Books like 'Real Life'
Readers who enjoyed Real Life by Adeline Dieudonné also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary psychological coming-of-age drama literary-fiction family crime gothic
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Dark Mother Earth by Kristian Novak
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsAn amnesiac writer’s life of lies and false memories reaches a breaking point in this stunning English-language debut from an award-winning Croatian author.As a novelist, Matija makes things up for a living. Not yet thirty, he’s written two well-received books. It’s his third that is as big a failure as his private life... -
Lato, gdy mama miała zielone oczy by Tatiana Țîbuleac
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsAleksy, kipiący gniewem nastolatek, po ukończeniu szkoły zamierza pojechać z kolegami do Amsterdamu, zamiast tego jednak udaje się z matką na wieś do Francji. Mają spędzić razem lato. Ich trudna relacja powoli się odmienia, aż w końcu – na krótko – przechodzi w autentyczną bliskość... -
Missed: Rafael and Lisa by Tess Thompson
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsReturn to the beloved beach town of Cliffside Bay, where USA Today bestseller Tess Thompson spins another emotional, intriguing tale about overcoming adversity and finding strength in love in this standalone story about Lisa and Rafael. After years of struggling as a starving actor, Lisa Perry's dreams are finally coming true... -
Next to Normal by Brian Yorkey, Tom Kitt
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 16 ratings"A brave and breathtaking musical... -
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I Hid My Voice by Parinoush Saniee
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsThis is the story, based on fact, of a boy who couldn’t speak until the age of seven. Now twenty, he describes the events of his life.Four-year-old Shahaab has not started talking. The family doctor believes there is no cause for concern; nevertheless, Shahaab is ridiculed by others who call him "dumb... -
A Boy Made of Blocks by Keith Stuart
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsDiscover a unique, funny and moving debut that will make you laugh, cry and smile. Meet thirtysomething dad, AlexHe loves his wife Jody, but has forgotten how to show it. He loves his son Sam, but doesn't understand him. Something has to change. And he needs to start with himself.Meet eight-year-old SamBeautiful, surprising, autistic. To him the world is a puzzle he can't solve on his own... -
The Boy Under the Table by Nicole Trope
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsTina is a young woman hiding from her grief on the streets of the Cross. On a cold night in the middle of winter she breaks all her own rules when she agrees to go home with a customer.What she finds in his house will change her life forever.Across the country Sarah and Doug are trapped in limbo, struggling to accept the loss that now governs their lives... -
Uncovering Love by J.J. Sorel
Rated: 4.28 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTo escape an abusive ex, Scarlet Black takes on a new identity and accepts a role masquerading as an admin assistant. She moves to a secluded mansion in a small English coastal village working for the reclusive billionaire, Daniel Love, whose wife has disappeared under mysterious circumstances... -
Three Complete Novels: Heaven/Dawn/Ruby by V.C. Andrews
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsThis volume features the first novels in three thrilling V.C. Andrews' series: "Heaven, Dawn, " and "Ruby"--an unprecedented hardcover collection--complete and unabridged--at an inviting price! Available... -
Where Women Are Kings by Christie Watson
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsElijah, seven years old, has a history of disruptive behaviour. His adoptive mother Nikki believes that she and her husband Obi are strong enough to accept his difficulties – and that her being white will not affect her ability to raise a black son... -
The Day She Came Back by Amanda Prowse
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen her loving, free-spirited grandmother Primrose passes away, Victoria is bereft, yet resilient—she has survived tragedy before. But even her strength is tested when a mysterious woman attends Prim’s funeral and claims to be the mother Victoria thought was dead...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family literary-fiction audiobook book contemporary domestic-drama -
The Eye of the Sheep by Sofie Laguna
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsAn alternative cover edition for the ISBN can be found here."Ned was beside me, his messages running easily through him, with space between each one, coming through him like water. He was the go-between, going between the animal kingdom and this one. I watched the waves as they rolled and crashed towards us, one after another, never stopping, always changing...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family literary-fiction audiobook book contemporary female-author -
Let the Light Shine by Nick Alexander, Penelope Rawlins
Rated: 4.15 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsFrom Nick Alexander, the number one best-selling author of The Photographer's Wife and The Other Son.Penny and Victoria are about as different as two siblings can be, one with a smart London lifestyle, the other struggling to make ends meet. But they are joined by more than blood, and their shared tragic past is affecting the present more than they realise... -
