I want to make a story that is more linear, where you just press a link to go to the next page and so on, with background music and images. I tried doing a gamebook but when I was looking for advice on coding (which I know nothing about, most of my knowledge of it comes from copy and pasting examples), it said that gamebooks aren't very good and it's better to make it a text adventure. So I tried that but I just can't get the hang of it, the linking between pages seems too complex and I can't find a way to only display "left" or "right" to go to "next page" and "previous page".

So what's the best thing for me to do? Or should I use a different program altogether?

I would suggest Squiffy. There is a link at the bottom of the page,

I tried that before with a previous story but I didn't do much with it. Is it able to play music and display images? I heard that you have to host them on a website somewhere but I have no idea where to do that where the files won't be publicly visible to everyone and only so I can use their URLs. Also, is there a way to clear the screen so it feels more like you're reading "pages"?

Try ren'py - it's for visual novels. It also has a great, detailed guide to help you with everything you might need.

Twine is another option

Twine would be the one to use. But, like all of the tools out there, you just need to use them and get familiar with how they work. It may take some muscling through for a while until you get the hang of things, but eventually it will become natural.

Do you know if it's possible to get music and sounds to play in Twine, though?, and to add pictures? And if there's any tutorials for people who have very little experience in coding like me?

Twine is pretty easy to use with music.