LitQueuelitqueue

After

Guilty Pleasures

Laurell K. Hamilton1995

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy

1 more ↓

  • Fables, Vol. 1: Legends in Exile

    Bill Willingham

    Fairy tale characters live in a secret community in modern New York. Bigby Wolf investigates the apparent murder of Snow White's sister.

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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.

    sardonic → tense

    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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → dark

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

sardonic → playful, still urban fantasy

3 more ↓

  • Eleventh Grave in Moonlight

    Darynda Jones2017

    A private investigator who is also the Grim Reaper deals with gods and demons while raising a daughter destined to save the world.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Gentlemen Prefer Succubi

    Jill Myles2009

    After encounters with a vampire and a fallen angel, a woman gains supernatural powers and a high libido. She is caught in a war between factions.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Ghost Ship

    Clive Cussler2014

    Kurt Austin survives a yacht sinking but suffers from conflicting memories. He investigates a global cybercrime conspiracy to find the truth.

    sardonic → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • The Killing Dance

    Laurell K. Hamilton1997

    A necromancer with a bounty on her head seeks help from a professional hitman. She navigates a love triangle with a werewolf and a vampire.

    sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

  • Burn for Me

    Ilona Andrews2014

    A private investigator with the ability to tell truth from lies is hired to find a fire-user. She is forced to work with a dangerous billionaire.

    sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

    sardonic → 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.

    sardonic → elegiac

    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.

    sardonic → tender

    pace0·prose0·bleak+2