rachel @ typed truths

Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man by Emmanuel Acho

In Uncomfortable Conversations With a Black Man, Acho takes on all the questions, large and small, insensitive and taboo, many white Americans are afraid to ask—yet which all Americans need the answers to, now more than ever. With the same open-hearted generosity that has made his video series a phenomenon, Acho explains the vital core of such fraught concepts as white privilege, cultural appropriation, and “reverse racism.”

In his own words, he provides a space of compassion and understanding in a discussion that can lack both. He asks only for the reader’s curiosity—but along the way, he will galvanize all of us to join the antiracist fight.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racial slurs
Hate crimes
Slavery
Physical abuse
Police brutality
Gun violence

The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa

The Blue Between Sky and Water by Susan Abulhawa

Violently pushed from their ancient farming village of Beit Daras, a Palestinian family tries to reconstitute itself in a refugee camp in Gaza. The men here, those who have escaped prison or the battlefields, worry over making ends meet, tend their tattered pride, join the resistance. The women are left to be breadwinners and protectors, too.

Nazmiyeh is the matriarch, the center of a household of sisters, daughters, granddaughters, whose lives threaten to spin out of control with every personal crisis, military attack, or political landmine. Her brother’s granddaughter Nur is stuck in America; her own daughter’s son, traumatized in an Israeli assault, slips into another kind of exile; her daughter has cancer and no access to medicine. Their neighbor, the Beekeeper’s wife, will extract the marijuana resin to shrink her tumor, but it is also Nazmiyeh’s large heart and zest for life that heals, that will even call Nur back from the broken promise of America and set her on a new path.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape
Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
Child neglect
Eating disorder (bulimia)
Emesis
Torture, implied

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

Mornings in Jenin by Susan Abulhawa

Forcibly removed from the ancient village of Ein Hod by the newly formed state of Israel in 1948, the Abulhejas are moved into the Jenin refugee camp. There, exiled from his beloved olive groves, the family patriarch languishes of a broken heart, his eldest son fathers a family and falls victim to an Israeli bullet, and his grandchildren struggle against tragedy toward freedom, peace, and home. This is the Palestinian story, told as never before, through four generations of a single family.

The very precariousness of existence in the camps quickens life itself. Amal, the patriarch’s bright granddaughter, feels this with certainty when she discovers the joys of young friendship… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape
Torture

Breaking Drake by Joel Abernathy

Breaking Drake by Joel Abernathy

Sterling Crane is my idol, my inspiration, and my rival—and I’m determined to be the one who brings him to his knees. He has other ideas, of course, and I keep going back for more.

I’m horrified when the news breaks that the bands we manage are merging, and we’re all going to share a home like one big happy family. Horrified because I hate Sterling more than anything in this world—and because I know I’m not going to be able to stay away from him.

He’s a god amongst men, and the worst part is, he knows it. Am I ever going to stop worshiping him?… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Abusive relationship recounted
Parental abuse mentioned
Recreational drug use
Blackmail (theme)

Collaring Chaz by Joel Abernathy

Collaring Chaz by Joel Abernathy

Everyone gets sick of me eventually. My birth parents, the endless conveyor belt of foster homes, even the band that became my family. Why should Raf be any different?

When he wants to take our friendship to the next level by welcoming me into his world of collars and pet names that make me feel wanted and cherished, I know it can’t be permanent. No matter what he says, there’s no way someone like him could actually want me forever. But I’m going to enjoy pretending for as long as it lasts.

Chaz is an adorkable goofball who’s kept a band full of hotheads from melting down on numerous occasions, and he and I are perfectly in sync in and out of the bedroom. If I can convince him this thing between us is meant to last forever, and not just be a one-hit wonder.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcoholism
Drug addiction mentioned

Taming Dante by Joel Abernathy

Taming Dante by Joel Abernathy

Keeping up the rock star image ain’t easy, but someone’s gotta show these fakers how it’s done. Hotel-room-trashing tantrums? Check. Daddy issues galore? Check. Glitz, glamour and general debauchery? I wrote the f**king book. I’m a textbook bad boy rockstar cliche, and I’ve never claimed to be anything else. Hell, I own it.

At least, I did, until he came along: Mr. Self-Righteous who acts more like a priest than a drummer. Now he’s my bodyguard and the guy in charge of making sure I don’t OD before the tour ends… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcoholism mentioned
Substance addiction
Suicidal ideation
Self harm mentioned
Gun violence
Kidnapping
Stalking

Eva Evergreen and the Cursed Witch by Julie Abe

Eva Evergreen and the Cursed Witch by Julie Abe

Eva Evergreen has fulfilled her dream of earning the rank of Novice Witch, and discovered the chilling truth behind the mysterious Culling — the violent magical storm wreaking havoc across Rivelle Realm.

Revealing the truth, however, proves to be a difficult task and soon the culprit is at large. To make matters worse Eva learns what might be the horrible truth behind her pinch of magic and her mother’s own mysterious connection to the Culling and rogue magic.

With her spirits at an all-time low, Eva must muster up the courage to prove her mother’s innocence and learn to believe in her own magic, if she wishes to put a stop to the Culling once and for all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent recounted
Natural disaster

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Eva Evergreen, Semi-Magical Witch by Julie Abe

Eva Evergreen is determined to earn the rank of Novice Witch before she turns thirteen years old. If she doesn’t, she’ll lose her magic forever. For most young witches and wizards, it’s a simple enough test: 1) Help your town, do good all around, 2) Live there for one moon, don’t leave too soon, and 3) Fly home by broomstick, the easiest of tricks.

The only problem? Eva only has a pinch of magic. She summons heads of cabbage instead of flowers and gets a sunburn instead of calling down rain. And to add insult to injury, whenever she overuses her magic, she falls asleep.

When she lands on the tranquil coastal town of Auteri, the residents expect a powerful witch, not a semi-magical girl… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent
Bullying

Call Me Evie by JP Pomare

Call Me Evie by J.P. Pomare

For the past two weeks, seventeen-year-old Kate Bennet has lived against her will in an isolated cabin in a remote beach town–brought there by a mysterious man named Bill. Part captor, part benefactor, Bill calls her Evie and tells her he’s hiding her to protect her. That she did something terrible one night back home in Melbourne–something so unspeakable that he had no choice but to take her away. The trouble is, Kate can’t remember the night in question.

The fragments of Kate’s shattered memories of her old life seem happy: good friends, a big house in the suburbs, a devoted boyfriend. Bill says he’ll help her fill in the blanks–but his story isn’t adding up. And as she tries to reconcile the girl she thought she’d been with the devastating consequences Bill claims she’s responsible for, Kate will unearth secrets about herself and those closest to her that could change everything.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Revenge porn
Physical child abuse
Panic attack
Self harm
Nonconsensual drugging
Burn scars
Death of a mother by suicide recounted
Murder
Cyberbullying

In The Clearing by JP Pomare

In The Clearing by J.P. Pomare

Amy has only ever known what life is like in the Clearing. She knows what’s expected of her. She knows what to do to please her elders, and how to make sure life in the community remains happy and calm. That is, until a new young girl joins the group. She isn’t fitting in; she doesn’t want to stay. What happens next will turn life as Amy knows it on its head.

Freya has gone to great lengths to feel like a ‘normal person’. In fact, if you saw her go about her day with her young son, you’d think she was an everyday mum. That is, until a young girl goes missing and someone from her past, someone she hasn’t seen for a very long time, arrives in town.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
Physical child abuse
Staged suicide
Death of a child
Murder
Kidnapping
Drowning
Animal attack
Cults