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Fiction Filters

Trope tagging and searching for books

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Books

Character-driven

Synonyms are not being included. Include synonyms?

The Hands of the Emperor

Cover art for The Hands of the Emperor
by Victoria Goddard

Series:

The Lays of the Hearth-Fire

Genres:

Fantasy, Fantasy of manners

Tropes:

Fealty, Found family, Playing the long game, Politics, Unreliable narrator

Characters:

Asexual main character(s), Characters in their 50s, Characters in their 60s, Politician, Royalty

Time Periods:

Places:

Africa inspired setting, Pacific Islands inspired setting, Secondary World

Minor Detail

Cover art for Minor Detail
by Adiana Shibli

Series:

Genres:

Historical fiction

Tropes:

Amateur detective, Close-knit community protects their own, Implied Autism, Kidnapping, Loosely based on a true story, Rape

Characters:

Adult characters, Autistic character(s), Journalist, Soldier

Time Periods:

1940-1949, Information Age

Places:

Israel, Palestine, State of Palestine

You Could Make a Life

Cover art for You Could Make a Life
by Taylor Fitzpatrick

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary romance, Romance, Sports fiction, Sports romance

Tropes:

Friends to lovers, Men loving men, Sports teams

Characters:

Adult characters, Hockey player, New adult main characters

Time Periods:

2000s, 2010-2020

Places:

Canada, Toronto

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

Cover art for Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe
by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Series:

Genres:

Coming-of-age fiction, Contemporary fiction, Contemporary romance, Realistic fiction, Romance

Tropes:

Men loving men

Characters:

Latine/North American main character(s), Teen main character(s)

Time Periods:

1980s

Places:

Texas

Check, Please!, Book 2: Sticks & Scones

Cover art for Check, Please!, Book 2: Sticks & Scones
by Ngozi Okazu

Series:

Check, Please!

Genres:

Contemporary romance, Hockey romance, New adult fiction, Sports romance

Tropes:

Celebrity relationships, Coming out, Ensemble cast, Found family, Grumpy/sunshine, Men loving men, Secret relationship, Sports teams, Stress baking

Characters:

Baker, Character with substance abuse issues, Character(s) with anxiety, Character(s) with PTSD, Closeted main character(s), Hockey player, Queer main character(s), Queer side character(s), Student athlete

Time Periods:

2010-2020

Places:

College, Massachusetts

Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey

Cover art for Check, Please! Book 1: #Hockey
by Ngozi Okazu

Series:

Check, Please!

Genres:

Contemporary fiction, Contemporary romance, Hockey fiction, Hockey romance, New adult fiction, Realistic fiction, Sports fiction, Sports romance

Tropes:

Character blog, Ensemble cast, Found family, Grumpy/sunshine, Men loving men, Pining, Sports teams, Stress baking

Characters:

American main character, Baker, Bisexual main character(s), Canadian main character, Character with substance abuse issues, Character(s) with anxiety, Character(s) with depression, Character(s) with PTSD, Characters in their 20s, Characters in their late teens, Cisgender man main character(s), Closeted main character(s), College student, Figure skater, Gay main character(s), Hockey player, New adult main characters, Queer main character(s), Queer side character(s), Student, Student athlete, White/European diasporic main character(s), White/European main character(s)

Time Periods:

2010-2020, Information Age

Places:

Arena, College, Massachusetts, New England

Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet

by Jamie Ford

Series:

Genres:

Coming-of-age fiction, Historical fiction, World War II fiction

Tropes:

Break up, Coming of age, Dysfunctional family, First love, Fish out of water, Forbidden love, Friends to lovers, Growing up, Miscommunication, Rekindled relationship, Secret relationship, Time skip

Characters:

Chinese American main character(s), East Asian diasporic main character(s), East Asian main character(s), Japanese American main character(s)

Time Periods:

Radio Age, World War II

Places:

Idaho, New York City, Seattle, United States, Washington

Feed

Cover art for Feed
by Mira Grant

Series:

Newsflesh

Genres:

Dystopian fiction, Political thriller, Zombie horror

Tropes:

Character blog, Dystopia, Pandemic, Politics, Road trip, Unreliable narrator

Characters:

Blogger, Characters in their 20s, Journalist

Time Periods:

Short-Term Future

Places:

America, California

Satisfaction Guaranteed

by Karelia Stetz-Waters, Lori Prince (Narrator)

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary romance

Tropes:

Opposites attract

Characters:

Time Periods:

Places:

Nothing to See Here

by Kevin Wilson, Marin Ireland (Narrator)

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary fiction

Tropes:

Characters:

Time Periods:

Places:

Tennessee

Pride and Prejudice

by Anna Quindlen, Jane Austen

Series:

Genres:

Brit Lit, Comedy of manners, Humor, Literary Classics

Tropes:

Enemies to lovers

Characters:

White/Western European main character(s)

Time Periods:

Regency Era

Places:

British Isles, Domestic, England, Europe

Fangirl

Cover art for Fangirl
by Rainbow Rowell

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary romance, New adult fiction

Tropes:

Coming of age, Fish out of water, Friends to lovers, Sibling rivalry

Characters:

Characters in their 20s, Early adult characters, Writer

Time Periods:

2010-2020

Places:

College

A Little Life

Cover art for A Little Life
by Hanya Yanagihara

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary fiction

Tropes:

Bury your gays, Everyone is gay, Found family, Friends to lovers, Priests are pedophiles, Straight with an exception, Tragic backstory

Characters:

Time Periods:

Information Age

Places:

New York City

Darling Rose Gold

Cover art for Darling Rose Gold
by Stephanie Wrobel

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary fiction, Psychological thriller

Tropes:

A taste of their own medicine, Betrayal, Evil matriarch, I'm the real victim here, Loosely based on a true story, Manipulative bastard, Unreliable narrator

Characters:

Character(s) with depression, Character(s) with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Characters aged over 50, Characters in their 20s

Time Periods:

Information Age

Places:

United States

Any Way the Wind Blows

Cover art for Any Way the Wind Blows
by Rainbow Rowell

Series:

Genres:

Coming-of-age fiction, New adult fiction, Relationship/marriage fiction, Urban fantasy, Vampire fiction

Tropes:

Enemies to lovers, Found family, Gay for you, I'm not into labels, Men loving men, Miscommunication, Prince(ss) and pauper, Unreliable narrator

Characters:

Biracial main character, Black/African diasporic main character(s), Character(s) with depression, Character(s) with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Characters in their late teens, English main character, Gay main character(s), Morally grey main character, New adult main characters, Orphan, White/European diasporic main character

Time Periods:

Information Age

Places:

London

Cackle

Cover art for Cackle
by Rachel Harrison

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary fiction, Urban fantasy, Witchcraft fiction

Tropes:

Fish out of water, Found family, Frumpy to fabulous, Hot witch, I don't need no man, The power was inside you all along, The real monsters are the humans, Unreliable narrator

Characters:

Ageless or immortal characters, Character(s) with anxiety, Character(s) with depression, Characters in their 30s, High school teacher, Morally grey main character, Teacher, White/European diasporic main character

Time Periods:

Information Age

Places:

Upstate New York

Alice Isn’t Dead

Cover art for Alice Isn't Dead
by Joseph Fink

Series:

Genres:

Creature horror, Paranormal mystery, Science fiction

Tropes:

Conspiracy, Depressing road trip, Inhuman killer, Missing spouse, Second chance romance, Stranger than fiction, The bad guys aren't human, Woman in a man's world, Women loving women

Characters:

African American main character(s), American main character, Character(s) with anxiety, Character(s) with depression, Characters in their 30s, Lesbian main character(s), Truck driver

Time Periods:

Information Age

Places:

United States

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Setting: Time Period

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Content Notes or Warnings

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Tropes

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Setting: Time Period

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Sex Ratings

Language Ratings

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Note that we don't have dates for all the books in our database.

Search Tips

  • use “quotation marks around a phrase” to search for an exact phrase
  • use – in front of a word or quoted phrase to exclude it from the search results, e.g. -“enemies to lovers”
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This is an academic research project on crowdsourced tagging and building a vocabulary for fiction.

How does this work?

  1. Add books to our database, if the book you want to tag isn’t already there. You can import your books from StoryGraph or Goodreads if you want to save time.
  2. Add tags to the books. Your tag set is your own, and you’ll be able to come back and edit it if you want. Other taggers can’t view your tag set or overwrite your tags.
  3. View the book, and use the tags to see what other books share your favorite tropes and characters!
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