Genre doesn’t really matter, at all. I’d love recommendations that suck you into the book and make you feel as though your experience transcends the eye’s meet with the page. I love a book that affects me long after I put it down. Some things I do specifically really like, however, are: female protagonists, characters of color, feminist rhetoric tbh!!! i mean, representation is always SWEET so!
Try A Tree Grows in Brooklyn if you haven’t done so already. It is, however, the type of book that should not be rushed, so read it when you have time to do so.
Revolution - Jennifer Donnelly (fem protag, stays with you)
The Time Traveler’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger (fem protag)
Nimona - Noelle Stevenson (fem protag, feminist rhetoric?)
If I Stay - Gayle Forman (fem protag)
Wicked - Gregory Maguire (fem protag, feminist rhetoric)
We Need to Talk About Kevin - Lionel Shriver (fem protag, feminist rhetoric regarding motherhood, stays with you)
Cinder - Marissa Meyer (fem protag)
Uglies / Pretties / Specials / Extras - Scott Westerfield (fem protag, stays with you)
Everlost / Everwild / Everfound - Neal Shusterman (stays with you)
And my all-time favorite…
The Green Mile - Stephen King (stays with you)