rachel @ typed truths

Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes

Girl Against the Universe by Paula Stokes

Sixteen-year-old Maguire knows the universe is against her. No matter how many charms she buys off the internet or good luck rituals she performs each morning, horrible things happen when she’s around. Like that time the roller coaster jumped off its tracks. Or the time the house next door caught on fire. Or the time her brother, father, and uncle were all killed in a car crash–and Maguire walked away with barely a scratch.

Despite what her therapist tells her, Maguire thinks it’s best to hide out in her room, far away from anyone she might accidentally hurt. But then she meets Jordy, an aspiring tennis star who wants to help her break her unlucky streak. Maguire knows that the best thing she can do for him is to stay away, but it turns out staying away might be harder than she thought.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Death of a father, uncle & brother recounted
Car accident

This is How It Happened by Paula Stokes

This is How It Happened by Paula Stokes

When Genevieve Grace wakes up from a coma, she can’t remember the car crash that injured her and killed her boyfriend Dallas, a YouTube star who had just released his first album. Genevieve knows she was there, and that there was another driver, a man named Brad Freeman, who everyone assumes is guilty. But as she slowly pieces together the night of the accident, Genevieve is hit with a sickening sense of dread—that maybe she had something to do with what happened.

As the internet rages against Brad Freeman, condemning him in a brutal trial by social media, Genevieve escapes to her father’s house, where she can hide from reporters and spend the summer volunteering in beautiful Zion National Park. But she quickly realizes that she can’t run away from the accident, or the terrible aftermath of it all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Attempted suicide mentioned
Coma
Hospitalisation
Death of a boyfriend
Car accident

Ferocious by Paula Stokes

Ferocious by Paula Stokes

When Winter Kim finds out that her sister is dead and that she has a brother she never knew about, only two things matter―finding what’s left of her family and killing the man who destroyed her life. Her mission leads her from St. Louis to Los Angeles back to South Korea, where she grew up.

Things get increasingly dangerous once Winter arrives in Seoul. Aided by her friends Jesse and Sebastian, Winter attempts to infiltrate an international corporation to get close to her target, a nefarious businessman named Kyung. But keeping her last remaining loved ones out of the line of fire proves difficult, and when all seems to be lost, Winter must face one last devastating decision: is revenge worth sacrificing everything for? Or can she find a spark of hope in the darkness that threatens to engulf her?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual assault mentioned
Dissociative Identity Disorder
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a sister
Murder
Torture

Vicarious by Paula Stokes

Vicarious by Paula Stokes

Winter Kim and her sister, Rose, work as high-tech stunt girls for Rose’s ex-boyfriend, Gideon, engaging in dangerous and enticing activities while recording their neural impulses for his Vicarious Sensory Experiences, or ViSEs. Whether it’s bungee jumping, shark diving, or grinding up against celebrities at the city’s hottest dance clubs, Gideon can make it happen for you—for a price.

When Rose disappears and a ViSE recording of her murder is delivered to Gideon, Winter is devastated. She won’t rest until she finds her sister’s killer. But when the clues she uncovers conflict with the digital recordings her sister made, Winter isn’t sure what to believe. To find out what happened to Rose, she’ll have to untangle what’s real from what only seems real, risking her life in the process.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Self-harm recounted
Suicidal ideation
Sexual assault & sex trafficking mentioned

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

Also known as The Last Girl.

New girl Rachel Chavez is eager to make a fresh start at Manchester Prep. But as one of the few scholarship kids, Rachel struggles to fit in, and when she gets caught up in a prank gone awry, she ends up with more enemies than friends.

To her surprise, however, the prank attracts the attention of the Mary Shelley Club, a secret club of students with one objective: come up with the scariest prank to orchestrate real fear. But as the pranks escalate, the competition turns cutthroat and takes on a life of its own.

When the tables are turned and someone targets the club itself, Rachel must track down the real-life monster in their midst . . . even if it means finally confronting the dark secrets from her past.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Emotional abuse & gaslighting
Coulrophobia
Panic attacks
Nightmares
Suicide discussed
Nonconsensual drugging
Blood & gore depiction
Physical injury, including scarring
Hospitalisation
Death of a friend
Death from a fall
Murder & attempted murder
Knife violence
Home invasion
Stalking
Kidnapping & captivity
Bullying

Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz

Jane Anonymous by Laurie Faria Stolarz

“Jane” was just your typical 17-year-old getting ready to start her senior year. She had a part-time job she enjoyed, an awesome best friend, overbearing but loving parents, and a crush on a boy who was taking her to see her favorite band. She never would’ve imagined that in her town where nothing ever happens, a series of small coincidences would lead to a devastating turn of events that would forever change her life.

Now, it’s been three months since “Jane” escaped captivity and returned home. Three months of being that girl who was kidnapped, the girl who was held by a “monster.” But, what if everything you thought you knew―everything you thought you experienced―turned out to be a lie?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Sexual assault
Rape mentioned
Trauma & ptsd (theme)
Panic & anxiety attacks
Stockholm Syndrome
Suicide & suicidal ideation
Self-harm (on-page)
Nonconsensual drugging
Graphic blood depiction & physical injury
Emesis
Death of a grandmother mentioned
Kidnapping & captivity (central theme)

The Vanished by Nic Stone

The Vanished by Nic Stone

With the heart-shaped herb thriving, a group of Wakanda’s finest engineers working on expanding her dome technology, and the borders more fortified than ever, Princess Shuri can finally focus on what matters most: her training.

Soon, a bigger problem rears its head. The princess hears whispers of exceptionally talented young girls across the world going missing. A young environmental scientist in Kenya, a French physics prodigy — the list of the missing keeps growing and growing. And when this mystery hits home in a way the princess would’ve never expected, there’s no more time for hesitation: There are lost girls out there somewhere, and Shuri is determined not to let them be forgotten.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Forced drug use
Kidnapping & captivity

Shuri by Nic Stone

Shuri by Nic Stone

For centuries, the Chieftain of Wakanda (the Black Panther) has gained his powers through the juices of the Heart-Shaped Herb. Much like Vibranium, the Heart-Shaped Herb is essential to the survival and prosperity of Wakanda. But something is wrong. The plants are dying. No matter what the people of Wakanda do, they can’t save them. And their supply is running short. It’s up to Shuri to travel from Wakanda in order to discover what is killing the Herb, and how she can save it.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Colonisation mentioned

Hazel and Gray by Nic Stone

Hazel and Gray by Nic Stone

Two anxious young lovers lost in the woods. A beckoning mansion in a dark clearing.

It’s bad enough that Hazel and Gray have defied the demands of Hazel’s foul stepfather. The Monster has forbidden their romance. Now they’ve awakened in the forest, phones dead, hours past curfew. But not far away is a grand estate in the middle of nowhere. The door is open. In this short story about choosing your own path, the fury of the Monster that awaits them back home may be nothing compared to what lies ahead.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Human trafficking
Forced sex work
Nonconsensual drugging
Paedophilia
Murder (implied)

Clean Getaway by Nic Stone

Clean Getaway by Nic Stone

How to Go on an Unplanned Road Trip with Your Grandma:
* Grab a Suitcase: Prepacked from the big spring break trip that got CANCELLED.
* Fasten Your Seatbelt: G’ma’s never conventional, so this trip won’t be either.
* Use the Green Book: G’ma’s most treasured possession. It holds history, memories, and, most important, the way home.

What Not to Bring:
* A Cell Phone: Avoid contact with Dad at all costs. Even when G’ma starts acting stranger than usual.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Cancer