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Dark Matter

Blake Crouch

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Similar in tone + premise

These books are ranked using the tone + premise labels extracted for Dark Matter. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Tone labels used: mind-bending, tense, gripping, urgent, surprising, thrilling, horrifying, emotional, philosophical, thought-provoking, cinematic, eerie

Premise labels used: abduction mystery, alternate reality, parallel worlds, identity crisis, road not taken, family rescue, lost life, what if

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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Adrift: The Truth Won't Always Set You Free

Lisa Brideau · 2023

A woman wakes with no memory on a sailboat and must choose between uncovering her past and staying alive in a climate-strained future.

Why this is here

Tone labels: mysterious · suspenseful · tense · urgent · moody · atmospheric · thought-provoking · foreboding · emotional · philosophical · unsettling

Premise labels: amnesia · hidden identity · memory loss · identity mystery · climate crisis · climate refugees · near-future disaster · survival quest

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1668

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The Obsidian Blade

Pete Hautman · 2012 · The Klaatu Diskos

A teen chases his missing parents through time portals that warp history, faith, and his family’s future.

Why this is here

Tone labels: mysterious · mind-bending · intense · strange · gripping · thought-provoking · unsettling · adventurous

Premise labels: time travel · family mystery · missing parents · portal travel · faith crisis · destiny · alternate realities

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1678

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The Other Me

Sarah Zachrich Jeng · 2021

A Chicago artist wakes in a different life with another set of memories and must uncover why reality has shifted.

Why this is here

Tone labels: suspenseful · intriguing · mind-bending · creepy · uneasy · thought-provoking · tense · twisty · slow burn

Premise labels: alternate life · do-over · identity crisis · memory conflict · choice and consequence · mystery setup · reality shift · time travel

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1724

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Recursion

Blake Crouch · 2019

A cop and a neuroscientist confront a memory epidemic that warps identity, time, and reality itself.

Why this is here

Tone labels: mind-bending · tense · dark · emotional · heartfelt · fast-paced · intense · anxious · thrilling · bizarre · unsettling · thought-provoking · romantic · tragic · chaotic

Premise labels: false memories · memory preservation · time travel · alternate lives · reality shift · memory manipulation · suicide investigation · scientific breakthrough · do-over

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1742

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Labyrinth

A.G. Riddle · 2025

A grieving veteran with tinnitus and missing time uncovers a number-code, a buried conspiracy, and a virtual reality mystery.

Why this is here

Tone labels: thrilling · tense · eerie · intense · thought-provoking · unsettling · emotive · human · plausible · mysterious

Premise labels: mysterious code · shared condition · missing time · conspiracy · immersive technology · virtual reality · search for answers · race against time · future threat · daughter protection

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1769

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The Once and Future Me

Melissa Pace · 2025

An amnesiac woman in a 1950s psychiatric hospital must decide if she’s mentally ill—or a time traveler sent to save humanity.

Why this is here

Tone labels: dark · uneasy · tense · harrowing · disturbing · mind-bending · twisty · claustrophobic · cerebral · gripping · bingeable · high-stakes · surreal · chilling · intense

Premise labels: amnesia · dual identity · unreliable narrator · time traveler · psychiatric hospital · identity mystery · save humanity · future mission · gaslighting · wrong diagnosis · escape plot

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1776

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Genome

A.G. Riddle · 2017 · The Extinction Files

A genetic code, a hidden project, and a global conspiracy collide as old secrets threaten humanity’s future.

Why this is here

Tone labels: thought-provoking · high-stakes · intense · tense · mysterious · suspenseful · action-packed · brainy · cinematic · apocalyptic · philosophical · cryptic

Premise labels: genetic mystery · human evolution · global conspiracy · race against time · hidden code · lost research · apocalyptic survival · virtual reality

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1806

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Bridge

Lauren Beukes · 2023

A grieving daughter uses a mysterious worm to search alternate realities for her missing mother—and for herself.

Why this is here

Tone labels: twisty · dreamlike · cinematic · dark · gritty · creepy · horrifying · funny · snarky · emotional · tense · psychedelic

Premise labels: alternate realities · multiverse search · grieving daughter · missing mother · consciousness swap · identity search · dangerous discovery · rival pursuit

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1811

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Familiar

J. Robert Lennon · 2012

A grieving mother slips into a near-identical life where her dead son is alive and everything feels unsettlingly familiar.

Why this is here

Tone labels: haunting · enigmatic · disturbing · creepy · sad · bleak · unsettling · mysterious · tense · thought-provoking

Premise labels: alternate life · parallel universe · identity crisis · second chance · psychological disruption · family in crisis · parenthood · memory conflict

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1828

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Veil

Jonathan Janz · 2025

A devastated father joins survivors to confront invisible alien abductors and risk everything to bring his family back.

Why this is here

Tone labels: tense · terrifying · heartfelt · emotional · urgent · dark · dread-filled · brutal · cinematic · hopeful · desperate · anxiety-inducing · melancholy

Premise labels: invisible threat · alien invasion · family rescue · parental desperation · apocalyptic survival · abduction mystery · survivor group · cross-dimensional rescue

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1840

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Void Fate: A Novel

Suren G. Hakobyan · 2024

Five friends wake in a silent, empty city and must survive while uncovering what happened to their world and themselves.

Why this is here

Tone labels: eerie · suspenseful · creepy · dark · ominous · claustrophobic · chilling · tense · psychological · surreal

Premise labels: lost memory · missing world · isolated survivors · silent world · hidden threat · identity mystery · reality shift · apocalyptic uncertainty

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1847

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Star Splitter

Matthew J. Kirby · 2023

A teen arrives on a ruined alien world and must survive a crash, a duplicate self, and a mystery gone wrong.

Why this is here

Tone labels: suspenseful · creepy · chilling · thought-provoking · tense · dreadful · thrilling · philosophical · earnest · unsettling

Premise labels: teleportation · body transfer · body printing · duplicate self · planetary expedition · crash survival · space mystery · post-extinction world · family reunion

Semantic match: ranked by tone + premise

Distance: 0.1854

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