Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

Klara & the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro

From her place in the store, Klara, an Artificial Friend with outstanding observational qualities, watches carefully the behavior of those who come in to browse, and of those who pass on the street outside. She remains hopeful that a customer will soon choose her, but when the possibility emerges that her circumstances may change forever, Klara is warned not to invest too much in the promises of humans.

In Klara and the Sun, Kazuo Ishiguro looks at our rapidly changing modern world through the eyes of an unforgettable narrator to explore a fundamental question: what does it mean to love?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Terminal illness
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Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer

Hummingbird Salamander by Jeff VanderMeer

Security consultant “Jane Smith” receives an envelope with a key to a storage unit that holds a taxidermied hummingbird and clues leading her to a taxidermied salamander. Silvina, the dead woman who left the note, is a reputed ecoterrorist and the daughter of an Argentine industrialist. By taking the hummingbird from the storage unit, Jane sets in motion a series of events that quickly spin beyond her control.

Soon, Jane and her family are in danger, with few allies to help her make sense of the true scope of the peril. Is the only way to safety to follow in Silvina’s footsteps? Is it too late to stop? As she desperately seeks answers about why Silvina contacted her, time is running out—for her and possibly for the world.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse
  • Drowning
  • Animal death
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Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

Borne by Jeff VanderMeer

In a ruined, nameless city of the future, a woman named Rachel, who makes her living as a scavenger, finds a creature she names “Borne” entangled in the fur of Mord, a gigantic, despotic bear. Mord once prowled the corridors of the biotech organization known as the Company, until he was experimented on, grew large, learned to fly and broke free. At first, Borne looks like nothing at all—just a green lump that might be a Company discard. Yet when she takes Borne to her subterranean sanctuary, Rachel convinces her lover, Wick, not to render Borne down to raw genetic material for the drugs he sells.

Wick is a special kind of supplier, selling tiny creatures that release powerful memories of other people’s happier times or just produce beautiful visions that provide escape from the barren, craterous landscapes of the city. Against his better judgment, Wick respects her decision. Rachel, meanwhile, knows he has kept secrets from her. What is he hiding? Why won’t he tell her about what happened when he worked for the Company?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Cannibalism
  • Human experimentation
  • Gaslighting & memory manipulation
  • War themes
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Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer

Area X has been cut off from the rest of the world for decades. Nature has reclaimed the last vestiges of human civilization. The first expedition returned with reports of a pristine, Edenic landscape; the second expedition ended in mass suicide, the third in a hail of gunfire as its members turned on one another. The members of the eleventh expedition returned as shadows of their former selves, and within weeks, all had died of cancer.

The group is made up of four women: an anthropologist; a surveyor; a psychologist, the de facto leader; and our narrator, a biologist. Their mission is to map the terrain, record all observations of their surroundings and of one another, and, above all, avoid being contaminated by Area X itself.

They arrive expecting the unexpected, and Area X delivers—but it’s the surprises that came across the border with them and the secrets the expedition members are keeping from one another that change everything.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Intimate partner violence recounted
  • Suicide & attempted suicide discussed
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore depiction, including physical injuries
  • Dead bodies
  • Terminal cancer recounted
  • Hospital mentioned
  • Death of a husband recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Mind control & loss of autonomy (theme)
  • Animal attack
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Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and Niko Henrichon

Pride of Baghdad by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Niko Henrichon

In the spring of 2003, a pride of lions escaped from the Baghdad zoo during an American bombing raid. Lost and confused, hungry but finally free, the four lions roamed the decimated streets of Baghdad in a desperate struggle for their lives. In documenting the plight of the lions, PRIDE OF BAGHDAD raises questions about the true meaning of liberation – can it be given or is it earned only through self-determination and sacrifice? And in the end, is it truly better to die free than to live life in captivity?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Bombings
  • War themes
  • Animal death
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Saga, Vol. 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 9 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

The multiple Eisner Award-winning series returns with a spacefaring adventure about fake news and genuine terror. Get ready for the most shocking, most impactful SAGA storyline yet.

Collects Saga: #49-54

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Death of a fiancé
  • Death of a boyfriend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Strangulation
  • Kidnapping
  • Electrocution
  • Murder of a pet cat mentioned
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Saga, Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

After the traumatic events of the War for Phang, Hazel, her parents, and their surviving companions embark on a life-changing adventure at the westernmost edge of the universe.

CollectingSaga 43-48.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Transmisia
  • Misogyny
  • Rape
  • Paedophilia mentioned & implied child sexual abuse
  • Physical child abuse
  • Suicidal ideation mentioned
  • Abortion discussed & abortion procedures (on-page)
  • Miscarriage & pregnancy-related medical trauma (theme)
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Hospital
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a wife
  • Death of a friend
  • Graphic murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Hanging
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • War & military violence (theme)
  • Death of a pet dog
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Saga, Vol. 7 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 7 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

Finally reunited with her ever-expanding family, Hazel travels to a war-torn comet that Wreath and Landfall have been battling over for ages. New friendships are forged and others are lost forever in this action-packed volume about families, combat, and the refugee experience.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language (r word)
  • Racism
  • Transmisia
  • Trauma & nightmares
  • Attempted suicide & self-sacrifice
  • Drug abuse & recreational drug use
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • Strangulation
  • Hostage situation
  • War & military violence (theme)
  • Animal death
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Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

After a dramatic time jump, Hazel begins the most exciting adventure of her life: kindergarten. Meanwhile, her starcrossed family learns hard lessons of their own.

CollectingSaga 31-36

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language (r word)
  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Transmisia
  • Outing
  • Misgendering
  • Rape mentioned
  • Forced sex work mentioned
  • Child abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Hallucinations
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Recreational drug use
  • Overdose mentioned
  • Pregnancy
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injuries, including serious injury of a loved one
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister
  • Death of a girlfriend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • Blackmail
  • Imprisonment
  • War & military violence (theme)
  • Animal death
  • Hunting
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Saga, Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

Multiple storylines collide in this cosmos-spanning new volume. While Gwendolyn and Lying Cat risk everything to find a cure for The Will, Marko makes an uneasy alliance with Prince Robot IV to find their missing children, who are trapped on a strange world with terrifying new enemies.

CollectingSaga 25-30

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Grey-area cheating
  • Substance addiction
  • Hallucinations mentioned
  • Drug abuse & recreational drug use
  • Overdose
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Fire
  • Plane crash
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes & military violence (theme)
  • Animal death
  • Animal torture recounted
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