Books to transition out of YA/youth books: fantasy, end of the world, love

[Joshua]

Recently I've picked up reading again, but have not found my kind of book yet.
Last time I read, I was reading a lot Y/A and youth books, but they don't quite catch me anymore, so I am looking for some books to transition out of that genre.

I love reading fantasy, but absolutely do not like war, which unfortunately happens in many high-fantasy books. I especially dislike reading books with children protagonists right now and unfortunately many books have that.

I also often feel like heavy topics are rarely touched in Y/A books in depth. Think major character death, grief, etc. I'd like to have a book with a character feeling heavy feelings and actually processing them. I am also okay with crying after reading!

I don't necessarily need to read fantasy, that's what I liked to read when I was younger, so it's where I picked up reading again. But really I'd love to try some new books that catch me.

What I do like is fewer characters rather than more. Especially for protagonist groups I don't want to remember 6 different people of a group, I'd rather have few character.

Ik this is pretty vague, so I am happy for any reccomendations you people have for me, to find the books and genres that catch me!
thank you

[Pamela]

Thistlefoot

[Pony]

I don't have a specific book suggestion, but I know there's a relatively new genre (or at least new to me) people call "New Adult," that's supposed to be a sort of transition between YA books and Adult books. I think the protagonists are generally in their 20s or college age in this genre. I'm not sure if that's helpful, but perhaps you could try searching for a Goodreads "New Adult" book list and see if any of the books catch your interest?

[Robert]

The Final Empire
Paladin’s Grace
The Pillars of the Earth
Daughter of the Empire

[Eric]

You might enjoy The Deceivers by Kristen Simmons and At the Table of Wolves by Kay Kenyon .