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The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

The Good Daughter by Karin Slaughter

Twenty-eight years ago, Charlotte and Samantha Quinn’s happy small-town family life was torn apart by a terrifying attack on their family home. It left their mother dead. It left their father—Pikeville’s notorious defense attorney—devastated. And it left the family fractured beyond repair, consumed by secrets from that terrible night. Twenty-eight years later, Charlotte has followed in her father’s footsteps to become a lawyer herself—the ideal good daughter. But when violence comes to Pikeville again, and a shocking tragedy leaves the whole town traumatized, Charlotte is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism & racism
Misgendering
Graphic rape & paedophilia
Infidelity
Suicide mentioned
Miscarriage & late-term pregnancy loss
Police brutality
School shooting
Fire & arson
Bullying

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

The Wolf and the Woodsman by Ava Reid

In her forest-veiled pagan village, Évike is the only woman without power, making her an outcast clearly abandoned by the gods. The villagers blame her corrupted bloodline—her father was a Yehuli man, one of the much-loathed servants of the fanatical king. When soldiers arrive from the Holy Order of Woodsmen to claim a pagan girl for the king’s blood sacrifice, Évike is betrayed by her fellow villagers and surrendered.

But when monsters attack the Woodsmen and their captive en route, slaughtering everyone but Évike and the cold, one-eyed captain, they have no choice but to rely on each other… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Antisemitism
Physical child abuse
Self harm & self-injury
Blood & gore depiction
Body horror
Eyeball trauma
Dismemberment
Emesis
Torture
Animal death

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Pretty Girls by Karin Slaughter

Twenty years ago Claire Scott’s eldest sister, Julia, went missing. No one knew where she went – no note, no body. It was a mystery that was never solved and it tore her family apart. Now another girl has disappeared, with chilling echoes of the past. And it seems that she might not be the only one. Claire is convinced Julia’s disappearance is linked. But when she begins to learn the truth about her sister, she is confronted with a shocking discovery, and nothing will ever be the same…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Rape & paedophilia
Suicide mentioned
Drug abuse
Blood & gore depiction
Death of a sister & spouse
Murder
Torture
Gun violence
House fire
Kidnapping
Disappearance of a sibling
Animal abuse mentioned

A Really Nice Prom Mess by Brian Sloan

A Really Nice Prom Mess by Brian Sloan

Cameron doesn’t want to go to prom. Not with his boyfriend, Shane, and definitely not with his fake date, Virginia. Sure, it’s senior prom, it’s the end of high school, and Virginia’s drop-dead gorgeous. But none of that matters to Cam, who’s never liked any high school dance. Ever.

Then an unexpected kiss changes everything, and Cam needs to make a quick exit. After teaming up with a waiter who’s been dealing drugs in the bathroom, Cam leaves the prom. But his night is far from over. From a high-speed car chase, to a stop at the after-prom party, to a bar with a wild dance contest… Cam’s night finally ends in the most unlikely of romances.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia & homomisic slurs
Alcohol consumption
Smoking
Emesis

Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Just Call My Name by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Emily Bell has it all. She’s in love with a boy named Sam Border, and his little brother has become part of her family. This summer is destined to be the best time of their lives–until a charismatic new girl in town sets her sights on Sam. Now Emily finds herself questioning the loyalty of the person she thought she could trust most.

But the biggest threat to her happiness is someone she never saw coming. Sam’s criminally insane father, whom everyone thought they’d finally left behind, is planning a jailbreak. And he knows exactly where to find Emily and his sons when he escapes…and takes his revenge.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual assault
Alcohol consumption
Smoking mentioned
Murder
Gun violence
Animal death recounted

To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan and Meg Wolitzer

To Night Owl from Dogfish by Holly Goldberg Sloan & Meg Wolitzer

Avery Bloom, who’s bookish, intense, and afraid of many things, particularly deep water, lives in New York City. Bett Devlin, who’s fearless, outgoing, and loves all animals as well as the ocean, lives in California. What they have in common is that they are both twelve years old, and are both being raised by single, gay dads.

When their dads fall in love, Bett and Avery are sent, against their will, to the same sleepaway camp. Their dads hope that they will find common ground and become friends–and possibly, one day, even sisters… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Anxiety
Boating accident

Counting by Sevens by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Counting by 7s by Holly Goldberg Sloan

Willow Chance is a twelve-year-old genius, obsessed with nature and diagnosing medical conditions, who finds it comforting to count by 7s. It has never been easy for her to connect with anyone other than her adoptive parents, but that hasn’t kept her from leading a quietly happy life…until now.

Suddenly Willow’s world is tragically changed when her parents both die in a car crash, leaving her alone in a baffling world. The triumph of this book is that it is not a tragedy. This extraordinarily odd, but extraordinarily endearing, girl manages to push through her grief.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming
Infertility & miscarriage mentioned
Blood depiction
Hospitalisation mentioned
Coma
Death of a parent in a car accident
Vietnam War mentioned
Poverty themes

The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan

The Elephant in the Room by Holly Goldberg Sloan

It’s been almost a year since Sila’s mother traveled halfway around the world to Turkey, hoping to secure the immigration paperwork that would allow her to return to her family in the United States.

The long separation is almost impossible for Sila to withstand. But things change when Sila accompanies her father outside their Oregon town to fix a truck. There, behind an enormous stone wall, she meets a grandfatherly man who only months before won the state lottery. Their new alliance leads to the rescue of a circus elephant named Veda, and then to a friendship with an unusual boy named Mateo, proving that comfort and hope come in the most unlikely of places.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Terminal cancer
Death of a wife recounted
Graphic animal abuse, neglect & cruelty, including the use of electric prods

Home After Dark by David Small

Home After Dark by David Small

Thirteen-year-old Russell Pruitt, abandoned by his mother, follows his father to sun-splashed California in search of a dream. Suddenly forced to fend for himself, Russell struggles to survive in Marshfield, a dilapidated town haunted by a sadistic animal killer and a ring of malicious boys who bully Russell. Rescued from his booze-swilling father by Wen and Jian Mah, a Chinese immigrant couple who long for a child, Russell betrays their generosity by running away with their restaurant’s proceeds.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Queermisia
Suicide
Alcohol consumption
Smoking
Physical assault
Animal death
Animal abuse
Bullying

Stitches by David Small

Stitches by David Small

One day David Small awoke from a supposedly harmless operation to discover that he had been transformed into a virtual mute. A vocal cord removed, his throat slashed and stitched together like a bloody boot, the fourteen-year-old boy had not been told that he had throat cancer and was expected to die.

Readers will be riveted by his journey from speechless victim, subjected to X-rays by his radiologist father and scolded by his withholding and tormented mother, to his decision to flee his home at sixteen with nothing more than dreams of becoming an artist.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Emotional & verbal child abuse
Alcohol consumption
Smoking
Cancer
Surgery
Fire