Books like 'Rocks in the Belly'
Readers who enjoyed Rocks in the Belly by Jon Bauer also liked the following books featuring the same tropes, story themes, relationship dynamics and character types.
contemporary literary-fiction dark coming-of-age true-crime
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The Young Team by Graeme Armstrong
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe Times top ten bestseller.‘An instant Scottish classic’ – The Skinny‘A swaggering, incendiary debut’ – Guardian‘Trainspotting for a new generation’ – Independent ‘Raw and lyrical’ – Observer‘One of the most admired young voices in British fiction’ – The Times2005. Glasgow is named Europe’s Murder Capital, driven by a violent territorial gang and knife culture...Categorized as:
coming-of-age dark literary-fiction 21st-century audiobook book contemporary fiction -
Delilah: An Under Your Scars Novella by Ariel N. Anderson
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsSeventeen years after the events in Under Your Scars, Caroline makes her yearly visit to Meridian City and is taken on a heartbreaking and bittersweet journey that gives her something she's been searching for her entire closure.This is a sequel novella to Under Your A Dark Romance Novel, and the series must be read in order...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction romance contemporary fiction female-mc anthologies action-adventure -
Fate Loves by Tina Saxon
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsConclusion of the romantic suspense Twist of Fate trilogy. He got down on one knee, and I said yes. Time stood still in a picture-perfect moment. I was finally going to get my happily ever after. Funny thing about moments, the next one can change everything. Aiden and I have spent our whole lives trying to untangle ourselves from an intricate web of truth and lies... -
Fractured Minds by Nikki J. Summers
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFinn KnowlesThe rebel without a voice. That’s me.But just because I choose to keep quiet, doesn’t mean there isn’t a raging fire burning inside. Still waters run deep, after all, and there’s a lot of secrets I’ve kept hidden from the world.Art has always been my escape from the evil that’s tried to drag me down.It was all I had.Until her...Categorized as:
dark literary-fiction coming-of-age new adult contemporary suspense young adult young-adult -
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Retuned: The Price of Time by Tania Joyce
Rated: 4.63 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsA vacation. An unforgettable accident. Lives are changed forever.Gemma and Kyle wanted a quick getaway before they recorded their new album.But one fateful mistake changes their lives forever.Heartbreaking decisions must be made.Friendships will be tried and tested...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age contemporary fiction romance new-adult friendship female-mc -
Hard Land by Benedict Wells
Rated: 4.30 of 5 stars · 20 ratingsMissouri, 1985: Um vor den Problemen zu Hause zu fliehen, nimmt der fünfzehnjährige Sam einen Ferienjob in einem alten Kino an. Und einen magischen Sommer lang ist alles auf den Kopf gestellt. Er findet Freunde, verliebt sich und entdeckt die Geheimnisse seiner Heimatstadt. Zum ersten Mal ist er kein unscheinbarer Außenseiter mehr. Bis etwas passiert, das ihn zwingt, erwachsen zu werden... -
All My Mothers by Joanna Glen
Rated: 4.42 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsFrom the author of the Costa shortlisted debut, The Other Half of Augusta Hope, comes the story of one girl’s journey to find her birth mother, and her realisation that mothers – and family – can be discovered in the most unexpected of places…London, 1980s. Though she has a comfortable, privileged life, Eva Martínez-Green is deeply unhappy...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction historical-fiction contemporary audiobook family parenthood -
Of Foster Homes and Flies by Chad Lutzke, Alberto Plumed
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsA neglected 12-year-old boy does nothing to report the death of his mother in order to compete in a spelling bee. A tragic coming-of-age tale of horror and drama in the setting of a hot New Orleans summer. "Original, touching coming of age." ~Jack Ketchum, author of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR "With OF FOSTER HOMES & FLIES, Lutzke is firing on all cylinders. It's a lean mean emotional machine... -
Broken Playboy by Laura Lee
Rated: 4.40 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsFrom USA Today bestselling author, Laura Lee, comes the sexy and heart-wrenching new standalone story set in the Windsor Academy world.They call me a player.A joker.The guy always down for a good time.But if they knew the secrets I’ve been keeping, they’d call me something else entirely.For the last two years, I’ve been buried in shame, numbing the pain with various vices...Categorized as:
