And I think there's a distinction between unhappiness/sadness and depressing-ness, too. Parvana and her friends are unhappy, because they're starving in a wilderness on a quest that may be hopeless - so the book is sad, but it's not depressing because they do have each other and they haven't given up.
Whereas if a character has everything except friends/family/companionship and has given up on ever finding that, the book will be depressing even if she gives up while lying on a feather-soft divan nibbling bonbons.
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timeasmymeasure
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Date: 2018-08-15 02:35 pm (UTC)Whereas if a character has everything except friends/family/companionship and has given up on ever finding that, the book will be depressing even if she gives up while lying on a feather-soft divan nibbling bonbons.