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Cover of This Census-Taker by China Miéville
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This Census-Taker

China Miéville

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Similar in tone + premise

These books are ranked using the tone + premise labels extracted for This Census-Taker. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Tone labels used: creepy, weird, uncanny, haunting, bleak, oppressive, atmospheric, ominous, melancholic, dreamlike, anxiety-inducing, poetic

Premise labels used: isolated child, traumatic event, missing parent, mysterious authority, unreliable memory, family secret, investigation

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

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Cover of Quicksand House by Carlton Mellick III

Quicksand House

Carlton Mellick III · 2013

Two sheltered children leave their nursery to search a vast, deadly house for parents they’ve never met.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1230

Cover of Mothtown by Caroline Hardaker

Mothtown

Caroline Hardaker · 2023

A lonely boy grows up amid disappearances and family secrets, chasing clues to his grandfather and a possible other world.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1275

Cover of The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman by Molly Lynch

The Forbidden Territory of a Terrifying Woman

Molly Lynch · 2023

When mothers begin vanishing worldwide, one anxious mother’s disappearance exposes a family and planet in crisis.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1360

Cover of Blink by Christopher Sebela

Blink

Christopher Sebela, Nick Filardi, Frank Cvetkovic · 2023 · Blink

A traumatized journalist follows a strange CCTV trail into a maze-like facility tied to her forgotten childhood.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1366

Cover of The Memory Police by Yōko Ogawa

The Memory Police

Yōko Ogawa · 2019

On an unnamed island, disappearing things erase memory itself, and one novelist risks everything to shelter a man who still remembers.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1367

Cover of The Water Cure by Sophie Mackintosh

The Water Cure

Sophie Mackintosh · 2019

Three sisters on an isolated island confront fear, desire, and control when strangers arrive from the sea.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1411

Cover of Best of All Worlds by Kenneth Oppel

Best of All Worlds

Kenneth Oppel · 2025

A teen wakes trapped in a mysterious dome with his family, and a later-arriving family turns survival into conflict.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1415

Cover of Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card

Lost Boys

Orson Scott Card · 1994

A Mormon family’s move to North Carolina brings everyday tensions, eerie friendships, and a slow-building threat to their young son.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1418

Cover of The Garden by Nick Newman

The Garden

Nick Newman · 2025

Two elderly sisters in a walled garden face upheaval when a mysterious boy breaches the boundaries of their secluded world.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1421

Cover of The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again by M. John Harrison

The Sunken Land Begins to Rise Again

M. John Harrison · 2020

Two troubled lovers drift through riverside Britain while a hidden, uncanny current of conspiracy and change presses in.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1428

Cover of Sunbirth by An Yu

Sunbirth

An Yu · 2025

In an isolated desert village, two sisters endure a fading sun, strange beacons, and a family mystery tied to their missing father.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1444

Cover of The Door to December by Richard Paige

The Door to December

Richard Paige, Dean Koontz · 2002

A mother and detective race to protect a traumatized girl whose kidnapping led to brutal experiments and a terrifying unseen force.

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1465