LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Last Thing He Told Me

Laura Dave2021

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

1 more ↓

  • Happiness Falls

    Angie Kim2023

    A family searches for their missing father after his son returns home alone and bloody. The daughter analyzes the mystery through a scientific lens.

    Same earnest register, still mystery

    pace0·prose+1·bleak0

Denser prose

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • 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.

    earnest → dreamlike

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+1

  • Niccolò Rising

    Dorothy Dunnett1986

    A dyer’s apprentice in 15th-century Bruges uses his intellect to navigate the world of international trade. He builds a mercantile empire.

    earnest → wry

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • Tears of the Moon

    Nora Roberts2000

    In an Irish village, a songwriter and a local woman navigate their long-standing friendship. The story incorporates elements of local folklore.

    earnest → warm

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Look Me in the Eye

    John Elder Robison2007

    A man recounts growing up with undiagnosed Asperger’s, from his difficult home life to his career in the music industry.

    earnest → wry

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Faking It

    Jennifer Crusie2004

    A woman tries to save her family's art gallery by stealing back a forged painting. She teams up with a man who has his own hidden agenda.

    earnest → wry

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

Faster

earnest → propulsive, still domestic thriller

3 more ↓

  • Angels & Demons

    Dan Brown2000

    A symbologist and a scientist race through Rome to stop an ancient secret society from destroying the Vatican. It takes place over 24 hours.

    earnest → propulsive, still mystery

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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+1·prose0·bleak0

  • 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+1·prose0·bleak0

Slower

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    earnest → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak-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.

    earnest → playful

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak0

  • A maça no escuro

    Clarice Lispector1961

    A man flees into the Brazilian interior believing he killed his wife. He works on a remote farm while navigating his own internal monologue.

    earnest → meditative

    pace-2·prose+3·bleak+1

Heavier

3 more ↓

  • American Psycho

    Bret Easton Ellis1991

    A wealthy investment banker details his daily routines, consumer habits, and graphic murders. The narrative is cold and repetitive.

    earnest → cold

    pace-1·prose+3·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → tense

    pace0·prose+1·bleak+2

  • 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.

    earnest → clinical

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2