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After

Their Vicious Darling

Nikki St. Crowe2022

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • All Hail

    J. Bree

    A young woman returns to her hometown and is forced into a relationship with four men who previously bullied her.

    Same propulsive register, 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.

    propulsive → tense

    pace0·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.

    propulsive → epic

    pace0·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.

    propulsive → dark

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak0

To recover

3 more ↓

  • White Hot

    Ilona Andrews2017

    A private investigator who can sense lies teams up with a powerful telekinetic to find a murderer in Houston.

    Same propulsive register, still enemies to lovers

    pace+1·prose+1·bleak-1

  • Goddess of Spring

    P.C. Cast2004

    A modern bakery owner swaps bodies with the goddess Persephone. She must navigate the Underworld and a relationship with Hades.

    propulsive → playful, still fantasy romance

    pace0·prose+1·bleak-1

  • One Night of Scandal

    Elle Kennedy2014

    An ex-fighter tries to maintain a hands-off policy with his best friend's recent ex-girlfriend until they spend a night together.

    propulsive → playful

    pace0·prose0·bleak-1

Faster

propulsive → tense, still dark romance

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.

    Same propulsive register, still dark romance

    pace+1·prose0·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.

    Same propulsive register, still dark romance

    pace+1·prose0·bleak0

  • The Risk

    S.T. Abby2016

    A serial killer seeking revenge on her childhood tormentors falls for the FBI profiler hunting her. She kills while he investigates.

    Same propulsive register, still dark romance

    pace+1·prose0·bleak+1

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.

    propulsive → playful

    pace-2·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.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-2·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.

    propulsive → meditative

    pace-2·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.

    propulsive → bleak

    pace-1·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.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-1·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.

    propulsive → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+2·bleak+2