LitQueuelitqueue

After

The Swan & the Jackal

J.A. Redmerski

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Quintessentially Q

    Pepper Winters2013

    A woman is kidnapped and sold to a man who uses psychological and physical dominance to break her will. It is a story of captivity and submission.

    bleak → tense, still dark romance

    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.

    bleak → tense

    pace0·prose+2·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.

    bleak → epic

    pace0·prose+2·bleak0

  • 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.

    Same bleak register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

To recover

3 more ↓

  • This Girl

    Colleen Hoover2013

    A husband retells the story of his early relationship to his wife. It uses dual timelines to revisit events from the first book in the series.

    bleak → earnest

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-2

  • The Score

    Elle Kennedy2016

    A college senior has a one-night stand with a hockey player to get over a breakup. They continue the arrangement as graduation approaches.

    bleak → playful

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

  • Walking Disaster

    Jamie McGuire2013

    This novel retells the events of 'Beautiful Disaster' from the perspective of Travis Maddox. It follows his college years and obsession with Abby.

    bleak → propulsive

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-2

Faster

bleak → propulsive, still dark romance

3 more ↓

  • I Dare You

    Shantel Tessier2018

    A high school student moves to a new town and becomes the target of a cruel secret society. She must complete dangerous dares to survive.

    bleak → tense, still dark romance

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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+1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • 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.

    bleak → dark, still dark romance

    pace+1·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.

    bleak → playful

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

  • Absalom, Absalom!

    William Faulkner1936

    The rise and fall of Thomas Sutpen is recounted through multiple, conflicting memories. The prose uses extremely long, complex sentences.

    bleak → elegiac

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Either/Or

    Søren Kierkegaard1992

    A collection of papers presents two life philosophies: the aesthetic pursuit of pleasure and the ethical commitment to duty.

    bleak → meditative

    pace-2·prose+2·bleak-1

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.

    Same bleak register

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1

  • 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.

    bleak → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·bleak+1

  • 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.

    bleak → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+1