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Shadows

John Saul

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Similar in premise + setting

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

Premise labels used: gifted children, gifted school, brain experiment, artificial intelligence, child endangerment, bullying, suicide attempt, secret conspiracy, evil intelligence, mansion school, remote academy, scientific ethics, body transfer, children in peril

Setting labels used: academy, boarding school, cliff-top mansion, oceanfront setting, isolated setting, Pacific coast, 1990s, early internet era, 90s technology, old mansion, school setting, remote campus

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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The Mysterious Benedict Society

Trenton Lee Stewart · 2008 · The Mysterious Benedict Society

Four gifted children are recruited for a secret mission at a ruleless school where puzzles, codes, and danger await.

Why this is here

Premise labels: gifted children · secret mission · undercover school · logic puzzles · codebreaking · world threat · misfit team · hidden tests · adventure quest · child spies

Setting labels: contemporary reality · school setting · boarding school · secret underground tunnels · island setting · hidden lairs · classroom world · slightly fantastical reality · slightly futuristic reality · fictional institute

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2400

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Stealing Infinity

Alyson Noel · 2022 · Stolen Beauty

A troubled teen is sent to a secret island academy where time travel, stolen artifacts, and hidden agendas collide.

Why this is here

Premise labels: time travel · boarding school · secret academy · artifact theft · mysterious power · elite recruitment · remote island school · hidden agenda

Setting labels: remote island · off-the-grid school · boarding school · secret society · luxury setting · modern setting · historical past · time travel world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2422

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Wolverine and the X-Men, Vol. 2

Jason Aaron, Nick Bradshaw · 2012 · Wolverine and the X-Men (2011)

Wolverine leads a mutant school through space-gambling schemes, alien-body battles, and nonstop crises to keep it alive.

Why this is here

Premise labels: mutant school · school funding crisis · space heist · body invasion · alien infestation · ensemble team-up · student-teacher dynamics · deadly school threat

Setting labels: mutant school · space casino · intergalactic setting · school campus · microscopic interior setting · outer space · Marvel Universe · alien environments · off-world

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2493

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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: 0.2511

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The Similars

Rebecca Hanover · 2019 · The Similars

At an elite boarding school, a grieving teen confronts a clone of her dead best friend and a web of secrets.

Why this is here

Premise labels: clones at school · dead best friend clone · elite academy secrets · identity crisis · clone rights · scientific scandal · hidden conspiracy · grieving heroine · forbidden attraction

Setting labels: boarding school · elite school · prestigious academy · near future · futuristic Earth · very near future · private school · secret island · lab setting · advanced technology

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2527

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The Vault of Dreamers

Caragh M. O'Brien · 2014 · The Vault of Dreamers

At a televised arts school, a low-ranked student skips sleep and uncovers a sinister secret hidden behind the cameras.

Why this is here

Premise labels: elite school · reality show · creativity experiment · dream mining · privacy invasion · student competition · conspiracy investigation · forced sleep

Setting labels: future setting · boarding school · arts school · televised campus · high surveillance · reality TV world · induced sleep · creative arts environment

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2550

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The Death House

Sarah Pinborough · 2015

After a blood test sends him to an isolated house for “Defectives,” Toby faces illness, fear, and first love.

Why this is here

Premise labels: isolated children · terminal illness · forbidden contact · forced confinement · coming of age · first love · imminent death · defective gene · boarding school prison · disease stigma

Setting labels: remote island · isolated house · boarding school setting · hospice setting · near future · post-apocalyptic hints · out-of-time world · country manor · quarantine setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2570

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Girls with Sharp Sticks

Suzanne Young · 2019 · Girls with Sharp Sticks

At a girls-only boarding school, one student uncovers a terrifying program behind beauty, obedience, and control.

Why this is here

Premise labels: all-girls school · secret academy · brainwashing · oppressive school · female resistance · awakening · patriarchal control · girls band together

Setting labels: boarding school · near future · dystopian setting · elite academy · isolated institution · controlling environment · school enclosure

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2583

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H.I.V.E. Higher Institute of Villainous Education

Mark Walden · 2007 · H.I.V.E.

A gifted orphan is abducted to a secret school for villains and must outwit its staff to escape with new friends.

Why this is here

Premise labels: villain school · kidnapped students · evil genius · escape plan · secret academy · supervillain training · rebel students

Setting labels: isolated island · volcanic island · secret school · boarding school · high-tech facility · hidden compound

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2590

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Evil Genius

Catherine Jinks · 2005 · Genius

A lonely child genius is groomed for villainy at a secret academy, then starts questioning who he is and who to trust.

Why this is here

Premise labels: gifted child · evil school · criminal training · world domination · child hacker · hidden parentage · moral awakening · lonely genius · manipulation · secret agenda

Setting labels: Australia · private school · elite institute · criminal academy · contemporary setting · school setting · prison communication

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2617

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Curtsies & Conspiracies

Gail Carriger · 2013 · Finishing School

A spy-in-training at an airborne finishing school uncovers a conspiracy, a kidnapping plot, and complicated new feelings.

Why this is here

Premise labels: spy school · boarding school · conspiracy · stolen device · kidnapping attempt · girls' academy · evil genius school · travel invention

Setting labels: finishing school · dirigible school · airship · London · Victorian-era setting · alternate reality · paranormal world · boarding school

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2654

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Vita Nostra

Marina Dyachenko, Sergey Dyachenko · 2018 · Vita Nostra (English)

A coerced teen enters a terrifying secret school where studying remakes reality, identity, and the self.

Why this is here

Premise labels: magical school · coerced training · hidden curriculum · mysterious mentor · metaphysical education · transformation · forced selection

Setting labels: remote village · provincial town · boarding school · university · beach vacation · small town · institutional setting

Semantic match: ranked by premise + setting

Distance: 0.2655

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