Mercy Blade

Iced

Karen Marie Moning2012

A superhuman teenager hunts monsters in a post-apocalyptic Dublin where the Fae have invaded. She navigates gang wars and a frozen city.

pace0·prose0·bleak0

Madame Bovary

Gustave Flaubert1856

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

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → dark

pace-1·prose+1·bleak0

Undead and Unwed

MaryJanice Davidson2004

After dying in a car crash, a fashion-obsessed woman wakes up as a vampire. She resists the local undead community's claim that she is their queen.

propulsive → playful, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Big bad beast

Shelly Laurenston2011

A wolf-shifter Marine investigates a hybrid fighting ring while dealing with her persistent boss. It is a paranormal romance set in an urban world.

propulsive → playful, still urban fantasy

pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

The Dangerous Book For Demon Slayers

Angie Fox2009

A preschool teacher and a coven of biker witches travel to Las Vegas to stop a succubus from taking over the world.

propulsive → playful, still urban fantasy

pace0·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.

Same propulsive register, 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.

Same propulsive register

pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

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.

Same propulsive register, still urban fantasy

pace+1·prose0·bleak0

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.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → meditative

pace-2·prose+2·bleak0

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.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → 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.

propulsive → tender

pace0·prose0·bleak+2