coming-of-age dark literary-fiction black-mc boarding-school book contemporary enemies-to-lovers -
Dandelion Daughter: A Novel by Gabrielle Boulianne-Tremblay
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsWinner 2022, Prix des Libraires Rights for TV adaptation purchased by Zone 3 A runaway bestseller in Québec, where it has captured the hearts of readers and pushed trans-identity into the mainstream conversation, Dandelion Daughter is an intimate, courageous portrait of what it’s like to grow up having been assigned the wrong sex at birth...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction lgbtq trans-mc contemporary female-author book -
Han cantado bingo by Lana Corujo
Rated: 4.44 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsTodo empieza con un algunas noches, en los diez minutos suspendidos antes de que Abuela regrese del bingo, dos hermanas salen a escondidas por la puerta de atrás hasta El Ahorcado —un volcán redondo como una panza bocarriba—, cuentan hasta tres y corren de vuelta sin mirar atrás...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction fiction magical-realism contemporary female-author family book -
Rost by Jakub Małecki
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratings2002 sterben die Eltern des siebenjährigen Szymek auf ihrem Rückweg in das kleine Dorf Cholny bei einem Autounfall. Sein Leben vor diesem Ereignis kippt in eine ihm scheinbar unerreichbare Vergangenheit...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction 21st-century adult audiobook book contemporary fiction -
Alte Sorten by Ewald Arenz
Rated: 4.22 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsSally und Liss: zwei Frauen, wie sie unterschiedlicher nicht sein könnten. Sally, kurz vor dem Abitur, will einfach in Ruhe gelassen werden. Sie ist wütend auf alles, hasst alles: Angebote, Vorschriften, Regeln, Erwachsene. Fragen hasst sie am meisten, vor allem nach ihrem Aussehen.Liss bewirtschaftet allein einen Hof zwischen Weinbergen und Feldern...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction adult audiobook book contemporary fiction mental-illness -
On the Rocks by Gillian Jones, Book Covers Ashbee Designs
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBraunwyn Four years ago losing the love of my life almost destroyed me. Years of being labeled and looked upon with disdain by everyone in my hometown almost wrecked me. Four years ago I became a mother and together we were enough...Until I met him. He wanted to rebuild my broken–I just didn’t know how to let him... -
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Prosper by Paula Marinaro
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsProsper Worthington is a decorated war hero, a convicted felon, and the ex-cellmate and road companion of his best friend, Jack Winston. Different as two men can be, Prosper is rough, hot-headed, focused, and driven. He’s also had more than enough of Jack’s spur-of-the-moment decisions, faulty reasoning, and Peter Pan-like existence... -
Sul lato selvaggio by Tiffany McDaniel
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsSix women—mothers, daughters, sisters—gone missing. Inspired by the unsolved murders of the Chillicothe Six, this harrowing novel tells the story of two sisters, both of whom could be the next victims, from the internationally best-selling author of Betty."Capture[s] what goes horribly wrong when women don’t fit a customary victim profile.. -
Just Me by L.A. Fiore
Rated: 4.38 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsLark O'Bannion learned early that life isn't really like a fairy tale. Parents don't always love their children unconditionally, damsels, or even terrified and lonely little girls, are usually left to deal with their distress alone, Prince Charming rarely, if ever, comes riding to the rescue, and happily-ever-afters are a lovely concept but, in reality, are few and far between...Categorized as:
coming-of-age dark book contemporary fiction friends-to-lovers high-school new-adult -
Los nombres propios by Marta Jiménez Serrano
Rated: 4.29 of 5 stars · 24 ratings¿Quién es Belaundia Fu? Es la mejor amiga de Marta a los siete años: la amiga invisible que, en esos momentos en que las cosas no salen como había planeado y ni siquiera la abuela es capaz de consolarla, se sienta con ella y espera hasta que se le pase... -
The Dishwasher by Stéphane Larue
Rated: 4.19 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsIt’s winter in Montreal, 2002, when a graphic design student’s gambling addiction starts to drag him under... -
Everything Calls for Salvation by Daniele Mencarelli
