Ableism – Trigger Warning Database

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn’t leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something Mother taught her well during their quiet hours on the rooftop, rifles in hand.

But wisps of smoke on the horizon mean one thing: strangers. The mysterious footprints by the pond, nighttime threats, and gunshots make it all too clear Lynn has exactly what they want, and they won’t stop until they get it….

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableist language
Rape, implied and recounted
Attempted rape
Forced sex work, off-page
Child abuse
Toxic relationship
Intimate partner violence, implied and recounted
Suicide, on-page
Suicidal ideation
Medicinal drug use
Pregnancy
Childbirth complications, on-page
Stillbirth, on-page
Blood and gore depiction
Dead bodies
Graphic physical injuries
Physical illness, specifically cholera, seizures and fever
Field surgery
Serious illness of a loved one
Syringes and needles
Grief depiction
Death of a mother
Death of a brother
Death of a husband
Death of a father
Murder and attempted murder
Gun and knife violence
Torture
Hostage situation
Kidnapping
Blackmail
Fire
Drought
Death from stavation
Death from dehydration
Death from exposure
Mild war themes
Ex-soldier, side-character
Animal death, on-page
Death of a pet
Animal cruelty
Hunting
Animal dead bodies

Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis

Be Not Far From Me by Mindy McGinnis

The world is not tame.

Ashley knows this truth deep in her bones, more at home with trees overhead than a roof. So when she goes hiking in the Smokies with her friends for a night of partying, the falling dark and creaking trees are second nature to her. But people are not tame either. And when Ashley catches her boyfriend with another girl, drunken rage sends her running into the night, stopped only by a nasty fall into a ravine. Morning brings the realization that she’s alone – and far off trail. Lost in undisturbed forest and with nothing but the clothes on her back, Ashley must figure out how to survive despite the red streak of infection creeping up her leg.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableist language
Parental abandonment
Physical child abuse recounted, side character
Cheating
Suicidal ideation
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use, off-page
Blood depiction
Graphic physical injuries
Death of a friend mentioned
Physical assault
Animal death
Animal dead bodies

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Every Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire

Ever Heart a Doorway by Seanan McGuire book cover

Children have always disappeared under the right conditions; slipping through the shadows under a bed or at the back of a wardrobe, tumbling down rabbit holes and into old wells, and emerging somewhere… else.

But magical lands have little need for used-up miracle children.

Nancy tumbled once, but now she’s back. The things she’s experienced… they change a person. The children under Miss West’s care understand all too well. And each of them is seeking a way back to their own fantasy world.

But Nancy’s arrival marks a change at the Home. There’s a darkness just around each corner, and when tragedy strikes, it’s up to Nancy and her new-found schoolmates to get to the heart of the matter.

No matter the cost.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Transmisia
Misgendering
Deadnaming
Acemisia
Ableist language
Misogyny
Dieting mentioned
Blood and gore depiction
Dead bodies
Graphic anatomy descriptions
Death of a parent
Death of a friend
Death of a teacher
Murder
Hostage situation
Animal death mentioned
Bullying

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker and Wendy Xu

Mooncakes by Suzanne Walker & Wendy Xu

Nova Huang knows more about magic than your average teen witch. She works at her grandmothers’ bookshop, where she helps them loan out spell books and investigate any supernatural occurrences in their New England town.

One fateful night, she follows reports of a white wolf into the woods, and she comes across the unexpected: her childhood crush, Tam Lang, battling a horse demon in the woods. As a werewolf, Tam has been wandering from place to place for years, unable to call any town home.

Pursued by dark forces eager to claim the magic of wolves and out of options, Tam turns to Nova for help.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism mentioned
Misgendering
Child abuse
Minor physical injuries
Death of a mother & father
Kidnapping & captivity
Cults
Animal abuse
Homelessness

Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

Shallow Graves by Kali Wallace

Breezy remembers leaving the party: the warm, wet grass under her feet, her cheek still stinging from a slap to her face. But when she wakes up, scared and pulling dirt from her mouth, a year has passed and she can’t explain how.

Nor can she explain the man lying at her grave, dead from her touch, or why her heartbeat comes and goes. She doesn’t remember who killed her or why. All she knows is that she’s somehow conscious—and not only that, she’s able to sense who around her is hiding a murderous past.