The Boy in the Photo by Nicole Trope
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsShe becomes aware of the silence at the other end of the line. A prickling sensation crawls up her arms, her heart rate speeds up. ‘Found who?’ she asks, slowly, carefully, deliberately. ‘They found Daniel.’ Six years ago Megan waits at the school gates for her six-year-old son, Daniel. As children come and go, the playground emptying, panic bubbles inside her. Daniel is nowhere to be found... -
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Christina by Leanne Davis
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsMy entire life I’ve lived with shadows lurking behind what otherwise appears like the perfect family. My mother often disappears into her bedroom for days at a time because her life becomes too much to deal with. I never understood it. I know there are family secrets. I hear the whispers and innuendos. But no one wants me to know the truth. The thing is: I’m not a little girl anymore... -
The Mustachioed Woman of Shanghai by Isham Cook
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWant to know what's really going on with relationships in China today? It is the Shanghai of courtesans and concubines, danger and decadence, updated to 2020. American expat author Isham Cook has disappeared... -
Hunger for Life by Andy Marr
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsOn the day of his graduation, James says goodbye to the future and moves back to his parents’ house in Myreton, the sleepy village of his childhood. He’s not happy, but the thought of continuing his life anywhere else seems unthinkable while his sister, Emma, continues to suffer with the illness that’s plagued her since she was a child...Categorized as:
family coming-of-age literary-fiction drama romance fiction contemporary mental-illness -
The Heiress by Rachel Hawkins
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsWhen Ruby McTavish Callahan Woodward Miller Kenmore dies, she’s not only North Carolina’s richest woman, she’s also its most notorious. The victim of a famous kidnapping as a child and a widow four times over, Ruby ruled the tiny town of Tavistock from Ashby House, her family’s estate high in the Blue Ridge mountains... -
Secrets Mothers Keep by Anya Mora
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOn Friday night in the clay fields of Bethel Creek, seventeen-year-old Daniel Reyes is found brutally attacked and left for dead. On Saturday morning, Cora Maxwell finds her teenage son’s clothes covered in blood. A small town torn apart by a horrific hate crime. An investigative reporter hell bent on finding the truth. A mother’s worst nightmare... -
Deserve To Die by Miranda Rijks
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsDom and Stacey have the perfect life. Until they meet Tamara. Brilliant, beautiful, she hides a horrifying secret. One that may destroy them all.Happily married with two wonderful children, Dom and Stacey are living the dream. He runs a successful design agency, she is finding fame as an author of children’s books.Everything is perfect... -
The House of Gazes by Daniele Mencarelli
Rated: 4.31 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWinner of the 2019 John Fante First Novel Prize The critically acclaimed novel from the author of Everything Calls for Salvation , adapted into a Netflix Original series, is a powerful coming-of-age story about loss, identity, and rebirth Daniele is a young poet plagued by an unknown darkness, “an invisible disease of the heart, or of the mind...Categorized as:
literary-fiction drama coming-of-age fiction contemporary audiobook psychological book -
My Mother's Eyes: A Short Story by Jeremy Ray
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratings“You’re wrong, Jordie. You’ll see. Draw me just one more time.”No one knows if his mother will come out of her coma, so fourteen-year-old Jordie memorializes her in the only way he knows how: by drawing her. His older brother doesn’t approve of these sketches, but Jordie’s determined to capture the person she used to be... -
Don't Blink by L.G. Davis
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 16 ratings*This book was previously published under the titles The Girl in the Rain and The Girl in the Storm.* Two years ago, Paige Wilson watched helplessly as her brother Ryan was shot, right on her doorstep. He survived the attack, but never fully recovered from the trauma. Stuck in a wheelchair, Ryan refuses to accept the life of a paraplegic... -
The Halo Effect by Anne D. LeClaire
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsIn this tour de force, a father, shaken by tragedy, tries to avenge his daughter’s murder—and restore his family’s shattered life. It was supposed to be a typical October evening for renowned portrait artist Will Light... -
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You Let Me In by Lucy Clarke
Rated: 4.05 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsSpine-tingling, chilling, and utterly compulsive, YOU LET ME IN is the stunning new novel from Richard & Judy Book Club author, Lucy Clarke Nothing has felt right since Elle rented out her house . . . I’M IN YOUR HOUSE There’s a new coldness. A shift in the atmosphere. The prickling feeling that someone is watching her every move from the shadows... -
The Woman in Our House by Andrew Hart