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsWINNER OF THE 2020 YOUTH STREGA PRIZEFrom one of the most exciting voices in a new generation of Italian writers, a powerful and moving novel that explores both the darkest recesses and the most luminous regions of the human heartJune 1994. Twenty-year-old Daniele wakes up in a hospital room, confused and surrounded by strangers... -
In Youth Is Pleasure: & I Left My Grandfather's House by Denton Welch, William S. Burroughs
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsKeenly observed autobiographical fiction and journal entries from acclaimed writer Denton Welch, featuring an introduction by William S. Burroughs “In Youth Is Pleasure” recounts the summer vacation of Orvil Pym—a sensitive, withdrawn, and deeply unhappy boy of fifteen. Following a trying year at public school, Orvil spends the summer with his father and two older brothers...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction anthologies classics contemporary fiction lgbtq literary -
The Lake Never Tells by Alex Tully
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsZoe has lived in Sunny Shores Trailer Park her whole life and she knows what the Memorial Day weekend brings—snobby rich kids who serve as a constant reminder of how pathetic her life really is. So when she meets Ethan, the awkward boy from the exclusive community of Crystal Waters, she can’t help being intrigued. He’s different, but in a good way... -
A Family Affair - A Free Preview of the First 7 Chapters by ReShonda Tate Billingsley
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAward-winning author ReShonda Tate Billingsley, whose bestselling fiction "tackles some of life’s toughest situations" ( The Florida Times-Union ), unravels the secrets in a mother’s past that turn her daughter’s life upside down—by revealing the family she never knew existed... -
A Firefighter's Flame by D. Hart, Dani Hart
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsWomen's Fiction Recommended Age 17+ If you dig into the deepest parts of your soul, what would you find? Happiness, pain, love, regret, peace, sorrow? Now imagine experiencing all those feelings at once and then nothing at all. These were the average days in the life of Lennox. An unhealthy and unstable mind is further challenged when fate intervenes... -
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From Afar by Frank Scozzari
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsFor centuries, poets have argued that unrequited love is love in its strongest form. From Afar is a timeless tale of Morgan Stanfield’s search for love in the far northern city of Saint Petersburg, Russia...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction action-adventure adult book contemporary fiction journey -
Wallflower by Chad Lutzke
Rated: 4.33 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAfter an encounter with a homeless man, a high school graduate becomes obsessed with the idea of doing heroin, challenging himself to try it just once. A bleak tale of addiction, delusion, and flowers."Bleak as hell and honestly horrific."~John Boden, author of JEDI SUMMER"Using his strong narrative, he (Lutzke) conveys the everyday realistic horror and pulls the reader right into the ugliness...Categorized as:
coming-of-age dark literary-fiction horror fiction psychological substance-abuse mental-illness -
The Rachel Incident by Caroline O'Donoghue
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsWhere would I start, and how would it even make sense? How could you understand the year in Shandon Street unless you were there, with us, living it?Rachel Murray is twenty-one years old, platonically infatuated with her housemate James, and less-than-platonically infatuated with her enigmatic, married English professor Dr Byrne... -
My Cruel Lover by T.L. Smith
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsMy heart has been broken, torn to shreds.I’m used to the game of pain.Basically, I’m acquainted with it.Some would say I’ve become immune.That is…… until him.He’s cruel, hard, and everything I should stay away from.For one, he is my boss.Second, well, I can’t stay away.But in this game of life, maybe pain is my love.Or maybe I’m not seeing things clearly...Categorized as:
dark coming-of-age romance contemporary multi-pov enemies-to-lovers fiction action-adventure -
After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different by Adam Gnade
Rated: 4.25 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsFalling somewhere between Trainspotting and Like Water for Chocolate, Adam Gnade’s self-described “food novel” frames each chapter around a meal, and from there moves wild in all directions. After Tonight, Everything Will Be Different takes place in San Diego taco shops and rundown beach apartments, on the amusement park boardwalk at 3am and in cars bound for Tijuana and drunken glory...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction north-america usa california urban fiction contemporary -
The Brothers Silver by Marc Jampole
