Deathwish by W.H. Lockwood
Published 2027 · Romance, LGBTQ+ Fiction, Science Fiction
How hard is Deathwish to read?
Deathwish scores 23 out of 100 for difficulty on ReadingRate, making it relatively accessible. The score is a weighted composite of nine measures: four of how hard the prose is to parse, five of how hard the meaning is to extract.
- Vocabulary: 24 out of 100
- Genre romance in the dark sports-romance vein typically relies on plain contemporary vocabulary. It sits close to Beach Read and It Ends with Us in accessibility.
- Sentence structure: 27 out of 100
- Commercial Kindle romance of this kind favors direct, readable sentences. Its syntax resembles Beach Read's accessible contemporary structure.
- Abstraction: 30 out of 100
- A survival romance set in a post-apocalyptic sports world centers on concrete action and personal relationships. It stays near It Ends with Us in directness.
- Information density: 28 out of 100
- A plot-driven genre romance in a series, with a linked-standalone format that keeps backstory light. Its pacing resembles Beach Read's comfortable density.
- Narrative indirection: 25 out of 100
- Genre romance conventions favor clear emotional beats and stated feelings. Readers are told what the leads want, much as in Beach Read.
- Symbolic density: 22 out of 100
- The fire left by the first book's couple works as a plain framing image, and a dark sports romance rarely builds a deep symbolic layer. It sits near Beach Read's minimal symbolism.
- Ironic distance: 22 out of 100
- Dark romance is earnest about its couple's survival and love. The tone resembles It Ends with Us in its direct emotional engagement.
- Resolution withholding: 15 out of 100
- The series is billed as linked standalones with happy endings for each couple, so closure is expected. It matches the genre-expected ending of Beach Read.
- Structural complexity: 24 out of 100
- A series entry that follows a new couple in a shared world suggests a linear romance structure. It resembles Beach Read's simple arc.
How Deathwish is regarded
Deathwish holds a literary regard score of 80 out of 100, weighing its place in the canon, its critical reception, its influence on other writers, and the standing of its author. Regard is measured separately from difficulty: a demanding book is not necessarily an admired one.