Category Archives: Entries

99 Percent Mine by Sally Thorne

Darcy Barrett has undertaken a global survey of men. She’s travelled the world, and can categorically say that no one measures up to Tom Valeska, whose only flaw is that Darcy’s twin brother Jamie saw him first and claimed him forever as his best friend. Despite Darcy’s best efforts, Tom’s off limits and loyal to her brother, 99%. That’s the problem with finding her dream man at age eight and peaking in her photography career at age twenty—ever since, she’s had to learn to settle for good enough. When Darcy and Jamie inherit a tumble-down cottage from their grandmother, they’re left with strict instructions to bring it back to its former… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Alcohol abuse & alcoholism
  • Serious chronic heart condition (protagonist)
  • Hospitalisation mentioned
  • Death of a grandparent recounted

All the Stars and Teeth by Adalyn Grace

As princess of the island kingdom Visidia, Amora Montara has spent her entire life training to be High Animancer — the master of souls. The rest of the realm can choose their magic, but for Amora, it’s never been a choice. To secure her place as heir to the throne, she must prove her mastery of the monarchy’s dangerous soul magic. When her demonstration goes awry, Amora is forced to flee. She strikes a deal with Bastian, a mysterious pirate: he’ll help her prove she’s fit to rule, if she’ll help him reclaim his stolen magic. But sailing the kingdom holds more wonder-and more… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Arranged marriage
  • Physical & emotional domestic abuse recounted (chp 29)
  • Cheating discussed
  • Attempted sexual assault recounted (chp 19)
  • Forced sex work recounted
  • Hallucinations
  • Suicide (on-page)
  • Self-harm and self-injury
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father (on-page)
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction including dead bodies, cannibalism, dismemberment and emesis
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Graphic dental torture (on-page)
  • Poisoning
  • Imprisonment
  • Drowning
  • War & rebellion themes
  • Animal abuse & torture (chp 29)

Extra: The author, Adalyn Grace, provided a detailed breakdown of content warnings here.

My Fake Canadian Wife by M Hollis

When Dora receives a letter from the immigration service in Canada saying she will be deported soon, as her visa is expiring, a friend suggests she marry a woman. Since she doesn’t currently have a girlfriend, faking a relationship might be her only option since she can’t muster the desire to return to school for advanced photograph studies. Abby is a reserved librarian who seems enthusiastic about helping with the marriage plan. As the two girls get to know each other through dates in snowy Toronto and meeting Abby’s family for Christmas, Dora starts to wonder how much of this relationship they are faking and how much is real.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableist language
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Cancer recounted
  • Coming out themes
  • Death of an uncle recounted
  • Deportation (theme)

Love, Hate and Other Filters by Samira Ahmed

American-born seventeen-year-old Maya Aziz is torn between worlds. There’s the proper one her parents expect for their good Indian daughter: attending a college close to their suburban Chicago home, and being paired off with an older Muslim boy her mom deems “suitable.” And then there is the world of her dreams: going to film school and living in New York City—and maybe (just maybe) pursuing a boy she’s known from afar since grade school, a boy who’s finally falling into her orbit at school. There’s also the real world, beyond Maya’s control. In the aftermath of a horrific crime perpetrated hundreds of miles… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & Islamophobia
  • Hate crime (physical assault)
  • Disownment
  • Suicide bombing mentioned
  • Hospitalisation for physical injuries due to physical assault
  • Bullying

A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa

A General Theory of Oblivion by José Eduardo Agualusa

On the eve of Angolan independence an agoraphobic woman named Ludo bricks herself into her apartment for 30 years, living off vegetables and the pigeons she lures in with diamonds, burning her furniture and books to stay alive and writing her story on the apartment’s walls. Almost as if we’re eavesdropping, the history of Angola unfolds through the stories of those she sees from her window. As the country goes through various political upheavals from colony to socialist republic to civil war to peace and capitalism, the world outside seeps into Ludo’s life through snippets on the radio, voices from next door, glimpses of someone on a balcony, or a man fleeing his pursuers.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Agoraphobia
  • Burns
  • Rape & pregnancy from rape
  • Murder & mass murder
  • Torture mentioned
  • War themes

