I'm not entirely sure how to describe what I want but you'll know if you've ever experienced it. I want to be incapacitated for at least a week after reading it. Give me a book that will drive my loved ones crazy when I don't stop yapping about it. If it doesn't awaken something in me, I don't want it. Basically I just want to cry. It can have a happy ending but I'd prefer if it didn't. Don't be afraid to suggest a popular book because chances are I probably haven't read it. Most of the time I just reread Rick Riordan books until I get tired of them lol
Some books I've already read that have that general vibe:
The Song of Achilles – Madeline Miller
Ender's Game – Orson Scott Card
Hunger Games Trilogy – Suzanne Collins
Bridge To Terabithia – Katherine Paterson
Woman 99 – Greer Macallister
Non book examples:
I Know The End – Phoebe Bridgers (song)
The Smallest Man Who Ever Lived – Taylor Swift (song)
The Two Headed Calf – Laura Gilpin (poem)
Adventure Time (show)
Pretty much the entirety of Bojack Horseman
Arcane: League of Legends (show)
Life Is Strange (I've only played the first game but I assume the rest are just as tragic)
What Remains Of Edith Finch (game)
Other optional details/themes/tropes:
Found family
Child soldiers/children in scenarios they should not be in
Manmade horrors beyond comprehension
Based on something that could happen/has happened
LGBTQ+ (preferably MLM but I'll take what I can get)
The hero or someone close to them was actually the bad guy the whole time
There is no real bad guy and no one wins either
All of it could've been avoided
Things I hate in a book:
Romance as the main topic
Graphic sex scenes. One or two is fine but if that's all there is to the book I'm not reading it
Whiny MC's who don't learn any lesson or undergo any character development
Step-incest/any "dark romance"
Female characters that were obviously written by straight men
POC characters that were obviously written by someone not of that culture with very little research
by whymyearhurt