rachel @ typed truths

XOXO by Axie Oh

Cello prodigy Jenny has one goal: to get into a prestigious music conservatory. When she meets mysterious, handsome Jaewoo in her uncle’s Los Angeles karaoke bar, it’s clear he’s the kind of boy who would uproot her careful plans. But in a moment of spontaneity, she allows him to pull her out of her comfort zone for one unforgettable night of adventure…before he disappears without a word. Three months later, when Jenny and her mother arrive in South Korea to take care of her ailing grandmother, she’s shocked to discover that Jaewoo is a student at the same elite arts academy where she’s.. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Cancer
Chronic illness
Death of a parent recounted
Bullying

Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson

Set in 1776, against the backdrop of the American struggle for independence, this powerful novel is also an incredible adventure about one girl’s struggle for freedom in a society in which she is considered someone else’s property. Isabel and her sister, Ruth, are slaves. Sold from one owner to the next, they arrive in New York as the Americans are fighting for their independence, and the English are struggling to maintain control. Soon Isabel is struggling too. Struggling to keep herself and her sister safe in a world in which they have no control.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Racism
Slavery
Torture
Branding & whipping
War themes

The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike

Rotterham Home was a hospice for young people—a place where teenagers with terminal illnesses went to die. Nobody who checked in ever checked out. It was a place of pain and sorrow, but also, remarkably, a place of humor and adventure. Every night at twelve, a group of young guys and girls at the hospice came together to tell stories. They called themselves the Midnight Club, and their stories could be true or false, inspiring or depressing, or somewhere in-between. One night, in the middle of a particularly scary story, the teenagers make a secret pact with each other, which says… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Suicide
Alcohol & drug abuse
Overdose
Cancer, AIDs & terminal illness
Amputation
Paralysis
Emesis
Death of a child
Mass shooting & gun violence

The Marquis Who Mustn’t by Courtney Milan

One good fraud deserves another… Miss Naomi Kwan has long wanted to take ambulance classes so that she can save lives. But when she tries to register, she’s told she needs permission from the man in charge of her. It would be incredibly wrong to claim that the tall, taciturn Chinese nobleman she just met is her fiancé, but Naomi is desperate, and desperate times call for fake engagements. To her unending surprise, Liu Ji Kai goes along with her ruse. It’s not that Kai is nice. He’s in Wedgeford to practice his family business, and there’s no room for “nice” when you’re out to… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Misogyny
Racism
Child abuse & parental abandonment recounted

Happiness Falls by Angie Kim

Mia, the irreverent, hyper analytical twenty-year-old daughter, has an explanation for everything–which is why she isn’t initially concerned when her father and younger brother Eugene don’t return from a walk in a nearby park. They must have lost their phone. Or stopped for an errand somewhere. But by the time Mia’s brother runs through the front door bloody and alone, it becomes clear that the father in this tight-knit family is missing and the only witness is Eugene, who has the rare genetic condition Angelman syndrome and cannot speak. What follows is both a ticking clock… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Rape mentioned
Suicide
Angelman Syndrome
Disappearance of parent (theme)

Tell Me I’m Worthless by Alison Rumfitt

Three years ago, Alice spent one night in an abandoned house with her friends, Ila and Hannah. Since then, Alice’s life has spiraled. She lives a haunted existence, selling videos of herself for money, going to parties she hates, drinking herself to sleep. Memories of that night torment Alice, but when Ila asks her to return to the House, to go past the KEEP OUT sign and over the sick earth where teenagers dare each other to venture, Alice knows she must go. Together, Alice and Ila must face the horrors that happened there, must pull themselves apart from the inside out, put their differences aside, and try to rescue Hannah, whom the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Racism
Antisemitism
Graphic transphobia & deadnaming including discussions of TERFism
Eugenics
Graphic rape & attempted rape
Sex work
Self-harm
Suicide & suicidal ideation
Gender dysphoria
Alcohol consumption
Drug use & abuse
Mutilation
Emesis
Graphic blood, gore & body horror
Medical experimentation
Murder

My Reckless Valentine by Olivia Dade

Library manager Angie Burrowes is in trouble again. Her superiors have never approved of her unconventional methods, but the latest warning is serious—another complaint from the administration or a patron, and she’s fired. With a steamy Valentine’s Day contest to conceal and her career on the line, the last thing Angie needs is a near-accident while driving home. At least, until she meets the tall, dark, and sexy stranger responsible for her very own spicy plot twist. Straight-laced Grant Peterson has only one thing on his mind: making a good impression as the new Director of Branch… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Severe childhood immune disease recounted
Parent with West Nile disease
Car accident

Broken Resolutions by Olivia Dade

Romance has never had a happy ending for librarian Penny Callahan, who could write the book on cheating, heart-breaking liars. So she’s made a resolution: no men for the next twelve months. If she can just get through the library’s New Year’s Eve singles night, she can return home to her pyjamas and a good book. But when she finds herself checking out a hot hunk with an irresistible smile, an evening in the stacks becomes a lot more tempting. Reclusive author Jack Williamson never should have trusted his mother. Even though he’s trying to avoid being recognized, she guilts him into attending a dating meet-and-greet—where an adorable librarian makes him question his lonely lifestyle. Is… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Infidelity recounted
Alcohol consumption
Death of a father mentioned

Mayday by Olivia Dade

Helen Murphy loves her supportive family, her close-knit circle of friends, and her part-time job at the library. What she doesn’t love: is the fact that she’s a thirty-six-year-old near-virgin who lives in her parents’ house. Eager to move out and reclaim her independence at long last, she’s determined to get the library’s new Community Outreach Coordinator position. Even if that means working side-by-side with the one man she desperately wants to avoid–Niceville’s ambitious mayor Wes Ramirez, who happens to be her only previous lover, and the source of her greatest humiliation. Wes needs to make up for his… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Alcohol consumption
Teen pregnancy recounted & discussed
Scar from past shoulder surgery

At First Spite by Olivia Dade

When Athena Greydon’s fiancé ends their engagement, she has no choice but to move into the Spite House she recklessly bought him as a wedding gift. This is a problem, for several reasons: The house, originally built as a brick middle finger to the neighbours, is only ten feet wide. Her ex’s home is attached to hers. And Dr. Matthew Vine the Freaking Third (aka the uptight, judgmental jerk who convinced his younger brother to leave her) is living on the other side, only a four-foot alley away. If she has to see Matthew every time she looks out the windows, she might as… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parental abandonment & neglect recounted
Depression & depressive episode, on-page
Anxiety
Death of an infant sibling recounted, on-page