Ghost House by Alexandra Adornetto

Ghost House by Alexandra Adornetto

After the loss of her mother, Chloe Kennedy starts seeing the ghosts that haunted her as a young girl again. Spending time at her grandmother’s country estate in the south of England is her chance to get away from her grief and the spirits that haunt her. Until she meets a mysterious stranger. Alexander Reade is 157 years dead, with secrets darker than the lake surrounding Grange Hall and a lifelike presence that draws Chloe more strongly than any ghost before. But the bond between them awakens the vengeful spirit of Alexander’s past love, Isobel… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Adult-minor relationship*
  • Slut-shaming
  • Cheating recounted
  • Suicide recounted
  • Death of a child recounted
  • Death of a mother
  • Drowning
  • Murder recounted

*Context: Romantic relationship between a 17-year-old girl and a 23-year-old man who has been dead for 157 years.

Out on Good Behaviour

Out on Good Behaviour by Dahlia Adler

Frankie Bellisario knows she can get anyone she sets her sights on, but just because she can doesn’t mean she should—not when the person she’s eyeing is Samara Kazarian, the daughter of a southern Republican mayor. No matter how badly Frankie wants to test her powers of persuasion, even she recognizes some lines aren’t meant to be crossed. But when Frankie learns she’s been on Samara’s mind too, the idea of hooking up with her grows too strong to resist. Only Sam’s not looking for a hookup; she wants—needs—the real thing, and she’s afraid she’ll never find it as long… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Coming out themes
  • Slut-shaming

Right of First Refusal by Dahlia Adler

Right of First Refusal by Dahlia Adler

On the lacrosse field, Cait Johannssen gets what she wants. Off the field is another story. Because what she wants is the school’s hot new basketball student-coach, Lawrence Mason, who also happens to be the guy who broke her heart in sports camp two years earlier. But it’s Cait’s new roommate who’s got him. Cait and Mase agree it’s best to keep their past a secret, but she doesn’t expect him to completely ignore their history…or how much it’ll hurt when he does. So when a friend on the basketball team asks her to pose as his girlfriend for a night, Cait can’t turn down the opportunity for distraction. (Okay, and a … Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Cheating

Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler

Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler

Lizzie Brandt was valedictorian of her high school class, but at Radleigh University, all she’s acing are partying and hooking up with the wrong guys. But all that changes when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, making her guardian to her two younger brothers. To keep them out of foster care, she’ll have to fix up her image, her life, and her GPA—fast. Too bad the only person on campus she can go to for help is her humorless, pedantic Byzantine History TA, Connor Lawson, who isn’t exactly Lizzie’s biggest fan. But Connor surprises her. Not only is he a great tutor, but he’s also a pretty great babysitter. And chauffeur. And listener. And he understands exactly what… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Cheating
  • Teacher-student relationship*
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of both parents in a car accident
  • Blackmail

*Context: Relationship between an 18-year-old girl and a 25-year old-man.

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Undercover Bromance by Lyssa Kay Adams

Liv Papandreas has a dream job as a sous chef at Nashville’s hottest restaurant. Too bad the celebrity chef owner is less than charming behind kitchen doors. After she catches him harassing a young hostess, she confronts him and gets fired. Liv vows revenge, but she’ll need assistance to take on the powerful chef. Unfortunately, that means turning to Braden Mack. When Liv’s blackballed from the restaurant scene, the charismatic nightclub entrepreneur offers to help expose her ex-boss, but she is suspicious of his motives. He’ll need to call in reinforcements: the Bromance Book Club.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Victim-blaming
  • Sexual & workplace harassment
  • Domestic abuse & gaslighting recounted
  • Murder mentioned
  • Stalking