LitQueuelitqueue

After

Waking Olivia

Elizabeth O'Roark2016

6 of 6 directions open

More like it

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  • Wild Rebel

    Laurelin Paige2021

    A woman reunites with her former lover years after a secret departure, forcing them to confront their shared past.

    Same tender register, still contemporary 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.

    tender → tense

    pace0·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

    pace0·prose+2·bleak+1

  • Scrap Metal

    Harper Fox2013

    A man fleeing a scandal takes a job on a remote Scottish island farm and falls for the local sheep farmer.

    Same tender register, still contemporary romance

    pace-1·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, still contemporary romance

    pace0·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, still contemporary romance

    pace-1·prose-1·bleak-1

  • Driven

    K. Bromberg2013

    A woman working for a charity meets a volatile race car driver. They navigate a sexual relationship complicated by their respective past traumas.

    tender → tense, still contemporary romance

    pace0·prose-1·bleak-1

Faster

3 more ↓

  • 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.

    tender → propulsive, still contemporary romance

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • Quantum Radio

    A.G. Riddle2023

    A scientist at CERN discovers a signal from a parallel universe. He must flee a conspiracy while exploring the implications of the data.

    tender → propulsive

    pace+1·prose-1·bleak0

  • 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.

    tender → propulsive

    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.

    tender → playful

    pace-2·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-2·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-2·prose+2·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.

    tender → bleak

    pace-1·prose+1·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.

    tender → elegiac

    pace-1·prose0·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.

    tender → elegiac

    pace-1·prose+1·bleak+2