have done some super interesting things with the universe she created, but the execution was kind of iffy for me)

-Shadow and Bone (50/50 again. The magic system is cool, but the chosen one trope is kind of tired and I disagreed with nearly every decision the MC made)

Preferences:

Plot heavy, little to no romance – If there is romance, I'm not a fan of the Player + MC or Childhood Best Friend + MC tropes. I prefer stories where romance takes a back seat if it's present, like in Cirque Du Freak, HP, and debatably Mistborn and The Hunger Games. Books that don't read like a romance.

Less gore, or only necessary gore/violence – THG and CDF had violence, but it felt necessary and not overly descriptive. RR was kind of a hard read for me, I thought the frequency of violence and the gore of it was uncomfortable for me and kinda unnecessary.

Thanks in advance!