Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman

Book Scavenger by Jennifer Chambliss Bertman and illustrated by Sarah Watts

Twelve-year-old Emily is on the move again. Her family is relocating to San Francisco, home of her literary idol: Garrison Griswold, creator of the online sensation Book Scavenger, a game where books are hidden all over the country and clues to find them are revealed through puzzles. But Emily soon learns that Griswold has been attacked and is in a coma, and no one knows anything about the epic new game he had been poised to launch. Then Emily and her new friend James discover an odd book, which they come to believe is from Griswold and leads to a valuable prize… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Gun violence
  • Stalking
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The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry 

The Best of Friends by Lucinda Berry

Best friends Lindsey, Kendra, and Dani endure every parent’s nightmare when a tragic accident befalls their teenage boys, leaving one dead, another in a coma, and a third too traumatized to speak.

Reeling from the worst night of their lives, the three mothers plunge into a desperate investigation of the bizarre incident. How could something so horrible happen in their wealthy Southern California suburb?… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Child abuse
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
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The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry 

The Perfect Child by Lucinda Berry

Christopher and Hannah are a happily married surgeon and nurse with picture-perfect lives. All that’s missing is a child. When Janie, an abandoned six-year-old, turns up at their hospital, Christopher forms an instant connection with her, and he convinces Hannah they should take her home as their own.

But Janie is no ordinary child, and her damaged psyche proves to be more than her new parents were expecting. Janie is fiercely devoted to Christopher, but she acts out in increasingly disturbing ways… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Forced institutionalisation
  • Animal death & cruelty
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Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry 

Saving Noah by Lucinda Berry

Not since Lionel Shriver brought us We Need to Talk About Kevin has a writer delved into the complexities of a disturbed mother/son relationship. Until now.

Meet Noah—an A-honor roll student, award-winning swimmer, and small-town star destined for greatness. There weren’t any signs that something was wrong until the day he confesses to molesting little girls during swim team practice. He’s sentenced to eighteen months in a juvenile sexual rehabilitation centre… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia (theme)
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Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry 

Phantom Limb by Lucinda Berry

Emily and Elizabeth spend their childhood locked in a bedroom and terrorized by a mother who drinks too much and disappears for days. The identical twins are rescued by a family determined to be their saviours. But there’s some horrors love can’t erase…

Elizabeth wakes in a hospital, strapped to her bed and unable to move or speak. The last thing she remembers is finding Emily’s body in their bathroom. Days before, she was falling in love and starting college… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Self-harm
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Lovely War by Julie Berry

Lovely War by Julie Berry

It’s 1917, and World War I is at its zenith when Hazel and James first catch sight of each other at a London party. She’s a shy and talented pianist; he’s a newly minted soldier with dreams of becoming an architect. When they fall in love, it’s immediate and deep–and cut short when James is shipped off to the killing fields.

Aubrey Edwards is also headed toward the trenches. A gifted musician who’s played Carnegie Hall, he’s a member of the 15th New York Infantry, an all-African-American regiment… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Racism
  • Hate crimes
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Gun violence
  • Lynching
  • War themes & battle scenes
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The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

The Passion of Dolssa by Julie Berry

Dolssa is an upper-crust city girl with an uncanny gift. Branded a heretic, she’s on the run from the monk who burned her mother at the stake and wants her executed. Botille is a matchmaker and a tavern-keeper, struggling to make a living and keep herself and her sisters in the good graces of their seaside town of Bajas.

When their lives collide in the forest, Botille rescues Dolssa and shelters her in the tavern, where an unlikely friendship blooms. Botille does her best to nurse Dolssa back from the brink… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Murder of a parent by fire
  • Physical assault
  • Poverty themes
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Far from the Tree by Robin Benway

Far from the Tree by Robin Benway

Being the middle child has its ups and downs. But for Grace, an only child who was adopted at birth, discovering that she is a middle child is a different ride altogether. After putting her own baby up for adoption, she goes looking for her biological family, including—

Maya, her loudmouthed younger bio sister, who has a lot to say about their newfound family ties. Having grown up the snarky brunette in a house full of chipper redheads, she’s quick to search for traces of herself among these not-quite-strangers… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Lesbomisia mentioned
  • Slut shaming
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Adoption (theme)
  • Alcoholism & alcohol abuse
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The Witches of Echo Park by Amber Benson

The Witches of Echo Park by Amber Benson

When Lyse MacAllister’s great-aunt Eleanora, the woman who raised her, becomes deathly ill, Lyse puts her comfortable life in Georgia on hold to rush back to Los Angeles. And once she returns to Echo Park, Lyse discovers her great-aunt has been keeping secrets—extraordinary secrets—from her. Not only is Lyse heir to Eleanora’s Victorian estate; she is also expected to take her great-aunt’s place in the Echo Park coven of witches. But to accept her destiny means to place herself in deadly peril—for the world of magic is under siege, and the battle the witches now fight may be their last…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse by a grandmother (on-page)
  • Nightmares
  • Seizures
  • Great-aunt & guardian with terminal cancer

The Windsor Knot by SJ Bennett 

The Windsor Knot by S.J. Bennett

The morning after a dinner party at Windsor Castle, eighty-nine-year-old Queen Elizabeth is shocked to discover that one of her guests has been found murdered in his room, with a rope around his neck. When the police begin to suspect her loyal servants, Her Majesty knows they’re looking in the wrong place. For the Queen has been living an extraordinary double life since her coronation. Away from the public eye, she has a brilliant knack for solving crimes. With her household’s happiness on the line, her secret must not get out. Can the Queen and her trusted secretary Rozie catch the killer, without getting caught themselves?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide mentioned
  • Drugging
  • Murder