Category Archives: Representation

Old Wounds by Logan-Ashley Kisner

Erin and Max are two trans kids who are just trying to get to California. Max is desperate to finally be able to transition, and Erin is longing to understand why she’s on this trip to begin with, after Max suddenly broke up with her two years earlier. But when they find themselves stranded – and eventually separated – in the creepy woods of rural middle-America, they suddenly have much bigger problems. First, there’s the creature that, according to legend, feeds on girls, hunting them through the shadows. And then there are the locals, who are searching for a female sacrifice… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia, homophobia & misgendering
  • Sexual assault
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Attempted suicide & suicidal ideation mentioned

The Transition by Logan-Ashley Kisner

Hunter’s life is at a turning point: After years of fighting his father for it, he’s gotten top surgery. He’s finally starting to feel comfortable in his own skin . . . only to be attacked by a strange creature in his backyard. The encounter should kill him, but his best friend Gabe intervenes, and Hunter is able to walk away from the incident with his life—and new body—mostly intact. Still, something isn’t right. First, his wounds are healing quickly—too quickly. Then there are the feverish nightmares, the sudden return of his period, and his teeth . . . they’re falling out of his head… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia, including deadnaming & hate crimes
  • Self-harm & discussions of suicide
  • Panic attacks (on-page)
  • Blood & gore depiction and needles
  • Graphic animal death (birds, coyote)

Hollow by Taylor Grothe

After a meltdown in her school cafeteria prompts an unwanted autism diagnosis, Cassie Davis moves back to her hometown in upstate New York, where her mom hopes the familiarity will allow Cassie to feel normal again. Cassie’s never truly felt normal anywhere, but she does crave the ease she used to have with her old friends. Problem is that her friends aren’t so eager to welcome her back into the fold. They extend an olive branch by inviting her on their backpacking trip to Hollow Ridge, in the upper reaches of the Adirondacks. But when a fight breaks out their first… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety & trichotillomania (protagonist)

The Corruption of Hollis Brown by K. Ancrum

Hollis Brown is stuck. Born to a Blue-Collar American Dream, Hollis lives in a rotting small town where no one can afford to leave. Hollis’s only bright spots are his two best friends, cool girls Annie and Yulia, and the thrill of fighting his classmates. As if his circumstances couldn’t get worse, a chance encounter with a mysterious stranger named Walt results in a frightening trap. After unknowingly making a deal at the crossroads, Hollis finds himself losing control of his body and mind, falling victim to possession. Walt, the ghost making a home inside him, has a deep and violent history rooted in the town Hollis grew up in and he has unfinish… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Depression & suicidal ideation
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)

Make Me a Monster by Kalynn Bayron

Meka is used to death. After all, it’s the family business. As a newly certified mortician’s assistant at her parents’ funeral home, her days are not for the faint of heart. Luckily her boyfriend Noah isn’t squeamish, and Meka is finally feeling ready to say the three little words that will change everything. But then tragedy strikes, and Meka’s world is torn apart. Nothing makes sense, especially the strange things start happening. Ravens are circling her home. Strangers are following her. Someone is leaving mysterious items at her door. And worst of all. The dead don’t seem to be… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Night terrors
  • Graphic blood, gore & injury depiction, including emesis & dead bodies
  • Kidnapping & hostage situation
  • Gun violence
  • Fire
  • Animal death

Charming Puckboy by Eden Finley and Saxon James

It doesn’t matter that I was the number one draft pick in the NHL or that I’m projected to be the next great generational player, because none of it is enough to impress my childhood crush back in my hometown. Sam used to mock me for being like a Disney Princess with my uncanny knack for finding animals in need. And being home in Colorado for the summer, I’m bound to run into him now that he runs the animal shelter where I used to volunteer. Where I used to try to get his attention every chance I had. He never noticed me then, at least not in the way I wanted. But if… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & outing
  • Alcohol consumption

Our Rogue Fates by Sarah Glenn Marsh

When he isn’t training as a Warden to become half the hero his father was, Griff Sayer is in the business of breaking hearts all across the town of Mayfair, although that slows down after settling in with his current boyfriend. Griff’s ex–best friend, Mal Pryce, meanwhile, is in business with whatever or whoever puts good money in his hands. Now in their mid-twenties, Griff and Mal have only exchanged scathing looks and carefully barbed jabs since the fight that sent them their separate ways years ago. But all that begins to change when an attack Mal plotted for his shady… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcoholism (protagonist) & alcohol consumption (on-page)

How to Fake It in Society by K.J. Charles

It is 1821 and Nicolas-Marc, Comte de Valois de La Motte is making a splash in London Society. The son of Jeanne de Valois de La Motte, infamous for stealing a priceless diamond necklace meant for Marie Antoinette, Nico hopes to restore his wronged mother’s reputation, if only he can raise the funds. But he must operate with great secrecy, because the Bourbon dynasty murdered his mother, and he fears for his life. At least, that’s what he tells Titus Pilcrow. Titus was a simple shopkeeper, making and selling artists’ paints, when he found himself suddenly married to an immense… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical homophobia & classism
  • Gun violence
  • Bullying

Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow

Gwendolynne Chan just needs to get through her final year. At Seamere College of Magical Veterinary Sciences, she spends her days using her powers to heal companion animals while her nights are spent studying for exams. As the top student in the magical familiars stream, she is on track to be awarded Dux of the entire school – as long as the pretentious twat Harrisford Briggs doesn’t beat her to it. Harrisford Briggs was born into privilege. His father, the Chief Financial Officer of Magecorp, a major global distributor of magic, expects him to come top of the year. Harrisford… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & classism
  • Self-harm
  • Animal death

Waiting on a Friend by Natalie Adler

East Village, summer of 1984. Renata is a young dyke-about-town who happens to have the ability to see ghosts, which has been happening more and more frequently as her friends have started dying of what has recently been named AIDS. So, when her best friend Mark dies, she assumes she’ll see him again. There’s no way Mark wouldn’t give her a chance to say goodbye, would he? But to her disappointment – and increasingly, her concern – Mark doesn’t appear. Renata has other problems, too. There’s something strange happening in her advertisements for paranormal ‘exte… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a best friend from AIDS (theme)