LitQueuelitqueue

After

Darkhouse

Karina Halle2011

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same tense register, still paranormal romance

1 more ↓

  • Her Soul for Revenge

    Harley Laroux2021

    A woman escapes a cult and summons a demon to help her enact revenge. She trades her soul for his protection and assistance in killing her enemies.

    pace0·prose0·bleak0

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.

    Same tense register

    pace0·prose+2·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.

    tense → epic

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • 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.

    tense → dark

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

tense → playful, still paranormal romance

3 more ↓

  • Megan's Mark

    Lora Leigh2006

    A sheriff's deputy with psychic empathy tracks a killer alongside a genetically engineered feline-human hybrid who claims her as his mate.

    tense → earnest, still paranormal romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Vampires Like It Hot

    Lynsay Sands2018

    A vampire rescues a mortal woman and realizes she is his fated mate. He must protect her while convincing her to join his immortal world.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Fifty Shades Darker

    E.L. James2011

    A young woman resumes her relationship with a wealthy businessman while starting a new job. They navigate his past and his specific sexual needs.

    tense → earnest

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Ill Wind

    Rachel Caine2003

    A weather warden on the run from the law uses her ability to control storms to protect people from rogue elemental forces.

    tense → propulsive, still paranormal romance

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    tense → propulsive, still forced proximity

    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.

    tense → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·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.

    tense → 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.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·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.

    tense → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+2

  • 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.

    tense → elegiac

    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.

    tense → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2