After
The Count of Monte Cristo
Alexandre Dumas1964
- pace
- prose
- structure
- bleakness
5 of 6 directions open — nothing to recover from
More like it
- pace0prose0bleak+1
Bottle Rocket Hearts
Zoe Whittall2007
An eighteen-year-old girl navigates her first queer relationship against the backdrop of the 1995 Quebec sovereignty referendum.
tender → earnest, still coming of age
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
A Trick of the Light
Louise Penny2011
Chief Inspector Gamache investigates a body found in a garden after an art gallery opening. The case centers on the rivalries of the Quebec art scene.
Same tender register
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak+1
The Bridges of Madison County
Robert James Waller1992
A photographer on assignment and a lonely housewife have a four-day affair in 1960s Iowa. The story is framed as a discovery by her children.
Same tender register, still romance
pace0·prose0·bleak+1
- pace0prose0bleak0
Moon Dance
J.R. Rain2010
A vampire mother working as a private investigator hunts an assassin. She balances a failing marriage with her new supernatural needs.
Same tender register, still romance
pace0·prose0·bleak0
1 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose0bleak0
Denser prose
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
My Name Is Red
Orhan Pamuk
In 1591 Istanbul, miniaturists investigate a colleague's murder. Objects and colors narrate chapters alongside the human characters.
tender → meditative
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
Amberes
Roberto Bolaño2002
A fragmented series of fifty-six short sections follows a police officer, a redhead, and a hunchback through a series of loosely linked crimes.
tender → cold
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Blood on the dining-room floor
Gertrude Stein1948
A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.
tender → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace0prose+2bleak+2
The Doves Necklace
Raja Alem2014
A detective investigates an unidentified woman's body found in a Mecca alleyway. The city itself narrates parts of the story.
tender → dreamlike
pace0·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace0prose+2bleak+3
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis1991
A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.
tender → cold
pace0·prose+2·bleak+3
Faster
tender → propulsive
- pace+2prose-1bleak0
The Da Vinci Code
Dan Brown2003
A symbologist and a cryptologist flee the police while solving puzzles hidden in art. They search for a secret regarding the Holy Grail.
pace+2·prose-1·bleak0
- pace+2prose-1bleak+1
The Housemaid's Secret
Freida McFadden2023
A housemaid with a criminal record takes a job for a wealthy couple. She becomes obsessed with the wife she is forbidden from seeing.
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace+2prose-1bleak+1
Behind Closed Doors
B.A. Paris2016
A woman is held captive by her husband in a high-security home. She must find a way to escape before her sister moves in with them.
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+1
- pace+2prose-1bleak+2
Kiss the Girls
James Patterson1995
Detective Alex Cross tracks two serial killers operating on opposite coasts who are communicating and competing with one another.
tender → tense
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2
- pace+2prose-1bleak+2
Verity
Colleen Hoover2018
A ghostwriter moves into a secluded estate to finish a series for an injured author and finds a hidden, disturbing autobiography.
tender → tense
pace+2·prose-1·bleak+2
Slower
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
Blood on the dining-room floor
Gertrude Stein1948
A repetitive, circular narrative about a death in a country house. It uses experimental prose to obscure the facts of a traditional mystery.
tender → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
- pace-1prose+1bleak+2
On Earth We're Briefly Gorgeous
Ocean Vuong2019
A son writes a letter to his illiterate mother, recounting his family's history in Vietnam and his own experiences growing up in America.
tender → elegiac, still coming of age
pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace-1prose+2bleak+2
Dhalgren
Samuel R. Delany1975
An amnesiac wanderer enters Bellona, a city cut off from the world where time and geography shift. He joins a gang and writes poetry.
tender → dreamlike
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2
- pace-1prose+2bleak0
Gödel, Escher, Bach
Douglas R. Hofstadter1979
An exploration of how cognition emerges from hidden neurological patterns. It uses math, art, and music to explain self-referential systems.
tender → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak0
- pace-1prose+2bleak+1
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.
tender → playful
pace-1·prose+2·bleak+1
Heavier
- pace0prose+2bleak+3
American Psycho
Bret Easton Ellis1991
A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.
tender → cold
pace0·prose+2·bleak+3
- pace+1prose0bleak+3
Sharp Objects
Gillian Flynn2006
A reporter returns to her hometown to cover the murders of two girls while grappling with her own history of self-harm.
tender → tense
pace+1·prose0·bleak+3
3 more ↓ ↑
- pace0prose+1bleak+3
In Cold Blood
Truman Capote1965
A reconstruction of the 1959 murder of a Kansas family and the subsequent investigation. It follows both the victims and the killers.
tender → clinical
pace0·prose+1·bleak+3
- pace+1prose+1bleak+3
Lord of the Flies
William Golding1954
Schoolboys are stranded on an island and try to organize a society. Order collapses into tribalism and violence.
tender → tense
pace+1·prose+1·bleak+3