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsJules and Leon Silver sit at a dusty Formica table in a cold kitchen, drinking warm sugar water. Downstairs in the basement, their mother is unconscious, having swallowed hundreds of Librium while the brothers were at Boy Scout camp, her latest suicide attempt. The food cupboards are empty. The phone doesn’t give a dial tone. As the sun goes down, the kitchen grows cold... -
I Loved You More by Tom Spanbauer
Rated: 4.20 of 5 stars · 10 ratingsTom Spanbauer’s first novel in seven years is a love story triangle akin to The Marriage Plot and Freedom , only with a gay main character who charms gays and straights alike. I Loved You More is a rich, expansive tale of love, sex, and heartbreak, covering twenty-five years in the life of a striving, emotionally wounded writer... -
Miroloi by Karen Köhler
Rated: 4.14 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsEin Dorf, eine Insel, eine ganze Welt: Karen Köhlers erster Roman erzählt von einer jungen Frau, die als Findelkind in einer abgeschirmten Gesellschaft aufwächst. Hier haben Männer das Sagen, dürfen Frauen nicht lesen, lasten Tradition und heilige Gesetze auf allem...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction feminism contemporary audiobook dystopia fantasy -
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 coming-of-age fiction contemporary audiobook drama psychological book -
Cómplices by Taibo
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 16 ratingsJulián ha luchado contra el aburrimiento de todas las maneras posibles. Desde que le diagnosticaron hepatitis, ha recreado en su cabeza conversaciones imaginarias entre ostras que no tienen nada que hacer, ha buscado formas fantasiosas en las manchas de la pared, ha lanzado mocos al aire. Pero es feliz porque no tiene que ir a la escuela... -
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the truth about fragile things by Regina Sirois
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBryon died fifty years before his time. Charlotte grew up angry. I grew up scared. And Phillip- well, he never grew up. And now we are all bound together into one painful heap of humanity. Broken, but bound. And maybe it is only the fact that we are tangled in one terrible knot that will hold us together until we heal. This is unfortunately, and miraculously, my story...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction book contemporary female-author fiction realistic young-adult -
Von hier betrachtet sieht das scheiße aus by Max Osswald
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsBen Schneider ist erst 29, hat aber schon genug vom Leben im Hamsterrad: aufstehen, arbeiten, Sorgen machen, sterben. Seinen Job bei einer Wirtschaftsprüfungskanzlei hasst er mindestens so sehr wie seinen Vorgesetzten. Der Kontakt zu seiner Familie ist größtenteils abgerissen, für die Liebe oder Freunde hat er schon lange keine Zeit mehr...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction fiction male-mc contemporary mental-illness humor thriller -
Dear Marley by Danielle Keil
Rated: 4.17 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsEveryone at Ryder High knows what it means to have a teal envelope taped to their locker on the first day of the month.For Marley “Sunny” Sorenshine, a Secret Admirer might be just what she needs to put her recent, very public, break up behind her.Her optimism is dimmed when she reads the first note—her admirer was tricked into participating. He didn’t choose Marley, a dart did...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age romance contemporary young-adult loner-mc fiction book -
Letting Loose the Hounds by Brady Udall
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsHere are eleven big-hearted tales by an inspired storyteller at the beginning of his career. Set in the small towns of Utah and Arizona, most of these stories deal with letting loose - or wanting to - in all its forms. For the family hero in "Buckeye the Elder, " this means reverting to a more raucous past...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction adult anthologies contemporary fiction indigenous-mc poc-mc -
1462 South Broadway by K.C. Decker
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsNATIONAL BOOK AWARD WINNER! FIRST PLACE WINNER OF THE NATIONAL EXCELLENCE IN ROMANCE FICTION AWARD! 1462 South Broadway is a smoking hot example of how kink and BDSM can be sexy and playful instead of always brooding or deviant... -
Honeybees and Distant Thunder by Riku Onda
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsTender and intense, Honeybees and Distant Thunder is the unflinching story of love, courage and rivalry as three young people come to understand what it means to truly be a friend.In a small coastal town just a stone's throw from Tokyo, a prestigious piano competition is underway...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction contemporary 21st-century realistic book adult -
