Category Archives: Kidlit

Our Infinite Fates by Laura Steven

Evelyn remembers all her past lives. She also remembers that in every single one, she’s been murdered before her 18th birthday by Arden, a supernatural being whose soul―and survival―is tethered to hers. The problem is that she’s quite fond of the life she’s in now, and her little sister needs her for bone marrow transplants in order to stay alive. If Evelyn wants to save her sister, she’ll have to: Find the centuries-old devil who hunts her through each life―before they find her first. Figure out why she’s being hunted and finally break their curse. Try not to fall in love.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism, racism, sexism & classism
  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic abuse
  • Attempted suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Blood & injury depiction including body horror
  • Forced institutionalization
  • Death of a child
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire

Edgewood by Kristen Ciccarelli

No matter how far she runs, the forest of Edgewood always comes for Emeline Lark. The scent of damp earth curls into her nose when she sings and moss creeps across the stage. It’s as if the woods of her childhood, shrouded in folklore and tall tales, are trying to reclaim her. But Emeline has no patience for silly superstitions. When her grandfather disappears, leaving only a mysterious orb in his wake, the stories Emeline has always scoffed at suddenly seem less foolish. She enters the forest she has spent years trying to escape, only to have Hawthorne Fell, a handsome and brooding tithe collector, try to dissuade her from… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Sexual assault (implied, off-page)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grandparent with dementia
  • Kidnapping
  • Loss of autonomy (non-consensual removal of memory)

The Caged Queen by Kristen Ciccarelli

Once there were two sisters born with a bond so strong that it forged them together forever. Roa and Essie called it the hum. It was a magic they cherished—until the day a terrible accident took Essie’s life and trapped her soul in this world. Dax—the heir to Firgaard’s throne—was responsible for the accident. Roa swore to hate him forever. But eight years later he returned, begging for her help. He was determined to dethrone his cruel father, under whose oppressive reign Roa’s people had suffered. Roa made him a deal: she’d give… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Infidelity
  • Sword violence
  • Animal cruelty

The Last Namsara by Kristen Ciccarelli

In the beginning, there was the Namsara: the child of sky and spirit, who carried love and laughter wherever he went. But where there is light, there must be darkness—and so there was also the Iskari. The child of blood and moonlight. The destroyer. The death-bringer. These are the legends that Asha, daughter of the king of Firgaard, has grown up learning in hushed whispers, drawn to the forbidden figures of the past. But it isn’t until she becomes the fiercest, most feared dragon slayer in the land that she takes on the role of the next Iskari—a lonely destiny that leaves her feeling more like a weapon than a girl. Asha conquers each… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Murder

Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharpe, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who’s planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a Reign of Witches—something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish. Apparently it wasn’t enough for Rune to deceive Gideon; she’s now betrayed him by allying herself with the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won’t allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmare… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Blood & injury depiction including mentions of a secondary character getting their ear removed without consent (on-page)
  • Execution of a grandmother recounted
  • Murder of a brother from gun violence
  • Gun & cannon violence
  • Physical assault & strangulation
  • Kidnapping of an infant mentioned
  • Near-fatal whipping
  • Alcohol consumption (on-page)

Long Live the Pumpkin Queen by Shea Ernshaw

Sally Skellington is the official, newly-minted Pumpkin Queen after a whirlwind courtship with her true love, Jack, who Sally adores with every inch of her fabric seams — if only she could say the same for her new role as Queen of Halloween Town. Cast into the spotlight and tasked with all sorts of queenly duties, Sally can’t help but wonder if all she’s done is trade her captivity under Dr. Finkelstein for a different — albeit gilded — cage. But when Sally and Zero accidentally uncover a long-hidden doorway to an ancient realm called Dream Town in the forest Hinterlands, she’ll unknowing… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood depiction & mentions of blood-drinking
  • Comas*
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned

*Context : The antagonist puts characters into a permanent, coma-like sleep to steal their dreams.

The Black Witch by Laurie Forest

Elloren Gardner is the granddaughter of the last prophesied Black Witch, Carnissa Gardner, who drove back the enemy forces and saved the Gardnerian people during the Realm War. But while she is the absolute spitting image of her famous grandmother, Elloren is utterly devoid of power in a society that prizes magical ability above all else. When she is granted the opportunity to pursue her lifelong dream of becoming an apothecary, Elloren joins her brothers at the prestigious Verpax University to embrace a destiny of her own, free from the shadow of her grandmother’s legacy. But she soon realises that the… Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Victim-blaming
  • Self-harm
  • Bullying

The Demon Tide by Laurie Forest

Newly exposed as the Black Witch of Prophecy, Elloren Gardner Grey is on the run, not knowing if she’ll find friends or foes. With her fastmate, Lukas Grey, either dead or in the hands of High Mage Marcus Vogel, Elloren knows the only chance of turning the tide of the coming war is to seek allies who will listen long enough not to kill her on sight. In the Eastern Realm, Water Fae Tierney Calix and Elloren’s brother Trystan have joined the Wyvernguard to prepare for Vogel’s attack. But Trystan is fighting on two fronts, as the most despised and least trusted member of the guard. And Tierney’s bond with Erthia’s most powerful river has… Read more,

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Murder of both parents recounted
  • Explosions
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Animal death

Wandfasted by Laurie Forest

Twenty years before Elloren Gardner enrolled at the illustrious Verpax University, Erthia was rent asunder during the devastating Realm War. When Tessla Harrow is driven from her home by the fighting, she discovers a depth of power she never knew she had…and an irresistible draw towards Vale Gardner, the son of the most powerful mage her people have ever known – the Black Witch.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & misogyny
  • Sexual assault
  • Forced marriage
  • Bullying
  • War themes

The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest

Elloren Gardner and her friends were only seeking to right a few wrongs, but their actions have propelled them straight into the ranks of the realm-wide Resistance against Gardnerian encroachment. As the Resistance struggles against the harsh rulings of High Priest Marcus Vogel and the Mage Council, Elloren begins to realize that none of the people she cares about will be safe if Gardneria seizes control of the Western Realm. With tensions heating up in Verpacia, more and more Gardnerian soldiers continue to descend upon the university…led by none other than Lukas Grey, now commander of the…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Genocide & battle scenes