Skim by Mariko Tamaki

Skim by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Jillian Tamaki

“Skim” is Kimberly Keiko Cameron, a not-slim, would-be Wiccan goth who goes to a private girls’ school. When Skim’s classmate Katie Matthews is dumped by her boyfriend, who then kills himself, the entire school goes into mourning overdrive. As concerned guidance counselors provide lectures on the “cycle of grief,” and the popular clique starts a new club (Girls Celebrate Life!) to bolster school spirit, Skim sinks into an ever-deepening depression.

And falling in love only makes things worse…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Sexual harassment (groping)
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Suicide
  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a boyfriend
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The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman

The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman

The Secret Commonwealth by Philip Pullman book cover

It is twenty years since the events of La Belle Sauvage: The Book of Dust Volume One unfolded and saw the baby Lyra Belacqua begin her life-changing journey.

It is seven years since readers left Lyra and the love of her young life, Will Parry, on a park bench in Oxford’s Botanic Gardens at the end of the ground-breaking, bestselling His Dark Materials sequence.

Now, in The Secret Commonwealth, we meet Lyra Silvertongue. And she is no longer a child . . .

The second volume of Sir Philip Pullman’s The Book of Dust sees Lyra, now twenty years old, and her daemon Pantalaimon, forced to navigate their relationship in a way they could never have imagined, and drawn into the complex and dangerous factions of a world that they had no idea existed.

Pulled along on his own journey too is Malcolm; once a boy with a boat and a mission to save a baby from the flood, now a man with a strong sense of duty and a desire to do what is right.

Theirs is a world at once familiar and extraordinary, and they must travel far beyond the edges of Oxford, across Europe and into Asia, in search for what is lost – a city haunted by daemons, a secret at the heart of a desert, and the mystery of the elusive Dust.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape, including attempted gang rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Adult-minor relationship, specifically teacher-student
  • Suicide
  • Murder
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Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up with Me by Mariko Tamaki and illustrated by Rosemary Valero-O’Connell

The day they got together was the best one of Freddy’s life, but nothing’s made sense since. Laura Dean is popular, funny, and SO CUTE … but she can be really thoughtless, even mean. Their on-again, off-again relationship has Freddy’s head spinning — and Freddy’s friends can’t understand why she keeps going back.

When Freddy consults the services of a local mystic, the mysterious Seek-Her, she isn’t thrilled with the advice she receives. But something’s got to give: Freddy’s heart is breaking in slow motion, and she may be about to lose her very best friend as well as her last shred of self-respect. Fortunately for Freddy, there are new friends, and the insight of advice columnist Anna Vice, to help her through being a teenager in love.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Statutory rape mentioned
  • Toxic relationship (theme)
  • Cheating (on- & off-page)
  • Adult-minor relationship discussed*
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Unwanted teen pregnancy
  • Abortion (off-page)
  • Hospital
  • Emesis
  • Bullying mentioned

*Note: Sexual relationship between a seventeen-year-old girl and a older married man.

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From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armentrout

From Blood & Ash by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Chosen from birth to usher in a new era, Poppy’s life has never been her own. The life of the Maiden is solitary. Never to be touched. Never to be spoken to. Waiting for the day of her Ascension, she would rather be with the guards, fighting back the evil that took her family, than preparing to be found worthy by the gods. But the choice has never been hers. The entire kingdom’s future rests on Poppy’s shoulders. And when Hawke, a golden-eyed guard honor bound to ensure her Ascension, enters her life, destiny and duty become tangled with desire and need.

Forsaken by the gods and feared by mortals, a fallen kingdom is rising once more, determined to take back what they believe is theirs through violence and vengeance. And as the shadow of those cursed draws closer, the line between what is forbidden and what is right becomes blurred. Poppy is not only on the verge of losing her heart and being found unworthy by the gods, but also her life when every blood-soaked thread that holds her world together begins to unravel.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Disfigurmisia & internalised disfigurmisia
  • Slavery
  • Sexual assault (on-page)
  • Physical, psychological & emotional abuse, including gaslighting
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Relationship between an adult and a teenager (18-year-old)
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Blood drinking
  • Graphic descriptions of dead bodies
  • Scars
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a child mentioned
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Imprisonment
  • Whipping/flogging
  • War themes
  • Animal death
  • Bullying
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Unbelievable by Sara Shepard

Unbelievable by Sara Shepard book cover

Four pretty little liars’ charmed lives have turned into living nightmares. Emily’s been shipped off to Iowa to live with her überconservative cousins. Aria’s boyfriend is behind bars—because of her. Spencer’s afraid she was involved in Ali’s murder. But Hanna’s fate is far worse: She’s clinging to life in the hospital because she knew too much. These liars have tried to keep their scandals secret, but the truth is about to rock their pretty little world!