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhat happens when you open your home to the perfect stranger?Anna Klein is ready to return to work as a literary agent for the first time since having children. She and her husband, Josh, decide to hire a live-in nanny with some trepidation, but all their misgivings disappear as soon as they meet Oaklynn Durst. She has stellar references, a calm disposition, and a natural way with children... -
Clean by Alia Trabucco Zerán, Sophie Hughes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsINTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER!From a global star and International Booker Prize finalist, a razor-sharp, unforgettable novel about a maid who’s seen too much and a family at a breaking pointA young girl has died and the family’s maid is being interrogated. She must tell the whole story before arriving at the girl’s death... -
Mama's Boy by David Goudreault
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWinner of the 2016 Grand Prix littéraire ArchambaultWritten with gritty humour in the form of a confession, Mama's Boy recounts the family drama of a young man who sets out in search of his mother after a childhood spent shuffling from one foster home to another. A bizarre character with a skewed view of the world, he leads the reader on a quest that is both tender and violent... -
I Made a Mistake by Jane Corry
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIT STARTED WITH A KISS... AND ENDED WITH MURDER. The darkly addictive new novel from the Sunday Times bestselling author of I Looked Away, Blood Sisters and My Husband's Wife. --------------------------------------------------------In Poppy Page's mind, there are two types of women in this world: those who are faithful to their husbands, and those who are not... -
Valentina by S.E. Lynes
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Glasgow journalist Shona McGilvery moves with her partner Mikey and their baby to an idyllic cottage in rural Scotland, they believe that all that lies ahead of them is happiness.But with Mikey working offshore, the frightening isolation of the Aberdeenshire countryside begins to drive her insane...That is, until she is rescued by a new friendship with the enchanting Valentina... -
Behind Closed Doors by Susan Lewis
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe powerful new novel about how life can change course in a heartbeat. From the Sunday Times Top Ten bestselling author of Never Say Goodbye. When fourteen-year-old Sophie Monroe suddenly vanishes one night it looks at first as though she's run away from home.Her computer and mobile phone have gone, and she's taken a bag full of clothes... -
No Hiding in Boise by Kim Hooper
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWhen Angie is awakened by a midnight call from an officer with the Boise Police Department, she thinks there must be a misunderstanding. The officer tells her that her husband was involved in a shooting at a local bar, but how can that be possible when her husband is sleeping right next to her? Except when she turns to wake him, he isn’t there... -
Secret Lives of Mothers & Daughters by Anita Kushwaha
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFor readers of Shilpi Somaya Gowda’s "Secret Daughter" and Nancy Richler’s "The Imposter Bride", a breathtaking novel from Anita Kushwaha about the ties that bind mothers and daughters together and the secrets that tear them apartVeena, Mala and Nandini are three very different women with something in common...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction contemporary realistic audiobook psychological -
Ten Birthdays by Kerry Wilkinson
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 8 ratings*Winner of the Romantic Novelists' Association Young Adult Novel of the Year 2018*"There are going to be so many things I wish I could’ve told you in person, Poppy. I won’t get the chance to do that, so perhaps this is my only way…"It’s Poppy Kinsey’s birthday... -
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Exposure by Ava Dellaira
Rated: 4.00 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsA life-changing moment encompasses conflicting truths that echo across time, in this powerful, provocative debut.One night, two people, four sides of a story.In 2004, Juliette Marker, a white college freshman, and Noah King, a Black high school senior, are two lonely souls who enter each other’s orbit, forge a connection, and, after a chance meeting, go home together...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction audiobook contemporary season-spring lgbtq -
Transit by Rachel Cusk
Rated: 3.96 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsThe stunning new novel from the author of Outline, a finalist for the Scotiabank Giller Prize and one of The New York Times Book Review’s Ten Best Books of the YearIn the wake of family collapse, a writer moves to London with her two young sons... -
That Day You Left by Dorothy Koomson
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA powerful, thought-provoking emotional thriller from Sunday Times bestseller Dorothy Koomson. Previously published as THE FLAVOURS OF LOVE.Would you protect your husband's killer?It's been 18 months since that day when Saffron's husband, Joel, was murdered. Everyone in her life believes she is coping well. And no one suspects the mother-of-two knows who killed Joel... -
The Secrets Mothers Keep by Jacquie Underdown
