rachel @ typed truths

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

Fatima lives in the city of Noor, a thriving stop along the Silk Road. There the music of myriad languages fills the air, and people of all faiths weave their lives together. However, the city bears scars of its recent past, when the chaotic tribe of Shayateen djinn slaughtered its entire population — except for Fatima and two other humans. Now ruled by a new maharajah, Noor is protected from the Shayateen by the Ifrit, djinn of order and reason, and by their commander, Zulfikar.

But when one of the most potent of the Ifrit dies, Fatima is changed in ways she cannot fathom, ways that scare even those who love her. Oud in hand, Fatima is drawn into the intrigues of the maharajah and his sister, the affairs of Zulfikar and the djinn, and the dangers of a magical battlefield.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual harassment
Grief depiction
Death of a brother recounted
Death of a father recounted
Disappearance of a sibling
Murder & attempted murder
Massacre and genocide recounted
Knife violence & stabbing
Poisoning
Fire
War themes
Poverty themes

Ironspark by C.M. McGuire

Ironspark by C.M. McGuire

For the past nine years, ever since a bunch of those evil Tinkerbells abducted her mother, cursed her father, and forced her family into hiding, Bryn has devoted herself to learning everything she can about killing the Fae. Now it’s time to put those lessons to use.

Then the Court Fae finally show up, and Bryn realizes she can’t handle this on her own. Thankfully, three friends offer to help: Gwen, a kindhearted water witch; Dom, a new foster kid pulled into her world; and Jasika, a schoolmate with her own grudge against the Fae… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Amisia (challenged)
Coming out themes
Parental abandonment
PTSD
Panic & anxiety attacks
Nightmares
Parent with (implied) schizophrenia & hallucinations
Alcohol consumption
Blood & gore depiction
Physical injuries
Hospital
Comas
Scalpels mentioned
Murder & attempted murder
Kidnapping
House fire, fire, and loss of property
Bullying

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

If you choose to support this author or novel (financially or otherwise), please consider educating yourself about the Quileute tribe’s plight and support their mission.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him—and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Racism & anti-Native language
Attempted suicide mentioned
Blood depiction & blood-drinking
Hospitalisation for illness & injuries (broken bones, blood loss)
Mentions of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic
Death of a child recounted
Minor car accident
Attempted murder
Stalking & kidnapping

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Aromisic language and amatonormativity
Racism & anti-Native language
Misogyny
Attempted suicide mentioned
Blood depiction & blood drinking
Physical injuries
Hospital
Death of a child recounted
Kidnapping

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism & sexism
Racism & anti-Native language
Rape & paedophilia mentioned
Suicidal ideation and attempted suicide mentioned
Blood depiction & blood-drinking
Stalking
Murder
Animal death

If you choose to support this author, please consider educating yourself about the Quileute tribe’s plight and support their mission

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

Cemetery Boys by Aiden Thomas

When his traditional Latinx family has problems accepting his gender, Yadriel becomes determined to prove himself a real brujo. With the help of his cousin and best friend Maritza, he performs the ritual himself, and then sets out to find the ghost of his murdered cousin and set it free.

However, the ghost he summons is actually Julian Diaz, the school’s resident bad boy, and Julian is not about to go quietly into death. He’s determined to find out what happened and tie up some loose ends before he leaves. Left with no choice, Yadriel agrees to help Julian, so that they can both get what they want. But the longer Yadriel spends with Julian, the less he wants to let him leave.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Transmisia
Deadnaming & misgendering
Gender dysphoria
Coming out themes
Parental abandonment recounted
Disownment and child homelessness
Blood depiction & use of blood for magic and in rituals
Dead bodies
Serious injury of a loved one
Hospital (brief scene)
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father & mother recounted
Disappearance of a loved one
Murder & attempted murder
Knife violence & stabbing
Gun violence recounted
Police racial discrimination mentioned
Car accident mentioned
Smoking & alcohol consumption mentioned
Animal blood used for magic and in rituals

All This I Will Give to You by Dolores Redondo

All This I Will Give to You by Dolores Redondo

When novelist Manuel Ortigosa learns that his husband, Álvaro, has been killed in a car crash, it comes as a devastating shock. It won’t be the last. He’s now arrived in Galicia. It’s where Álvaro died. It’s where the case has already been quickly closed as a tragic accident. It’s also where Álvaro hid his secrets.

