Tag Archives: Abandonment

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of abandonment, including spousal and parental abandonment.

Hello Beautiful by Ann Napolitano

William Waters grew up in a house silenced by tragedy, where his parents could hardly bear to look at him, much less love him. So it’s a relief when his skill on the basketball court earns him a scholarship to college, far away from his childhood home. He soon meets Julia Padavano, a spirited and ambitious young woman who surprises William with her appreciation of his quiet steadiness. With Julia comes her family; she is inseparable from her three younger sisters: Sylvie, the dreamer, is happiest with her nose in a book and imagines a future different from the expected path of wife and mother; Cecelia, the family’s… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Depression
  • Attempted suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Terminal illness
  • Death of a sister and child recounted

Ten Ways to Be Adored When Landing a Lord by Sarah MacLean

Since being named on of London’s “Lords to Land” by a popular ladies’ magazine, Nicholas St. John has been relentlessly pursued by every matrimony-minded female in the ton. So when an opportunity to escape fashionable society presents itself, he eagerly jumps—only to land in the path of the most determined, damnably delicious woman he’s ever met! The daughter of a titled wastrel, Lady Isabel Townsend has too many secrets and too little money. Though used to taking care of herself quite handily, her father’s recent passing has left Isabel at sea and in need of outside help to protect her young brother’s birthright. The sinfully… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment & neglect, off-page
  • Domestic abuse (secondary character)
  • Unplanned pregnancy (secondary character)
  • Kidnapping

Nine Rules to Break When Romancing a Rake by Sarah MacLean

Lady Calpurnia Hartwell has always followed the rules, rules that have left her unmarried—and more than a little unsatisfied. And so she’s vowed to break the rules and live the life of pleasure she’s been missing. But to dance every dance, to steal a midnight kiss—to do those things, Callie will need a willing partner. Someone who knows everything about rule-breaking. Someone like Gabriel St. John, the Marquess of Ralston—charming and devastatingly handsome, his wicked reputation matched only by his sinful smile. If she’s not careful, she’ll break the most important rule of all… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming (period-typical)
  • Fatmisia & body-shaming
  • Parental abandonment discussed
  • Gun violence

Eleven Scandals to Start to Win a Duke’s Heart by Sarah MacLean

Bold, impulsive, and a magnet for trouble, Juliana Fiori is no simpering English miss. She refuses to play by society’s rules: she speaks her mind, cares nothing for the approval of the ton, and can throw a punch with remarkable accuracy. Her scandalous nature makes her a favourite subject of London’s most practised gossips… and precisely the kind of woman the Duke of Leighton wants far far away from him. Scandal is the last thing Simon Pearson has room for in his well-ordered world. The Duke of Disdain is too focused on keeping his title untainted and his secrets unknown. But when he discovers Juliana hiding in his carriage… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Parental abandonment mentioned
  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Cheating

Context: The love interest is engaged to someone else for the majority of the novel.

Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan

Kismat Connection by Ananya Devarajan

Madhuri Iyer is doomed. Doomed for her upcoming senior year to be a total failure, according to her astrology-obsessed mother, and doomed to a happily ever after with her first boyfriend, according to her family curse. Determined to prove the existence of her free will, Madhuri devises an experimental relationship with the one boy she knows she’ll never fall for: her childhood best friend, Arjun Mehta. But Arjun’s feelings for her are a variable she didn’t account for. As Madhuri starts to fall for her experimental boyfriend, she’ll have to decide if charting her own destiny is worth breaking Arjun’s heart—and her own.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & internalised racism
  • Parental abandonment
  • Parent with Chron’s Disease
  • Hospitalisation

Words on Fire by Jennifer Nielsen

Words on Fire by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Danger is never far from Audra’s family farm in Lithuania. She always avoids the occupying Russian Cossack soldiers, who insist that everyone must become Russian — they have banned Lithuanian books, religion, culture, and even the language. But Audra knows her parents are involved in something secret and perilous. When Cossacks arrive abruptly at their door, Audra’s parents insist that she flee, taking with her an important package and instructions for where to deliver it. But escape means abandoning her parents to a terrible fate. As Audra embarks on a…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental separation (theme)
  • Gun violence
  • Physical assault
  • Drowning & attempted drowning
  • Fire
  • Military violence

Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by overthrowing her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources. Madoc grew up fighting on the streets to pay his family’s taxes. But he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn’t have the earth god’s powers like his opponents. His elemental gift is something else—something that hasn’t been seen in centuries. When an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, Ash inadvertently throws the fire and earth gods into a conflict that can… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Child homelessness recounted
  • Indentured servitude mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother, on-page
  • Death of a son mentioned
  • Kidnapping
  • Physical assault
  • Attempted regicide
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Murder & attempted murder

Ana on the Edge by AJ Sass

Ana on the Edge by A.J. Sass

Twelve-year-old Ana-Marie Jin, the reigning US Juvenile figure skating champion, is not a frilly dress kind of kid. So, when Ana learns that next season’s program will be princess themed, doubt forms fast. Still, Ana tries to focus on training and putting together a stellar routine worthy of national success. Once Ana meets Hayden, a transgender boy new to the rink, thoughts about the princess program and gender identity begin to take center stage. And when Hayden mistakes Ana for a boy, Ana doesn’t correct him and finds comfort in this boyish identity… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Transmisia
  • Misgendering & deadnaming
  • Coming out themes (multiple)
  • Dysphoria
  • Parental abandonment
  • Bullying

Supplicant by Sierra Simone

Supplicant by Sierra Simone

After being left at the altar by her cold and brilliant professor, Church Cason, Charlotte Tenpenny had to leave school to take care of her younger brother. But a fateful night brings Church—and his delicious, drugging kisses—back into Charlotte’s life. And it stirs up a reckoning years in the making . . .

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Child abuse & neglect recounted
  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse

Witchsign by Den Patrick

Witchsign by Den Patrick

It has been seventy-five years since the dragons’ rule of fire and arcane magic over Vinkerveld was ended, and the Empire was born. Since, the tyrannical Synod has worked hard to banish all manifestations of the arcane across the lands. However, children are still born bearing the taint of the arcane, known to all as witchsign. So each year the Emperor sends out his Vigilants across the continent to detect the arcane in these children. Those found tainted are taken, and never seen again. Steiner has always suspected his sister Kjellrunn of bearing witchsign… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Persecution for witchcraft
  • Parental abandonment