rachel @ typed truths

The Outrage by William Hussey

The Outrage by William Hussey

Welcome to England, where the Protectorate enforces the Public Good. Here, there are rules for everything – what to eat, what to wear, what to do, what to say, what to read, what to think, who to obey, who to hate, who to love. Your safety is assured, so long as you follow the rules.

Gabriel is a natural born rule-breaker. And his biggest crime of all? Being gay.

Gabriel knows his sexuality must be kept secret from all but his closest friends, not only to protect himself, but to protect his boyfriend. Because Eric isn’t just the boy who has stolen Gabriel’s heart. He’s the son of the chief inspector at Degenerate Investigations - the man who poses the single biggest threat to Gabriel’s life.

And the Protectorate are experts at exposing secrets.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Racism
Homomisia & homomisic language
Self-harm
Suicide mentioned

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood’s powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows – everyone knows – that the Dragon will take beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, her dearest friend in the world. There is no way to save her. But no one can predict how or why the Dragon chooses a girl and when he comes, it is not Kasia he will take with him…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Attempted rape (on-page, detailed)
Cheating recounted
Adult-minor relationship*
Alcohol consumption
Pregnancy mentioned
Body horror
Minor physical injuries (burns)
Death of a brother
Death of a mother & father mentioned
Murder
Knife violence
Kidnapping
Fire
War themes & military violence
Graphic animal death
Animal attack

*Note: The main romance is between a seventeen-year-old girl and an immortal 100-(plus)-year-old man.

Tilly and the Map of Stories by Anna James

Tilly & the Map of Stories by Anna James

Strange things are happening. A man comes into Pages Co looking for a book… then suddenly can’t remember it. Tilly and her family feel like the world is changing – but can’t quite put their finger on why.

Meanwhile, the Underwoods are expanding their control over bookwandering – and they still have their sights set on Tilly. Leaving the safety of the bookshop, Tilly heads to America to find the legendary Archivists and save bookwandering…

… or at least, that’s the plan. Wandering in layers of story, Tilly and her friend Oskar come up against dangers they could never have expected, team up with an unexpectedly familiar face, and ultimately find themselves taking on the biggest threat to stories there has ever been – with only their courage and ingenuity to help them. As well as some of their dearest fictional friends…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcohol consumption
Kidnapping
Fire

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

This Dark Endeavour by Kenneth Oppel

Victor and Konrad are the twin brothers Frankenstein. They are nearly inseparable. Growing up, their lives are filled with imaginary adventures… until the day their adventures turn all too real.

They stumble upon the Dark Library and discover secret books of alchemy and ancient remedies. Father forbids them from ever entering the room again, but when Konrad falls gravely ill, Victor is drawn back to the Dark Library where he uncovers an ancient formula for the Elixir of Life… Read more.

Determined to save Konrad, Victor, along with his beautiful cousin Elizabeth and friend Henry, scale the highest trees in Strumwald, dive into the deepest lakes, and even make an unthinkable sacrifice in their quest for the elixir’s ingredients. And as if their task was not complicated enough, a new realm of danger—that of illicit love—threatens to end the ordeal in tragedy.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Ableism, including the Disabled Villain trope
Sexual assault*
Incest*
Parental abandonment & child neglect mentioned
Serious illness of a child
Medical treatment & procedures, including consensual amputation
Needles
Emesis
Death of a brother
Animal death
Animal attack

* Explanation : There are two on-page sexual assault scenes, including one where the main character pretends to be his identical twin to trick his brother’s girlfriend into kissing him, and another where he forces a kiss on her. The romance subplot involves a love triangle between the two Frankenstein twins and their cousin.

The Bone Keeper by Luca Veste

The Bone Keeper by Luca Veste

He’ll slice your flesh. Your bones he’ll keep. What if the figure that haunted your childhood nightmares was real?

Twenty years ago, four teenagers entered the woods, hoping to find to the supposed home of the Bone Keeper. Only three returned. Now, a woman is found wandering the streets, horrifically injured, claiming to have fled the Bone Keeper. Investigating officer DC Louise Henderson must convince skeptical colleagues that this evil urban myth might be flesh and blood. But when a body is unearthed, the case takes on a much darker tone…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape
Blood & gore depiction
Murder
Home invasion
Fire

This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria

This Golden Flame by Emily Victoria

Orphaned and forced to serve her country’s ruling group of scribes, Karis wants nothing more than to find her brother, long ago shipped away. But family bonds don’t matter to the Scriptorium, whose sole focus is unlocking the magic of an ancient automaton army.

In her search for her brother, Karis does the seemingly impossible—she awakens a hidden automaton. Intelligent, with a conscience of his own, Alix has no idea why he was made… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Amnesia
Nightmares
Nonconsensual branding & scars
Medical experimentation
Death of a mother & father recounted
Murder
Knife & sword violence
Explosion
Disappearance of a sibling
Kidnapping

Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Misogyny
Adult-minor relationship discussed
Parental abandonment
Domestic abuse
Child abuse & neglect
Suicide, attempted suicide & suicidal ideation
Depression
Alcoholism
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Recreational drug use & abuse
Infertility mentioned
Emesis
Physical injuries
Death of a father & husband
Murder & attempted murder
Poisoning
Torture
Whipping
War themes
Graphic animal death, including multiple death of pet dogs
Animal cruelty & abuse
Hunting
Animal attack mentioned

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

Second First Impressions by Sally Thorne

Ruthie Midona has worked the front desk at the Providence Luxury Retirement Villa for six years, dedicating her life to caring for the Villa’s residents, and guarding the endangered tortoises that live in the Villa’s gardens. Somewhere along the way, she’s forgotten there’s a world outside of work—until she meets the son of the property developer who just acquired the retirement centre. Teddy Prescott has spent the last few years not taking life too seriously… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Fatphobia & body-shaming
Dieting
Death of a friend
Animal injury

All That Has Flown Beyond by Marina Vivancos

All that Has Flown Beyond by Marina Vivancos

Kaiyo’s bloodline has been part of the Garrow pack for generations. He has been destined to be shaman, to anchor the werewolves to the land, and lend aid with the force of his Ousía. When Kaiyo is fourteen, however, an attacking group kills all of the adults in the pack, leaving young Ahmik, only fifteen, as leader.

Kaiyo grows increasingly reckless in his desperation to defend his pack, to finally grow into his shaman powers, and to protect Ahmik: the boy he loves. In the end, Kaiyo loses his pack anyway… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Depression

In This Iron Ground by Marina Vivancos

In This Iron Ground by Marina Vivancos

Damien is nine years old when his parents die. What should have been the worst moment of his life begins a journey shadowed by loneliness and pain. The night of a full moon, four years and seven foster homes later, Damien flees to the forest, desperate to escape everything.

Instead, he finds the Salgado pack. Damien is suddenly introduced into a world that had only ever existed in his imagination, where there is magic in the forest and the moon… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Emotional & physical child abuse
Death of parents recounted