We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

Before We Were Strangers by Renee Carlino

To the Green-eyed Lovebird: We met fifteen years ago, almost to the day, when I moved my stuff into the NYU dorm room next to yours at Senior House. You called us fast friends. I like to think it was more.

We lived on nothing but the excitement of finding ourselves through music (you were obsessed with Jeff Buckley), photography (I couldn’t stop taking pictures of you), hanging out in Washington Square Park, and all the weird things we did to make money… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Death of a spouse
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The Crooked Mask by Rachel Burge

The Crooked Mask by Rachel Burge

Deep in a forest in Northern Norway lies the Circus of Myth & Mayhem. Martha is certain that unsolved mysteries are hidden there – and talks her way into getting a job as a psychic.

She soon learns there’s something very strange about the circus. Costumed performers re-enact stories of the Norse gods wearing masks, which move and change expression, yet no one notices but her. And then there’s the creepy jester who invites her to ‘play’… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Disfigurmisia and internalised disfigurmisia
  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Parent with alcoholism mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Eyeball trauma & loss of vision (theme)
  • Scars
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother recounted
  • Death of a father in a car accident recounted
  • Murder
  • Death from a fall
  • Hanging mentioned
  • Teen homelessness
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The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

The Tenant of Wildfell Hall by Anne Brontë

In this sensational, hard-hitting and passionate tale of marital cruelty, The Tenant of Wildfell Hall sees a mysterious tenant, Helen Graham, unmasked not as a ‘wicked woman’ as the local gossips would have it, but as the estranged wife of a brutal alcoholic bully, desperate to protect her son. Using her own experiences with her brother Branwell to depict the cruelty and debauchery from which Helen flees, Anne Bronte wrote her masterpiece to reflect the fragile position of women in society and her belief in universal redemption but scandalized readers of the time.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Spouse with alcoholism
  • Animal abuse
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Steadfast by Sarina Bowen

Steadfast by Sarina Bowen

Jude lost everything one spring day when he crashed his car into an apple tree on the side of the road. A man is dead, and there’s no way he can ever right that wrong. He’d steer clear of Colebury, Vermont forever if he could. But an ex-con in recovery for his drug addiction can’t find a job just anywhere.

For Sophie Haines, coming face to face with the man who broke her heart is gut-wrenching. Suddenly, he’s everywhere she turns. It’s hard not to stare… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Parental neglect
  • Alcoholism
  • Substance addiction
  • Vehicular manslaughter
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Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright 

Red Riding Hood by Sarah Blakley-Cartwright

Valerie’s sister was beautiful, kind, and sweet. Now she is dead. Henry, the handsome son of the blacksmith, tries to console Valerie, but her wild heart beats fast for another: the outcast woodcutter, Peter, who offers Valerie another life far from home.

After her sister’s violent death, Valerie’s world begins to spiral out of control. For generations, the Wolf has been kept at bay with a monthly sacrifice. But now no one is safe. When an expert Wolf hunter arrives, the villagers learn that the creature lives among them–it… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Amputation
  • Torture
  • Animal death
  • Animal attack
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Noughts and Crosses by Malorie Blackman 

Noughts & Crosses by Malorie Blackman

Sephy is a Cross: dark-skinned and beautiful, she lives a life of privilege and power. But she’s lonely, and burns with injustice at the world she sees around her. Callum is a nought: pale-skinned and poor, he’s considered to be less than nothing – a blanker, there to serve Crosses – but he dreams of a better life.

They’ve been friends since they were children, and they both know that’s as far as it can ever go. Noughts and Crosses are fated to be bitter enemies… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Domestic abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicide
  • Murder
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How Hard Can Love Be by Holly Bourne 

How Hard Can Love Be? by Holly Bourne

All Amber wants is a little bit of love. Her mum has never been the caring type, even before she moved to California, got remarried and had a personality transplant. But Amber’s hoping that spending the summer with her can change all that.

And then there’s prom king Kyle, the guy all the girls want. Can he really be interested in anti-cheerleader Amber? Even with best friends Evie and Lottie’s advice, there’s no escaping the fact: love is hard.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Emesis
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If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier

If I Disappear by Eliza Jane Brazier

Sera loves true crime podcasts. They make her feel empowered in a world where women just like her disappear daily. She’s sure they are preparing her for something. So when Rachel, her favourite podcast host, goes missing, Sera knows it’s time to act. Rachel has always taught her to trust her instincts.

Sera follows the clues hidden in the episodes to an isolated ranch outside Rachel’s small hometown to begin her search. She’s convinced her… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Alcoholism
  • Miscarriage
  • Animal death
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Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

Black Sun by Rebecca Roanhorse

In the holy city of Tova, the winter solstice is usually a time for celebration and renewal, but this year it coincides with a solar eclipse, a rare celestial event proscribed by the Sun Priest as an unbalancing of the world. Meanwhile, a ship launches from a distant city bound for Tova and set to arrive on the solstice. The captain of the ship, Xiala, is a disgraced Teek whose song can calm the waters around her as easily as it can warp a man’s mind.

Her ship carries one passenger. Described as harmless, the passenger… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery mentioned
  • Homomisia mentioned
  • Abandonment
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Emotional & physical abuse
  • Suicide
  • Alcoholism
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Drug use
  • Blood depiction
  • Physical injury
  • Beheading
  • Forced blinding
  • Scarring
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a child
  • Mass murder
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping
  • Physical assault
  • Imprisonment
  • Cult
  • Animal death
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She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippencott

She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippencott

She Gets the Girl by Rachael Lippincott

Alex Blackwood is a little bit headstrong, with a dash of chaos and a whole lot of flirt. She knows how to get the girl. Keeping her on the other hand…not so much. Molly Parker has everything in her life totally in control, except for her complete awkwardness with just about anyone besides her mom. She knows she’s in love with the impossibly cool Cora Myers. She just…hasn’t actually talked to her yet.

Alex and Molly don’t belong on the same planet, let alone the same college campus. But when Alex, fresh off a bad (but hopefully not permanent) breakup… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Internalised racism
  • Slut-shaming
  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Alcohol consumption
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