The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer

The Reluctant Assassin by Eoin Colfer

​The reluctant assassin is Riley, a Victorian boy who is suddenly plucked from his own time and whisked into the twenty-first century, accused of murder and on the run.

Riley has been pulled into the FBI’s covert W.A.R.P. operation (Witness Anonymous Relocation Program). He and young FBI Agent Chevie Savano are forced to flee terrifying assassin-for-hire Albert Garrick, who pursues Riley through time and will not stop until he has hunted him down. Barely staying one step ahead, Riley and Chevie must stay alive and stop Garrick returning to his own time with knowledge and power that could change the world forever.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dismemberment
  • Nonconsensual body modifications (tattoo)
  • Death from cholera mentioned
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Murder (theme)
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Gun violence
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping
  • Motorcycle accident recounted
  • Death from animal attack (bear) mentioned
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The Wish List by Eoin Colfer

The Wish List by Eoin Colfer

Meg Finn is accidentally killed by her partner-in-crime during a burglary. Her last-minute act of kindness rescues her from being sent through the tunnel directly to hell. After winding up in limbo instead, the girl’s spirit returns to earth in the hope of eventually going through “the Pearlies.”

To make the heavenly cut, Meg goes to the aid of the elderly Lowrie McCall 68, a depressed down-and-out bloke who has four wishes on his list before he dies. But demon Beelzebub wants her soul, too, and he’s sent a “Soul Man” — a vicious dog-boy who murdered her — to retrieve it.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Physical child abuse
  • Murder
  • Explosion
  • Gun violence
  • Death of a mother
  • Animal attack
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The Atlantis Complex by Eoin Colfer

Artemis Fowl & the Atlantic Complex by Eoin Colfer

Artemis’s mother is gravely ill. Unfortunately the cure, an endangered lemur, was made extinct eight years ago . . . by Artemis Fowl. Talk about awkward.

What if he could travel back in time, outwit his former self and bring the lemur home? With the right demon warlock, it might be possible.

But we all remember the young Artemis. He was, to put it mildly, a pretty terrible human being, so this won’t be easy.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Forced marriage mentioned
  • Physical injury
  • Explosion
  • Electrocution
  • Kidnapping
  • Mind control
  • Animal attack
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Blood and Honey by Shelby Mahurin

Blood & Honey by Shelby Mahurin

After narrowly escaping death at the hands of the Dames Blanches, Lou, Reid, Coco, and Ansel are on the run from coven, kingdom, and church—fugitives with nowhere to hide.

To elude the scores of witches and throngs of chasseurs at their heels, Lou and Reid need allies. Strong ones. But protection comes at a price, and the group is forced to embark on separate quests to build their forces. As Lou and Reid try to close the widening rift between them, the dastardly Morgane baits them in a lethal game of cat and mouse that threatens to destroy something worth more than any coven.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Nonconsensual drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a sibling
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal attack
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White Bird by RJ Palacio

White Bird by R.J. Palacio

In R. J. Palacio’s collection of stories Auggie & Me, which expands on characters in Wonder, readers were introduced to Julian’s grandmother, Grandmère. This is Grandmère’s story as a young Jewish girl hidden away by a family in Nazi-occupied France during World War II told in graphic novel form.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Antisemitism
  • Blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies
  • Death of a parent in a concentration camp
  • Gun violence
  • The Holocaust & World War Two (theme)
  • Animal attack
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Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban by JK Rowling

Harry Potter & the Prisoner of Azkaban by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter is lucky to reach the age of thirteen, since he has survived the murderous attacks of the feared Dark Lord on more than one occasion. His hopes for a quiet school term concentrating on Quidditch are dashed, though, when a maniacal mass-murderer escapes from Azkaban, pursued by the soul-sucking Dementors who guard the prison. It’s assumed that Hogwarts is the safest place for Harry to be. But is it his imagination that is making him feel eyes watching him in the dark, and should he be taking Professor Trelawney’s ghoulish predictions seriously?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Classism
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood depiction & physical injuries
  • Grief & depiction
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion recounted
  • Imprisonment & wrongful incarceration
  • Animal attack
  • Animal death & dead bodies
  • Bullying

If you choose to support this novel or author, please reconsider. You can read about the harmful cultural appropriation here, about how she is endangering trans people here, and donate to the queer Indigenous charity Black Rainbow here.

Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets by JK Rowling

Harry Potter & the Chamber of Secrets by J.K. Rowling

Harry Potter can’t wait for his holidays with the dire Dursleys to end. But a small, self-punishing house-elf warns Harry of mortal danger awaiting him at Hogwarts. Returning to the castle nevertheless, Harry hears a rumour about a Chamber of Secrets, holding unknown horrors for wizards of Muggle parentage. Now someone is casting spells that turn people to stone, and a terrible warning is found painted on the wall. The chief suspect – always in the wrong place – is Harry. But something much more terrifying has yet to be unleashed.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Classism
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Slavery
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Blood depiction & physical injuries
  • Beheading discussed
  • Infirmary
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Attempted murder
  • Car accident
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Animal attack
  • Animal illness (pet cat)
  • Animal death & dead bodies
  • Bullying

If you choose to support this novel or author, please reconsider. You can read about the harmful cultural appropriation here, about how she is endangering trans people here, and donate to the queer Indigenous charity Black Rainbow here.

The Opposite of Innocent by Sonya Sones

The Opposite of Innocent by Sonya Sones

Luke has been away for two endless years, but he’s finally returning today. Lily was only twelve when he left. But now, at fourteen, she feels transformed. She can’t wait to see how Luke will react when he sees the new her. And when her mother tells her that Luke will be staying with them for a while, in the bedroom right next to hers, her heart nearly stops.

Having Luke back is better than Lily could have ever dreamed. His lingering looks set Lily on fire. Is she just imagining them? But then, when they’re alone, he kisses her. Then he kisses her again. Lily’s friends think anyone his age who wants to be with a fourteen-year-old must be really messed up. Maybe even dangerous. But Luke would never do anything to hurt her…would he?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Victim blaming
  • Paedophilia, grooming & child sexual abuse
  • Graphic rape by coercion (on-page)
  • Child abuse
  • Abusive relationship
  • Dissociation
  • Alcohol consumption, including forced alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Stalking
  • Car accident recounted
  • Animal attack & death mentioned
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The Loop by Ben Oliver

The Loop by Ben Oliver

It’s Luka Kane’s sixteenth birthday and he’s been inside The Loop for over two years. Every inmate is serving a death sentence with the option to push back their execution date by six months if they opt into “Delays”, scientific and medical experiments for the benefit of the elite in the outside world. But rumors of a war on the outside are spreading amongst the inmates, and before they know it, their tortuous routine becomes disrupted. The government issued rain stops falling. Strange things are happening to the guards. And it’s not long until the inmates are left alone inside the prison… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Suicide
  • Drug use
  • Medical experimentation
  • Amputation
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Animal attack
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The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

The Scorpio Races by Maggie Stiefvater

It happens at the start of every November: the Scorpio Races. Riders attempt to keep hold of their water horses long enough to make it to the finish line. Some riders live. Others die.

At age nineteen, Sean Kendrick is the returning champion. He is a young man of few words, and if he has any fears, he keeps them buried deep, where no one else can see them.

Puck Connolly is different. She never meant to ride in the Scorpio Races. But fate hasn’t given her much of a chance. So she enters the competition — the first girl ever to do so. She is in no way prepared for what is going to happen.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexism (theme)
  • Forced servitude
  • Parental abandonment
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies
  • Physical injuries
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father
  • Death of a friend
  • Animal death & dead bodies
  • Animal injury
  • Animal attack
  • Hunting
  • Poverty themes, including threat of eviction
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