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What Happens Next by Claire Swinarski

What Happens Next by Claire Swinarski

Astronomy-obsessed Abby McCourt should be thrilled about the solar eclipse her small town of Moose Junction is about to witness, but she’s not. After her older sister Blair was sent away for an eating disorder, Abby has been in a funk.

Desperate to dull the pain her sister’s absence has left, she teams up with a visiting astronomer to help track down his long-lost telescope. Though this is supposed to take Abby’s mind off the distance between her and Blair, what she finds may bring her closer to her sister than she ever thought possible.

Goo d reads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Anorexia
Panic attack
Institutionalisation
Grief
Social isolation

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Vuong

On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is a letter from a son to a mother who cannot read. Written when the speaker, Little Dog, is in his late twenties, the letter unearths a family’s history that began before he was born — a history whose epicenter is rooted in Vietnam — and serves as a doorway into parts of his life his mother has never known, all of it leading to an unforgettable revelation. At once a witness to the fraught yet undeniable love between a single mother and her son, it is also a brutally honest exploration of race, class, and masculinity. Asking questions central to our American moment, immersed as we are in addiction, violence, and trauma, but undergirded by compassion and tenderness, On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous is as much about the power of telling one’s own story as it is about the obliterating silence of not being heard.

With stunning urgency and grace, Ocean Vuong writes of people caught between disparate worlds, and asks how we heal and rescue one another without forsaking who we are. The question of how to survive, and how to make of it a kind of joy, powers the most important debut novel of many years.

Goo d reads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racial slurs
Homomisia, including internalised homomisia & homomisic slurs
Rape recounted
Parental abuse
Domestic abuse mentioned
Substance addiction
Recreational drug use & abuse
Cancer
Death of a grandparent
Vietnam War discussed
Animal abuse
Bullying

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez

Things We Lost in the Fire by Mariana Enriquez

Things We Lost in the Fire: Stories by Mariana Enriquez

In these wildly imaginative, devilishly daring tales of the macabre, internationally bestselling author Mariana Enriquez brings contemporary Argentina to vibrant life as a place where shocking inequality, violence, and corruption are the law of the land, while military dictatorship and legions of desaparecidos loom large in the collective memory. In these stories, reminiscent of Shirley Jackson and Julio Cortázar, three young friends distract themselves with drugs and pain in the midst a government-enforced blackout; a girl with nothing to lose steps into an abandoned house and never comes back out; to protest a viral form of domestic violence, a group of women set themselves on fire.

But alongside the black magic and disturbing disappearances, these stories are fueled by compassion for the frightened and the lost, ultimately bringing these characters—mothers and daughters, husbands and wives—into a surprisingly familiar reality. Written in hypnotic prose that gives grace to the grotesque, Things We Lost in the Fire is a powerful exploration of what happens when our darkest desires are left to roam unchecked, and signals the arrival of an astonishing and necessary voice in contemporary fiction

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia
Child abuse
Eating disorder
Disordered food & weight thoughts
Substance abuse
Police brutality

Homesick For Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh

Homesick For Another World by Ottessa Moshfegh

There’s something eerily unsettling about Ottessa Moshfegh’s stories, something almost dangerous, while also being delightful, and even laugh-out-loud funny. Her characters are all unsteady on their feet in one way or another; they all yearn for connection and betterment, though each in very different ways, but they are often tripped up by their own baser impulses and existential insecurities. Homesick for Another World is a master class in the varieties of self-deception across the gamut of individuals representing the human condition. But part of the unique quality of her voice, the echt Moshfeghian experience, is the way the grotesque and the outrageous are infused with tenderness and compassion. Moshfegh is our Flannery O’Connor, and Homesick for Another World is her Everything That Rises Must Converge or A Good Man is Hard to Find. The flesh is weak; the timber is crooked; people are cruel to each other, and stupid, and hurtful. But beauty comes from strange sources, and the dark energy surging through these stories is powerfully invigorating. We’re in the hands of an author with a big mind, a big heart, blazing chops, and a political acuity that is needle-sharp. The needle hits the vein before we even feel the prick.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia
Eating disorders
Disordered food & weight thoughts
Substance abuse, specifically alcoholism
Depression

For Lucy by Jewel E. Ann

For Lucy by Jewel E. Ann

I’m the wrong guy in the right place the night I steal Tatum Bradshaw from another man. When she mistakes me for her blind date, I decide she deserves a man who shows up on time … like me. Emmett Riley, Mr. Punctual.

