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These books are ranked using the relationships labels extracted for The Shape of Water.
Relationships labels used: inter-species romance, found family, female friendship, male friendship, neighbor bond, workplace camaraderie, marital conflict, mothering role, allyship, caretaking, power imbalance, cross-species empathy
This does not mean the books share the same plot, setting, quality, or difficulty. It means their relationships embeddings are close.
A swamp-born monster discovers his true nature and is pulled into a dark, eco-horror journey across America.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: inter-species romance · love interest · mentor figure · allies and guides · friendship · power imbalance · romantic tension · community conflict
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.0885
In a filthy industrial city, a rogue scientist’s experiment unleashes a nightmare that tests love, power, and survival.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: inter-species romance · forbidden love · love and betrayal · friendship · found allyship · power imbalance · criminal patronage · community tension · trust and betrayal · dependency
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1053
A rule-bound robot discovers a living human girl and must choose between protocol and helping her survive.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: friendship · found family · cross-species friendship · coworkers · teamwork · trust · loyalty · protective bond · parental unit · cooperation
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1121
A frontier girl and a telepathic treecat form first contact, then fight to protect their species from human greed.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: cross-species friendship · bonded pair · parent-child relationship · found family · protective friendship · human-animal bond · lifelong bond · mutual loyalty
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1150
A hunted pair and their companions cross a deadly wasteland to uncover the truth behind a firewall and their world.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: found family · strained bond · romantic tension · bickering companions · rivalry · friendship · group loyalty · cross-species conflict · cross-species alliance · power struggle
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1152
An alien spider warrior and his human mate flee a murderous queen, rallying a fragile tribe for one final stand.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: mate bond · found family · cross-species romance · tribe · protectiveness · romantic devotion · rivalry · forced separation · bonded couple
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1170
An abused young woman bonds with a damaged alien, sparking a generational saga of love, violence, and planetary warning.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: inter-species romance · abusive marriage · rescued by lover · found family · family loyalty · parent-child bond · sibling bond · adoptive family · human-alien friendship · love triangle · romantic rivalry · caretaker bond · community alliance · betrayal · power imbalance
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1197
A human man must win the trust of a feral female dragon who claims him as her mate in a post-apocalyptic world.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: mate bond · courtship · dominance dynamic · power exchange · cross-species romance · learning relationship · mutual dependence · found family · community care · siblings
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1199
Binti returns home to stop a widening human-alien war while confronting shifting identity, family tensions, and change.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: family conflict · platonic friendship · cross-species friendship · human-alien bond · romance · community distrust · intergroup rivalry · ancestral conflict · loyal companion
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1200
A petty thief is drawn into an interstellar train heist that exposes a dangerous secret behind humanity’s network.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: friendship · companionship · romance · mentor-protege · family obligation · sibling care · parent-child strain · power imbalance · betrayal · allegiance shifting · cross-species connection · human-machine bond
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1206
A secret team races across the globe to decode alien mysteries, human evolution, and a shared future with other species.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: human-animal bond · cross-species friendship · team loyalty · romance · proposed marriage · family-like group · community · human-animal cooperation · rivalry · authority conflict · trust
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1210
On an alien colony world, settlers build a society and resistance while a dangerous reproductive decree sparks conflict.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: romantic couple · inter-species romance · mates · colony community · leader-follower · power imbalance · family conflict · brother rivalry
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1214
An insane alien world-god turns movie fantasies into reality, forcing Cirocco Jones into a final rebellion.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: allies · found family · romantic entanglements · sexual relationships · friendship · rivalry · leader and followers · intergroup conflict · cross-species bonds
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1227
After a devastating war, three outsiders must navigate alien politics and a dying culture to save an endangered species.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: cross-species friendship · bromance · ally-enemy tension · cultural mistrust · mentor-like bond · fraught alliance · species dependence · betrayal · adoption into culture
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1240
A former art thief is pulled into a galaxy-spanning hunt for an artifact that could save one species and doom another.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: found family · friendship · cross-species friendship · loyalty · betrayal · misunderstanding · team dynamics · old friend · complicated bond · community · friendship across cultures
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1259
In a plague-ravaged future, survivors and bioengineered Crakers rebuild meaning through stories, memory, and uneasy alliances.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: romance · love triangle · found family · mentor mentee · community bonds · loyalty · rivalry · dependency · friendship · gender dynamics · inter-species cooperation
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1285
An insectoid alien scholar becomes the unlikely bridge in humanity’s first encounter with a very different intelligent species.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: cross-species friendship · cross-species alliance · pre-mate relationship · courtship · community bonds · family-like social structure · mutual mistrust · common-enemy alliance
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1300
Two enemy pilots crash on a hostile planet and must survive together, slowly turning hatred into trust.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: enemy to friends · cross-species friendship · mentor child · found family · companionship · trust · mutual dependency · brotherhood · interspecies bonds · parent-child bond
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1302
A black gryphon and his healer friend navigate a brutal mage war, loyalty, love, and the cost of being created.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: friendship · bromance · lifemates · romantic subplots · mentor bond · creator-created · caregiver bond · workplace bonds · interpersonal bonds · cross-species friendship · parental metaphor
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1313
In a thought-broadcasting colony world, a teen boy and a stranded girl are pulled into war, secrets, and uneasy alliances.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: friendship · romantic tension · loyalty bond · devotion · protector dynamic · mentor conflict · parental substitute · betrayal · chosen family · inter-species relations
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1317
A teen forest ranger and her treecat companion race to save a sentient alien clan as wildfires and human ambitions close in.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: human-animal bond · friendship · found family · mentor relationship · crush · possible love triangle · parent-child tension · allies · species relationship
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1320
A tea monk and a curious robot travel a hopeful future world to ask what humans need, and what makes a life enough.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: friendship · cross-species friendship · mentor-like exchange · companionship · mutual growth · caregiving · community care · acceptance · nonjudgmental relationships · interdependence
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1329
In a militarizing Earth on the brink, a human translator and her alien bond face new species, danger, and hard choices.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: codependency · alien romance · inter-species romance · queer relationship · mentor-protege · family estrangement · inter-species bond · friendship · dependency · power imbalance · covert alliance
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1333
A fearless, plus-size farm owner on Risda III falls fast for a cat-like alien contractor who wanders into her stream.
Why this is here
Relationships labels: inter-species romance · human-alien pairing · insta-love · insta-lust · open communication · no ow/om drama · temporary relationship · courtship · brother relationship · protective courtship
Semantic match: ranked by relationships
Distance: 0.1335
