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After

At First Sight

Nicholas Sparks2001

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same elegiac register, still contemporary romance

1 more ↓

  • The Horse Whisperer

    Nicholas Evans1995

    A mother takes her injured daughter and traumatized horse to a Montana ranch. She seeks help from a man who specializes in rehabilitating horses.

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Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

    A doctor's wife in provincial France seeks escape from her mundane life through expensive tastes and extramarital affairs.

    elegiac → tense

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Paradise Logic

    Sophie Kemp2025

    A young woman follows advice from a magazine to become a perfect partner. Her quest involves surreal jobs and messages from the beyond.

    elegiac → epic

    pace+1·prose+2·bleak0

  • Mad Mabel

    Sally Hepworth2025

    An eighty-one-year-old woman with a history of killing people tries to hide her past when a curious young girl moves into the neighborhood.

    elegiac → dark

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To recover

elegiac → warm, still contemporary romance

3 more ↓

  • This Girl

    Colleen Hoover2013

    A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.

    elegiac → earnest, still contemporary romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Deep

    Kylie Scott2015

    A woman becomes pregnant after a one-night stand with a rock star in Las Vegas. The two attempt to navigate a relationship for the baby.

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Takeover

    T.L. Swan

    A billionaire attempts to acquire a widow's family company but ends up moving into her home. It follows their power struggle and her three sons.

    elegiac → playful, still contemporary romance

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Victory at Prescott High

    C.M. Stunich

    A high school girl seeks revenge against the boys who bullied her while navigating a complex relationship with all of them at once.

    elegiac → propulsive, still contemporary romance

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Quantum Radio

    A.G. Riddle2023

    A scientist at CERN discovers a signal from a parallel universe. He must flee a conspiracy while exploring the implications of the data.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Savage Prince

    Meghan March2018

    A powerful man in the New Orleans underworld becomes obsessed with a woman and pursues her despite the danger of his lifestyle.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Ulysses

    James Joyce1914

    Three characters wander through Dublin on a single day in 1904. Each chapter uses a different literary style to mimic thoughts and sensations.

    elegiac → playful

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    Same elegiac register

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    elegiac → meditative

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Wuthering Heights

    Emily Brontë1846

    Two families on the Yorkshire moors deal with the arrival and subsequent revenge of an adopted orphan. The story is told through nested narrators.

    elegiac → bleak

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1

  • A Farewell to Arms

    Ernest Hemingway1929

    An American ambulance driver and a British nurse conduct a love affair during the Italian campaign of World War I.

    Same elegiac register

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Tess of the D’Urbervilles

    Thomas Hardy

    A country girl is sent to claim kinship with wealthy relatives. Her life is derailed by a sequence of social betrayals and rigid moral standards.

    Same elegiac register

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+1