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TropeLit
Helping romance readers discover books by trope, vibe, and content comfort — dark romance, romantasy, and more.
The story
TropeLit is a romance book discovery platform organized the way readers actually choose books: by trope, tone, and content comfort, with a website and Android app backed by one shared API.
The problem. Romance readers pick books by trope and content boundaries, but mainstream book sites organize by broad genre. Darkness levels, endings, and content notes live scattered across reviews and social threads.
The solution. A searchable catalog with a trope and genre taxonomy, clear content ratings, a community glossary of reader shorthand, and full feature parity between web and Android.
Screenshots
How it’s built
Key features
- Search and filters by trope, genre, author, and keyword
- Content ratings for darkness and ending type
- Community-submitted, admin-reviewed reader glossary
- Curated genre pages from dark romance to romantasy
- Website and Android reader experiences kept in parity
Technology
- Express + TypeScript API with MongoDB
- Next.js website on Vercel
- Kotlin + Compose Android app
- Google Cloud for API hosting
Behind the build
Challenges solved
- Calibrating darkness and ending ratings so they stay consistent across the catalog
- Building a usable taxonomy from messy, community-driven source data
- Keeping reader-facing features identical across web and Android
Future roadmap
- Google Play launch for the Android app
- Expanded book pipeline and catalog coverage
- Personalized recommendations by trope preferences