Category Archives: Genres

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The Night Circus by Erin Morgenstern

The circus arrives without warning. No announcements precede it. It is simply there, when yesterday it was not. Within the black-and-white striped canvas tents is an utterly unique experience full of breathtaking amazements. It is called Le Cirque des Rêves, and it is only open at night.

But behind the scenes, a fierce competition is underway—a duel between two young magicians, Celia and Marco, who have been trained since childhood expressly for this purpose by their mercurial instructors. Unbeknownst to them, this is a game in which only one can be left standing, and the circus is but the stage for a remarkable battle of imagination and will. Despite themselves, however, Celia and Marco tumble headfirst into love—a deep, magical love that makes the lights flicker and the room grow warm whenever they so much as brush hands… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse
  • Suicide
  • Blood depciton
  • Death of a parent
  • Animal death

The Glass Castle by James Dashner

The Glass Castle by James Dashner

Jeannette Walls grew up with parents whose ideals and stubborn nonconformity was both their curse and their salvation. Rex and Rose Mary Walls had four children. In the beginning, they lived like nomads, moving among Southwest desert towns, camping in the mountains. Rex was a charismatic, brilliant man who, when sober, captured his children’s imagination, teaching them physics, geology, and above all, how to embrace life fearlessly. Rose Mary, who painted and wrote and couldn’t stand the responsibility of providing for her family, called herself an “excitement addict.” Cooking a meal that would be consumed in fifteen… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault of a child
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Alcohol abuse

The Secret Life of Bees by James Dashner

The Secret Life of Bees by James Dashner

Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells the story of Lily Owens, whose life has been shaped around the blurred memory of the afternoon her mother was killed. When Lily’s fierce-hearted black “stand-in mother,” Rosaleen, insults three of the deepest racists in town, Lily decides to spring them both free. They escape to Tiburon, South Carolina–a town that holds the secret to her mother’s past. Taken in by an eccentric trio of black beekeeping sisters, Lily is introduced to their mesmerizing world of bees and honey, and the Black Madonna.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Suicide

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner

When best friends Dak Smyth and Sera Froste stumble upon the secret of time travel — a hand-held device known as the Infinity Ring — they’re swept up in a centuries-long secret war for the fate of mankind. Recruited by the Hystorians, a secret society that dates back to Aristotle, the kids learn that history has gone disastrously off course.

Now it’s up to Dak, Sera, and teenage Hystorian-in-training Riq to travel back in time to fix the Great Breaks . . . and to save Dak’s missing parents while they’re at it. First stop: Spain, 1492, where a sailor named Christopher Columbus is about to be thrown overboard in a deadly mutiny!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Explosion
  • Gun & sword violence
  • Near drowning incident

The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner

The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner

Michael completed the Path. What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down.

He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears.

Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Gun violence

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Attempted suicide

The Death Cure by James Dashner

The Death Cure by James Dashner

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Plague
  • Decapitation
  • Physical injuries, including burns and a severed leg
  • Nonconsensual body modifications (tattoo)
  • Coerced consumption of drugged alcohol
  • Death of children
  • Knife violence
  • Gun violence
  • Electrocution by lightning strikes

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.
 
Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.
 
The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.
 
There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Plague
  • Decapitation
  • Physical injuries, including burns and a severed leg
  • Nonconsensual body modifications (tattoo)
  • Coerced consumption of drugged alcohol
  • Death of children
  • Knife violence
  • Gun violence
  • Electrocution by lightning strikes

The Kill Order by James Dashner

The Kill Order by James Dashner

Before WICKED was formed, before the Glade was built, before Thomas entered the Maze, sun flares hit the earth and mankind fell to disease.

Mark and Trina were there when it happened, and they survived. But surviving the sun flares was easy compared to what came next. Now a disease of rage and lunacy races across the eastern United States, and there’s something suspicious about its origin. Worse yet, it’s mutating, and all evidence suggests that it will bring humanity to its knees.

Mark and Trina are convinced there’s a way to save those left living from descending into madness. And they’re determined to find it—if they can stay alive. Because in this new, devastated world, every life has a price. And to some, you’re worth more dead than alive

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Plague (theme)
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Sun flares

The Shining by Stephen King

The Shining by Stephen King

Jack Torrance’s new job at the Overlook Hotel is the perfect chance for a fresh start. As the off-season caretaker at the atmospheric old hotel, he’ll have plenty of time to spend reconnecting with his family and working on his writing. But as the harsh winter weather sets in, the idyllic location feels ever more remote…and more sinister. And the only one to notice the strange and terrible forces gathering around the Overlook is Danny Torrance, a uniquely gifted five-year-old.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Parental abuse
  • Domestic abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicide
  • Self harm
  • Death of a parent