Queer Lit – Page 33 – Trigger Warning Database

A Spindle Splintered by Alix Harrow

A Spindle Splintered by Alix E. Harrow

It’s Zinnia Gray’s twenty-first birthday, which is extra special because it’s the last birthday she’ll ever have. When she was young, an industrial accident left Zinnia with a rare condition. Not much is known about her illness, just that no one has lived past twenty-one. Her best friend Charm is intent on making Zinnia’s last birthday special with a full sleeping beauty experience, complete with a tower and a spinning wheel. But when Zinnia pricks her finger, something strange and unexpected happens, and she finds herself falling through worlds, with another sleeping beauty, just as desperate to escape her fate.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Forced marriage
Rape recounted
Sexual assault mentioned
Suicidal ideation recounted
Self-injury, on-page
Pregnancy from rape mentioned
Blood depiction
Terminal illness (theme)
Hospitalisation

A Mirror Mended by Alix Harrow

A Mirror Mended by Alix E. Harrow

Zinnia Gray, professional fairy-tale fixer and lapsed Sleeping Beauty, is over rescuing snoring princesses. Once you’ve rescued a dozen damsels and burned fifty spindles, once you’ve gotten drunk with twenty good fairies and made out with one too many members of the royal family, you start to wish some of these girls would just get a grip and try solving their own narrative issues. Just when Zinnia’s beginning to think she can’t handle one more princess, she glances into a mirror and sees another face looking back at her: the shockingly gorgeous face of evil, asking for her help. Because there’s more than one person… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Terminal illness
Cannibalism
Torture
Imprisonment

This Way Out by Tufayel Ahmed

This Way Out by Tufayel Ahmed

Amar can’t wait to tell everyone his wonderful news: he’s found The One, and he’s getting married. But it turns out announcing his engagement on a group chat might not have been the best way to let his strict Muslim Bangladeshi family know that his happy-ever-after partner is a man—and a white man at that. Amar expected a reaction from his four siblings, but his bombshell sends shockwaves throughout the community and begins to fracture their family unit, already fragile from the death of their mother. Suddenly Amar is questioning everything he once… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Racism
Queermisia
Depression
Alcohol consumption
Grief & loss depiction
Death of parent recounted

Into the Gray by Margaret Killjoy

Into the Gray by Margaret Killjoy

“You’re using me,” I said. “That might be true, but I also love you.”

One is the Lady of the Waking Waters, an immortal mermaid. The other is a thief, who steals lives until a wish can be fulfilled, and a life-changing choice must be made.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Misogyny
Misgendering
Slut-shaming
Sex work discussed
Suicidal ideation
Alcohol consumption mentioned
Blood & gore depiction
Cannibalism
Murder & attempted murder
Near-drowning incident

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy

The Lamb Will Slaughter the Lion by Margaret Killjoy

Danielle Cain is a queer punk rock traveller, jaded from a decade on the road. Searching for clues about her best friend’s mysterious and sudden suicide, she ventures to the squatter, utopian town of Freedom, Iowa. All is not well in Freedom, however: things went awry after the town’s residents summoned a protector spirit to serve as their judge and executioner. Danielle shows up in time to witness the spirit—a blood-red, three-antlered deer—begin to turn on its summoners. Danielle and her new friends have to act fast if they’re going to save the town—or get out alive.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape
Suicide
Death of a friend
Animal death

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Swordheart by T. Kingfisher

Halla is a housekeeper who has suddenly inherited her great-uncle’s estate… and, unfortunately, his relatives. Sarkis is an immortal swordsman trapped in a prison of enchanted steel. When Halla draws the sword that imprisons him, Sarkis finds himself attempting to defend his new wielder against everything from bandits and roving inquisitors to her own in-laws… and the sword itself may prove to be the greatest threat of all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment recounted
Suicide
Suicidal ideation
Death of a sister during childbirth recounted
Death of an uncle recounted
Death of a husband from fever recounted
Murder & attempted murder
Sword violence
Imprisonment
Kidnapping
Attempted mugging
Animal death

Jagged Little Pill by Eric Smith

Jagged Little Pill by Eric Smith

Adopted Frankie struggles to see eye-to-eye with her mother—who would rather ignore a problem and preserve their “perfect” life than stand up for what’s right. Jo just wants her mom to accept her queer identity—and is totally crushed when Frankie, the only person who really gets her, finds herself infatuated with someone new. Phoenix tries to find his place at the new school and balance wanting to spend time with Frankie but knowing he also has to help out with his sick sister at home. Bella wants to enjoy the end of high school and just head off to college without a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape
Drug abuse
Chronic illness

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi

I Hope You Get This Message by Farah Naz Rishi

News stations across the country are reporting mysterious messages that Earth has been receiving from a planet—Alma—claiming to be its creator. If they’re being interpreted correctly, in seven days Alma will hit the kill switch on their “colony” Earth. True or not, for teenagers Jesse Hewitt, Cate Collins, and Adeem Khan, the prospect of this ticking time bomb will change their lives forever. Jesse, who has been dealt one bad blow after another, wonders if it even matters what happens to the world. Cate, on the other hand, is desperate to use this time to find the father she never… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Schizophrenia
Depression
Attempted suicide
Suicidal ideation
Self-harm
Cancer
Surgery
Hospital
Death of a parent recounted
Gun violence
Poverty
Animal death

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

The Inexplicable Logic of My Life by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Sal used to know his place with his adoptive gay father, their loving Mexican American family, and his best friend, Samantha. But it’s senior year, and suddenly Sal is throwing punches, questioning everything, and realizing he no longer knows himself. If Sal’s not who he thought he was, who is he?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Homomisia
Victim blaming
Sexual assault
Alcohol consumption
Drug use
Terminal cancer
Death of a parent
Bullying

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Aristotle and Dante Dive into the Waters of the World by Benjamin Alire Sáenz

Ari has spent all of high school burying who he really is, staying silent and invisible. He expected his senior year to be the same. But something in him cracked open when he fell in love with Dante, and he can’t go back. Suddenly he finds himself reaching out to new friends, standing up to bullies of all kinds, and making his voice heard. And, always, there is Dante, dreamy, witty Dante, who can get on Ari’s nerves and fill him with desire all at once. The boys are determined to forge a path for themselves in a world that doesn’t understand them. But when Ari is faced with a shocking loss… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Racism
Bullying