Author Archives: rachel @ typed truths

a tired aussie reader with a love of cats, libraries & sunflowers • she/her

Sink or Swim by Tessa Bailey

Andrew Prince wakes up before everyone else. He schedules the bar shifts, demands perfection from Long Beach’s lifeguards—most of all himself—and makes sure the family debts are paid. His unfaltering work ethic might leave him exhausted, but it comes with one advantage. It distracts him from the love he’s been harbouring since childhood for the girl next door—who he cannot have. Jiya Dalal has dreams. To fly a plane, see the world below…and prove irresistible to her best friend, Andrew. But she needs to be a good daughter first, which is becoming an increasingly difficult task, since her parents expect a good marriage… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse recounted
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Murder of a father recounted
  • Physical assault
  • Police violence & corruption

Mouth to Mouth by Tessa Bailey

A man with a prison record has no place around a fresh faced college student. Tell that to Rory Prince. He should stay the hell away from Olive Cunningham. There’s one small problem, though. She won’t stop almost getting killed—and with this too-smart, too-sweet girl holding his heart in her hands, Rory is powerless to do anything but keep saving her. Homeschooled from a young age, Olive is now out on her own and discovering the world, one milkshake flavor at a time. Until recently, she has experienced life through books. She’s walked in a million… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homomisic hate crime*
  • Child abuse & neglect recounted
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Coma mentioned*
  • Physical assault*
  • Imprisonment
  • Drowning*

*Context : The male protagonist was sentenced to jail for putting a man, who was committing a hate crime by attempting to drown the protagonist’s gay older brother, in a coma.

The Leopard King by Ann Aguirre

Until three years ago, those words applied to Dominic Asher, the leader of Ash Valley. His family has ruled the feline branch of the Animari for hundreds of years, guiding the pride through perilous times. Unspeakable loss drove him into seclusion, a feral beast nobody can tame. Now he’s wrecked, a leopard king in exile, and he wants nothing more than to die. Fortunately for Dom, those words still apply to Pru Bristow, his dead mate’s best friend. She’s had her heart broken too, but she never quits. With the conclave approaching, alliances with the Pine Ridge pack and Burnt Amber clans on the verge of collapse, she’s prepared to do… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Nightmares
  • Suicidal ideation recounted
  • Self harm
  • Blood depiction & scars
  • Starvation
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping

Gwendy’s Final Task by Stephen King and Richard Chizmar

Years have passed. Now Gwendy Peterson is an established writer and successful politician. She is quite content with her life until one evening Richard Farris, a man in a black bowler hat, appears on her doorstep. In his hands is a control panel, which has gained such strength in recent years that it is becoming increasingly difficult to resist it. There is only one way to get rid of him once and for all. And for this, Gwendy will have to go to the international space station. It would seem that the task is not an easy one. However, the real danger awaits Gwendy on the ship, where one of the crew members will stubbornly try to steal the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • COVID-19 pandemic

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Classism
  • Elder abuse
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Forced political marriage
  • Depressive episode recounted
  • Suicidal ideation mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Pregnancy & miscarriage discussed
  • Graphic injuries & illness
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Emesis
  • Seizures
  • Chronic illness
  • Death of a father from medical complications due to chronic alcoholism recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Infanticide
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Knife, arrow and axe violence
  • Imprisonment
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control & invasion)
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Naval warfare
  • Regicide
  • Animal abuse (wolf)
  • Animal death mentioned, including the death of a pet dog.

Queen’s Shadow by E.K. Johnston

When Padmé Naberrie, “Queen Amidala” of Naboo, steps down from her position, she is asked by the newly-elected queen to become Naboo’s representative in the Galactic Senate. Padmé is unsure about taking on the new role, but cannot turn down the request to serve her people. Together with her most loyal handmaidens, Padmé must figure out how to navigate the treacherous waters of politics and forge a new identity beyond the queen’s shadow.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Sexual harassment

The Last Forever by Deb Caletti

Endings and beginnings sit so close to each other that it’s sometimes impossible to tell which is which. Nothing lasts forever, and no one gets that more than Tessa. After her mother died, it’s all she can do to keep her friends, her boyfriend, her happiness from slipping away. And then there’s her dad. He’s stuck in his own daze, and it’s so hard to feel like a family when their house no longer seems like a home. Her father’s solution? An impromptu road trip that lands them in a small coastal town at Tessa’s grandmother’s. Despite all the warmth and beauty there, Tessa can’t… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from cancer

The Story of Us by Deb Caletti

Cricket’s on a self-imposed break from her long-time boyfriend—but she’s picked a bad week to sort out her love life. For one thing, her mother’s romance is taking centre stage: After jilting two previous fiancés, her mom is finally marrying Dan Jax, whom Cricket loves. But as wedding attendees arrive for a week of festivities at a guesthouse whose hippie owners have a sweet, sexy son—Ash—complications arise: Cricket’s future stepsisters make it clear they’re not happy about the marriage. An old friend decides this is the week to declare his love for Cricket. Grandpa chooses to reveal a big… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental divorce
  • Domestic violence recounted
  • Alcohol consumption

The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti

Scarlet spends most of her time worrying about other people. Some are her friends, others are practically strangers, and then there are the ones no else even notices. Trying to fix their lives comes naturally to her. And pushing her own needs to the side is part of the deal. So when her older sister comes home unexpectedly married and pregnant, Scarlet has a new person to worry about. But all of her good intentions are shattered when the unthinkable happens: she falls for her sister’s husband. For the first time in a long time, Scarlet’s not fixing a problem, she’s at the centre, and ignoring her feelings doesn’t seem to be an option…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity, on-page
  • Smoking
  • Pregnancy (secondary character)
  • A secondary character builds a bomb which, when set off, causes a fire (on-page)

*Context : The protagonist kisses her pregnant sister’s husband.

The Queen of Everything by Deb Caletti

High school junior Jordan MacKenzie’s life was pretty typical: fractured family, new boyfriend, dead-end job. She’d been living with her father (the predictable optometrist) since her mother (the hippie holdover) had become too embarrassing to be around. Jordan felt that she finally had as normal a life as she could. Then came Gayle D’Angelo. ordan knew her father was dating Gayle and that Gayle was married. Jordan knew it was wrong and that her father was becoming someone she didn’t recognise anymore but what could she do about it?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Infidelity
  • Animal death & cruelty, on-page