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Fiction Filters

Trope tagging and searching for books

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Bittersweet ending

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

The Warrior’s Apprentice

Cover art for The Warrior's Apprentice
by Lois McMaster Bujold

Series:

The Vorkosigan Saga

Genres:

Science fiction and fantasy, Space opera

Tropes:

Coming of age, Cons and swindles, Fealty, Madcap adventures, Politics

Characters:

Character(s) with ADHD

Time Periods:

Long-Term Future

Places:

Military, Outer space

The Left Hand of Darkness

Cover art for The Left Hand of Darkness
by Ursula K. Le Guin

Series:

Hainish Cycle

Genres:

Science fiction, Science fiction and fantasy

Tropes:

Characters:

Adult characters, Envoy

Time Periods:

Long-Term Future

Places:

Fictional planet

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

Carmilla

by Carmen Maria Machado (Contributor), J. Sheridan Le Fanu

Series:

Genres:

Vampire fiction

Tropes:

Characters:

Early adult characters

Time Periods:

Places:

Austria

Nothing to See Here

by Kevin Wilson, Marin Ireland (Narrator)

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary fiction

Tropes:

Characters:

Time Periods:

Places:

Tennessee

An Artist of the Floating World

Cover art for An Artist of the Floating World
by Kazuo Ishiguro

Series:

Genres:

World War II fiction

Tropes:

Unreliable narrator

Characters:

Artist, Grandparent, Japanese main character, Parent, Widow(er)

Time Periods:

Places:

Japan

The Maltese Falcon

by Dashiell Hammett

Series:

Genres:

Noir mystery

Tropes:

Conspiracy

Characters:

Time Periods:

Places:

San Francisco

Final Girls

by Riley Sager

Series:

Genres:

Serial killer mystery, Thriller

Tropes:

Betrayal, Camping murder spree, Final girl, Killer in plain sight, Killing the Survivors, Manipulative bastard, Murdered in the forest, Spree Killer, Tragic backstory

Characters:

Character(s) with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, Characters in their 20s, Cisgender woman main character(s), Detective, Final girl

Time Periods:

Information Age

Places:

City, Forest, Northeastern United States

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

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!
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