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsIn the enchanting landscapes of Tasmania, "The Secrets Mothers Keep" unravels a captivating tale of three generations bound by a shared purpose—to restore the family manor into a charming bed and breakfast. But beneath the surface lies a lifetime of concealed truths that threaten to tear them apart... -
The Fifth Floor by Julie Oleszek
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsOne secret. A decade of silence.Seven-year-old Anna loves the constant commotion of her big family. Most of all, Anna adores her ten-year-old sister Liz. They build forts, climb trees, and stick together, no matter what. One moment the two girls are dangling from their backyard swing set; the next, everything changes… Anna will never be the same...Categorized as:
drama literary-fiction family coming-of-age fiction young-adult mental-illness contemporary -
Stolen Child by Laura Elliot
Rated: 3.94 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsWhen Carla Kelly and Robert Gardner marry, they seem destined for happiness. But tragedy strikes when their two-day-old baby, Isobel, is stolen. Distraught and bewildered, they must cope with the media frenzy that follows. As hope of finding her fades, their marriage disintegrates under the strain and they divorce... -
Saving Grace by Lee Smith
Rated: 3.93 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsSurrounded all of her life by zealous religious figures, Florida Grace Shepherd recounts a story that begins with her father's revival meetings and ends at Uncle Slidell's Christian Fun Golf course...Categorized as:
coming-of-age drama family literary-fiction audiobook bildungsroman book contemporary -
Broken Glass by V.C. Andrews
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis second gothic novel in the dark Mirror Sisters trilogy continues the tale of sisterly love at its absolute worst—from the legendary New York Times bestselling author of Flowers in the Attic and My Sweet Audrina (now Lifetime movies). For fans of Ruth Ware (In a Dark, Dark Wood) and Liane Moriarty (The Husband’s Secret).Sisters until the end... Which may come sooner than they think... -
On Little Wings by Regina Sirois
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsThis is a story of the countless ways we get love wrong. And why, despite every disappointment, we keep fighting to get it right. Jennifer must do the impossible – bring her mother home. When a family is torn apart by death, two sisters take violently divergent paths and the story of their family appears to end terribly and abruptly... -
The Choice by Susan Lewis
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSometimes the choice is too hard to bear...Nikki Grant is only twenty-one when she discovers she's pregnant. Despite her parents' disappointment and anger, she welcomes the news with joy. The baby will complete the happy home she shares with the man she adores, Spencer James. Baby Zac arrives and is perfect in every way... -
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The Tenants of Moonbloom by Edward Lewis Wallant
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsNorman Moonbloom is a loser, a drop-out who can't even make it as a deadbeat. His brother, a slumlord, hires him to collect rent in the buildings he owns in Manhattan... -
Beside the Sea by Véronique Olmi
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA single mother takes her two sons on a trip to the seaside. They stay in a hotel, drink hot chocolate, and go to the funfair. She wants to protect them from an uncaring and uncomprehending world. She knows that it will be the last trip for her boys... -
Beach Plum Island by Holly Robinson
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratings“Your brother should know the truth.” These are the last cryptic words that Ava Barrett’s father says before he dies. But Ava doesn’t have a brother, as far as she knows, so how can she tell him the truth? She dismisses the conversation and dedicates herself to bringing her family together for her father’s funeral... -
Trail of Destruction by Tracy Buchanan
Rated: 3.90 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsIn this chilling tale from the bestselling author of Wall of Silence, a spark of malice ignites into an inferno of violence. Can one woman uncover the truth before it all goes up in flames?Eager for distraction in the aftermath of her messy divorce, Ellie Mileham dives into moderating the petty squabbles on her local Facebook group... -
Signal Fires by Dani Shapiro
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 26 ratingsA GRIPPING NEW NOVEL FROM THE BESTSELLING AUTHOR OF INHERITANCEOne Night. One Fateful Choice. A Constellation of Lives Changed Forever.SIGNAL FIRES opens on a summer night in 1985. Three teenagers have been drinking. One of them gets behind the wheel of a car, and, in an instant, everything on Division Street changes...Categorized as:
literary-fiction family coming-of-age drama fiction historical-fiction audiobook contemporary -
The Marriage by K.L. Slater
Rated: 3.92 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsTen years ago he killed my son. Today I married him.Ten years ago my darling son Jesse was murdered and our perfect family was destroyed. My strong, handsome boy, so full of life, became a memory, a photo I carried with me everywhere.But today I’m finally close to finding happiness again. My ash-blonde hair has been curled into ringlets. Carefully placed white flowers frame my delicate features...
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