Contemporary – Page 18 – Trigger Warning Database

All the Blues in the Sky by Renée Watson

Sage’s thirteenth birthday was supposed to be about movies and treats, staying up late with her best friend and watching the sunrise together. Instead, it was the day her best friend died. Without the person she had to hold her secrets and dream with, Sage is lost. In a counseling group with other girls who have lost someone close to them, she learns that not all losses are the same, and healing isn’t predictable. There is sadness, loneliness, anxiety, guilt, pain, love. And even as Sage grieves, new, good things enter her life — and she just may find a way to know that she can feel it all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Death from a heart attack mentioned
Hospitalisation for cancer & terminal illness discussed
Grief & loss depiction (theme)
Death of a child & best friend in a hit-and-run drunk-driving car accident
Police brutality

The Launch Date by Annabelle Slator

Grace Hastings’s dream job at the popular “true love” dating app, Fate, has turned into a nightmare. Her boss is a leech, her career is stagnating, and her fiancé has just brutally dumped her. Her hope for finding her own love story is waning, and she feels like a fraud for promoting a concept she no longer believes in. When the company’s CEO offers her an opportunity to earn a big promotion, she resolves to fight her imposter syndrome to show she deserves a seat at the table. The opportunity? To launch a brand-new app focusing on IRL dating and genuine connection… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parental abandonment
Parental infidelity mnetuoned
Depression
Workplace bullying & mentions of childhood bullying

There’s Always Next Year by Leah Johnson and George M. Johnson

Andy was supposed to shed her too-serious student journalist persona and reinvent herself on New Year’s Eve. Instead, she puked on her crush, dropped her phone in a fish tank, and managed to get her car stolen. Now, she only has the first day of the year to stop the gentrification that’s threatening her family’s business right her wrongs from the night before, and figure out why she feels so drawn to the electric new-girl-next-door. . How can Andy find her voice when everything’s being turned upside down? Dominique is an influencer on the verge of securing a major brand deal that will ensure his future and family legacy. But… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Racism & classism
Gentrification

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong…unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Infidelity (secondary character, on-page)
Physical & emotional child abuse recounted & discussed (off-page)
Parent with dementia (on-page)
Animal abuse & neglect mentioned

The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier & Scott McCloud

Makayla is bursting with ideas but doesn’t know how to make them into a story. Howard loves to draw, but he struggles to come up with ideas and his dad thinks comics are a waste of time. Lynda constantly draws in her sketchbook but keeps focusing on what she feels are mistakes, and Art simply loves being creative and is excited to try something new. They come together to form The Cartoonists Club, where kids can learn about making comics and use their creativity and imagination for their own storytelling adventures!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Death of a father from illness mentioned (secondary character)

The Griffin Sisters’ Greatest Hits by Jennifer Weiner

Sisters Cassie and Zoe Grossberg were born just a year apart but could not have been more different. Zoe, blessed with charm and beauty, yearned for fame from the moment she could sing into a hairbrush. Cassie was a musical prodigy who never felt at home in her own skin and preferred the safety of the shadows. On the brink of adulthood in the early 2000s, destiny intervened, catapulting the sisters into the spotlight as the pop sensation the Griffin Sisters, hitting all the touchstones of early aughts fame—SNL, MTV, Rolling Stone magazine—along the way… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Internalized fatphobia & body-shaming (theme)

Wild and Wrangled by Lyla Sage

Camille Ashwood had always loved a plan. Her latest was her best yet. She was going to get married so she could secure her daughter’s future, get her overbearing parents off her back, and finally start building her own life in small town Meadowlark, Wyoming. Easy, right? But when her groom doesn’t show up to the wedding, Cam’s life is turned upside down—she doesn’t even have a place to live. That is, until she finds out the house she’s loved since high school is available to rent. There’s only one problem: the neighbour. Dusty Tucker has spent nearly all of his adult life running. Running from what, though? More like who: Cam… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Toxic parental relationship including financial abuse
Alcohol consumption
Unplanned pregnancy recounted
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years–or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century. When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Infidelity mentioned (secondary characters)
Alcohol consumption
Health-related anxiety discussed
Body image & weight discussed
Pregnancy & miscarriage
Serious childhood illness discussed
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent in a car accident mentioned
Blackmail
Bullying recounted

People Watching by Hannah Bonam-Young

Prudence Welch has always valued her introverted lifestyle in the small town of Baysville, Ontario. She is content with working at her father’s gas station, writing her beloved poetry, and caring for her mother who has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimers. Despite her father’s continuous remarks that she should venture out of the town to have a more fulfilling life, Prue just can’t leave it behind. Milo Kablukov is a free spirit, who has had his fair share of worldwide adventures and wild nights. But when he… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parent with Early-Onset Alzheimer’s Disease
Alcohol consumption & smoking mentioned
High-risk pregnancy & childbirth mentioned
Cancer

I Could Be Yours by Helena Hunting

Nate Stiles is the definition of serious. Furrowed brow? Check. Rain cloud personality? Double check. I shouldn’t be thinking about the fact that our kiss was the best one of my life right now. I should be planning the bachelorette party of the millennium. I shouldn’t be wondering when Nate became such a good dancer after we got roped into salsa lessons with the happy couple. I should be mentally ticking off boxes on my bridal checklists. I shouldn’t be wondering what it would be like if I didn’t hate Nate Stiles. I should be holding strong against a man who doesn’t believe in… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Parental abandonment
Infidelity mentioned (secondary characters)