To Kill a Badger by Shelly Laurenston

Nelle Zhao is a social media maven who knows what matters. And the only thing that matters right now is survival. Not easy, though, when her honey badger teammates attract trouble the way she attracts attention. She didn’t know when it became her job to protect the ones she cares about from themselves, but even she has to admit…she’s really good at it. Too bad some people don’t appreciate when she’s being helpful. Especially Keane Malone, who doesn’t know how to accept a friendly paw. But Nelle excels at helping! And at ignoring other people’s irrational…. Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Claustrophobia & panic attacks
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Car accident

Backhanded Compliments by Katie Chandler

Juliette Ricci dreams of only one being the best women’s tennis player in the world. She’s worked nonstop with her strict father/coach to prepare for her big chance in the Australian Open. Unfortunately, she’ll be playing Lucky Luca Kacic, an aloof player whose unorthodox style and reigning popularity deeply irritate Juliette. For months they’ve traded sly insults in their press conferences leading up to their showdown on the court, and their first ever match is the most anticipated of the season. But Juliette refuses to let her nerves—or Luca’s annoyingly perfect abs—get the… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Sports injury

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

Kaylani is a born-and-bred Brooklyn girl. She expects to feel like a fish out of water spending the hot and sticky summer on Martha’s Vineyard with family friends, the Watsons. But her mother insists, especially since Kaylani still spends long hours on the phone with her imprisoned father. The Watsons live in the town of Oak Bluffs, a place with a rich Black history that fascinates Kaylani. Though the Watsons’ daughter, London, is snobby and unfriendly, Kaylani ends up connecting with some other kids in the town, who show… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Emesis
  • Blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Imprisonment
  • Bullying

Alchemised by SenLinYu

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed. In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive. According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic misogyny
  • Rape & sexual assault (protagonist)*
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Emotional child abuse
  • Infidelity
  • Forced marriage
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Amnesia & memory loss, including non-consensual memory alteration
  • Nightmares
  • Suicidal ideation & self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption (on-page) & mentions of smoking
  • Forced pregnancy & childbirth*
  • Miscarriage & abortion mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction, including eye trauma/ loss of eye, seizures, broken bones, emesis, traumatic brain injury, weight loss & gain due to malnutrition, disembowelment & amputation
  • Medical procedures, human experimentation. needles & surgery, including forced sterilization of a child
  • Cannibalism mentioned (secondary characters)
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Attempted kidnapping
  • Arson & bombing
  • Imprisonment & captivity
  • Torture, including sensory deprivation and solitary confinement
  • War themes including war crimes & eugenics
  • Animal death & cruelty (experimentation)
  • Poverty

* Context: The female protagonist is raped by the male protagonist as part of a breeding program. The male protagonist cheats on his wife, who he was forced to marry and is also cheating on him, with the female protagonist.

Mixing Magics by Clare Edge

Bernadette Crowley feels like she’s finally getting a handle on her diabetes diagnosis. At least, she can finally manage to not summon a demon every time she checks her blood sugar. But without her Grandma Orla, who disappeared into the demon dimension while protecting their family’s coven, even big wins don’t seem to matter as much. Frustrated that no one is trying hard enough to rescue Grandma Orla, Ber takes matters into her own hands, using her growing powers to try to reach the demon dimension. But nothing can prepare her for the truth, a history that… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Diabetes (protagonist)
  • Needles & self-injury for blood (on-page)

Five Found Dead by Sulari Gentill

Crime fiction author Joe Penvale has won the most brutal battle of his life. Now that he has finished his intense medical treatment, he and his twin sister, Meredith, are boarding the glorious Orient Express in Paris, hoping for some much-needed rest and rejuvenation. Meredith also hopes that the literary ghosts on the train will nudge Joe’s muse awake, and he’ll be inspired to write again. And he is; after their first evening spent getting to know some of their fellow travelers, Joe pulls out his laptop and opens a new document. Seems like this trip is just… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cancer
  • COVID-19 pandemic (theme)
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Confinement & stalking

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter

Welcome to North Falls-a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think. Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend’s daughter needed help-and now she must bring her home. But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia, grooming & rape of a minor
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping

The Love Haters by Katherine Center

Katie Vaughn has been burned by love in the past—now she may be lighting her career on fire. She has two choices: wait to get laid off from her job as a video producer or, at her co-worker Cole’s request, take a career-making gig profiling Tom “Hutch” Hutcheson, a Coast Guard rescue swimmer in Key West. The catch? Katie’s not exactly qualified. She can’t swim—but fakes it that she can. Plus: Cole is Hutch’s brother. And they don’t get along. Next stop paradise! But paradise is messier than it seems. As Katie gets entangled with Hutch (the most scientifically good… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Infidelity (ex-partner)
  • Disordered eating & body dysmorphia, including mentions of past dieting & calorie counting
  • Panic attack
  • Emesis
  • Death of parents in a car accident (off-page)
  • Loved one with terminal heart condition
  • Hurricane mentioned
  • Cyberbullying & harassment

Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond

In the Province of Carolina, 1710, freedom seems unattainable for Willie, for his beloved Gertie, and for their unborn child. They live, suffer, and toil under their brutal master, James “Big Jim” Barrow, whose grand plantation was built by the blood, sweat, and tears of the enslaved. To flee this hell on earth is be hunted and killed. Until one strange night Willie is offered a dark hope by Rafazi, an enigmatic slave with an irresistible and blood-chilling path to liberation. Hailing from the Kingdom of Ghana, Rafazi is the lone survivor of the Ramanga, an African vampire trive render… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic slavery & racism (on-page)
  • Rape & sexual assault (on-page)

The Secret Crush Book Club by Karmen Lee

For Dani, life is a juggling act. As a single mom devoted to her son and family, she barely has a moment to herself. But when her sister announces she’s moving out of the house, the ache of loneliness creeps in, and Dani can’t help but wonder if there’s something else she’s been missing in her life. Zoey came to Peach Blossom eager to start her new job as the town’s librarian and do a little research for her next book. Yet she never expected to find inspiration in fellow book club member Dani, whose captivating brown eyes tell a story of their own. Before they know it… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity mentioned