The reading list

I am curious why so many of the books we are reading are about death,suicide, and horrible events that occur. It is possible that ya feel that by reading books about depressing things put their own lives into perspective. Or on the other hand, it helps them cope with their own lives, even when they are going horribly wrong. I would never have read any of these books as a teenager, because i would get nightmares after reading them, maybe i connect too much with the characters in the books.