Once I confess my true identity and convince her I’m not a creep—just a thief—it’s only a matter of time before my sexy smile and quick wit claim her heart, her hand in marriage, and the perfect life. Unfortunately, perfection is an illusion, like the promises of our wedding vows. No one can prepare for the unimaginable—the heartbreaking exception to all the rules in life. When thirty seconds destroys everything, I have to find a new existence and keep my promise to always love our daughter, Lucy, the most.

For Lucy, I will keep a secret, and I will watch my wife drift into the arms of another man.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Death of a child
Graphic grief & loss depiction
Drowning

Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft

Why Does He Do That? by Lundy Bancroft

Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men by Lundy Bancroft

He says he loves you. So…why does he do that?

You’ve asked yourself this question again and again. Now you have the chance to see inside the minds of angry and controlling men—and change your life. In Why Does He Do That? you will learn about:

• The early warning signs of abuse
• The nature of abusive thinking
• Myths about abusers
• Ten abusive personality types
• The role of drugs and alcohol
• What you can fix, and what you can’t
• And how to get out of an abusive relationship safely

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexism & misogyny
Body shaming & fatmisia
Racism & racial slurs
Slut-shaming
Victim blaming
Sex worker shaming & slurs
Rape, including by coercion
Sexual abuse
Sexual harassment
Abusive relationships
Age-gap relationships, including adult-minor
Cheating, including grey-area cheating
Child abuse, including sexual abuse
Domestic abuse & violence
Dubious consent scenarios
Emotional abuse
Paedophilia & grooming
Parental abuse & neglect
Physical abuse
Verbal abuse
Mental illness
Substance addiction, including alcoholism
Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
Suicidal ideation
Intrusive thoughts
Physical assault
Murder & attempted murder
Recreational drug use
Medical treatment & procedures
Death of a parent or guardian
Gun violence
Disappearance of a loved one
Poverty themes
Blackmail
Bullying

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

Maybe You Should Talk to Someone by Lori Gottlieb

One day, Lori Gottlieb is a therapist who helps patients in her Los Angeles practice. The next, a crisis causes her world to come crashing down. Enter Wendell, the quirky but seasoned therapist in whose office she suddenly lands. With his balding head, cardigan, and khakis, he seems to have come straight from Therapist Central Casting. Yet he will turn out to be anything but.

As Gottlieb explores the inner chambers of her patients’ lives — a self-absorbed Hollywood producer, a young newlywed diagnosed with a terminal illness, a senior citizen threatening to end her life on her birthday if nothing gets better, and a twenty-something who can’t stop hooking up with the wrong guys — she finds that the questions they are struggling with are the very ones she is now bringing to Wendell.

With startling wisdom and humor, Gottlieb invites us into her world as both clinician and patient, examining the truths and fictions we tell ourselves and others as we teeter on the tightrope between love and desire, meaning and mortality, guilt and redemption, terror and courage, hope and change.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Sexism & misogyny
Victim blaming
Sexual harassment
Workplace harassment
Abuse, neglect & abandonment
Abusive relationships
Verbal abuse
Intimate partner abuse & violence
Estrangement & disownment
Child abuse
Mental illness
Intrusive thoughts
Addiction
Depression
Suicidal ideation
Medical treatment & procedures
Terminal illness
Cancer
Heart disease & heart attack
Physical injuries & wounds
Amputation/Loss of limb
Hospital & hospitalisation
Death of a child
Death of a friend
Death of a sibling
Grief & loss depiction
Physical assault
Stalking
Car accident

