rachel @ typed truths

Madam by Phoebe Wynne

Madam by Phoebe Wynne

For 150 years, above the Scottish cliffs, Caldonbrae Hall has sat as a beacon of excellence in the ancestral castle of Lord William Hope. A boarding school for girls, it promises a future where its pupils will emerge ‘resilient and ready to serve society’.

Rose Christie, a 26-year-old Classics teacher, is the first new hire for the school in over a decade. At first, Rose feels overwhelmed in the face of this elite establishment, but soon after her arrival she begins to understand that she may have more to fear than her own ineptitude… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Lesbomisia
Paedophilia & grooming
Sexual harassment
Teacher-student relationship
Child abuse
Emotional abuse & gaslighting

Tortian: Birds of a Feather, Volume Two by Kotetsuko Yamamoto

Toritan: Birds of a Feather, Vol. 2 by Kotetsuko Yamamoto

Inusaki can communicate with birds—and some of them are real jerks! Tired of the incessant chatter, he spends most of his day tuning them out. That is until the day he meets an intriguing and strangely handsome crow he just can’t get off his mind!

Ever since he was a child, private detective Inusaki has had the unenviable talent of being able to communicate with birds. And even though he’s never liked birds, he somehow ends up getting his heart broken by one! Conveniently there to pick up the pieces, though, is his landlady’s son, Mitsuru, whose voice sounds suspiciously like that of the fowl heartbreaker, Kuro… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Adult-minor relationship

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

A Little Life by Hanya Yanagihara

When four classmates from a small Massachusetts college move to New York to make their way, they’re broke, adrift, and buoyed only by their friendship and ambition. There is kind, handsome Willem, an aspiring actor; JB, a quick-witted, sometimes cruel Brooklyn-born painter seeking entry to the art world; Malcolm, a frustrated architect at a prominent firm; and withdrawn, brilliant, enigmatic Jude, who serves as their centre of gravity. Over the decades, their relationships deepen and darken, tinged by addiction, success… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Transphobia & misgendering
Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
Rape & rape of a child
Physical & emotional child abuse
Child neglect & abandonment
Intimate partner violence & abuse
Eating disorder
Graphic attempted suicide, suicidal ideation & self-harm
Drug abuse
Graphic death of a child

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.

So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthorpe, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Blood & gore depiction
Death of a parent recounted
Gun violence
Knife violence & stabbing
Poisoning
Fire recounted

Back in the Burbs by Tracy Wolff and Avery Flynn

Back in the Burbs by Tracy Wolff & Avery Flynn

Ever have one of those days where life just plain sucks? Welcome to my last three months—ever since I caught my can’t-be-soon-enough ex-husband cheating with his paralegal. I’m thirty-five years old, and I’ve lost my NYC apartment, my job, my money, and frankly, my dignity.

But the final heartache in the suck sandwich of my life? My great-aunt Maggie died. The only family member who’s ever gotten me. Even after death, though, she’s helping me get back up. She’s willed me the keys to a house in the burbs, of all places, and dared me to grab life by the family jewels. Well, I’ve got the vise grips already in hand (my ex should take note) and I’m ready to fight for my life again… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Cheating recounted
Grief & loss depiction
Death of an aunt

This is My Song by Richard Yaxley

This is My Song by Richard Yaxley

In the 1940s, musician Rafael Ullmann is sent to a Nazi concentration camp.

In the 1970s, Annie Ullmann lives a lonely life on a Canadian prairie.

Three decades later, in Australia, Joe Hawker is uncertain about himself and his future … until he discovers a song, written by his grandfather many years ago.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Antisemitism
Concentration camps, including Auschwitz
World War Two

One True Pairing by Cathy Yardley

One True Pairing by Cathy Yardley

Jake Reese needs a decoy girlfriend. Fast. The lead actor of the popular TV show, Mystics, is tired of losing his shirt to overeager fans. Literally. Which is why a chance meeting with gothabilly bookworm-slash-barista Hailey Frost seems almost too perfect to be true. Hailey is not impressed with his TV fame and is desperate to save her family’s bookstore. It’s a match made in Hollywood, but as the two pretend to date, fan fiction becomes reality. Can this OTP become canon?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Child sexual abuse recounted
Child physical abuse & neglect recounted
Attempted murder

Ms Behave by Cathy Yardley

Ms. Behave by Cathy Yardley

Simon has been away from his hometown for 12 years since a youthful prank got him kicked out of school, his home, and his best friend’s life. Now, his work on the hit TV show Mystics has brought him back to Snoqualmie and face-to-face with his past.

Mallory is a corporate lawyer who just wants to be accepted for who she is, and Simon was the one person who always seemed able to do that until he left town, and her, behind. Determined to fix things between them by any means, she vows to joke, cajole, and otherwise pester Simon into getting things back the way they were… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Bimisia
Disownment & familial estrangement

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents–who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno–Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard…and lonely… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Abandonment
Familial estrangement
Alcoholism & substance addiction mentioned

Heartbreak for Hire by Lauren Layne

Heartbreak for Hire by Lauren Layne

Brinkley Saunders has a secret. To everyone in the academic world she left behind, she lost it all when she dropped out of grad school. Once a rising star following in her mother’s footsteps, she’s now an administrative assistant at an insurance agency—or so they think.

In reality, Brinkley works at Heartbreak for Hire, a secret service that specializes in revenge for jilted lovers, frenemies, and long-suffering coworkers with a little cash to spare and a man who needs to be taken down a notch. It might not be as prestigious as academia, but it helps Brinkley save for her dream of opening an art gallery and lets her exorcise a few demons, all while helping to empower women… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Cheating
Emotional abuse & gaslighting