Literary fiction · Similar reads
Books like Exit West
The best books like Exit West are Homegoing, Pachinko, and The Sympathizer. Exit West by Mohsin Hamid is about migration and displacement, love under pressure, identity and belonging. If that's what drew you in, here are 12 books that share its DNA — each summarized on Superbook, and ready to chat with in the app.
- Homegoing
01
Yaa Gyasi · Historical fiction
Homegoing begins in eighteenth-century Ghana with two half-sisters who never meet.
A kindred literary fiction read.
Read the summary → - Pachinko
02
Min Jin Lee · Historical fiction
Pachinko follows four generations of a Korean family from a small fishing village in early twentieth-century Korea to Osaka and Yokohama in postwar Japan.
Both dig into identity and belonging.
Read the summary → - The Sympathizer
03
Viet Thanh Nguyen · Literary fiction
The Sympathizer is narrated by a nameless communist spy who is also the aide-de-camp to a South Vietnamese general.
Both dig into political violence.
Read the summary → - One Hundred Years of Solitude
04
Gabriel García Márquez · Literary fiction
One Hundred Years of Solitude chronicles the founding, flourishing, and eventual obliteration of Macondo, a fictional Colombian town, through six generations of the Buendía family.
Both dig into political violence.
Read the summary → - The Famished Road
05
Ben Okri · Literary fiction
The Famished Road is narrated by Azaro, a spirit child in West Africa.
Both dig into political violence.
Read the summary → - The Moor's Last Sigh
06
Salman Rushdie · Literary fiction
The Moor's Last Sigh is narrated by Moraes Zogoiby — the Moor — a man who ages at twice the normal rate and has only months to live.
Both dig into identity and belonging.
Read the summary → - Under the Volcano
07
Malcolm Lowry · Literary fiction
Malcolm Lowry's 1947 novel takes place on a single day — the Mexican Day of the Dead, November 2, 1938 — in the small town of Quauhnahuac (Cuernavaca) in the shadow of the Popocatépetl volcano.
Both dig into political violence.
Read the summary → - A Darker Shade of Magic
08
V.E. Schwab · Fantasy
A Darker Shade of Magic is set across four parallel versions of London — Red, Grey, White, and the long-destroyed Black — each existing in the same location but separated by the barriers between worlds.
Both dig into identity and belonging.
Read the summary → - Firefly Lane
09
Kristin Hannah · Contemporary fiction
Tully Hart and Kate Mularkey meet in the summer of 1974 as fourteen-year-olds on Firefly Lane in rural Washington State, and their friendship spans three decades — through high school, college, careers in television journalism, marriages, and heartbreak.
Both dig into time and change.
Read the summary → - How Buildings Learn
10
Stewart Brand · Science
How Buildings Learn is Stewart Brand's argument that buildings are not finished products but ongoing processes — and that the buildings most valued over time are those designed to change gracefully rather than resist change defensively.
Both dig into time and change.
Read the summary → - Little Fires Everywhere
11
Celeste Ng · Contemporary fiction
In Shaker Heights, Ohio — a meticulously planned, deliberately integrated suburb — two families collide.
Both dig into identity and belonging.
Read the summary → - Oliver Twist
12
Charles Dickens · Classics
Oliver Twist is the story of an orphan born in a workhouse who runs away from an abusive apprenticeship, falls in with a gang of thieves in London, and — in Dickens's scheme — is eventually rescued and restored to his rightful identity.
Both dig into identity and belonging.
Read the summary →
Books like Exit West: quick answers
What are the best books like Exit West?
The best books like Exit West by Mohsin Hamid are Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, The Famished Road by Ben Okri, plus 7 more below. Each was chosen for themes it shares with Exit West, such as migration and displacement, love under pressure, identity and belonging.
What should I read after Exit West?
A natural next read after Exit West is Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi. A kindred literary fiction read. Other strong choices are Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez.
What books are similar to Exit West by Mohsin Hamid?
Exit West centers on migration and displacement, love under pressure, identity and belonging. Books with a similar feel include Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi, Pachinko by Min Jin Lee, The Sympathizer by Viet Thanh Nguyen, One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel García Márquez, The Famished Road by Ben Okri, The Moor's Last Sigh by Salman Rushdie — all free to read and chat with on Superbook.
