I need depressing book recs!! Not like “oh no and then he died!” i mean the kind that make you mourn after the book is finished or that makes you appreciate every tiny good thing that happened. I want misery, sadness, and almost like failing to succeed or not being able to make a goal that so desperately wanted/needed to be met Books dont make me cry but maybe theres one out there that will and I have yet to find it.

• No romance or at least minimal
• Sad endings are great but happy endings work too
• it can be really big book or a novelette Thank youu any recs are much appreciated!!

Specifically, what book has made you feel like this lately? 😂

(The link goes to a short video featuring woman crying. In between sniffles and tears, she says, "Hey everyone, I'd really recommend reading for pleasure. I love reading, it's so magical. Pick up a book, you never know what awaits between the pages.")

For me, I've been feeling this way about Sunrise on the Reaping by Suzanne Collins and The Book of M by Peng Shepherd 🤧🤧 I recommend these books to everyone, saying that they're the best books ever but warning my friends about the irreparable emotional pain 😭

If you could travel in time, where would you go and what would you do??

Welcome, welcome to the recommendations post! This is where you can share your requests for additions to the quest, however please read this first!

Please check to see if your book choice has already been recommended. If you can see your choice in the comments here, give it an upvote so I can see where the most interest is for the additions.

If your suggestion hasn't been recommended, then leave a comment with the title AND author.

Please Note: Not every recommendation is guaranteed to be added to the quest, even if it fits the criteria.

Criteria for Books

Books must be fiction novels or novellas (no short stories, poetry, etc), available in English.

Climate issues MUST be the main focus of the book. It doesn’t have to follow someone actively trying to solve climate issues, but the plot should be happening because of climate change.

Books where the climate issue isn’t the core reason behind the plot will not fit this criteria, eg. Tusks of Extinction is listed as clifi, and is, but it does not qualify for this quest as the main focus is on poaching.

For future additions, I would love to include more diverse books. If you have a suggestion that you are not 100% sure fits the criteria, but is a unique and diverse voice you don’t see represented yet, please leave it below anyway, making sure to note that you are unsure on the criteria.

At the moment I am trying to focus on novels that lean more literary or sci-fi, rather than fantasy. You are free to recommend any genre, but bear in mind I might not look to these until later on in the development of the quest.

If you would like to be nosy and see what is on my to-read list for the quest, 🔗here it is!

Thank you so much everyone!

• Emma

If you want to recommend a book for the quest, you’re in the right place - but PLEASE READ THIS POST BEFORE ADDING YOUR SUGGESTIONS.

I’ll be using upvotes to gauge interest. Please avoid replying just to say you agree; it makes sorting much easier for me and for your fellow boundlings.

Upvoting/liking equals stating your agreement, in this case. Please do not downvote a book simply because you did not like it personally.💖

Important: a recommendation doesn’t guarantee the book will be added, even if it fits the criteria and has many upvotes.

Step One Make sure the book you want to recommend is fiction and fits under one or more of the following criteria:

Traveling back or forth in time: - a character intentionally travels to another time.

Person/people displaced in time: a character ends up in another time by accident and is stuck, trying (or having tried) to get back. The POV doesn’t have to be from the displaced character.

Time loop: same time period keeps repeating.

Time pocket: - a character spends meaningful time in a time pocket while real time is frozen or moves differently.

ALTERNATE REALITIES/MULTIVERSES WILL NOT BE INCLUDED.

Step Two Check whether the book has already been recommended.

If it has, upvote the existing comment instead of adding a new one.

This helps keep everything tidy and makes it easier for everyone to navigate💖

Step Three If your book isn’t listed yet, leave a comment with: the title and author, and which criterion the book falls under.

Leave one comment per suggestion. Don’t be afraid of spamming the comment section - leave all the suggestions you’d like😍

Example: The Austen Affair by Madeline Bell – person/people displaced in time.

When will new books be added? I’ll try to add more books to the quest at least once every three months, but additions will mostly depend on relevant new releases.

Thank you so much!🥰

What types of books are currently being prioritized?

• New releases
• Books by BIPOC authors
• Books by queer authors
• Books with BIPOC representation
• Books with queer representation

Last updated: 29th of august 2026

I think this maybe started when the performative male thing was going around, since the "performative male" in question always having some feminist book or work on him; and then possibly spurred itself into this "reading in public is performative" narrative (which I've now seen several posts of).

Reading in public is only seen as performative if you don't read, I think.

We've somehow reached a point where being seen doing something as basic as reading is a pretentious action.

To me it's just as basic as wearing headphones and listening to music in public, so why does reading have such a differing reaction?

I think it's a more subtle form of anti-intellectualism, trying to make it socially embarrassing to be seen doing things like reading.

Edit: added context.