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After

Chosen Family

LAMI2022

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Joy Luck Club

    Amy Tan1989

    Four Chinese immigrant mothers and their American-born daughters navigate cultural gaps through shared stories of their pasts in San Francisco.

    Same elegiac register

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

Denser prose

2 more ↓

  • Lolita

    Vladimir Nabokov

    A middle-aged professor documents his obsession with his twelve-year-old stepdaughter. He uses complex prose to justify his crimes.

    elegiac → tense

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Steamed

    Katie MacAlister2010

    A modern woman is transported to a Victorian steampunk world. She must navigate a romance with a local inventor while trying to return home.

    elegiac → playful, still romance

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Road to Tender Hearts

    Annie Hartnett2025

    elegiac → playful, still romance

    pace0·prose-2·bleak-1

  • Redshirts

    John Scalzi2012

    Low-ranking crew members on a starship realize they are disposable characters in a sci-fi television show. They attempt to escape their fate.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-2·bleak-1

Faster

elegiac → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

  • The Professional: Part 2 (The Game Maker, #1b)

    Kresley Cole

    A Russian enforcer continues his pursuit of a graduate student across Europe. The focus is on their sexual power dynamic and his mafia duties.

    elegiac → tense

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak-1

  • 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.

    pace+2·prose-2·bleak0

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+1·bleak0

  • 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+1·bleak+2

  • 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+1·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • Alchemised

    SenLinYu2025

    An alchemist is held prisoner by necromancers after her side loses a war. She must protect her memories while her mind is systematically probed.

    elegiac → dark, still romance

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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·prose-1·bleak+2