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism, fatphobia & and body shaming
  • Homophobia & outing mentioned, including parental disownment
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Amnesia & blackouts mentioned
  • Eating disorder (bulimia)
  • Panic attacks
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Hospitalisation for injury & coma
  • Attempted murder
  • Physical assault mentioned
  • Blackmail & stalking (theme)

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard book cover

Everyone has something to hide, especially high school juniors Spencer, Aria, Emily, and Hanna. Spencer covets her sister’s boyfriend. Aria’s fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily’s crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they’ve all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished. How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and the dirty secrets they’ve kept. And guess what? I’m telling.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatphobia &body shaming
  • Misogyny, slut-shaming, ableism & racism
  • Homophobia & lesbophobia
  • Child emotional abuse & neglect
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Sexual harassment
  • Infidelity
  • Eating disorders (bulimia), including disordered food thoughts, binging, and purging (on-page) and discussions of weight loss
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & recreational drug use
  • Murder
  • Stalking & blackmail (theme)
  • Car accident
  • Bullying

Perfect by Sara Shepard

Perfect by Sara Shepard book cover

Aria can’t resist her forbidden ex. Hanna is on the verge of losing her BFF. Emily is freaking out over a simple kiss. And Spencer can’t keep her hands off anything that belongs to her sister. Lucky me. I know these pretty little liars better than they know themselves. But it’s hard keeping all of their secrets to myself. They better do as I say… or else!

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism, racism, misogyny, & slut-shaming
  • Fatphobia & body shaming
  • Lesbophobia
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Child emotional abuse & neglect
  • Infidelity
  • Amnesia, memory loss & blackouts
  • Suicide & attempted suicide recounted
  • Self-harm recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Gun violence recounted
  • Stalking & blackmail
  • Bullying

Flawless by Sara Shepard

Flawless by Sara Shepard book cover

Spencer stole her sister’s boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. And Hanna’s obsession with looking flawless is literally making her sick. But the most horrible secret of all is something so scandalous it could destroy their perfect little lives. And someone named “A” is threatening to do just that. At first they thought A was Alison, their friend who vanished three years ago . . . but then Alison turned up dead. So could A be Melissa, Spencer’s ultra-competitive sister? Or Maya, who wants… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatphobia & body shaming
  • Ableism, racism & misogyny
  • Lesbophobia & outing mentioned
  • Sexual assault/attempted rape & incestuous child sexual abuse
  • Eating disorder (bulimia), including discussions of bingeing &purging
  • Panic attack
  • Suicide & self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption & recreational drug use
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Fire
  • Blackmail & stalking (theme)
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Bullying

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood’s powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows – everyone knows – that the Dragon will take beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, her dearest friend in the world. There is no way to save her. But no one can predict how or why the Dragon chooses a girl and when he comes, it is not Kasia he will take with him…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Attempted rape (on-page, detailed)
  • Cheating recounted
  • Adult-minor relationship*
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Body horror
  • Minor physical injuries (burns)
  • Death of a brother
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Murder
  • Knife violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • War themes & military violence
  • Graphic animal death
  • Animal attack

*Note: The main romance is between a seventeen-year-old girl and an immortal 100-(plus)-year-old man.

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Assassin’s Apprentice by Robin Hobb

In a faraway land where members of the royal family are named for the virtues they embody, one young boy will become a walking enigma. Born on the wrong side of the sheets, Fitz, son of Chivalry Farseer, is a royal bastard, cast out into the world, friendless and lonely. Only his magical link with animals – the old art known as the Wit – gives him solace and companionship. But the Wit, if used too often, is a perilous magic, and one abhorred by the nobility… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Misogyny
  • Adult-minor relationship discussed
  • Parental abandonment
  • Domestic abuse
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Suicide, attempted suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Depression
  • Alcoholism
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Recreational drug use & abuse
  • Infertility mentioned
  • Emesis
  • Physical injuries
  • Death of a father & husband
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Poisoning
  • Torture
  • Whipping
  • War themes
  • Graphic animal death, including multiple death of pet dogs
  • Animal cruelty & abuse
  • Hunting
  • Animal attack mentioned