slice of life but NOT cozy

I want a book that follows someone’s everyday routine. And that person has a terrible routine. We see them struggling daily and see their relationships develop gradually across time; the slice of life genre reflects not comforting low stakes, but the fact that their circumstances are in some way constricting. Maybe they’re indentured to an abusive job, maybe they’re a royal hostage or prisoner
of war, maybe they’re a soldier/handled spy. I especially enjoy narratives where someone deals with or overcomes a power imbalance of this sort and works through relationships affected by this power imbalance.

Bonus for unreliable narrator or psychological suspense. Bonus for exploration of the characters’s mental state over time. Bonus for complex relationships and exploration of the power imbalance or construction.

I’m especially fond of speculative fiction or sci-fi, I sometimes like fantasy, but I’m not big on historical unless you pinky promise it’s really fun. I’m also not huge on totally normal contemporary fiction, especially if it’s about teenagers and/or romance.

Books I’ve liked that did this; Winter’s Orbit and Ocean’s Echo both kinda did some of this. Murderbot diaries didn’t quite but it came close. A Deadly Education had a touch of it. oh and don’t forget Holes