Category Archives: Kidlit

The Boy at the Top of the Mountain by John Boyne

The Boy at the Top of the Mountain by John Boyne

When Pierrot becomes an orphan, he must leave his home in Paris for a new life with his Aunt Beatrix, a servant in a wealthy household at the top of the German mountains. But this is no ordinary time, for it is 1935 and the Second World War is fast approaching; and this is no ordinary house, for this is the Berghof, the home of Adolf Hitler.

Quickly, Pierrot is taken under Hitler’s wing, and is thrown into an increasingly dangerous new world: a world of terror, secrets and betrayal, from which he may never be able to escape.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Antisemitism
  • Attempted rape
  • Domestic violence
  • Parent with alcoholism & military-related PTSD
  • Death by train
  • World War One & Two
  • The Holocaust
  • Bullying

City of Spells by Alexandra Christo

City of Spells by Alexandra Christo

With Wesley as their prisoner, Dante Ashwood and Zekia tear through the streets of Uskhanya, conquering cities at a time with their army of Crafters and enthralled citizens. As Wesley realises the truth of his power and Zekia tries to lure him to darkness, he must fight against the deadly magic that invades his mind and find a way back to his friends before it’s too late.

Meanwhile, as the cities fall, Tavia, Saxony and Karam prepare for a fight unlike any other. With tensions running high and battles at every turn, they must unite an army of Crafters, crooks and even politicians if they truly want to take down Ashwood once and for all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Torture

Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo

Into the Crooked Place by Alexandra Christo

Magic rules the city of Creije Capital and Tavia Syn knows just how many tricks she needs up her sleeve to survive. Selling dark magic on the streets for her kingpin, she keeps clear of other crooks, counting the days until her debt is paid and she can flee her criminal life.

But then, one day, with her freedom in sight, Tavia uncovers a sinister plot that threatens to destroy the realm she calls home. Desperate to put an end to her kingpin’s plan, Tavia forms an unlikely alliance with three crooks even more deadly than her: Wesley, the kingpin’s prodigy and most renewed criminal in the realm… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Indentured servitutde
  • Sexual assault (nonconsensual kiss)
  • Child abuse
  • Estrangement
  • Hallucinations
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drugging
  • Blood depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Dead bodies
  • Plague mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Gang violence
  • Strangulation
  • Physical assault, on-page (fight ring)
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Imprisonment
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • Loss of autonomy
  • War themes & battle scenes recounted
  • Poverty discussed
  • Homelessness recounted

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

To Kill a Kingdom by Alexandra Christo

Princess Lira is siren royalty and the most lethal of them all. With the hearts of seventeen princes in her collection, she is revered across the sea. Until a twist of fate forces her to kill one of her own. To punish her daughter, the Sea Queen transforms Lira into the one thing they loathe most—a human. Robbed of her song, Lira has until the winter solstice to deliver Prince Elian’s heart to the Sea Queen or remain a human forever. The ocean is the only place Prince Elian calls home, even though he is heir to the most powerful kingdom in the world. Hunting sirens is more than an unsavoury hobby—it’s his calling. When he rescues a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery mentioned
  • Sexual assault & threats of rape
  • Child abuse
  • Disownment
  • Arranged marriage
  • Nightmares
  • Self-injury
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a mother
  • Murder, torture & physical assault
  • Knife and gun violence & stabbing
  • Kidnapping, captivity & imprisonment
  • Drowning
  • Cyclones
  • Avalanche
  • Hunting
  • War themes

Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins

Prince Charming by Rachel Hawkins

Also known as Royals.

Meet Daisy Winters. She’s an offbeat sixteen-year-old Floridian with mermaid-red hair, a part time job at a bootleg Walmart, and a perfect older sister who’s nearly engaged to the Crown Prince of Scotland. Daisy has no desire to live in the spotlight, but relentless tabloid attention forces her join Ellie at the relative seclusion of the castle across the pond.

While the dashing young Miles has been appointed to teach Daisy the ropes of being regal, the prince’s roguish younger brother kicks up scandal wherever he goes, and tries his best to take Daisy along for the ride. The crown–and the intriguing Miles–might be trying to make Daisy into a lady . . . but Daisy may just rewrite the royal rulebook to suit herself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Nonconsensual kiss
  • Alcohol consumption

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

Her Royal Highness by Rachel Hawkins

Millie Quint is devastated when she discovers that her sort-of-best friend/sort-of-girlfriend has been kissing someone else. And because Millie cannot stand the thought of confronting her ex every day, she decides to apply for scholarships to boarding schools . . . the farther from Houston the better.

Millie can’t believe her luck when she’s accepted into one of the world’s most exclusive schools, located in the rolling highlands of Scotland. Everything about Scotland is different: the country is misty and green; the school is gorgeous, and the students think Americans are cute… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Coming out themes
  • Lesbomisia mentioned
  • Cheating
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a mother recounted

Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

Paper Girls Volume 1 by Brian K. Vaughan

SAGA writer BRIAN K. VAUGHAN launches a brand-new ONGOING SERIES with superstar Wonder Woman artist CLIFF CHIANG! In the early hours after Halloween of 1988, four 12-year-old newspaper delivery girls uncover the most important story of all time.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Queermisia & queermisic slurs
  • Bury Your Gays trope
  • Alcoholism
  • Attempted suicide
  • Blood depiction
  • Kidnapping mentioned

Dreamfall by Amy Plum

Dreamfall by Amy Plum

Dreamfall by Amy Plum

Cata Cordova suffers from such debilitating insomnia that she agreed to take part in an experimental new procedure. She thought things couldn’t get any worse…but she was terribly wrong.

Soon after the experiment begins, there’s a malfunction with the lab equipment, and Cata and six other teen patients are plunged into a shared dreamworld with no memory of how they got there. Even worse, they come to the chilling realization that they are trapped in a place where their worst nightmares have come to life. Hunted by creatures from their darkest imaginations and tormented by secrets they’d rather keep buried, Cata and the others will be forced to band together to face their biggest fears. And if they can’t find a way to defeat their dreams, they will never wake up.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Mental health stigmatization
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD)
  • Depression
  • Narcolepsy
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Eating disorders
  • Psychosis
  • Suicidal tendencies
  • Self sacrifice
  • Sleep disorders, specifically chronic insomnia
  • Nightmares
  • Medical experimentation
  • Coma
  • Scars
  • Gore depiction
  • Genocide
  • War themes

A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes

A Book of Spirits and Thieves by Morgan Rhodes

Crystal Hatcher, Modern-day Toronto: It’s a normal afternoon in her mother’s antique bookshop when Crys witnesses the unthinkable: her little sister Becca collapses into a coma after becoming mesmerized by a mysterious book written in an unrecognizable language.

Maddox Corso, Ancient Mytica: Maddox Corso doesn’t think much of it when he spots an unfamiliar girl in his small village. Until, that is, he realizes that she is a spirit, and he is the only one who can see or hear her. Her name is Becca Hatcher, and she needs Maddox to help get her home… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicide

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

In the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest now simmers below the surface.

As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed… and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love.

The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed? It’s the eve of war… Choose your side.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexual harassment
  • Incest (sibling)
  • Arranged marriage
  • Parental infidelity
  • Infertility mentoned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Starvation
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Death of a brother, on-page
  • Murder
  • Death from exposure mentioned