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

Here Comes the Sun by Nicole Dennis-Benn

Capturing the distinct rhythms of Jamaican life and dialect, Nicole Dennis-Benn pens a tender hymn to a world hidden among pristine beaches and the wide expanse of turquoise seas. At an opulent resort in Montego Bay, Margot hustles to send her younger sister, Thandi, to school. Taught as a girl to trade her sexuality for survival, Margot is ruthlessly determined to shield Thandi from the same fate. When plans for a new hotel threaten their village, Margot sees not only an opportunity for her own financial independence but also perhaps a chance to admit a shocking secret: her forbidden love for another woman. As they face the impending destruction of their community, each woman fighting to balance the burdens she shoulders with the freedom she craves must confront long-hidden scars. From a much-heralded new writer, Here Comes the Sun offers a dramatic glimpse into a vibrant, passionate world most outsiders see simply as paradise.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Body shaming & fatmisia
Classism
Colourism
Lesbomisia
Homomisia
Sexism & misogyny
Racism & racial slurs, including misogynoir
Sex worker shaming & slurs
Slut-shaming
Transmisia
Victim blaming
Rape, including by coercion, statutory & gang rape
Sexual abuse & assault, including child sexual assault
Sexual harassment, including in the workplace
Incest
Paedophilia & grooming
Child abuse
Domestic abuse & violence
Emotional abuse
Verbal abuse
Parental abuse, neglect & abandonement
Estrangement & disownment
Disordered weight & body thoughts
Disfigurmisia
Anxiety disorder & anxiety attacks
Depression
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Memory disorder, specifically dementia
Self harm, including self-immolation
Drug use
Hospitals & hospitalisation
Physical assault
Sex work & trafficking
Drowning
Outing
Gentrification
Displacement
Animal death
Blackmail
Gaslighting

Go Down Together: The True Untold Story of Bonnie & Clyde by Jeff Guinn

Go Down Together: The True Untold Story of Bonnie & Clyde by Jeff Guinn

In Go Down Together: The True, Untold Story of Bonnie and Clyde, bestselling author Jeff Guinn combines exhaustive research with surprising, newly discovered material to tell the real tale of two kids from a filthy Dallas slum who fell in love and then willingly traded their lives for a brief interlude of excitement and, more important, fame. Their timing could not have been better — the Barrow Gang pulled its first heist in 1932 when most Americans, reeling from the Great Depression, were desperate for escapist entertainment. Thanks to newsreels, true crime magazines, and new-fangled wire services that transmitted scandalous photos of Bonnie smoking a cigar to every newspaper in the nation, the Barrow Gang members almost instantly became household names on a par with Charles Lindbergh, Jack Dempsey, and Babe Ruth. In the minds of the public, they were cool, calculating bandits who robbed banks and killed cops with equal impunity.

Nothing could have been further from the truth.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Classism
Racism & racial slurs
Sexism & misogyny
Adult-minor relationships
Sexual abuse
Sexual assault
Sexual harassment
Forced marriage
Child abuse
Estrangement
Abusive relationship
Intimate partner abuse & violence
Parental abuse & abandonment
Physical abuse
Suicidal ideation
Alcoholism
Infertility themes
Medical treatment & procedures
Chronic illness & pain
Death of a friend
Death of a sibling
Dead bodies & body parts
Blood & gore depiction
Flogging & whipping
Gun violence
Mugging
Home invasion
Kidnapping
Hostage situation
Imprisonment
Hazing

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith

Stay Gold by Tobly McSmith

Pony just wants to fly under the radar during senior year. Tired from all the attention he got at his old school after coming out as transgender, he’s looking for a fresh start at Hillcrest High. But it’s hard to live your best life when the threat of exposure lurks down every hallway and in every bathroom.

Georgia is beginning to think there’s more to life than cheerleading. She plans on keeping a low profile until graduation…which is why she promised herself that dating was officially a no-go this year.

Then, on the very first day of school, the new guy and the cheerleader lock eyes. How is Pony supposed to stay stealth when he wants to get close to a girl like Georgia? How is Georgia supposed to keep her promise when sparks start flying with a boy like Pony?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Acemisia
Homomisia
Lesbomisia, including slurs and internalised
Transmisia, including slurs and internalised
Deadnaming
Misgendering
Graphic assault against trans character, including physical assault
Parental abuse
Suicidal ideation
Forced and pressured outing
Hate crime
Bullying