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After

Darker

E.L. James2018

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • On My Knees

    Meredith Wild2014

    A woman living a detached lifestyle in New York encounters her former fiancé years after she rejected his marriage proposal.

    Same earnest register, still erotica

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

Denser prose

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  • Madame Bovary

    Gustave Flaubert1856

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

    earnest → tense

    pace+1·prose+3·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.

    earnest → epic

    pace+1·prose+3·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.

    earnest → dark

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more
  • This Man

    Jodi Ellen Malpas2013

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

    earnest → tense, still contemporary romance

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Hardline

    Meredith Wild2015

    A software executive and a billionaire navigate a relationship complicated by corporate takeover attempts and sexual power dynamics.

    earnest → tense, still erotica

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

  • Release Me

    J. Kenner2013

    A billionaire with a need for control pursues a young woman who has her own secrets. They enter a physical relationship based on his terms.

    earnest → tense, still contemporary romance

    pace+1·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

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  • Victory at Prescott High

    C.M. Stunich

    A high school girl seeks revenge against the boys who bullied her while navigating a complex relationship with all of them at once.

    earnest → propulsive, still contemporary romance

    pace+2·prose0·bleak0

  • Chased

    Clarissa Wild2018

    A wealthy man buys a blind woman and keeps her captive to satisfy his desires. The story follows his obsession and her forced isolation.

    earnest → dark, still erotica

    pace+2·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.

    earnest → propulsive

    pace+2·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.

    earnest → playful

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+3·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.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

Heavier

3 more
  • 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.

    earnest → bleak

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2

  • A Farewell to Arms

    Ernest Hemingway1929

    An American ambulance driver and a British nurse conduct a love affair during the Italian campaign of World War I.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → elegiac

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+2