Alien Quarantine Rescue by Robin Lovett

I haven’t touched anyone, let alone slept with anyone, since the Beerona Virus killed half of Earth’s population. This virus mutates faster than scientists can create a vaccine for it. I’ve lost all my family and all hope of seeing my friends again. Until a naked, silver alien comes for me. The only words he knows are “Give antibodies” and “Mine.” He could be lying. He could have Beerona. I could be dead in three days after the virus eats me from the inside out. But I haven’t had sex in so long, and he’s as strong as a gladiator. , as beautiful as Adonis, and did I mention his… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Deadnaming
  • Slut-shaming
  • Abortion recounted
  • Pregnancy
  • Heart condition
  • Pandemic
  • Medical procedures
  • Gun violence

Alias Space and Other Stories by Kelly Robson

Alias Space and Other Stories is the first fiction collection from Nebula Award-winning writer Kelly Robson, who vaulted onto the Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror stage in 2015, earning spots in multiple Year’s Best anthologies. This volume collects Robson’s best stories to date, along with exciting new work, and notes to accompany each piece.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Sex work
  • Graphic sexual assault, on-page
  • Suicide
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Animal cruelty

Age of Deception by Patricia Vanasse

Agreeing to accompany her father’s people back to their homeworld, Kira Forrest prepares for the fight of her life. She’s agreed to undertake the Trial of the Broken, a rite of passage every member of her father’s House must pass. It offers a path to independence and freedom that is too tempting to deny. Not everyone welcomes this lost daughter of Roake. There are those who fear what her presence might bring to light. Betrayal stalks the halls of Kira’s birthplace—its roots embedded deep in the events that claimed her parent’s lives and set her on her current path… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Drugging
  • Blood and gore depiction, including dead bodies
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of parent mentioned
  • Torture
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • War themes and military violence

Affiliations, Aliens, and Other Profitable Pursuits by Lyn Gala

A desire for status has brought Ondry and Liam to a human world to trade, but dealing with humans has brought up all the old pain in Liam’s heart. Even though Ondry would do anything to protect his beloved palteia, he doesn’t know how to protect Liam from himself. Worse, Ondry isn’t sure how to shield Liam from the shifting politics on the Rownt ship where the Calti Grandmothers are nothing like the ones they left behind on the planet.With everything in their lives changing, Ondry and Liam have only each other… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Rape (off-page) & child sexual abuse recounted
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & trauma
  • Death of a parent (off-page)
  • War themes
  • Animal attack (off-page)

Admission by Barry Jonsberg

Pandora Jones wakes in an infirmary – her body weak, her memory providing only flashes of horrific scenes of death. She soon discovers that her family has succumbed to a plague pandemic which almost wiped out humanity. Pan is one of the survivors who have been admitted to The School – a quarantined, heavily guarded survival-skills facility – to recover their strength, hone their skills and prepare for whatever comes next. Pandora’s skill is intuition, but how useful will it be outside the secure walls of The School? And what if it leads her to question where the truth lies…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Global pandemic (theme)

The Women Could Fly by Megan Giddings

Josephine Thomas has heard every conceivable theory about her mother’s disappearance. That she was kidnapped. Murdered. That she took on a new identity to start a new family. That she was a witch. This is the most worrying charge because in a world where witches are real, peculiar behavior raises suspicions and a woman–especially a Black woman–can find herself on trial for witchcraft. But fourteen years have passed since her mother’s disappearance, and now Jo is finally ready to let go of the past. Yet her future is in doubt. The State mandates that all women marry by… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny, homophobia & racism (theme)
  • Murder & disappearance of a mother
  • Animal death
  • Bullying

Young World by Soman Chainani

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Adult-minor relationship and sexual assault of a minor by a teacher (17-year-old protagonist kissed by their 27-year-old teacher)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking & drug dealing mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder by explosion and gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal attack (polar bear)

Worse Guy by Ruby Dixon

Crulden the Ruiner is the most dangerous gladiator in the galaxy. I’m his clone – equally ugly, equally dangerous, and just as feared. I’m also being held captive, since no one trusts a creature like me to be let loose. A curvy, determined human named Bee doesn’t think I’m a creature, though. In fact, she thinks I just need a guide. She’s got half the males on this planet eating out of her hand, and she’s confident she can do the same with me. The managing little female has no idea what she’s in for. I’m not some fool to be led around by my tail. But… the champion in me… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sex slavery & sexual assault
  • Self-harm
  • Torture
  • Captivity recounted (on-page)

War Girls by Tochi Onyebuchi

The year is 2172. Climate change and nuclear disasters have rendered much of earth unlivable. Only the lucky ones have escaped to space colonies in the sky. In a war-torn Nigeria, battles are fought using flying, deadly mechs and soldiers are outfitted with bionic limbs and artificial organs meant to protect them from the harsh, radiation-heavy climate. Across the nation, as the years-long civil war wages on, survival becomes the only way of life. Two sisters, Onyii and Ify, dream of more. Their lives have been marked by violence and political unrest. Still, they dream of peace… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Drug use
  • Blood & injury depiction, including mentions of amputation, loss of vision & eye trauma
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion (landmines)
  • Kidnapping
  • War themes & nuclear disaster recounted

Rebel Sisters by Tochi Onyebuchi

It’s been five years since the Biafran War ended. Ify is now nineteen and living where she’s always dreamed–the Space Colonies. She is a respected, high-ranking medical officer and has dedicated her life to helping refugees like herself rebuild in the Colonies. Back in the still devastated Nigeria, Uzo, a young synth, is helping an aid worker, Xifeng, recover images and details of the war held in the technology of destroyed androids. Uzo, Xifeng, and the rest of their team are working to preserve memories of the many lives lost, despite the government’s best efforts to eradicate… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Torture