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Red-Headed Stepchild

Jaye Wells

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • 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.

    sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    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.

    sardonic → tense

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • The Iron Hunt

    Marjorie M. Liu2008

    A hunter's tattoos come to life at night to fight demons. She protects humanity from supernatural breaches until a new ally enters her life.

    sardonic → tense, still urban fantasy

    pace0·prose+1·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.

    sardonic → epic

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

To recover

sardonic → playful, still urban fantasy

3 more ↓

  • Smoke and Shadows

    Tanya Huff2005

    A stuntman and a vampire work on a television set in Vancouver while investigating a series of supernatural murders.

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

  • Sex and the single vampire

    Katie MacAlister2004

    A woman who accidentally summons a vampire while trying to contact her dead mother navigates a supernatural romance in London.

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • A Spell for Chameleon

    Piers Anthony1977

    In a land where everyone has a unique magical talent, a man with no apparent power goes on a quest to avoid exile.

    sardonic → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • Magic Bites

    Ilona Andrews2007

    In a future Atlanta where magic and technology fluctuate, mercenary Kate Daniels investigates her guardian's murder. It is an urban fantasy.

    Same sardonic register, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • Touch the dark

    Karen Chance2006

    A clairvoyant woman is forced to work for a vampire senator to escape a mob boss. She navigates a supernatural underworld with high-speed action.

    sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    sardonic → propulsive, still urban fantasy

    pace+1·prose0·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