Álvaro’s trail leads Manuel deep into one of Spain’s most powerful and guarded families. Behind the walls of their forbidding estate, Manuel is nothing but an unwelcome and dangerous intruder. Then he finds two allies: a stubbornly suspicious police lieutenant and Álvaro’s old friend–and private confessor–from seminary school. Together they’re collecting the pieces of Álvaro’s past, his double life, and his mysterious death.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a husband
Car accident recounted

All the Ways Home

All the Ways Home by Elsie Chapman

Sometimes, home isn’t where you expect to find it.

After losing his mom in a fatal car crash, Kaede Hirano–now living with a grandfather who is more stranger than family–developed anger issues and spent his last year of middle school acting out.

Best-friendless and critically in danger repeating the seventh grade, Kaede is given a summer assignment: write an essay about what home means to him, which will be even tougher now that he’s on his way to Japan to reconnect with his estranged father and older half-brother. Still, if there’s a chance Kaede can finally build a new family from an old one, he’s willing to try. But building new relationships isn’t as easy as destroying his old ones, and one last desperate act will change the way Kaede sees everyone–including himself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother
Car accident recounted

All the Ugly and Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

All the Ugly & Wonderful Things by Bryn Greenwood

As the daughter of a meth dealer, Wavy knows not to trust people, not even her own parents. Struggling to raise her little brother, eight-year-old Wavy is the only responsible “adult” around. She finds peace in the starry Midwestern night sky above the fields behind her house. One night everything changes when she witnesses one of her father’s thugs, Kellen, a tattooed ex-con with a heart of gold, wreck his motorcycle. What follows is a powerful and shocking story that asks tough questions, reminding us of all the ugly and wonderful things that life has to offer

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Adult-minor relationship*
Paedophilia & grooming
Statutory rape
Parental abuse
Substance addiction
Death of a grandmother
Motorcycle accident

*Note: The story centres a romanticised sexual relationship between a 13-year-old girl and a 24-year-old man.

All the Things We Do in the Dark by Saundra Mitchell

All the Things We Do in the Dark by Saundra Mitchell

Something happened to Ava. The curving scar on her face is proof. But Ava would rather keep that something hidden—buried deep in her heart and her soul.

She has her best friend Syd, and she has her tattoos—a colorful quilt, like a security blanket, over her whole body—and now, suddenly, she has Hailey. Beautiful, sweet Hailey, who seems to like Ava as much as she likes her. And Ava isn’t letting anything get in the way of finally, finally seeking peace. But in the woods on the outskirts of town, the traces of someone else’s secrets lie frozen, awaiting Ava’s discovery—and what Ava finds threatens to topple the carefully-constructed wall of normalcy that she’s spent years building… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape of a child recounted (theme)
PTSD & trauma
Victim blaming discussed
Minor gore depiction and dead body

All the Rage by Courtney Summers

All the Rage by Courtney Summers

The sheriff’s son, Kellan Turner, is not the golden boy everyone thinks he is, and Romy Grey knows that for a fact. Because no one wants to believe a girl from the wrong side of town, the truth about him has cost her everything—friends, family, and her community.

Branded a liar and bullied relentlessly by a group of kids she used to hang out with, Romy’s only refuge is the diner where she works outside of town. No one knows her name or her past there; she can finally be anonymous. But when a girl with ties to both Romy and Kellan goes missing after a party, and news of him assaulting another girl in a town close by gets out.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape (theme)
Victim blaming
Alcohol consumption
Bullying