Kidlit – Page 182 – Trigger Warning Database

Heartless by Sara Shepard

Four gorgeous girls are telling very ugly stories. First Emily, Aria, Hanna, and Spencer claimed they found a dead body in the woods behind Spencer’s house, only to have it vanish without a trace. Then, when the same woods went up in flames, they swore they saw someone who’s supposed to be dead rise from the ashes. And even after all that, the pretty little liars are still playing with fire. Call me heartless, but it’s about time someone shut these liars up for good. After all, nobody likes a girl who cries wolf—least of all me.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism, racial slurs & misogyny
Fatphobia & body shaming
Sexual harassment
Parental infidelity mentioned
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Panic attacks
Eating disorder
Suicide mentioned
Fire
Imprisonment
Blackmail & stalking (theme)
Bullying

Flawless by Sara Shepard

Spencer stole her sister’s boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. And Hanna’s obsession with looking flawless is literally making her sick. But the most horrible secret of all is something so scandalous it could destroy their perfect little lives. And someone named “A” is threatening to do just that. At first they thought A was Alison, their friend who vanished three years ago . . . but then Alison turned up dead. So could A be Melissa, Spencer’s ultra-competitive sister? Or Maya, who wants… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Fatphobia & body shaming
Ableism, racism & misogyny
Lesbophobia & outing mentioned
Sexual assault/attempted rape & incestuous child sexual abuse
Eating disorder (bulimia), including discussions of bingeing &purging
Panic attack
Suicide & self-harm
Alcohol consumption & recreational drug use
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a friend
Fire
Blackmail & stalking (theme)
Car accident mentioned
Bullying

Diary of a Haunting by M. Verano

When Paige moves from LA to Idaho with her mom and little brother after her parents’ high-profile divorce, she expects to completely hate her new life, and the small town doesn’t disappoint. Worse yet, the drafty old mansion they’ve rented is infested with flies, spiders, and other pests Paige doesn’t want to think about. She chalks it up to her rural surroundings, but it’s harder to ignore the strange things happening around the house, from one can of ravioli becoming a dozen, to unreadable words appearing in the walls. Soon Paige’s little brother begins roaming the house at… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Cheating recounted
Parental divorce recounted
Blood depiction
Murder
Fire

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn’t leave at all. Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something. Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand. But wisps of smoke on the horizon… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Rape & attempted rape recounted, and forced sex work (off-page)
Child abuse & intimate partner violence recounted
Suicide (on-page) & suicidal ideation
Pregnancy & childbirth (on-page), including stillbirth (on-page)
Blood & injury depiction, including dead bodies, graphic physical injuries & illness (cholera, seizures, fever), field surgery, and syringes & needles
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father
Death of a brother
Murder & attempted murder
Gun & knife violence
Torture
Kidnapping & hostage situation
Blackmail
Fire
Drought including death from starvation & dehydration
Death from exposure
Military deployment recounted
Animal death & death of a pet (on-page), including hunting & animal dead bodies
Animal cruelty

Given to the Earth by Mindy McGinnis

Given to the Earth by Mindy McGinnis

Although she was born to save the kingdom by sacrificing herself to the rising sea, Khosa’s marriage to King Vincent has redeemed her. As the Queen of Stille, she’s untouchable. But being Queen hasn’t stopped her heart from longing for the King’s stepbrother, Donil. And it hasn’t stopped her body from longing for the sea itself, which still calls for her. While Khosa is made to choose between loyalty and love, Dara is on a mission for vengeance. Years ago, the Pietra slaughtered the entire Indiri race, leaving only Dara and her twin, Donil, alive. Now, spurned by King Vincent, Dara… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Rape mentioned
Cheating
Abortion mentioned

Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis

Ashley knows this truth deep in her bones, more at home with trees overhead than a roof. So when she goes hiking in the Smokies with her friends for a night of partying, the falling dark and creaking trees are second nature to her. But people are not tame either. And when Ashley catches her boyfriend with another girl, drunken rage sends her running into the night, stopped only by a nasty fall into a ravine. Morning brings the realization that she’s alone – and far off-trail. Lost in undisturbed forest and with… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Parental abandonment
Physical child abuse recounted (secondary character)
Cheating
Suicidal ideation
Alcohol consumption & recreational drug use (off-page)
Graphic blood & injury depiction
Death of a friend mentioned
Physical assault
Animal death & dead bodies

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

A Madness So Discreet by Mindy McGinnis

Grace Mae knows madness. She keeps it locked away, along with her voice, trapped deep inside a brilliant mind that cannot forget horrific family secrets. Those secrets, along with the bulge in her belly, land her in a Boston insane asylum. When her voice returns in a burst of violence, Grace is banished to the dark cellars, where her mind is discovered by a visiting doctor who dabbles in the new study of criminal psychology. With her keen eyes and sharp memory, Grace will make the perfect assistant at crime scenes. Escaping from Boston to the safety of an ethical Ohio asylum, Grace… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Paedophilia & child sexual assault
Physical & emotional child abuse
Depression
Attempted suicide
Psychiatric hospitalisation

Neverland by Margot McGovern

When she was twelve, Kit Learmonth watched her parents drown in a storm as their boat sailed over the Tranter Sink Hole. Now seventeen, Kit doesn’t remember the incident, and she doesn’t want to. In fact, her only clear memories from before her parents’ death are of the fantastical stories of pirates and mermaids that she and her dad invented about the small island where she grew up, a place she calls Neverland. Following Kit’s parents’ deaths, her uncle and guardian, Doc, transformed the island into a boarding… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Eating disorder
Suicide discussed
Self-harm
Psychiatric hospitalisation (setting)
Death of a mother & father by drowning in a boating accident recounted

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

In An Absent Dream by Seanan McGuire

Lundy is a very serious young girl who would rather study and dream than become a respectable housewife and live up to the expectations of the world around her. As well she should. When she finds a doorway to a world founded on logic and reason, riddles and lies, she thinks she’s found her paradise. Alas, everything costs at the goblin market, and when her time there is drawing to a close, she makes the kind of bargain that never plays out well.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Misogyny
Domestic abuse
Involuntary abortion
Child pregnancy, implied
Battle scenes mentioned

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Ever Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire book cover

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else. But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children. Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Transphobia, deadnaming & misgendering
Sexism
Dieting mentioned
Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
Death of a parent & friend
Murder
Hostage situation
Animal death mentioned
Bullying