BIPOC Lit – Page 27 – Trigger Warning Database

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide. Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Classism
Indentured servitude of children, discussed in-depth
Sexual assault, on-page
Child abuse
Forced arranged marriage
Gambling addiction recovery & relapse (theme)
Suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption & abuse, recounted & discussed
Drugging
Blood & gore depiction,
Dead bodies & body parts
Needles
Terminal illness (plague-like), recounted & on-page
Depiction of starvation
Cannibalism mentioned
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father recounted
Death of children, on-page
Murder & attempted murder
Knife violence & stabbing
Torture recounted
Whipping recounted
Hanging mentioned
Kidnapping & captivity
Blackmail
Death by a fall recounted
Near-drowning incident
War themes discussed
Poverty themes & debt collection (theme)

Bound to Fate by Kiru Taye

Bound to Fate by Kiru Taye

Lara Johnson is coping with the emotional scars of losing both parents in a tragic incident and facing the challenges of starting a new school. Getting involved in a relationship isn’t on her priority list. Certainly not this illicit desire for a man, who demands the best from her, yet leaves her breathless in his presence. All Ike Thomas wants to do is to keep out of trouble and get through the one year internship required for his degree program. But trouble finds him, in the form of an intelligent and brave girl who turns his world upside down. Falling in love is forbidden. So why does it feel so right?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Graphic rape recounted
Teacher-student relationship
PTSD & trauma

Intercepted by Alexa Martin

Intercepted by Alexa Martin

Marlee thought she scored the man of her dreams only to be scorched by a bad breakup. But there’s a new player on the horizon, and he’s in a league of his own. Marlee Harper is the perfect girlfriend. She’s definitely had enough practice by dating her NFL-star boyfriend for the last ten years. But when she discovers he has been tackling other women on the sly, she vows to never date an athlete again. There’s just one problem: Gavin Pope, the new hotshot quarterback and a fling from the past, has Marlee in his sights. Gavin fights to show Marlee he’s nothing like her ex. Unfortunately, not everyone is ready to let her escape her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Sexism
Slut-shaming
Threats of sexual assault
Cheating
Dieting mentioned
Physical assault
Bullying

Metal Fish, Falling Snow by Cath Moore

Metal Fish, Falling Snow by Cath Moore

Dylan and her adored French mother dream of one day sailing across the ocean to France. Paris, Dylan imagines, is a place where her black skin won’t stand out, a place she might feel she belongs. But when she loses her mother in a freak accident, Dylan finds herself on a very different journey: a road trip across outback Australia in the care of her mother’s grieving boyfriend, Pat. As they travel through remote towns further and further from the water Dylan longs for, she and Pat form an unlikely bond. One that will be broken when he leaves her with the family she has never… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Internalised racism & racial slurs
Domestic violence recounted
Hospitalisation
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

The Mermaid of Black Conch by Monique Roffey

Near the island of Black Conch, a fisherman sings to himself while waiting for a catch. But David attracts a sea-dweller that he never expected – Aycayia, an innocent young woman cursed by jealous wives to live as a mermaid. When American tourists capture Aycayia, David rescues her and vows to win her trust. Slowly, painfully, she transforms into a woman again. Yet as their love grows, they discover that the world around them is changing – and they cannot escape the curse for ever…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Misogyny
Racism
Attempted suicide
Genocide

The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin and Ezekiel Kwaymullina

The Things She’s Seen by Ambelin Kwaymullina & Ezekiel Kwaymullina

Also known as Catching Telling Crown.

Nothing’s been the same for Beth Teller since the day she died. Her dad is drowning in grief. He’s also the only one who has been able to see and hear her since the accident. But now she’s got a mystery to solve, a mystery that will hopefully remind her detective father that he is still alive, that there is a life after Beth that is still worth living. Who is Isobel Catching, and why is she able to see Beth, too? What is her connection to the crime Beth’s father has been sent to investigate–a gruesome fire at a home for troubled youth that left an unidentifiable body behind? What happened to the people who haven’t been seen since the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Rape
Child abuse
Drugging
Murder
Kidnapping
Car accident

Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore

Miss Meteor by Tehlor Kay Mejia & Anna-Marie McLemore

There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or why her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands. So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism & racial slurs
Transmisia
Homomisia
Alcohol consumption mentioned
Physical injury (broken arm)
Bullying

Rare Danger by Beverly Jenkins

Rare Danger by Beverly Jenkins

For Jasmine Ware, curating books for an exclusive clientele is her passion. Until an old friend, a dealer of rare books, goes missing and his partner is murdered. Linked to an artifact smuggled out of the ancient library at Timbuktu, the mystery draws Jasmine deeper into a plot that could cost her her life. Air force veteran and private security ace Torr Noble is accustomed to adrenaline-pumping stakes. He never expected a private librarian would be so intriguing, but Jasmine is full of surprises. As the connection between them burns hot, a powerful old enemy raises his head. Torr and Jasmine must work together to find the missing dealer.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child sexual abuse recounted
Blood & gore depiction
Car accident
Gun violence
Kidnapping

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

Agnes at the End of the World by Kelly McWilliams

Agnes loves her home of Red Creek–its quiet, sunny mornings, its dusty roads, and its God. There, she cares tirelessly for her younger siblings and follows the town’s strict laws. What she doesn’t know is that Red Creek is a cult, controlled by a madman who calls himself a prophet. Then Agnes meets Danny, an Outsider boy, and begins to question what is and isn’t a sin. Her younger brother, Ezekiel, will die without the insulin she barters for once a month, even though medicine is considered outlawed. Is she a sinner for saving him? Is her sister, Beth, a sinner for dreaming of the world beyond Red Creek? As the Prophet grows more… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Misogyny
Ableism
Statutory rape
Adult-minor relationship
Forced child marriage & polygyny
Paedophilia and child sexual abuse
Child abuse, on-page
Domestic violence mentioned
Depression
Pandemic
Serious physical injury
Diabetic shock & crisis
Hanging mentioned
Kidnapping recounted
Cults (theme)

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda

Growing up in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, Maggie Gonzalez has always been a little messy, but she’s okay with that. After all, she has a great family, a goofy group of friends, a rocky romantic history, and dreams of being a music photographer. Tasked with picking an escort for her little sister’s quinceañera, Maggie has to face the truth: that her feelings about her friends—and her future—aren’t as simple as she’d once believed. As Maggie’s search for the perfect escort continues, she’s forced to confront new (and old) feelings for three of her friends: Amanda, her best friend and first-ever crush; Matthew, her ex-boyfriend twice… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Misogyny
Bimisia & internalised bimisia
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use & smoking
Pregnancy (sc)
Death of a parent by police shooting, off-page