Author Archives: rachel @ typed truths

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

Trial by Fire by Jeff Probst and Christ Tebbetts

Being shipwrecked on a jungle island in the middle of the South Pacific was bad enough. But now that Carter, Vanessa, Buzz and Jane have lost their boat – and almost everything on board – to another violent storm, it’s like starting over. That means finding food and shelter, making fire for the first time, dealing with the wild boars that roam the island – and of course, figuring out how to get along (and not kill each other in the process). Survival is no individual sport in a place like this, but there’s only one way to learn that. The hard way.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Physical illness & injury
  • Dead body
  • Water & food scarcity
  • Shipwreck
  • Animal attack

Stranded by Jeff Probst and Christ Tebbetts

It was supposed to be a vacation – and a chance to get to know each other better. But when a massive storm sets in without warning, four kids are shipwrecked alone on a rocky jungle island in the middle of the South Pacific. No adults. No instructions. Nobody to rely on but themselves. Can they make it home alive? A week ago, the biggest challenge Vanessa, Buzz, Carter, and Jane had was learning to live as a new blended family. Now the four siblings must find a way to work together if they’re going to make it off the island. But first they’ve got to learn to survive one another.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Shipwreck

The Obsession by Jesse Q Sutanto

Nobody knows Delilah like Logan does. Nobody. He makes sure of it by learning everything he can through her social media and watching her through a hidden camera he has trained on her house. Some might call him a stalker. Logan prefers to be called “romantic.” But after Logan sees Delilah killing her abusive stepfather, he realizes there’s still more about her to discover. His sweet, perfect Delilah isn’t so perfect after all. Delilah knows she should feel guilty, but all she feels is free. She’s so over the men in her life controlling her. Except Logan saw what she did, and he won’t let… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & sexism
  • Attempted suicide
  • Substance addiction
  • Drugging & overdose
  • Stalking

This Might Get Awkward by Kara McDowell

Seventeen-year-old Gemma’s favorite kind of beach is an empty one. Social interactions are too much for her to handle. She always says the wrong thing—if she manages to say anything at all. She can’t even bring herself to speak to her longtime crush, Beau Booker, without losing sleep over her own awkwardness. During a solo outing to her favorite beach, Gemma realizes—to her horror—that the popular kids from school have shown up to throw a party. Before she can sneak away (and possibly puke behind her car) Gemma is pulled into the action and ends up talking to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Social Anxiety Disorder (protagonist)

Heir, Apparently by Kara McDowell

Freshman year is stressful enough without accidentally being married to the King of England. Of course, Wren Wheeler can’t tell her Northwestern classmates about that; after surviving a narrowly-averted apocalypse over the summer, everyone’s had enough excitement for one lifetime. Wren knows she needs to move on from Theo, but she can’t forget the look in his eyes when he left her on that island in Greece—and also, he took her dog. When an ill-fated attempt to rescue Comet the Apocalypse Dog turns into a chemistry-fueled reunion with Theo that’s caught by the paparazzi… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent
  • Plane crash

One Way or Another by Kara McDowell

The average person makes 35,000 decisions every single day. That’s about 34,999 too many for Paige Collins who lives in debilitating fear of making the wrong choice. The simple act of picking an art elective is enough to send her into a spiral of what ifs. What if she’s destined to be a famous ceramicist but wastes her talent in drama club? What if there’s a carbon monoxide leak in the ceramics studio and everyone drops dead? (Grim, but possible!) That’s why when Paige is presented with two last-minute options for Christmas vacation, she’s paralyzed by indecision… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Sclerosis & hypothyroidism mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Hospitalisation
  • Car accident

Final Word by Janet Sumner Johnson

Thirteen-year-old twins Hope and Gordon enter a spelling bee in a last-ditch effort to save their family from financial ruin, only to find themselves in a cut-throat competition to uncover a fortune and dark secrets about the wealthy relations they’ve never known. Hope Smith can’t stand rich people—the dictionary magnate family the Wintertons most of all. Not since she and her twin brother, Gordon, learned that their dad was one. So when Gordon enters the family into the Winterton’s charity spelling bee, Hope wants nothing to do with it. But with… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Familial estrangement due to substance addiction
  • Gambling addiction mentioned (secondary character)
  • Death of a teenage boy in a car accident
  • Kidnapping & captivity

Saltwater by Katy Hays

In 1992 Sarah Lingate is found dead below the cliffs of Capri, leaving behind her three-year-old daughter, Helen. Despite suspicions that the old-money Lingates are involved, Sarah’s death is ruled an accident, and every year the family returns to prove it’s true. But on the thirtieth anniversary of Sarah’s death, the Lingates arrive at the villa to find a surprise waiting for them—the necklace Sarah was wearing the night she died.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Blackmail
  • Drowning

Meant to Be by Jennifer Probst

It’s been two years since Chiara Kennedy lost her dearest friend, Rory. Chiara misses everything about her. Rory’s widowed husband is another story. Sebastian Ryder is a man Chiara had secretly wanted, let slip away, and hoped to never see again. Then fate throws them together for an unexpected one-night stand and a morning after of new challenges. Sebastian had a soul mate in Rory. Shutting down after his tragic loss, he kept a cool distance from everyone—including Chiara, with whom he once shared a deep if fleeting affection. That was over and done with a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Dubious consent scenario*
  • Drugging
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a wife

*Context : The protagonists have sex while the male protagonist is drugged (he intercepts a roofied drink intended for her) and the female protagonist believes she is having a dream. She becomes pregnant.

To Sicily with Love by Jennifer Probst

Aurora York had it all loving parents, a steady relationship, and a promising career. But after she loses both parents unexpectedly, she can’t seem to stay on track any longer. Lonely and lost after a public meltdown that threatens her professional credibility, she’s shocked when DNA test results show a blood relative in Sicily. When her cousin reaches out online and begs her to come to Italy to meet everyone in person, Aurora makes the leap. Aurora arrives in Sicily for a month, and there she meets a colorful, dynamic family steeped in tradition. The younger generation is fascinated by her social media fame… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father