Category Archives: Young Adult

Pretty Dead Queens by Alexa Donne

After the death of her mom, 17-year-old Cecelia Ellis goes to live with her estranged grandmother, a celebrated author whose Victorian mansion is as creepy as the murder mysteries she writes. On the surface, life is utterly ordinary until the homecoming queen is murdered. And she’s not Seaview’s first pretty dead queen. With a copycat killer on the loose, Cecelia throws herself into the investigation, determined to crack the case like the heroines in her grandmother’s books. But the more Cecelia digs into the town’s secrets, the more she worries that her own mystery might not have a storybook ending….

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism, racism & homophobia
  • Adult-minor relationship mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use mentioned
  • Minor blood & gore depiction including mentions of dead bodies & emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from cancer recounted & discussed
  • Murder & knife violence
  • Drowning
  • Animal death (rabbit, dog)

All That Consumes Us by Erica Waters

The students in Corbin College’s elite academic society, Magni Viri, have it all—free tuition, inspirational professors, and dream jobs once they graduate. When first-gen college student Tara is offered a chance to enroll, she doesn’t hesitate.?  Except once she’s settled into the gorgeous Victorian dormitory, something strange starts to happen. She’s finally writing, but her stories are dark and twisted. Her dreams feel as if they could bury her alive. An unseen presence seems to stalk her through the halls.  And a chilling secret awaits Tara at the heart of Magni Viri—one that just… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Transphobia & accidental misgendering
  • Self-harm & suicidal ideation
  • Attempted abortion mentioned
  • Hospitalisation
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)

The Restless Dark by Erica Waters

The Cloudkiss Killer is dead. Now a true-crime podcast is hosting a contest to find his bones. Lucy was almost the serial killer’s final victim. Carolina is a true-crime fan who fears her own rage. Maggie is a psychology student with a little too much to hide. All of them are looking for answers, for a new identity, for a place to bury their secrets. But there are more than bones hiding in the shadows…sometimes the darkness inside is more frightening than anything the dead leave behind.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatphobia & body-shaming
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) including violent intrusive thoughts
  • Abusive relationship
  • Suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood and gore depiction, emesis & body horror
  • Murder & attempted murder (theme)
  • Strangulation
  • Knife violence
  • Mugging recounted
  • Kidnapping recounted
  • Arson (off-page)

Clique Bait by Ann Valett

Chloe Whittaker is out for revenge Last year her best friend Monica’s life was unceremoniously ruined by the most popular students at their high school, so this year Chloe plans to take each and every one of them down. She’s traded in her jeans and T-shirts for the latest designer clothes, erased anything on social media that would tie her to Monica (and blow her cover), and carefully figured out how she will befriend the members of the clique, find out their deepest and darkest secrets, and reveal them to the world. Chloe has the perfect plan… but there’s on thing she didn’t… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Alcohol consumption & drugging
  • Emesis
  • Drowning
  • Blackmail
  • Bullying (theme)

For She Is Wrath by Emily Varga

Three hundred and sixty-four days. Framed for a crime she didn’t commit, Dania counts down her days in prison until she can exact revenge on Mazin, the boy responsible for her downfall, the boy she once loved—and still can’t forget. When she discovers a fellow prisoner may have the key to exacting that vengeance–a stolen djinn treasure–they execute a daring escape together and search for the hidden treasure. Armed with dark magic and a new identity, Dania enacts a plan to bring down those who betrayed her and her family, even though Mazin stands in her way. But seeking revenge becomes a complicated game of.. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abusing and addiction to a magical substance (on-page & discussion)
  • Physical injury (protagonist)
  • Murder of a father
  • Murder by sword violence & fire
  • Torture during imprisonment by physical beating
  • Kidnapping mentioned

Stranger Skies by Pascale Lacelle

Opening locked doors has a price—even for those who hold a key. After going through the door that called to them both in dreams, Emory and Romie find themselves in the the same verdant world written of in Song of the Drowned Gods, albeit a twisted, rotting version of it. A sinister force has awoken with their arrival, intent on destruction as it spills across realms, and now Emory and Romie must stop it before it reaches their own shores. Meanwhile, Baz and Kai are desperate to follow their friends through the door to other worlds, but a mishap pulls them back in time instead—where they come face to face with Cornus Clover… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Knife, sword & weapon violence including decapitation (monsters)
  • Blood, injury and minor body horror (necromancy, a secondary character being reborn after being buried alive, etc.)
  • Mentions of death from choking, strangulation, drowning, stabbing & explosions
  • Loss of autonomy (demonic possession)
  • Physical beating of a child recounted

Two Sides to Every Murder by Danielle Valentine

Most people’s births aren’t immortalized in a police report—but Olivia was born during the infamous Camp Lost Lake murders. Seventeen years later, Olivia’s life looks pretty perfect . . . until she discovers the man she calls dad is not her biological father. Now she wants answers about her bloodline, and the only place she knows to look is Camp Lost Lake. Most people’s births aren’t immortalized in a police report—but Olivia was born during the infamous Camp Lost Lake murders. Seventeen years later, Olivia’s life looks pretty perfect . . . until she discovers the man she calls dad is not her biological father. Now she wants answers… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Childbirth mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Mass murder discussed
  • Death of a friend

Such a Bad Influence by Olivia Muenter

Hazel Davis is drifting: she’s stalled in her career, living in a city she hates, and less successful than her younger sister @evelyn, a lifestyle influencer. Evie came of age on the family YouTube channel after a viral video when she was five. Ten years older and spotlight-averse, Hazel managed to dodge the family business—so although she can barely afford her apartment, at least she made her own way. Evie is eighteen now, with a multimillion-dollar career, but Hazel is still protective of her little sister and skeptical of the way everyone seems to want a piece of her: Evie’s followers, her YouTuber boyfriend and influencer frenemies… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Eating disorder
  • Disappearance of a sibling
  • Cyberharassment

A War of Swallowed Stars by Sangu Mandanna

A prince without his kingdom. A kingdom without its princess. The destruction of the stars themselves. War is destroying the galaxy. Esmae has vanished without a trace. A terrifying, ravenous beast is devouring the stars one by one. Titania is offered a gift that may well be a curse. Alexi, the exiled prince, is asked to pay a heavy price for his mistakes. And far, far away, on a dark, mysterious planet, a sleeping god stirs awake. War or family. Pride or peace. As the end of the world draws ever closer, Esmae and Alexi must decide how far they’ll go to win—and who they’ll sacrifice along the way.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic blood & injury depiction & needles
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother & son
  • Death of a friend recounted
  • Murder & mass murder
  • Attempted infanticide recounted
  • Knife & sword violence
  • Poisoning recounted
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Fire recounted
  • War & battle scenes (theme)

A Spark of White Fire by Sangu Mandanna

Raised alone and far away from her home on Kali, Esmae longs to return to her family. When the King of Wychstar offers to gift the unbeatable, sentient warship Titania to a warrior that can win his competition, she sees her way home: she’ll enter the competition, reveal her true identity to the world, and help her famous brother win back the crown of Kali. It’s a great plan. Until it falls apart.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Parental abandonment
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Infanticide mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife & sword violence
  • Fire recounted
  • War, rebellion & royal coup (theme)