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After

Pennies

Pepper Winters2016

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

dark → tense, still contemporary romance

1 more ↓

  • The Boy & His Ribbon

    Pepper Winters

    A boy and a girl grow up together while hiding in the woods after running away from a traumatic childhood.

    dark → elegiac, still contemporary romance

    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.

    dark → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    dark → epic

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same dark register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Terms and Conditions

    Lauren Asher2022

    To secure his inheritance, a businessman enters a marriage of convenience with his assistant.

    dark → playful, still contemporary romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Walking Disaster

    Jamie McGuire2013

    This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

    dark → propulsive, still contemporary romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

    An interior designer begins an affair with a wealthy client who demands total control over her life and schedule.

    dark → tense, still contemporary romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

dark → propulsive, still contemporary romance

3 more ↓

  • I Dare You

    Shantel Tessier2018

    A high school student moves to a new town and becomes the target of a cruel secret society. She must complete dangerous dares to survive.

    dark → tense, still dark romance

    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.

    dark → propulsive, still dark romance

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    dark → tense, still contemporary romance

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-2

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.

    dark → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    dark → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    dark → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • The Last Letter

    Rebecca Yarros2019

    A soldier returns from war to help his deceased friend's sister raise her twins in Colorado. The story is told through letters and prose.

    dark → elegiac, still contemporary romance

    pace0·prose0·bleak+1

  • Darkest Descent

    Hazel Black2024

    A woman is kidnapped and subjected to psychological and physical abuse, discovering a dark attraction to her captor.

    dark → haunted, still dark romance

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    dark → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1