BIPOC Lit – Page 42 – Trigger Warning Database

Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle

Love Radio by Ebony LaDelle

Prince Jones is the guy with all the answers—or so it seems. After all, at seventeen, he has his own segment on Detroit’s popular hip-hop show, Love Radio, where he dishes out advice to the brokenhearted. Prince has always dreamed of becoming a DJ and falling in love. But being the main caretaker for his mother, who has multiple sclerosis, and his little brother means his dreams will stay just that and the only romances in his life are the ones he hears about from his listeners. Until he meets Dani Ford… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Sexual assault, on-page

House Rules by Ruby Lang

House Rules by Ruby Lang

Seventeen years ago, different dreams pulled Simon Mizrahi and Lana Kuo apart. But when Lana takes a position as a chef back in Manhattan, her apartment search puts her right in her ex-husband’s path. Music teacher Simon is also hunting for a new place to live, and when Lana proposes they be platonic roomies, well…it’s not the worst idea he’s ever heard. A sunny uptown two-bedroom sounds far more appealing than the cramped, noisy space where he’s currently struggling to work. Still, Simon has seen firsthand that Lana’s a flight risk, so he agrees on a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Chronic pain
Endometriosis
Infertility discussed
Animal injury

Playing House by Ruby Lang

Playing House by Ruby Lang

The last thing Oliver Huang expects to see on the historic Mount Morris home tour is longtime acquaintance Fay Liu bustling up and kissing him hello. He’s happy to playact being a couple to save her from a pushy admirer. Fay’s beautiful, successful and smart, and if he’s being honest, Oliver has always had a bit of a thing for her. Maybe more than a bit. Geeking out over architectural details is Oliver and Fay’s shared love language, and soon they’re touring pricey real estate across Upper Manhattan as the terribly faux but terribly charming couple Darling and Olly…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment

Acute Reactions by Ruby Lang

Acute Reactions by Ruby Lang

The man with allergies never gets the girl, at least according to the movies—and Portland restaurateur Ian Zamora wants to be the guy who gets the girl. So to rid himself of the sensitivities brought on by his sometimes-girlfriend’s cat, he makes an appointment with allergist Petra Lale. But he suddenly finds himself acutely attracted to the very woman who is supposed to be helping him take care of his problem. Petra’s intrigued by Ian’s quiet strength… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Cheating recounted
Anxiety
Anaphylactic shock
Death of a father from melanoma
Death of a mother from a pulmonary embolism

Open House by Ruby Lang

Open House by Ruby Lang

Tyson Yang never imagined that one day he’d be the de facto spokesperson for an illegal community garden. But when the once-rat-infested-but-now-thriving Harlem lot goes up for sale, Ty can’t just let all their hard work get plowed under. Even if he is irresistibly drawn to the lovely but infuriatingly stubborn real estate associate. Magda Ferrer’s family is already convinced this new job will be yet another flop in her small but growing list of career path failures. But her student debt isn’t going anywhere, and… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Death of a mother from cancer recounted
Death of an aunt recounted

Helium by Rudy Francisco

Helium by Rudy Francisco

Helium is the debut poetry collection by internet phenom Rudy Francisco, whose work has defined poetry for a generation of new readers. Rudy’s poems and quotes have been viewed and shared millions of times as he has traveled the country and the world performing for sell-out crowds. Helium is filled with work that is simultaneously personal and political, blending love poems, self-reflection, and biting cultural critique on class, race and gender into an unforgettable whole.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Depression
Bullying

Luster by Raven Leilani

Luster by Raven Leilani

Edie is just trying to survive. She’s messing up in her dead-end admin job in her all-white office, is sleeping with all the wrong men, and has failed at the only thing that meant anything to her, painting. No one seems to care that she doesn’t really know what she’s doing with her life beyond looking for her next hook-up. And then she meets Eric, a white middle-aged archivist with a suburban family, including a wife who has sort-of-agreed to an open marriage and an adopted black daughter who doesn’t have a single person in her life who can show her how to do her hair… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Toxic relationship
Suicide discussed

So We Meet Again by Suzanne Park

So We Meet Again by Suzanne Park

When investment banker Jessie Kim is laid off in a virtual meeting and then overhears why (“she’s already being overpaid anyway for a woman” and “Asians are worker bees, not someone who can drum up new deals”) she delivers an “eff you guys” speech and storms out. After moving back home to Tennessee to live with her loving but meddling mother and father, she runs into her childhood nemesis – golden child Daniel Choi – at the local Asian grocery store. The smart, charming lawyer appears to have it all…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Sexism
Workplace sexual harassment

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink

Angel of Greenwood by Randi Pink

Seventeen-year-old Isaiah Wilson is, on the surface, a town troublemaker, but is hiding that he is an avid reader and secret poet, never leaving home without his journal. A passionate follower of WEB. Du Bois, he believes that black people should rise up to claim their place as equals. Sixteen-year-old Angel Hill is a loner, mostly disregarded by her peers as a goody-goody. Her father is dying, and her family’s financial situation is in turmoil. Also, as a loyal follower of Booker T. Washington, she believes, through education and tolerance, that black people should rise…Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
1921 Tulsa Massacre

How Maya Got Fierce by Sona Charaipotra

How Maya Got Fierce by Sona Charaipotra

Ever since she was little, farmer’s daughter Maya Gera has known what her future holds. The heiress to a mini garlic empire in the heart of Gilroy, California, she’s meant to be a good Indian girl — which means agriculture school, an MBA, and settling down with a suitable Sikh boy. The heiress to a mini garlic empire in the heart of Gilroy, California, she’s meant to be a good Indian girl — which means agriculture school, an MBA, and settling down with a suitable Sikh boy…Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Mass shooting recounted