Last Things by Betta Ferrendelli
Rated: 4.13 of 5 stars · 8 ratingsBridgette Connor is a woman on the edge. Her career is in tatters, her relationship is doomed, and after an ill-fated pregnancy and subsequent abortion, she does the one thing she’s always done best. She runs. Her car careens off the road leaving her battered, bruised and beaten. It is then that she meets the woman who will change her life. Alexis Parker is a woman in control...Categorized as:
dark coming-of-age literary-fiction fiction contemporary romantic-love family female-mc -
The Essential Clive Barker: Selected Fiction by Clive Barker, Armistead Maupin
Rated: 4.10 of 5 stars · 10 ratings"I wonder if the reverse is not also in some way true. That the artist is constantly working on anelaborate and fantasticated self-portrait, but at the end has drawn, unbeknownst, a picture of the world... -
Czarne oceany by Jacek Dukaj
Rated: 4.08 of 5 stars · 12 ratingsDukaj od nowa skonfigurował klasyczną twardą fantastykę naukową.Mroczna, sugestywna, boleśnie realistyczna wizja społeczeństwa posthumanistycznego.Czarne oceany – przerażająca otchłań myśli ludzkiej.Nicolas Hunt kieruje tajnym projektem rządowym, badającym komercyjne zastosowania telepatii. Rezultaty tych badań zmienią nieodwracalnie nie tylko jego życie, ale także losy całego świata... -
The Wrong Boy by Willy Russell
Rated: 4.07 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsThe hilarious, bittersweet novel from the playwright behind EDUCATING RITA, SHIRLEY VALENTINE and award-winning musical BLOOD BROTHERS.Dear Morrissey,I'm feeling dead depressed and down. Like a streetlamp without a bulb or a goose at the onset of Christmas time.Anyroad, I thought I'd pen a few lines to someone who'd understand...It's 1991...Categorized as:
coming-of-age literary-fiction action-adventure audiobook book contemporary fiction horror -
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Buzz Aldrin, What Happened to You in All the Confusion? by Johan Harstad
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsA pop-saturated epic novel about the second man on the moon, and the quiet thirty-year-old gardener who idolizes him. A story of unconventional psychiatry, the Faroe Islands, amateur boat building, and the journey across the space that divides us from other people: a journey as remote and dangerous as the trip to the moon itself... -
The Temptation to Be Happy by Lorenzo Marone, Shaun Whiteside
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratingsCesare is a seventy-seven-year-old widower and cynical troublemaker, a man who has always struggled to care for others and has given up trying. Aside from an intermittent fling with a nurse called Rossana, he avoids contact with his neighbours and even his own children. One day, the enigmatic Emma moves into the neighbouring flat with her strange and sinister husband... -
The Few: A Novel by Hakan Günday
Rated: 4.06 of 5 stars · 18 ratings“I am here. Where are you?” These desperate words link the two protagonists of Hakan Günday’s raw and fearless novel The Few. Derdâ is an eleven-year-old girl pulled out of boarding school by her mother who, without telling her, plans to sell her as a wife to a conservative tribesman. She goes with her new husband to London, where for five years he abuses and all but imprisons her... -
Lessons by Ian McEwan
Rated: 4.04 of 5 stars · 24 ratingsWhen the world is still counting the cost of the Second World War and the Iron Curtain has closed, eleven-year-old Roland Baines's life is turned upside down. Two thousand miles from his mother's protective love, stranded at an unusual boarding school, his vulnerability attracts piano teacher Miss Miriam Cornell, leaving scars as well as a memory of love that will never fade...Categorized as:
literary-fiction coming-of-age fiction historical-fiction audiobook contemporary family book -
Misophonia by Dana Vowinckel
Rated: 4.21 of 5 stars · 14 ratingsPart coming-of-age tale, part family saga, an extraordinary debut novel set between Berlin, Chicago, and Jerusalem “about being Jewish and German, and all the awkwardness that entails” (The Guardian).It’s the hottest of summers in Chicago, and fifteen-year-old Margarita is spending her vacation as usual, under the not-so-watchful eyes of her aging maternal grandparents... -
Pride High : Book 3 - Yellow by Jay Bell
Rated: 4.50 of 5 stars · 6 ratingsAnother year is winding down for the students of Pride High, but the drama is just ramping up!Ricky is finally dating dangerous Diego Gomez, but when they keep getting into trouble, he wonders if he’s bitten off more than he can chew. Anthony has decided to come out to his school in a big way and faces backlash, not just from his fellow students, but the principal as well...
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