Category Archives: Entries

Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian

Beautiful Mess by Claire Christian

Since Ava lost Kelly, things haven’t been going so well. Even before she gets thrown out of school for shouting at the principal, there’s the simmering rage and all the weird destructive choices. The only thing going right for Ava is her job at Magic Kebab. Which is where she meets Gideon. Skinny, shy, anxious Gideon. A mad poet and collector of vinyl records with an aversion to social media. He lives in his head. She lives in her grief. The only people who can help them move on with their lives are each other.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Anxiety
  • Depression
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Self-harm recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend recounted

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean

Daring and the Duke by Sarah MacLean

Grace Condry has spent a lifetime running from her past. Betrayed as a child by her only love and raised on the streets, she now hides in plain sight as queen of London’s darkest corners. Grace has a sharp mind and a powerful right hook and has never met an enemy she could not best, until the man she once loved returns. Single-minded and ruthless, Ewan, Duke of Marwick, has spent a decade searching for the woman he never stopped loving. A long-ago gamble may have lost her forever, but Ewan will go to any lengths to win Grace back… and make her his duchess… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse recounted
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Explosion
  • Fire

The Heir by Sophie Lark

The Heir by Sophie Lark

Mafia families from around the world send their children to Kingmakers Academy to learn the skills of criminal enterprise. Under the rules of Sanctuary, students are forbidden to fight or kill. But rivalries are high, tensions inflamed, and forbidden love arises in the most unlikely places… Welcome to Kingmakers.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Dubious consent scenario
  • Drugging
  • Organised crime (mafia)

Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega

Witchlings by Claribel A. Ortega

Every year, in the magical town of Ravenskill, Witchlings who participate in the Black Moon Ceremony are placed into covens and come into their powers as full-fledged witches. And twelve-year-old Seven Salazar can’t wait to be placed in the most powerful coven with her best friend! But on the night of the ceremony, in front of the entire town, Seven isn’t placed in one of the five covens. She’s a Spare! Spare covens have fewer witches, are less powerful, and are looked down on by everyone. Even worse, when Seven and the other two Spares perform the magic circle to seal their coven and cement themselves as sisters, it doesn’t work! … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned*
  • Death of a brother
  • Bullying

*Context: Valley’s father starved her for two days because of school grades.

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega and illustrated by Rose Bousamra

Marlene loves three things: books, her cool Tía Ruby and hanging out with her best friend Camila. But according to her mother, Paola, the only thing she needs to focus on is school and “growing up.” That means straightening her hair every weekend so she could have “presentable, good hair”. But Marlene hates being in the salon and doesn’t understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. With a few hiccups, a dash of embarrassment, and the much-needed help of Camila and Tia Ruby—she slowly starts a journey to learn to appreciate and proudly wear her curly hair.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Racism & colourism
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Bullying

Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega

Ghost Squad by Claribel A. Ortega

For Lucely Luna, ghosts are more than just the family business. Shortly before Halloween, Lucely and her best friend, Syd, cast a spell that accidentally awakens malicious spirits, wreaking havoc throughout St. Augustine. Together, they must join forces with Syd’s witch grandmother, Babette, and her tubby tabby, Chunk, to fight the haunting head-on and reverse the curse to save the town and Lucely’s firefly spirits before it’s too late.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical injury
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Bullying mentioned

The Fashion Committee by Susan Juby

The Fashion Committee by Susan Juby

What if one contest could change the course of your entire life? Charlie Dean is a style-obsessed girl who eats, sleeps, and breathes fashion. John Thomas-Smith is a boy who forges metal sculptures in his garage and couldn’t care less about clothes. Both are gunning for a scholarship to the private art high school that could make all their dreams come true. And whoever wins the fashion competition will win the scholarship.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Cheating
  • Substance addiction

White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

White Is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi

In a vast, mysterious house on the cliffs near Dover, the Silver family is reeling from the hole punched into its heart. Lily is gone and her twins, Miranda and Eliot, and her husband, the gentle Luc, mourn her absence with unspoken intensity. All is not well with the house, either, which creaks and grumbles and malignly confuses visitors in its mazy rooms, forcing winter apples in the garden when the branches should be bare. Generations of women inhabit its walls. And Miranda, with her new appetite for chalk and her keen sense for spirits, is more attuned to them than she is to her brother and father. She is leaving them slowly, slipping away… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Eating disorder (pica)
  • Body horror

You Can Have Manhattan by P. Dangelico

You Can Have Manhattan by P. Dangelico

Sydney Evans is no stranger to hard work. It’s the one constant in her life. And with no family or friends to speak of it’s been easy to pour everything she has into her career as general counsel for Blackstone Holdings. She wants for nothing. Until her boss offers her a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. All she has to do in return is marry his good-for-nothing son. Scott Blackstone used be a party whore. Pardon, party animal. He hasn’t been that guy in a long time though. Not since he moved to Wyoming, bought a failing cattle ranch, and turned it into a profitable business. All is good.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Arranged marriage, on-page
  • Physical & emotional child abuse recounted
  • Death of a friend from suicide, off-page
  • Cancer

The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

With a price on her head, the evil Queen Sophia out for blood, and no idea who to trust, Camellia Beaureguard, the former favourite Belle, must race against time to find the ailing Princess Charlotte, who has disappeared without a trace. Sophia’s imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep Camille, her sister Edel, and her loyal guard, Rémy, from returning Charlotte to the palace and her rightful place as queen. With the help of an underground resistance movement called the Iron Ladies–a society that rejects beauty treatments entirely-and the backing of alternative… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Suicide
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping