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Fiction Filters

Trope tagging and searching for books

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Books

Unreliable narrator

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

Broader terms: General tropes

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

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

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

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 Monster Baru Cormorant

by Seth Dickinson

Series:

The Masquerade

Genres:

Fantasy

Tropes:

Deadly game, Fish out of water, Road trip, Unreliable narrator

Characters:

Femme fatale, Lesbian main character(s), Morally grey main character, Nonbinary main character(s)

Time Periods:

Places:

The Traitor Baru Cormorant

by Seth Dickinson

Series:

The Masquerade

Genres:

Fantasy, Historical fantasy, Speculative fiction

Tropes:

Feelings denial, Feelings realization, Rivals to lovers, Unreliable narrator, Women loving women

Characters:

Character with substance abuse issues, Character(s) with TBI, Lesbian main character(s), Morally grey main character

Time Periods:

Places:

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

Harrow the Ninth

Cover art for Harrow the Ninth
by Tamsyn Muir

Series:

The Locked Tomb

Genres:

Science fiction, Science fiction and fantasy, Sword and sorcery

Tropes:

Amnesia, Dysfunctional family, Everyone is gay, Found family, God is just a person, Men loving men, Tragic backstory, Unreliable narrator, Women loving women

Characters:

Bisexual side character(s), Lesbian main character(s), Necromancer

Time Periods:

Long-Term Future

Places:

Outer space, Space ship

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

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

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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

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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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