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After

Daisy Jones & The Six

Taylor Jenkins Reid2019

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • The Restorer

    Amanda Stevens2011

    A cemetery restorer who sees ghosts follows strict rules to stay safe until a detective asks for help with a murder in Charleston.

    Same elegiac register

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Denser prose

3 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

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Yesteryear

    Gloria Brandt2000

    A troubled woman works at a living history farm and meets a man with a stammer. They navigate their past traumas while living in an 1800s setting.

    Same elegiac register, still historical

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Play

    Kylie Scott2014

    A drummer for a famous rock band hires a woman to pose as his girlfriend to improve his public image. They live together to sell the lie.

    elegiac → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Steal Like an Artist

    Austin Kleon2012

    A series of short, illustrated principles for creative work. It focuses on remixing existing ideas and establishing productive daily habits.

    elegiac → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Love Unscripted

    Tina Reber2010

    An A-list movie star hides in a small-town pub to escape fans and falls for the owner. The story follows the logistical strain of his fame.

    elegiac → warm

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Paper Princess

    Erin Watt2016

    An orphaned girl is taken in by a wealthy family with five hostile sons. She must navigate high school bullying and mansion politics.

    elegiac → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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+1·prose-1·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+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Slower

3 more ↓

  • Gödel, Escher, Bach

    Douglas R. Hofstadter1979

    An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.

    elegiac → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • 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-2·prose+2·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-2·prose+2·bleak+2

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Brokeback Mountain

    Annie Proulx1997

    Two ranch hands begin a secret sexual and emotional relationship in 1963 Wyoming. The story follows their occasional meetings over twenty years.

    Same elegiac register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2

  • Bright Side

    Kim Holden2014

    An optimistic college student moves to Minnesota for a fresh start while hiding a terminal diagnosis from her best friend.

    elegiac → tender

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2