Haunted by happy memories from her life, Breezy sets out to find answers in the gritty, threatening world to which she now belongs—where killers hide in plain sight, and a sinister cult is hunting for strange creatures like her. What she discovers is at once empowering, redemptive, and dangerous.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Racism
Victim blaming
Domestic abuse
Attempted suicide
Self-harm
Murder
Kidnapping
Stalking
Cults

The Forbidden Orchid by Sharon Biggs Waller

The Forbidden Orchid by Sharon Biggs Waller

Staid, responsible Elodie Buchanan is the eldest of ten sisters living in a small English market town in 1861. The girls barely know their father, a plant hunter usually off adventuring through China. Then disaster strikes: Mr. Buchanan reneges on his contract to collect an extremely rare and valuable orchid. He will be thrown into debtors’ prison while his daughters are sent to the orphanage and the workhouse.

Elodie can’t stand by and see her family destroyed, so she persuades her father to return to China once more to try to hunt down the flower—only this time, Elodie goes with him. She has never before left her village, but what starts as fear turns to wonder as she adapts to seafaring life aboard the tea clipper The Osprey. But now, even if she can find the orchid, how can she ever go back to being the staid, responsible Elodie that everybody needs?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Racism

Girls on the Verge by Sharon Biggs Waller

Girls on the Verge by Sharon Biggs Waller

Camille couldn’t be having a better summer. But on the very night she learns she got into a prestigious theater program, she also finds out she’s pregnant. She definitely can’t tell her parents. And her best friend, Bea, doesn’t agree with the decision Camille has made.

Camille is forced to try to solve her problem alone . . . and the system is very much working against her. At her most vulnerable, Camille reaches out to Annabelle Ponsonby, a girl she only barely knows from the theater. Happily, Annabelle agrees to drive her wherever she needs to go. And in a last-minute change of heart, Bea decides to come with.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Slut shaming
Misogyny
Abortion & anti-abortion rhetoric (theme)
Car accident

The Prince and the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

The Prince & the Dressmaker by Jen Wang

Prince Sebastian is looking for a bride―or rather, his parents are looking for one for him. Sebastian is too busy hiding his secret life from everyone. At night he puts on daring dresses and takes Paris by storm as the fabulous Lady Crystallia―the hottest fashion icon in the world capital of fashion!

Sebastian’s secret weapon (and best friend) is the brilliant dressmaker Frances―one of only two people who know the truth: sometimes this boy wears dresses. But Frances dreams of greatness, and being someone’s secret weapon means being a secret. Forever. How long can Frances defer her dreams to protect a friend?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Forced coming out
Queermisia
Ableism
Alcohol consumption
Surgery mentioned

The Boy Who Steals Houses by C. G. Drews

The Boy Who Steals Houses by C. G. Drews

Can two broken boys find their perfect home?

Sam is only fifteen but he and his autistic older brother, Avery, have been abandoned by every relative he’s ever known. Now Sam’s trying to build a new life for them. He survives by breaking into empty houses when their owners are away, until one day he’s caught out when a family returns home. To his amazement this large, chaotic family takes him under their wing – each teenager assuming Sam is a friend of another sibling. Sam finds himself inextricably caught up in their life, and falling for the beautiful Moxie.

But Sam has a secret, and his past is about to catch up with him.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism and ableist language
Child abuse
Physical and verbal abuse
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Suicidal ideation
Self-harm mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use mentioned
Blood depiction
Physical injuries
Serious injury to a loved ones
Physical assault
Bullying
Homelessness
Incarceration of a parent

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya–but neither wants to be.

War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore magic to her suffering world and stop the Arz, Nasir is sent by the sultan on a similar mission: retrieve the artifact and kill the Hunter. But an ancient evil stirs as their journey unfolds–and the prize they seek may pose a threat greater than either can imagine.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableist language
Misogyny
Physical abuse
Emotional abuse
Verbal abuse
Child abuse and neglect
Blood and gore depiction
Physical injuries
Dead bodies
Grief depiction
Death of a mother
Death of a father
Death of a child
Death of a friend
Death of a cousin
Murder and attempted murder
Torture
Imprisonment and captivity
Blackmail
Kidnapping
War themes discussed
Animal death
Hunting