• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

Fiction Filters

Trope tagging and searching for books

  • Welcome!
    • About the Team
    • About the Project
    • Blog
    • Process and Explanations
    • Why no author demographics?
    • WordPress Implementation
    • Bibliography
    • Acknowledgements
    • Privacy Policy
    • Contact Us
  • How to tag
  • Browse tags
    • Genres Index
    • Tropes Index
    • Character Index
    • Locations Index
    • Time Periods Index
    • Endings Index
    • Ratings Index
    • Content Notes and Warnings Index
    • Appeal Index
  • Login
  • Sign up

Books

Teen characters

This is the preferred term. Synonyms are included. You can turn off synonyms.

Broader terms: Age

Narrower terms: Teen main character(s), Characters in their late teens

The Goblin Emperor

Cover art for The Goblin Emperor
by Katherine Addison

Series:

The Goblin Emperor

Genres:

Fantasy, Fantasy of manners, Gaslamp fantasy

Tropes:

Assassination, Dysfunctional family, Fealty, Forgotten heir, Mystery plot, Politics

Characters:

Character(s) with PTSD, Characters in their late teens, Introverted main character(s), Royalty, Straight main character

Time Periods:

Places:

Secondary World

Banana Fish, Vol. 1

by Akimi Yoshida, Matt Thorn (Translator)

Series:

Banana Fish

Genres:

Conspiracy thriller

Tropes:

Betrayal, Conspiracy, Fish out of water, Hostage situation, Organized crime

Characters:

Adult characters, American main character, East Asian main character(s), Gangster, Photographer, Teen main character(s)

Time Periods:

1980s

Places:

New York City

A Hero Born

by Anna Holmwood (Translator), Jin Yong

Series:

Legends of the Condor Heroes, The Condor Trilogy

Genres:

Family saga, Wuxia

Tropes:

Arranged marriage, Band of misfits, Coming of age, Dysfunctional family, Fish out of water, Playing the long game, Shoot first ask questions later, Time skip

Characters:

Adult characters, Child characters, Daoist priest, East Asian main character(s), Martial artist, Oblivious hero, Teen main character(s)

Time Periods:

Jin Dynasty, Southern Song Dynasty

Places:

China, Mongolia

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

Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun

Cover art for Fifteen Hundred Miles from the Sun
by Jonny Garza Villa

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary romance, Realistic fiction, Romance

Tropes:

Men loving men

Characters:

Latine/Latin American main character(s), Queer main character(s), Queer side character(s), Soccer player, Student athlete, Teen main character(s)

Time Periods:

Places:

Texas

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

The Scum Villain’s Self-Saving System Vol. 1

by Mo Xiang Tong Xiu

Series:

Genres:

Xianxia

Tropes:

Betrayal, Crush on teacher, Plot armor, Snarky AI, Story-aware narrator, Transmigration, Unreliable narrator

Characters:

Characters in their 20s, East Asian main character(s), Teacher, Teen main character(s)

Time Periods:

Places:

East Asia inspired setting

Beartown

by Fredrik Backman, Neil Smith

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary fiction

Tropes:

Athletes are untouchable, Close-knit community protects their own, Ensemble cast, Slice of life

Characters:

Adult characters, High school student, Student athlete, Teen main character(s)

Time Periods:

Information Age

Places:

Residential, Small town, Sweden

Gideon the Ninth

Cover art for Gideon the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir

Series:

The Locked Tomb

Genres:

Occult mystery, Science fiction, Speculative fiction, Sword and sorcery

Tropes:

Anyone can die, Dysfunctional family, Everyone is gay, Tragic backstory, Unreliable narrator, Women loving women

Characters:

Characters in their late teens, Cisgender woman main character(s), Lesbian main character(s), Loner, Necromancer, Orphan, Queer side character(s), Warrior

Time Periods:

Long-Term Future

Places:

Castle, Fictional planet, Outer space

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

Strange the Dreamer

by Laini Taylor

Series:

Genres:

High fantasy

Tropes:

Characters:

Adult characters, Ageless or immortal characters, Characters aged over 50, Characters in their late teens, Librarian, Magic user, Teen main character(s)

Time Periods:

Iron Age (Fantastical)

Places:

City, Fantastic world, Unnamed

Search books…

Include:

Genres

Tropes

Character Traits

Setting: Time Period

Setting: Location

Sex Ratings

Language Ratings

Violence Ratings

Ending Type

Content Notes or Warnings

Appeal

Publication Date

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

Exclude:

Genres

Tropes

Character Traits

Setting: Time Period

Setting: Location

Sex Ratings

Language Ratings

Violence Ratings

Ending Type

Content Notes or Warnings

Appeal

Authors

Publishers

Publication Date

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”
  • right now, the checkbox options aren’t narrowed down as you search, but stay tuned! We’re working on it.

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!
  • Sign Up
  • How to Use this Site
  • Privacy Policy
  • About the Team
  • Contact Us

A Capstone project for the UW iSchool MLIS program · About the Project · About the team · Log in