The Lucky Ones by Liz Lawson

The Lucky Ones by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

May is a survivor. But she doesn’t feel like one. She feels angry. And lost. And alone. Eleven months after the school shooting that killed her twin brother, May still doesn’t know why she was the only one to walk out of the band room that day. No one gets what she went through–no one saw and heard what she did. No one can possibly understand how it feels to be her. Zach lost his old life when his mother decided to defend the shooter. His girlfriend dumped him, his friends bailed, and now he spends his time hanging out with his little sister… and the one faithful friend who… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Panic attacks
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Substance addiction
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • School shooting (theme)
  • Stalking
  • Bullying

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

The Agathas by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

Last summer, Alice Ogilvie’s basketball-star boyfriend Steve dumped her. Then she disappeared for five days. She’s not talking, so where she went and what happened to her is the biggest mystery in Castle Cove. Or it was, at least. But now, another one of Steve’s girlfriends has vanished: Brooke Donovan, Alice’s ex–best friend. And it doesn’t look like Brooke will be coming back. Enter Iris Adams, Alice’s tutor. Iris has her own reasons for wanting to disappear, though unlike Alice, she doesn’t have the money or the means. That could be changed by the hefty reward… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Domestic abuse
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction including a dead body
  • Murder
  • Physical assault
  • Car accident
  • Bullying & cyberbullying

The Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

The Night in Question by Kathleen Glasgow and Liz Lawson

Alice Ogilvie and Iris Adams became the talk of Castle Cove when they cracked the biggest case of the fall: the death of Brooke Donovan. Together, the Agathas put Brooke’s killer away for good, and since then things around town have been almost back to normal. Quiet, even. But if Alice and Iris know anything, it’s that sometimes quiet is just the calm before the storm. The truth is, Brooke’s disappearance wasn’t the first mystery to rock Castle Cove, and it won’t be the last. So when their school dance at the infamous Levy Castle—the site of film starlet Mona Moody’s…. Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault discussed
  • Domestic violence
  • Drugging recounted
  • Blood & gore including a depiction of a dead body
  • Physical assault
  • Gun violence (flare gun)

The Queens of New York by EL Shen

The Queens of New York by E.L. Shen

Best friends Jia Lee, Ariel Kim, and Everett Hoang are inseparable. But this summer, they won’t be together. Everett, aspiring Broadway star, hopes to nab the lead role in an Ohio theater production, but soon realizes that talent and drive can only get her so far. Brainy Ariel is flying to San Francisco for a prestigious STEM scholarship, even though her heart is in South Korea, where her sister died last year. And stable, solid Jia will be home in Flushing, juggling her parents’ Chinatown restaurant, a cute new neighbor, and dreams for an uncertain future.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use (weed) mentioned
  • Hospitalisation of a grandparent from a fall
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister in a boating accident recounted

Bright Raven Skies by Kristina Pérez

Bright Raven Skies by Kristina Pérez

To save the kingdom, Branwen embraced the darkest aspects of her magic. But she may have lost herself––and the two people she loves most. Tristan and Eseult are missing. As Branwen searches for them, she must hide the truth surrounding their disappearance from both the king and her lover. Above all, she must find the Queen and her Champion first. New and old enemies circle Branwen, clamoring for power and revenge, and threatening to destroy the fragile peace that she has sacrificed everything to secure.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Sword violence
  • Poisoning

Wild Savage Stars by Kristina Pérez

Wild Savage Stars by Kristina Pérez

Branwen has a secret powerful enough to destroy two kingdoms. Her ancient magic led to a terrible betrayal by both her best friend, the princess Essy, and her first love, Tristan. Now this same magic is changing Branwen. Adrift in a rival court, Branwen must hide the truth from the enemy king by protecting the lovers who broke her heart―and finds herself considering a darker path. Not everyone wants the alliance with Branwen’s kingdom to succeed―peace is balanced on a knife’s edge, and her only chance may be to embrace the darkness within…

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Self-harm (cutting)
  • Miscarriage
  • Murder
  • Knife & sword violence
  • Poisoning

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Pérez

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Pérez

Two proud kingdoms stand on opposite shores, with only a bloody history between them. As best friend and lady-in-waiting to the princess, Branwen is guided by two principles: devotion to her homeland and hatred for the raiders who killed her parents. When she unknowingly saves the life of her enemy, he awakens her ancient healing magic and opens her heart. Branwen begins to dream of peace, but the princess she serves is not so easily convinced. Fighting for what’s right, even as her powers grow beyond her control, will set Branwen against both her best friend and the only man she’s ever loved.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Self-harm (cutting)

Rise Up from the Embers by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Rise Up from the Embers by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Two gods are dead. The Mother Goddess has returned. War is rising. Fleeing war-ravaged Deimos, Ash and Madoc sail across the ocean to their only possible allies: the water and plant gods. But when Anathrasa attacks on the way, Ash leaps to the defense—by using a power she didn’t know she had. When Madoc made the fire and earth gods mortal, he inadvertently transferred their magic to Ash. Now, if Ash can get energeias from the other four gods, she would be powerful enough to end Anathrasa once and for all. But not all the gods want the Mother Goddess defeated. To stop…. Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Adult-minor relationship*
  • Murder
  • Torture mentioned

*Context : A relationship between a teenager and a god that’s implied to be hundreds of years old.

Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by overthrowing her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources. Madoc grew up fighting on the streets to pay his family’s taxes. But he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn’t have the earth god’s powers like his opponents. His elemental gift is something else—something that hasn’t been seen in centuries. When an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, Ash inadvertently throws the fire and earth gods into a conflict that can… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Child homelessness recounted
  • Indentured servitude mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother, on-page
  • Death of a son mentioned
  • Kidnapping
  • Physical assault
  • Attempted regicide
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Murder & attempted murder

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

Road of Bones by Christopher Golden

Kolyma Highway, otherwise known as the Road of Bones, is a 1200 mile stretch of Siberian road where winter temperatures can drop as low as sixty degrees below zero. Under Stalin, at least eighty Soviet gulags were built along the route to supply the USSR with a readily available workforce, and over time hundreds of thousands of prisoners died in the midst of their labors. Their bodies were buried where they fell, plowed under the permafrost, underneath the road. Felix Teigland, or ‘Teig’, is a documentary producer and when he learns about the Road of Bones, he realizes he’s… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Gun violence
  • Gulags