Category Archives: BIPOC Lit

A Darkness At The Door by Intisar Khanani

A Darkness At The Door by Intisar Khanani

Only Rae knows the extent of the corruption at the heart of the kingdom of Menaiya, from the noble lord who betrayed her to the Circle of Mages whose wards protect the slavers from discovery. Injured and imprisoned on a slave ship, Rae’s options are quickly running out. When a desperate escape attempt goes terribly wrong, she finds herself indebted to a terrifying Fae sorceress. Now Rae will not rest until she has rescued her fellow prisoners and freed her land from the darkness that has taken hold. To succeed, she’ll need every ally she can find—including Bren, the thief who may have stolen her heart. But Bren… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Human trafficking, off-page
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Attempted murder

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

Children have been disappearing from across Menaiya for longer than Amraeya ni Ansarim can remember. When her friend’s sister is snatched, Rae knows she can’t look away any longer – even if that means seeking answers from the royal court, where her country upbringing and clubfoot will only invite ridicule. Yet the court holds its share of surprises. There she discovers an ally in the foreign princess, who recruits her as an attendant. Armed with the princess’s support, Rae seeks answers in the dark city streets, finding unexpected help in a rough-around-the-edges street thief with secrets of his own. But treachery… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Ableism
  • Human trafficking, off-page
  • Sexual assault
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future. When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl. But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Human trafficking, off-page
  • Rape
  • Death of a parent
  • Hanging
  • Animal death

Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra

Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra

Beatriz Herrera is a fierce woman who will take you down with her quick wit and keen intellect. And after the results of the 2016 election worked hard to erase her identity as a queer biracial woman, she’d be right to. Especially if you come for her sweet BFF cousin, Hero. Beatriz would do anything for her, a loyalty that lands Beatriz precisely where she doesn’t want to be: spending a week at the ridiculous Cape Cod mansion of stupid-hot playboy Ben Montgomery. The same Ben Montgomery she definitely shouldn’t have hooked up with that one time. The things we do for… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Colourism
  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Alcoholism
  • Substance addiction
  • Attempted suicide, off-page
  • Psychiatric hospitalisation

Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder

Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder

He’s the bad-boy biker. She’s the good girl working in her family’s Indian restaurant. On the surface, nothing about Trucker Carrigan and Pinky Grover’s instant, incendiary, attraction makes sense. But when they peel away the layers and the assumptions–and their clothes–everything falls into place. The need. The want. The light. The laughter. They have more in common than they ever could’ve guessed. Is it enough? They won’t know until they take a chance on each other–and on love.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use mentioned
  • Parent in breast cancer remission mentioned
  • Police raid
  • Gang violence

Confessions by Kanae Minato

Confessions by Kanae Minato

After calling off her engagement in wake of a tragic revelation, Yuko Moriguchi had nothing to live for except her only child, four-year-old Manami. Now, following an accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation. But first she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that upends everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Parental neglect & abandonment
  • Transphobia mentioned & misgendering
  • Depression
  • HIV/AIDs (theme)*
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father in a car accident mentioned
  • Death of a mother from illness mentioned
  • Murder of a daughter from drowning
  • Attempted murder of a child from electrocution
  • Murder of a teen girl from strangulation
  • Mass death of a family from poisoning discussed (mother, father & child)
  • Explosion, off-page
  • Animal death & cruelty mentioned

*Context: A teacher purposefully infects the two teenage boys who murdered her daughter with HIV/AIDs. The aftereffects of being infected are explored in depth. Mentions of HIV+ stigma and how the teacher’s ex-husband is dying of HIV/AIDs.

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

Kaikeyi by Vaishnavi Patel

So begins Kaikeyi’s story. The only daughter of the kingdom of Kekaya, she is raised on tales about the might and benevolence of the gods: how they churned the vast ocean to obtain the nectar of immortality, how they vanquish evil and ensure the land of Bharat prospers, and how they offer powerful boons to the devout and the wise. Yet she watches as her father unceremoniously banishes her mother, listens as her own worth is reduced to how great a marriage alliance she can secure. And when she calls upon the gods for help, they never seem to hear. Desperate… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny & sexism
  • Classism
  • Domestic abuse
  • Pregnancy & childbirth
  • Infertility
  • Murder
  • Fire
  • Animal death
  • War themes & battle scenes
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Blood on the Tracks, Volume One by Shuzo Oshimi

Blood on the Tracks, Vol. 1 by Shuzo Oshimi

Seiichi’s mother loves him very much, and his days pass with placid regularity. School, friends, even the attention of his attractive classmate Fukiishi.
Until one terrible summer day, that all changes…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia
  • Incest
  • Panic attack
  • Death of a child
  • Animal death
  • Bullying
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Shino Can’t Say Her Name by Shuzo Oshimi

Shino Can’t Say Her Name by Shuzo Oshimi

High school can be a stressful time for many young people. The change means a new commute, new friends, new courses, and new teachers. For Shino Oshima the change could have meant an opportunity to blossom into adulthood. Unfortunately, things go wrong on her first day – she fails to even say her name during her homeroom introduction. From then on Shino is a part-mute part-stuttering mess. Ostracized and afraid she struggles to find her place in this new world… But thankfully for her, she finds her voice through music and some unexpected new frienemies.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bullying
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Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa

Shinji Takahashi and the Mark of the Coatl by Julie Kagawa

Shinji Takahashi is just an ordinary kid. An ordinary homeschooled smart-alecky orphan kid being raised by his aunt Yui. But when a magical guardian decides to use him as a conduit to awaken its power, Shinji’s life takes a turn for the extraordinary. Captured by the menacing Hightower Corporation, which is bent on using the guardian’s magic for its own nefarious purposes, Shinji must team up with a brilliant young tech whiz named Lucy and her robot mouse, Tinker, to escape the Corporation’s evil clutches. Together Shinji and Lucy turn to the venerable Society of Explorers and Adventurers and its ragtag cast of spelunk… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of parents recounted
  • Kidnapping
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