Exploring from

Always on My Mind

Carys Green

Find similar books by

Combine common axes

Similar in characterization + relationships

These books are ranked using the characterization + relationships labels extracted for Always on My Mind. Books rank higher when they are close on every selected axis.

Characterization labels used: controlling husband, technophobe wife, tech-obsessed husband, struggling artist, unlikeable characters, manipulative partner, obsessive partner, coercive husband, secretive protagonist, dependent partner, genuine friend

Relationships labels used: marriage, toxic marriage, power imbalance, codependency, friendship, university friends, romantic relationship, marital surveillance, betrayal, coercive control

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

Exclude same author

Max ratings No limit

In the Act

Rachel Ingalls · 2023

A neglected wife discovers her husband’s secret invention in the attic and turns his fantasy into a marital showdown.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: unhappily married couple · controlling husband · neglected wife · curious wife · pedantic husband · secretive inventor · female rage · male fantasy · idealized companion

Relationships labels: toxic marriage · heterosexual marriage · marital resentment · husband wife conflict · power imbalance · blackmail · rivalry · companionship · infidelity fantasy · marital bargaining

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1271

Continue from here

Made for Love

Alissa Nutting · 2017

A runaway wife flees her surveillance-obsessed tech mogul husband and lands in a surreal battle over love, power, and privacy.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: controlling husband · tech mogul · runaway wife · trailer park father · sex doll companion · con artist · grifter · dysfunctional characters · deadpan protagonist · emotionally abused heroine · manipulative billionaire · eccentric minor characters

Relationships labels: abusive marriage · controlling relationship · father-daughter · romantic betrayal · codependency · family strain · toxic intimacy · power imbalance · parallel relationships

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1287

Continue from here

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

Characterization labels: artist protagonist · struggling artist · career-driven · relatable heroine · sympathetic protagonist · controlling husband · suspicious husband · morally compromised character · manipulative character

Relationships labels: marriage · high school relationship · best friends · family dynamics · toxic relationship · controlling partnership · romantic suspense · friendship · power imbalance · trust issues

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1333

Continue from here

I'm Starved for You

Margaret Atwood · 2012 · Positron

In a near-future gated community, a married couple’s monthly prison exchange is disrupted by a forbidden note and obsession.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: married couple · unhappy marriage · obsessive protagonist · unsympathetic characters · self-absorbed characters · world-weary · repressed · secretive

Relationships labels: marriage · love triangle · affair · sexual jealousy · desire and obsession · marital dissatisfaction · partner swap · forbidden contact · power imbalance · community surveillance

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1450

Continue from here

Foe

Iain Reid · 2018

An isolated married couple’s quiet routine is shattered when a stranger arrives with a strange government offer and a hidden replacement plan.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: married couple · isolated protagonists · intrusive stranger · government agent · passive protagonist · suspicious husband · opaque spouse

Relationships labels: marriage · spousal tension · domestic relationship · loneliness · co-dependency · manipulation · control · trust · intimacy · human connection

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1504

Continue from here

Beyond the Door

Philip K. Dick

A husband’s gift of a cuckoo clock turns a strained marriage into a creepy battle of jealousy, desire, and revenge.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: miserable husband · discontent wife · antagonistic husband · gullible husband · underappreciated wife · sentient nonhuman character · paranoid atmosphere

Relationships labels: troubled marriage · infidelity · love triangle · jealousy · spouse conflict · betrayal · power struggle · rivalry

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1504

Continue from here

The Beautiful Bureaucrat

Helen Phillips · 2015

A jobless young couple finds work in a strange city, but one office job draws a wife into a secret that reshapes her life.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: young wife · married couple · office worker · cog in machine · faceless boss · strange coworkers · anonymous authority · curious protagonist · anxious protagonist · unemployed couple · emotionally unraveling · cipher-like husband

Relationships labels: marriage · couple dynamics · co-dependence · marital strain · secrecy · love story · power imbalance · husband wife · alienation · dependency

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1512

Continue from here

You Weren't Meant to Be Human

Andrew Joseph White · 2025

A trans, mute autistic man in a worm hive faces forced pregnancy, body horror, and a brutal fight for autonomy.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: trans man protagonist · autistic protagonist · mute protagonist · self-destructive · self-hating · traumatized · suicidal · abusive boyfriend · violent killer · outcasts · found family · marginalized characters · complex protagonist

Relationships labels: abusive relationship · toxic romance · found family · cult loyalty · coercive control · betrayal · dependency · power imbalance · nonconsensual sex · family estrangement

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1628

Continue from here

Permanence

Sophie Mackintosh · 2026

A secret affair becomes public in a strange city where adulterous couples can live openly, until paradise starts to crack.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: unlikable characters · flawed lovers · selfish man · younger woman · married man · other woman · obsessive desire · codependent pair · emotionally distant man · devoted woman · hypocritical man

Relationships labels: affair · adultery · secret lovers · unequal commitment · emotional dependency · codependency · imbalance · betrayal · marriage strain · longing · compromise · mutual damage · family versus lover

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1628

Continue from here

The House on the Strand

Daphne du Maurier · 2013

A man tests a strange drug in Cornwall and becomes obsessed with watching, but not entering, the medieval past.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: disaffected man · addicted protagonist · guinea pig · scientist friend · biophysicist · unhappy wife · upper-class wife · passive narrator · obsessive protagonist · morally flawed protagonist · sympathetic male lead

Relationships labels: friendship · marital strain · rocky marriage · stepfamily · mentor-protégé · power imbalance · obsession · romantic idealization · family conflict

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1629

Continue from here

Metronome

Tom Watson · 2022

Two exiled partners on a remote island face missing supplies, a missing warden, and secrets that could change everything.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: dual protagonists · unreliable narrators · female lead · male partner · contrasting personalities · resourceful · passive partner · secretive · fractured couple · complex characters

Relationships labels: married couple · romantic strain · secrets between partners · parent-child separation · trust breakdown · dependency · power imbalance · betrayal · isolation from community

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1692

Continue from here

The Terminal Experiment

Robert J. Sawyer · 1995

A scientist who finds evidence of the soul makes digital copies of himself, and one copy escapes into murder.

Why this is here

Characterization labels: biomedical engineer · scientist protagonist · detective · best friend · AI specialist · marital conflict · flawed protagonist · morally ambiguous protagonist · sympathetic characters · flat characters · one-dimensional characters · male gaze · sexist characterization

Relationships labels: marriage crisis · infidelity · friendship · scientific partnership · romantic tension · betrayal · family drama · power imbalance

Semantic match: ranked by characterization + relationships

Distance: 0.1702

Continue from here