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A Slip under the Microscope

H.G. Wells

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Similar in premise + setting

These books are ranked using the premise + setting labels extracted for A Slip under the Microscope. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Premise labels used: moral dilemma, lost opportunities, childhood longing, secret door, academic rivalry, honesty vs success, social mobility, guilt

Setting labels used: school, university, academia, real world, slightly fantastical world, portal fantasy

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

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Vicious

V.E. Schwab, Victoria Schwab · 2013 · Villains

Two brilliant college rivals test a theory about near-death powers, then spend years hunting each other for revenge.

Why this is here

Premise labels: superpowers · revenge · academic experiment · near-death experiences · morally grey characters · anti-heroes · hero villain ambiguity · villain origin story · competition · betrayal

Setting labels: college · university · near-future · urban · gritty world · superhero world · scientific reality · alternate world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.1968

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The Two Doctors Górski

Isaac Fellman · 2022

A traumatized graduate student in magical psychiatry confronts an abusive mentor, mind reading, and a split self.

Why this is here

Premise labels: academic abuse · mind reading · identity crisis · self-splitting · magical psychiatry · toxic mentorship · trauma recovery · ethical mind alteration

Setting labels: university setting · graduate school · academic institution · England · United States · contemporary setting · alternate world · magic-as-normal world · academic magic

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2174

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More Than Jamie Baker

Kelly Oram · 2013 · Jamie Baker

At college, a superpowered young woman tries to do good publicly while hiding her secret from friends, rivals, and authorities.

Why this is here

Premise labels: superpowers · secret identity · hero reluctance · college life · romantic relationship · public exposure risk

Setting labels: college · campus life · contemporary setting · superhero reality · government scrutiny · scientist pursuit · public exposure · small-scale secret world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2179

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Rated

Melissa Grey · 2019

In a rating-obsessed future school, six teens from different cliques unite after a cryptic warning upends their lives.

Why this is here

Premise labels: rating system · social mobility · elite school · cryptic messages · unlikely allies · teen conspiracy · status hierarchy

Setting labels: prestigious academy · high school · future society · near-future · dystopian society · school setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2232

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Assassin of Reality

Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko · 2023 · Vita Nostra (English)

A gifted student returns to an eerie magical institute where language shapes reality and failure could remake the world.

Why this is here

Premise labels: magical education · reality manipulation · language magic · coming-of-age · return to school · world-threatening powers · failed exam · second chance · special student

Setting labels: academic institution · magical school · contemporary setting · alternate reality · multiverse · time loops · Russian-language origin

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2295

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Portalmania: Stories

Debbie Urbanski · 2025

A genre-bending short story collection where portals, marriages, and identity crises expose the costs of escape and desire.

Why this is here

Premise labels: portals · escape · alternate realities · identity · otherness · desire · marriage · motherhood · family conflict · transformation

Setting labels: contemporary · small town · domestic sphere · boarding school · space · alternate reality · speculative reality · near future · mythic realism

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2333

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Family

Robert J. Crane · 2012 · The Girl in the Box

A sheltered young meta-human faces war, betrayal, and a painful reckoning with her family and powers.

Why this is here

Premise labels: family conflict · traitor hunt · war between factions · power struggle · identity crisis · belonging · coming of age · hidden powers

Setting labels: urban fantasy world · dystopian setting · supernatural world · meta-human society · fictional organizations · post-teen transition

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2352

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Stuck

Chris Grabenstein · 2020

An 11-year-old’s wish to stay young traps him in repeating fifth grade while everyone else keeps growing up.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time loop · stuck in time · birthday wish · wish backfires · age suspension · repeating school year · growing up fear · bully avoidance · world ages without protagonist · selfish wish consequences

Setting labels: middle school · fifth grade · elementary school · school year · birthday setting · contemporary setting · time loop reality · age-progressing world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2363

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Among the Betrayed

Margaret Peterson Haddix · 2002 · Shadow Children

A captured illegal third child must choose between saving herself and betraying three imprisoned children to live.

Why this is here

Premise labels: illegal child · population control · betrayal dilemma · survival choice · imprisonment · identity concealment · false identity · trust test · moral dilemma · resistance movement

Setting labels: dystopian future · totalitarian state · authoritarian government · prison cell · boarding school · forest hideout · boys' school · girls' school · famine-stricken world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2376

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Saint

Chani Lynn Feener · 2024 · The Demons of Foxglove Grove

Nix must navigate shifting trust, desire, and danger as a dark why-choose power game and mystery deepen.

Why this is here

Premise labels: shared lover · power struggle · mystery unraveling · forbidden trust · control battle · why choose romance

Setting labels: prestigious university · club setting · planetary setting · other planets · fictional universe · sci-fi world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2388

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Gutter Child

Jael Richardson · 2021

In a divided dystopian society, a girl from the oppressed Gutter must navigate debt, identity, and freedom.

Why this is here

Premise labels: class divide · indentured servitude · debt bondage · social experiment · coming of age · forged identity · freedom struggle · colonial allegory · institutional oppression

Setting labels: dystopian future · imagined world · alternate reality · colonized society · segregated society · academy setting · institutional setting · Mainland · Gutter

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2389

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Persephone

Lev Grossman · 2022

A bullied teen’s buried grief cracks open a hidden power and pulls her toward a secret world she barely understands.

Why this is here

Premise labels: teen powers · emotional awakening · school bullying · hidden abilities · secret world · coming-of-age · disappearing parent · gifted teens · power eruption

Setting labels: high school · school setting · teen setting · contemporary setting · secret facility · hidden world · speculative reality

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2391

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