rachel @ typed truths

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

The Mary Shelley Club by Goldy Moldavsky

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

Jackpot by Nic Stone

Jackpot by Nic Stone

Meet Rico: high school senior and afternoon-shift cashier at the Gas ‘n’ Go, who after school and work races home to take care of her younger brother. Every. Single. Day. When Rico sells a jackpot-winning lotto ticket, she thinks maybe her luck will finally change, but only if she–with some assistance from her popular and wildly rich classmate Zan–can find the ticket holder who hasn’t claimed the prize. But what happens when have and have-nots collide? Will this investigative duo unite…or divide?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racial profiling
Alcoholism mentioned
Panic attacks mentioned
Hospitalisation of a family members
Financial struggles & poverty themes

Odd One Out by Nic Stone

Odd One Out by Nic Stone

Courtney “Coop” Cooper. Dumped. Again. And normally I wouldn’t mind. But right now, my best friend and source of solace, Jupiter Sanchez, is ignoring me to text some girl. Rae Evelyn Chin. I assumed “new girl” would be synonymous with “pariah,” but Jupiter and Courtney make me feel like I’m right where I belong. I also want to kiss him. And her. Which is . . . perplexing. Jupiter Charity-Sanchez The only thing worse than losing the girl you love to a boy is losing her to your boy. That means losing him, too. I have to make a move. . .

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Bimisia
Deadnaming
Adult-minor relationship*
Dubious consent scenario*
Sexual assault (nonconsensual kiss)
Parental abandonment
Panic attack
Death of a parent mentioned

*Context: A sixteen-year-old girl begs a woman in her 20s to have sex with her until she gives in.

Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone

Little Do We Know by Tamara Ireland Stone

Lifelong best friends and next-door neighbours Hannah and Emory have never gone a single day without talking. But now it’s senior year and they haven’t spoken in three months. Not since the fight, where they each said things they couldn’t take back. They’re aching to break the silence, but those thirty-six steps between their bedroom windows feel more like thirty-six miles. Then one fateful night, Emory’s boyfriend, Luke, almost dies. And Hannah is the one who finds his… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual assault recounted

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Every Last Word by Tamara Ireland Stone

Samantha McAllister looks just like the rest of the popular girls in her junior class. But hidden beneath the straightened hair and expertly applied makeup is a secret that her friends would never understand: Sam has Purely-Obsessional OCD and is consumed by a stream of dark thoughts and worries that she can’t turn off. Second-guessing every move, thought, and word makes daily life a struggle, and it doesn’t help that her lifelong friends will turn toxic at the first sign of a wrong outfit, wrong lunch, or wrong crush. Yet Sam knows she’d be truly crazy to leave the protect… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism, internalised ableism & ableist language
Pure O OCD & intrusive thoughts (theme)
Panic attacks, on-page
Hallucinations & psychosis
Depression (sc)
Suicide by drug overdose recounted, off-page
Hospital mentioned
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a friend, off-page
Death of a mother from terminal cancer mentioned
Prescription drug use mentioned
Bullying