LitQueuelitqueue

After

Don't You Forget About Me

Mhairi McFarlane2019

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Return to Me

    Kelly Moran2015

    A nurse returns to her hometown to care for the wealthy man who broke her heart ten years ago. He is a veteran struggling with guilt and injury.

    Same tender register, still second chance

    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.

    tender → tense

    pace+1·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.

    tender → epic

    pace+1·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.

    tender → dark

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Loner

    Jamie Schlosser

    A socially isolated young man becomes protective of a popular girl after they connect in a small town.

    tender → earnest

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Till There Was You

    Marie Force2019

    A man returns to his island home to recover from a tragedy. He finds comfort and a new relationship with a woman he has known for years.

    tender → warm

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Boyfriend Bargain

    Ilsa Madden-Mills2019

    A college student asks a hockey player to be her fake boyfriend to make her ex-boyfriend jealous. They strike a deal to help each other's goals.

    tender → playful

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

tender → propulsive

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    tender → tense

    pace+2·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    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.

    tender → playful

    pace-1·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.

    tender → elegiac

    pace-1·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.

    tender → meditative

    pace-1·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.

    tender → elegiac

    pace0·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.

    tender → elegiac

    pace0·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.

    Same tender register

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+2