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Fiction Filters

Trope tagging and searching for books

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Realistic fiction

Fiction taking place within what we consider our reality.

Synonyms are not being included. Include synonyms?

The Scholars of Night

Cover art for The Scholars of Night
by John M. Ford

Series:

Genres:

Spy thriller

Tropes:

Characters:

Academic

Time Periods:

1980s

Places:

London, New York City

Tommy Cabot Was Here

Cover art for Tommy Cabot Was Here
by Cat Sebastian

Series:

The Cabots (Cat Sebastian)

Genres:

Historical romance

Tropes:

Second chance romance

Characters:

Closeted main character(s), Divorced main character

Time Periods:

1950s

Places:

Massachusetts

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

Think of England

Cover art for Think of England
by K.J. Charles

Series:

England World

Genres:

Historical romance

Tropes:

Enemies to lovers, Fear of commitment, Kissing to avoid suspicion, Mystery plot, Queer awakening, Spies

Characters:

Character(s) with amputation(s), Cisgender man main character(s), English main character, Former military, Gay main character(s), Poet, White/European main character(s)

Time Periods:

1900-1910

Places:

Country manor, England

Arsenic and Adobo

Cover art for Arsenic and Adobo
by Mia P. Manansala

Series:

Tita Rosie's Kitchen Mystery Series

Genres:

Cozy mystery

Tropes:

Amateur detective, Back home from the big city, Best friend's brother, Family first, Framed for a crime, Love triangle, Shitty exes

Characters:

Baker, Characters in their 20s, Cisgender woman main character(s), East Asian diasporic side character(s), Lesbian side character(s), South Asian diasporic side character(s), Southeast Asian diasporic main character(s), Southeast Asian diasporic side character(s), Stubborn main character

Time Periods:

2010-2020

Places:

Illinois, Restaurant, Small town

A Man and His Cat, Vol. 2

Cover art for A Man and His Cat, Vol. 2
by Umi Sakurai

Series:

A Man and His Cat

Genres:

Contemporary fiction, Slice of life

Tropes:

Emotional healing, Fluff, Found family, Slice of life

Characters:

Cat characters, East Asian main character(s)

Time Periods:

2010-2020

Places:

Japan

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

Heated Rivalry

Cover art for Heated Rivalry
by Rachel Reid

Series:

Game Changers

Genres:

Contemporary romance, Hockey romance, Sports romance

Tropes:

Enemies to lovers, Long distance relationship, Men loving men, Rivals to lovers, Secret relationship, Sports teams

Characters:

Bisexual main character(s), Closeted main character(s), East Asian main character(s), Hockey player, Queer main character(s), Russian main character

Time Periods:

2010-2020

Places:

Boston, Toronto

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

Upright Women Wanted

by Sarah Gailey

Series:

Genres:

Feminist Western, Outlaw western

Tropes:

Politics, Road trip, Tragic backstory

Characters:

Nonbinary side character(s), Queer main character(s)

Time Periods:

Places:

American Midwest

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

Satisfaction Guaranteed

by Karelia Stetz-Waters, Lori Prince (Narrator)

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary romance

Tropes:

Opposites attract

Characters:

Time Periods:

Places:

One Last Stop

by Casey McQuiston

Series:

Genres:

Contemporary fiction

Tropes:

Found family, Women loving women

Characters:

Time Periods:

Places:

New York City

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

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

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

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
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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”
  • 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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