Tag Archives: Abusive Relationship

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of abusive relationships, and domestic and intimate partner abuse & violence. This includes all kinds of emotional, verbal, psychological, and physical abuse perpetrated by a spouse or intimate partner.

A Winter in New York by Josie Silver

When Iris decides to move to New York to restart her life, she realizes she underestimated how big the Big Apple really is—all the nostalgic movies set in New York she’d watched with her mom while eating their special secret-recipe gelato didn’t quite do it justice. But Bobby, Iris’s best friend, isn’t about to let her hide away. He drags her to a famous autumn street fair in Little Italy, and as they walk through the food stalls, a little family-run gelateria catches her eye—could it be the same shop that’s in an old photo of her mother’s? Curious, Iris returns the next day and meets the handsome Gio, who tells her that the shop is in danger of… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Intimate partner abuse including emotional abuse and confinement recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Relative with memory loss from a stroke mentioned (uncle)
  • Death of a mother from cancer recounted
  • Death of a wife recounted

The Sea in You by Jessi Sheron

15-year-old Corinth was just trying to clean up the beach; she never expected to meet a mermaid, let alone be nearly drowned by one. It was the start of a very strange friendship! After Skylla, the deadly fanged mermaid, mysteriously lets Corinth live, they grow closer through a cautious exchange of stories, gifts, jokes, and sign language. Mermaids, it turns out, eat people, but however terrifying Skylla may look, she’s a little younger, a little smaller, and perhaps a little too soft for all that. Bewitched by Corinth and their growing bond, she learns about all the best things in life on books, burgers, donuts, and this strange… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Abusive relationship

All Hours by Andie J. Christopher

A RESTLESS ROMANTIC
Felix Pascual misses being someone’s boyfriend, which is why he’s willing to get set up by the only Hernandez he’ll admit to liking (out loud)—Lola. But when he gets to the restaurant he finds that Lola has matched him up with none other than Joaquin Delgado, a man who has never shown one iota of interest in him.. And Joaquin doesn’t seem any more open to Felix’s unique charms this time around.

A SKEPTICAL SUITOR
Joaquin will do anything for his grandmother… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Queermisia mentioned
  • Emotionally abusive relationship recounted
  • Childbirth recounted

A Line in the Dark by Malinda Lo

The most important thing is that Jess Wong is Angie Redmond’s best friend, even if Angie can’t see how she truly feels. It’s okay that Jess is the girl on the sidelines that nobody notices. That means she’s free to watch everyone else and be at Angie’s side. But when Angie starts falling for Margot, a girl from the nearby boarding school, Jess can already see what’s going to happen. As Angie drags Jess further into Margot’s circle, Jess finds more than her friend’s growing crush. Secrets lie just beneath the carefree surface of this world, and when they come out, Jess knows Angie won’t be able to handle the consequences… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Lesbomisia
  • Homomisia
  • Racism
  • Statutory rape
  • Abusive relationship
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Murder
  • Bullying

Hello, Transcriber by Hannah Morrissey

Every night, while the street lamps shed the only light on Wisconsin’s most crime-ridden city, police transcriber Hazel Greenlee listens as detectives divulge Black Harbor’s gruesome secrets. As an aspiring writer, Hazel believes that writing a novel could be her only ticket out of this frozen hellscape. And then her neighbour confesses to hiding the body of an overdose victim in a dumpster. The suspicious death is linked to Candy Man, a notorious drug dealer. Now Hazel has a first-row seat to the investigation and becomes captivated by the lead detective, Nikolai… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Abusive relationship
  • Depression
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Death of a child from a drug overdose
  • Animal hunting & dead bodies, off-page

Love Scenes by Bridget Morrissey

Out-of-work actress Sloane Ford is in desperate need of something to do after losing her steady TV gig. When her famous family ropes her into working as a producer on their World War II-era romance, they neglect to mention that the film will be headlined by Joseph Donovan, her least favourite former co-star of all time. The roguish actor made her life a living hell the last time they worked together, using his movie star good looks and Irish charm to cover for his erratic professional behaviour. On their new film set, he promises he’s different now, but Sloane is… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety
  • Toxic relationship recounted
  • Alcoholism recovery
  • Death of a mother recounted, off-page

Deep Dark Secrets by Keri Beevis

Deep Dark Secrets by Keri Beevis

Lizzie Kent wasn’t supposed to babysit the night she was murdered. She was covering for her best friend, Nell. Nell has lived with the guilt ever since. Eighteen years later Nell returns to the area, desperate to escape a bad relationship after inheriting her aunt’s rundown guesthouse. But her return isn’t welcomed by everyone – in particular Sam Kent, who blames Nell for his sister’s death. And after a few unsettling incidents, it becomes apparent that someone is trying to scare her. Is Sam responsible or has Nell’s abusive ex-boyfriend managed to track her down? Or is someone else, with a more sinister agenda, responsible?

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Abusive relationship recounted
  • Murder of a friend in a home invasion recounted

Lies Like Poison by Chelsea Pitcher

Lies Like Poison by Chelsea Pitcher

Poppy, Lily, and Belladonna would do anything to protect their best friend, Raven. So when they discovered he was suffering abuse at the hands of his stepmother, they came up with a lethal plan: petals of poppy, belladonna, and lily in her evening tea so she’d never be able to hurt Raven again. But someone got cold feet, the plot faded to a secret of the past, and the group fell apart. Three years later, on the eve of Raven’s seventeenth birthday, his stepmother turns up dead. But it’s only belladonna found in her tea, and it’s only Belladonna who’s carted off to jail… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Abusive relationship
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Eating disorder (anorexia)
  • Physical assault

Wicked Princess by Ashley Jade

Wicked Princess by Ashley Jade

Welcome to their kingdom. They call me a heartless bitch. An evil manipulator. A wicked princess who enjoys hurting people. They tell me terrible things happened. Things that changed my life forever. Only problem is… I can’t remember any of it.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Abusive relationship
  • Physical assault resulting in memory loss
  • Hospitalisation
  • Car accident recounted
  • Bullying recounted

The Words by Ashley Jade

The Words by Ashley Jade

He was the talented bad boy everyone wanted. I was the irrelevant geek everyone hated. He was the sun, drawing all of us in. I was a black hole, taking up space. He was destined to be a star. I was destined to remain an insignificant no one. Until he made me believe I was special… And then he destroyed me. I never thought I’d see Phoenix Walker again after he broke my heart, but fate had other plans. One tour. Eight weeks. Forty shows. Countless opportunities to make him pay. The world thought he was a God… But I knew the truth.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia & body-shaming (theme)
  • Dubious consent scenario, on-page
  • Child abuse
  • Abusive & toxic relationship
  • Recovery from substance abuse issues
  • Parent with early-onset dementia
  • Disordered eating as a coping mechanism for grief mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse recounted
  • Drug abuse & use recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother during childbirth recounted
  • Bullying*

*Context : The heroine is hired as the hero’s sober companion. The heroine was bullied for her weight in high school.