rachel @ typed truths

The Block by Ben Oliver

The Block by Ben Oliver

Luka in a prisoner once again. But this time it’s a fate worse than death. In the Block, he must toggle between enduring an Energy Harvest for twelve hours of the day and surviving complete immobilization. The only semblance of relief is the Sane Zone, created to keep prisoners from going completely mad. In this virtual reality, the prisoners live out their fantasies of life outside. But for Luka, it’s different.

Happy is determined to find out the location of his friends, who disappeared after the Battle of Midway Park. But can Luka battle the descent into madness long enough to stop Happy’s manipulation tactics and keep his friends’ location safe?… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Suicide
Drug use
Imprisonment

The Loop by Ben Oliver

The Loop by Ben Oliver

It’s Luka Kane’s sixteenth birthday and he’s been inside The Loop for over two years. Every inmate is serving a death sentence with the option to push back their execution date by six months if they opt into “Delays”, scientific and medical experiments for the benefit of the elite in the outside world. But rumors of a war on the outside are spreading amongst the inmates, and before they know it, their tortuous routine becomes disrupted. The government issued rain stops falling. Strange things are happening to the guards. And it’s not long until the inmates are left alone inside the prison… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Suicide
Drug use
Medical experimentation
Amputation
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Animal attack

One Italian Summer by Keris Stainton

One Italian Summer by Keris Stainton

It’s been a year since Milly, Elyse and Leonie’s dad died, and a year since their last trip to Rome. Summer’s here again, and once again they are heading with their mum to Italy – but what’s it going to be like going without Dad? Rome still holds its familiar charms but nothing is quite as it once was …

With grief still raw for all of them, Milly is facing the additional awfulness of having to see Luke again, who she had a fling with last year, and who she made a total fool of herself with – or so she thinks. What’s going to happen this time? What’s more, things between Milly, her sisters and their mum are rocky – Leonie is being tempestuous and unpredictable, Elyse is caught up with her new boyfriend, and Milly feels like she just doesn’t know how she fits in any more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcohol abuse
Emesis
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father from a heart attack recounted

My Heart Goes Bang by Keris Stainton

My Heart Goes Bang by Keris Stainton

Ella, Lou, Issey, Liane and Paige are determined to make the most of this second year at uni. They want to have fun, but they want to focus on work. There’s no time for relationships. Except with each other. And even that’s not guaranteed. Gemma and Lou have always been close, but there’s tension between Issey and Liane, and none of them even knows Paige all that well.

But when Ella finds a magazine article with a list of men they should date before they’re 21 (someone who’s been on telly? Check; someone who’s got tattoos? Check;) they vow to complete the list before finishing university and set about it with a lot more enthusiasm than they do their studies … but will any of them end up with a full house? And when a secret from their first year comes out, it looks as if some of them might not be completing university, never mind the list …

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Fatphobia & body shaming
Misogyny
Slut-shaming
Lesbomisia
Sexual harassment
Revenge porn
Alcohol consumption
Cancer
Asthma attack
Stalking
Blackmail

As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper

As Far As You’ll Take Me by Phil Stamper

Marty arrives in London with nothing but his oboe and some savings from his summer job, but he’s excited to start his new life–where he’s no longer the closeted, shy kid who slips under the radar and is free to explore his sexuality without his parents’ disapproval.

From the outside, Marty’s life looks like a perfect fantasy: in the span of a few weeks, he’s made new friends, he’s getting closer with his first ever boyfriend, and he’s even traveling around Europe. But Marty knows he can’t keep up the facade. He hasn’t spoken to his parents since he arrived, he’s tearing through his meager savings, his homesickness and anxiety are getting worse and worse, and he hasn’t even come close to landing the job of his dreams. Will Marty be able to find a place that feels like home?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Coming out themes
Nonconsensual outing
Homomisia
Religious bigotry
Anxiety & anxiety attacks
Body dysmorphia
Disordered food & weight thoughts (including on-page crash dieting, food-shaming, calorie counting & self-imposed starvation)
Alcohol consumption

The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper

The Gravity of Us by Phil Stamper

As a successful social media journalist with half a million followers, seventeen-year-old Cal is used to sharing his life online. But when his pilot father is selected for a highly publicized NASA mission to Mars, Cal and his family relocate from Brooklyn to Houston and are thrust into a media circus.

Amidst the chaos, Cal meets sensitive and mysterious Leon, another “Astrokid,” and finds himself falling head over heels—fast. As the frenzy around the mission grows, so does their connection. But when secrets about the program are uncovered, Cal must find a way to reveal the truth without hurting the people who have become most important to him.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Coming out themes recounted
Cheating recounted
Anxiety & anxiety attacks
Depression
Alcohol consumption
Hospitalisation mentioned
Terminal cancer recounted
Grief & loss deception
Death of aunt & sister mentioned
Plane crash

This Town Sleeps by Dennis E Staples

This Town Sleeps by Dennis E. Staples

On an Ojibwe reservation called Languille Lake, within the small town of Geshig at the hub of the rez, two men enter into a secret romance. Marion Lafournier, a midtwenties gay Ojibwe man, begins a relationship with his former classmate Shannon, a heavily closeted white man obsessed with his image as a northern Minnesotan. While Marion is far more open about his sexuality, neither is immune to the realities of the lives of gay men in small towns and closed societies.

One night, while roaming the dark streets of Geshig, Marion unknowingly brings to life a dog from beneath the elementary school playground… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia & internalised homomisia
Rape (mplied)
Murder

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

Powerful shipping magnate Evelyn Perdanu lives a tight, contained life, holding herself at a distance from all who would get close to her. Her family is dead, her country is dying, and when something foul comes to the city of Delphinium, the brittle, perilous existence she’s built for herself is strained to breaking.

When one of her ships arrives in dock, she counts herself lucky that it made it through the military blockades slowly strangling her city. But one by one, the crew fall ill with a mysterious sickness: an intense light in their eyes and obsessive behavior, followed by a catatonic stupor… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Blood & gore depiction
Body horror
Emesis
Plague
Drug abuse
Murder
Kidnapping
Loss of autonomy (possession)
Poisoning

Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

Not That I Could Tell by Jessica Strawser

Drinks in hand, a group of neighbourhood women gather around a fire pit to enjoy a rare child-less Saturday night. Giddy with freedom, they drink too much, share secrets they wish, perhaps, they hadn’t, and enjoy getting to know each other better.

The single newcomer. The imperfect mom. The new-born parents. The military wife. The almost divorcee. Come Monday morning, one of them is gone. As a police investigation launches, the women will band together and ask whether they should have noticed that something was amiss. But how well can you really know your neighbours, when appearances can be so deceiving?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Domestic violence

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

One to Watch by Kate Stayman-London

Bea Schumacher is a devastatingly stylish plus-size fashion blogger who has amazing friends, a devoted family, legions of Insta followers–and a massively broken heart. Like the rest of America, Bea indulges in her weekly obsession: the hit reality show Main Squeeze. The fantasy dates! The kiss-off rejections! The surprising amount of guys named Chad! But Bea is sick and tired of the lack of body diversity on the show. Since when is being a size zero a prerequisite for getting engaged on television?

Just when Bea has sworn off dating altogether, she gets an intriguing call: Main Squeeze wants her to be its next star, surrounded by men vying for her affections… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming (theme)
Misogyny
Threats of rape
Cheating
Cyberbullying & doxxing
Dieting & starvation mentioned