Exploring from

The Here and Now

Ann Brashares

Find similar books by

Combine common axes

Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for The Here and Now. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: time travel, forbidden love, future apocalypse, plague escape, save the future, secret community, rules and restrictions, change history, pandemic survival, teen mission

Setting labels used: New York, present day, 2010, 2014, future world, near-future dystopia, post-plague world, environmental catastrophe, school setting, community enclave

This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their premise + setting embeddings are close.

Exclude same author

Max ratings No limit

The Secret Runners of New York

Matthew Reilly · 2019

A new girl at an elite Manhattan school discovers a secret time portal and glimpses a doomed future.

Why this is here

Premise labels: Secret society · Time portal · Future glimpse · Apocalypse warning · Elite school · Rich kids · Class conflict · Missing students · Survival stakes · Revenge

Setting labels: New York City · Manhattan · Central Park · Private school · Elite school · Modern day · Dystopian future · Parallel world · Post-apocalyptic city · Alternate New York · Underground tunnel

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1986

Continue from here

Crossing in Time

D.L. Orton · 2016

A second-chance couple must bend time and reality to save both their relationship and a collapsing world.

Why this is here

Premise labels: second chance romance · save the world · time travel mission · alternate timeline · parallel universe · apocalypse prevention · relationship as key · race against time · doomsday scenario · world survival · love across time · future-to-past mission

Setting labels: dystopian future · post-apocalyptic world · present day · near future · alternate universe · parallel world · Denver · tropical beach · mountain cabin · secret underground facility · hidden city · burned-out city · modern world · global collapse

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2000

Continue from here

The Young World

Chris Weitz · 2014 · The Young World

Teenagers rule a ruined New York after a deadly sickness, and a cure-finding road trip turns into a brutal survival quest.

Why this is here

Premise labels: teen-run society · plague survival · find the cure · road trip quest · adult-free world · teen tribes

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic New York City · Manhattan · Washington Square · subway tunnels · near future · modern-day references · tribal territories

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2005

Continue from here

Viral Nation

Shaunta Grimes · 2013 · Viral Nation

An autistic teen in a virus-ravaged, time-travel-policed society uncovers a conspiracy that could cost her brother’s life.

Why this is here

Premise labels: virus apocalypse · walled cities · controlled society · future crime prevention · time travel mission · brother rescue · revolution against power · misfits band

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic United States · walled cities · future America · Reno, Nevada · dystopian society · time travel future · quarantined cities · controlled state

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2006

Continue from here

Ghost Country

Patrick Lee · 2010 · Travis Chase

A hidden future-viewing device pulls two fugitives into a desperate race to stop an apocalypse before it arrives.

Why this is here

Premise labels: future glimpse · future warning · world-ending threat · race against time · government conspiracy · secret technology · time portal · apocalypse prevention

Setting labels: present day · near future · dystopian future · post-apocalyptic future · Washington, D.C. · New York City · global stakes · alternate timeline

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2035

Continue from here

The Immune: A Post Apocalyptic Survival Thriller

David Kazzie · 2019 · The Immune

A natural survivor races across a ruined America after a virus wipes out most of humanity.

Why this is here

Premise labels: viral apocalypse · post-plague survival · natural immunity · cross-country quest · search for daughter · societal collapse · world reset · survivor band · quest narrative · good vs evil

Setting labels: New York City · United States · cross-country journey · ruined America · post-apocalyptic world · post-plague world · contemporary-feeling setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2051

Continue from here

Rocket Girl Volume 1: Times Squared

Brandon Montclare · 2014 · Rocket Girl (Collected Editions)

A teenage future cop time-travels to 1986 New York to stop a corporation and uncover why her world may not exist.

Why this is here

Premise labels: teen cop · time travel mission · alternate future · corporate conspiracy · save the future · investigation

Setting labels: 1986 New York City · alternate 2013 · high-tech future · dystopian future · 1980s urban setting · alternate reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2054

Continue from here

To Paradise

Hanya Yanagihara · 2022

Three linked stories across centuries trace alternate Americas shaped by love, illness, power, and the search for paradise.

Why this is here

Premise labels: three timelines · alternate America · search for utopia · love and loss · family saga · pandemic future · same-name characters

Setting labels: New York City · Washington Square · 1890s · 1990s · 2090s · alternate history · dystopian future · pandemic setting · AIDS crisis · Hawaii · Free States · totalitarian regime

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2066

Continue from here

Ode to the Half-Broken

Suzanne Palmer · 2026

An isolated war robot with a stolen leg embarks on a post-apocalyptic road trip that turns into a fight for hope, identity, and peace.

Why this is here

Premise labels: robot quest · stolen limb · post-apocalyptic recovery · found family · AI autonomy · road trip · conspiracy · past reckoning · survival

Setting labels: near future · post-apocalyptic Earth · United States · New York City · New York Botanical Gardens · ruins · collapsed society · shared human-machine world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2083

Continue from here

The City of Shifting Waters

Pierre Christin · 2010 · Valérian and Laureline

Time-traveling agents race through a flooded 1986 New York to stop a fugitive from reshaping the future.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time-travel agents · future mission · retrieve fugitive · protect future history · post-apocalyptic Earth · flooded city · time chase · space-time law enforcement

Setting labels: 28th century · 1986 · New York City · post-apocalyptic Earth · flooded city · ruined world · future Earth · time travel setting · spacefaring future · distant future

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2084

Continue from here

Year One

Nora Roberts · 2017 · Chronicles of The One

A deadly pandemic topples civilization, then awakening magic and rival forces push survivors toward a new beginning.

Why this is here

Premise labels: pandemic apocalypse · survivor communities · magic awakening · good versus evil · flight to safety · chosen one

Setting labels: post-apocalyptic · world collapse · New York City · scattered survivors · New Hope · Scottish Highlands · urban ruins · lawless world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2093

Continue from here

Age of Ultron

Brian Michael Bendis · 2014 · Age of Ultron (Collected Editions)

Ultron conquers the world, and the surviving heroes risk time itself to stop him before history breaks.

Why this is here

Premise labels: AI takeover · apocalyptic future · last heroes standing · time travel fix · prevent creation · alternate timeline

Setting labels: dystopian future · post-apocalyptic Earth · New York City · Manhattan · Savage Land · future timeline · past timeline · alternate reality · multiverse

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2100

Continue from here