Tag Archives: Alcohol Consumption & Abuse

Friends Forever by Shannon Hale and LeUyen Pham

Shannon is in eighth grade, and life is more complicated than ever. Everything keeps changing. Her classmates are starting to date each other (but nobody wants to date her!), and no matter how hard she tries, Shannon can never seem to just be happy. As she works through her insecurities and undiagnosed depression, she worries about disappointing all the people who care about her. Is something wrong with her? Can she be the person everyone expects her to be? And who does she actually want to be?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment of a minor*
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Bullying

Context: The protagonist is groped by a shopping centre Father Christmas who tells her he ‘wants’ her.

The Widowmaker by Hannah Morrissey

Ever since business mogul Clive Reynolds disappeared twenty years ago, the name “Reynolds” has become synonymous with “murder” and “mystery.” And now, lured by a cryptic note, down-on-her-luck photographer Morgan Mori returns home to Black Harbor and into the web of their family secrets and double lives. The same night she photographs the Reynolds holiday get-together, Morgan becomes witness to a homicide of a cop that triggers the discovery of a long-buried clue. This could finally be the thing to crack open the chilling cold case, and Investigator Ryan Hudson… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Child abuse
  • Incest*
  • Rape of a minor*
  • Sexual assault*
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Police brutality
  • Fire

Context: The protagonist was raped by her uncle as a child. Her half-brother sexually assaults (and possibly rapes) her as well.

That Summer Feeling by Bridget Morrissey

Garland Moore used to believe in magic, the power of optimism, and signs from the universe. Then her husband surprised her with divorce papers over Valentine’s Day dinner. Now Garland isn’t sure what to believe anymore, except that she’s clearly never meant to love again. When new friends invite her to spend a week at their reopened sleepaway camp, she and her sister decide it’s an opportunity to enjoy the kind of summer getaway they never had as kids. If Garland still believed in signs, this would sure seem like one. Summer camp is a chance to let go of her… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Coming out scenes
  • Divorce recounted
  • Infidelity recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis

The Falling Girls by Hayley Krischer

Shade and Jadis are everything to each other. They share clothes, toothbrushes, and even matching stick-and-poke tattoos. So when Shade unexpectedly joins the cheerleading team, Jadis can hardly recognize who her best friend is becoming. Shade loves the idea of falling into a group of girls; she loves the discipline it takes to push her body to the limits alongside these athletes. Most of all, Shade finds herself drawn to The Three Chloes–the insufferable trio that rules the squad–including the enigmatic cheer captain whose dark side is as compelling as it is alarming… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Toxic friendships
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use & abuse including an overdose
  • Physical injury (head injury)
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder

Something Happened to Ali Greenleaf by Hayley Krischer

Ali Greenleaf and Blythe Jensen couldn’t be more different. Ali is sweet, bitingly funny, and just a little naive. Blythe is beautiful, terrifying, and the most popular girl in school. They’ve never even talked to each other, until a party when Ali decides she’ll finally make her move on Sean Nessel, her longtime crush, and the soccer team’s superstar. But Sean pushes Ali farther than she wants to go. When she resists–he rapes her. Blythe sees Ali when she runs from the party, everyone sees her. And Blythe knows something happened with Sean, she knows how he… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Victim-blaming
  • Rape & sexual assault of a minor (theme), on-page
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Overdose
  • Bullying

Sing Me to Sleep by Gabi Burton

Saoirse Sorkova survives on lies. As a soldier-in-training at the most prestigious barracks in the kingdom, she lies about being a siren to avoid execution. At night, working as an assassin for a dangerous group of mercenaries, Saoirse lies about her true identity. And to her family, Saoirse tells the biggest lie of all: that she can control her siren powers and doesn’t struggle constantly against an impulse to kill. As the top trainee in her class, Saoirse would be headed for a bright future if it weren’t for the need to keep her secrets out of the spotlight. But when a mysterious black… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Murder including murder by poisoning, stabbing, and drowning
  • Kidnapping
  • Loss of autonomy (magical coercion)
  • Genocide recounted

Lawn Boy by Jonathan Evison

For Mike Muñoz, a young Chicano living in Washington State, life has been a whole lot of waiting for something to happen. Not too many years out of high school and still doing menial work—and just fired from his latest gig as a lawn boy on a landscaping crew—he knows that he’s got to be the one to shake things up if he’s ever going to change his life. But how? In this funny, angry, touching, and ultimately deeply inspiring novel, bestselling author Jonathan Evison takes the reader into the heart and mind of a young man on a journey to discover himself, a search to find the secret to… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Homophobia
  • Parent with alcoholism

Invisible Son by Keri Beevis

Life can change in an instant. When you’re wrongfully accused of a crime. When a virus shuts everything down. When the girl you love moves on. Andre Jackson is determined to reclaim his identity. But returning from juvie doesn’t feel like coming home. His Portland, Oregon, neighborhood is rapidly gentrifying, and COVID-19 shuts down school before he can return. And Andre’s suspicions about his arrest for a crime he didn’t commit even taint his friendships. It’s as if his whole life has been erased. The one thing Andre is counting on is his relationship  with the Whitaker kids…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger & Content Warnings

Hate, Discrimination & Oppression
  • Racism (theme)
  • Racial slurs recounted
Sex & Sexual Violence

Abuse & Relationships

Mental Health & Suicide
  • Suicide mentioned
Alcohol & Drugs
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Smoking mentioned (cigarettes)
Pregnancy & Childbirth

Medical, Gore & Injury

Death & Loss

Violence & Crime
  • False incarceration of a minor
  • Police violence
    • The protagonist is tackled and held to the ground before his arrest.
    • The murder of George Floyd & Breonna Taylor happens off-page.
War & Genocide
  • Gentrification
Natural Disasters

Animal Death & Cruelty

You Don’t Have a Shot by Racquel Marie

You Don’t Have a Shot by Racquel Marie

Valentina “Vale” Castillo-Green’s life revolves around soccer. Her friends, her future, and her father’s intense expectations are all wrapped up in the beautiful game. But after she incites a fight during playoffs with her long-time rival, Leticia Ortiz, everything she’s been working toward seems to disappear. Embarrassed and desperate to be anywhere but home, Vale escapes to her beloved childhood soccer camp for a summer of relaxation and redemption…only to find out that she and the endlessly aggravating Leticia will be co-captaining a team that could play in front of college scouts. But the competition might be… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Emotional child abuse
  • Anxiety & anxiety attacks
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Physical injuries (minor sports injury)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from breast cancer
  • Bullying

The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis

The Last Laugh by Mindy McGinnis

Tress Montor murdered Felicity Turnado—but she might not have to live with the guilt for long. With an infected arm held together by duct tape, the panther who clawed her open on the loose, and the whole town on the hunt for the lost homecoming queen, the odds are stacked against Tress. As her mind slides deeper into delirium, Tress is haunted by the growing sound of Felicity’s heartbeat pulsing from the “best friend” charm around her fevered neck. Ribbit Usher has been a punchline his whole life—from his nickname to his latest turn as the unwitting star of a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cheating recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Animal abuse