Tag Archives: Ableism

This page lists books that contain trigger and content warnings for the depiction of ableism, including the use of ableist language and slurs.

Everything Leads to You by Nina LaCour

Emi is a film buff and a true romantic, but her real-life relationships are a mess. She has desperately gone back to the same girl too many times to mention. But then a mysterious letter from a silver screen legend leads Emi to Ava. Ava is unlike anyone Emi has ever met. She has a tumultuous, not-so-glamorous past, and lives an unconventional life. She’s enigmatic…. She’s beautiful. And she is about to expand Emi’s understanding of family, acceptance, and true romance.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Overdose
  • Death of a mother
  • Teen homelessness

You’re Welcome, Universe by Whitney Gardner

When Julia finds a slur about her best friend scrawled across the back of the Kingston School for the Deaf, she covers it up with a beautiful (albeit illegal) graffiti mural. Her supposed best friend snitches, the principal expels her, and her two mothers set Julia up with a one-way ticket to a “mainstream” school in the suburbs, where she’s treated like an outcast as the only deaf student. The last thing she has left is her art, and not even Banksy himself could convince her to give that up. Out in the ’burbs, Julia paints anywhere she can, eager to claim some turf of her own. But Julia soon…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Racism
  • Eating disorder recovery (secondary character)
  • Bullying

You, Me, and Our Heartstrings by Melissa See

Daisy and Noah have the same plan: use the holiday concert to land a Julliard audition. But when they’re chosen to play a duet for the concert, they worry that their differences will sink their chances. Noah, a cello prodigy from a long line of musicians, wants to stick to tradition. Daisy, a fiercely independent disabled violinist, is used to fighting for what she wants and likes to take risks. But the two surprise each other when they play. They fall perfectly in tune. After their performance goes viral, the rest of the country falls for them just as surely as they’re falling for each other… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist slur
  • Anxiety & panic attacks

Stop and Stare by Katia Rose

Iz Sanchez has looked for love just about everywhere. Granted, life as a non-binary jock at a small coastal university does not exactly present a wealth of opportunity, but that hasn’t stopped Iz from seizing the day. So far their quest to find Miss Right has only resulted in heartbreak and way too many awkward run-ins with exes at the campus sports bar, but at the end of the day, Iz can always count on their friends, their glorious collection of designer sneakers, and their steadfast belief that love is out there somewhere to get them back in the game. What they didn’t… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Transphobia mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption

Catch and Cradle by Katia Rose

The UNS Women’s Lacrosse team doesn’t have an official policy against inter-teammate relationships, but those words might as well be carved into stone tablets in the middle of the field. After witnessing way too much drama in the past, Captain Becca Moore is intent on keeping her players’ love lives out of the locker room. Becca has no time or tolerance for any distractions from the game. Unfortunately, that’s exactly what Hope Hastings has been since the day she showed up for tryouts: one walking, talking, charismatically dorky and way-too-kissable distraction. Hope knew… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Emotionally abusive relationship recounted
  • Forced outing mentioned
  • Abortion discussed & recounted

Your Sound by Katia Rose

Molly Myers is just your average groupie next door. Literally. The rock star whose posters cover her bedroom wall is banging her roommate right on the other side of it. Even for Molly, reigning queen of embarrassing moments, the situation is epically awkward. Every thump of the headboard is just one more reminder that the lead singers of famous bands don’t date bumbling shy girls too anxious to leave their own rooms. JP Bouchard-Guindon wasn’t looking for Molly’s room when he accidentally burst through the door, but the wild-haired girl lying there in her underwear was certainly worth the detour… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Anxiety

You Lucky Dog by Julia London

Carly Kennedy’s life is in a spiral. She is drowning in work, her divorced parents are going through their midlife crises, and somehow Carly’s sister convinces her to foster Baxter–a basset hound rescue with a bad case of the blues. When Carly comes home late from work one day to discover that the dog walker has accidentally switched out Baxter for another perkier, friendlier basset hound, she has reached the end of her leash. When Max Sheffington finds a depressed male basset hound in place of his cheerful Hazel, he is bewildered. But when cute, fiery Carly… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Cyberbullying

The Opportunist by Tarryn Fisher

Olivia Kaspen has just discovered that her ex-boyfriend, Caleb Drake, has lost his memory. With an already lousy reputation for taking advantage of situations, Olivia must decide how far she is willing to go to get Caleb back. Wrestling to keep her true identity and their sordid past under wraps, Olivia’s greatest obstacle is Caleb’s wicked, new girlfriend; Leah Smith. It is a race to the finish as these two vipers engage in a vicious tug of war to possess a man who no longer remembers them. But, soon enough Olivia must face the consequences of her lies, and in the process discover that sometimes love falls short of redemption.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny & ableism (r slur)
  • Amnesia & memory loss (love interest)
  • Suicidal ideation

Best of Luck by Kate Clayborn

Greer Hawthorne is finally on the cusp of proving to her big, overprotective family that shes independent until a careless mistake jeopardizes her plan to graduate. Lucky for her, theres someone in town who may be able to help. Alex Averin plans to show up for his sisters wedding, then get straight back to his job as a world-renowned photojournalist. But when gorgeous, good-hearted Greer needs an assist with a photography project, he’s powerless to say no. Can a ceaseless wanderer find a stopping place alongside a woman determined to set out on her own, or are Alex and Greer both pushing their luck too far?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism and internalised ableism
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Parent with alcoholism & gambling addiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of mother recounted
  • Poverty recounted

The Other Side of Disappearing by Kate Clayborn

Hairstylist Jess Greene has spent the last decade raising her younger half-sister, Tegan—and keeping a shocking secret. Ever since their reckless mother ran off with a boyfriend she’d known only a few months, Jess has been aware that he’s the same accomplished con man who was the subject of a wildly popular podcast, The Last Con of Lynton Baltimore. Now thirty-one, Jess didn’t bargain on Tegan eventually piecing together the connection for herself. But Tegan plans to do exactly what Jess has always feared—leave their safe, stable home to search for their mother… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Homophobic bullying mentioned
  • Parental abandonment & divorce recounted
  • Minor physical injuries of a child mentioned (secondary character)
  • Death of a friend from suicide by drowning recounted
  • Death of an uncle in a car accident mentioned
  • Death of a mother from heart disease mentioned (secondary character)
  • Death of a secondary character from lung cancer mentioned