Animal Cruelty, Abuse & Torture – Trigger Warning Database

Say You’ll Remember Me by Abby Jimenez

There might be no such a thing as a perfect guy, but Xavier Rush comes disastrously close. A gorgeous veterinarian giving Greek god vibes—all while cuddling a tiny kitten? Immediately yes. That is until Xavier opens his mouth and proves that even sculpted gods can say the absolute wrong thing. Like, really wrong. Of course, there’s nothing Samantha loves more than proving an asshole wrong…unless, of course, he can admit he made a mistake. But after one incredible and seemingly endless date—possibly the best in living history—Samantha is forced to admit the truth… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Infidelity (secondary character, on-page)
Physical & emotional child abuse recounted & discussed (off-page)
Parent with dementia (on-page)
Animal abuse & neglect mentioned

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig

A group of friends investigates the mystery of a strange staircase in the woods. While on a camping trip, five high-schoolers bound by an oath to always protect one another discover something in the middle of the forest: a mysterious staircase to nowhere. One friend climbs up but does not come back down. Then the staircase disappears. Twenty years later it reappears, and the friends return to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Child abuse
Anxiety & depression
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Self-harm & suicidal ideation
Drug use
Body horror
Emesis
Animal abuse

Dead Happy by Josh Silver

Friends. Welcome to Elmhallow. Seb, along with a select group of participants, finds himself washed up on an isolated island called Elmhallow, under the guardianship of a mysterious couple. As the experiment steps up another level, Seb is forced to team up with Eleanor once more. But where is Finn? And what does HappyHead have in store for them next?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Homophobia
Eugenics
Suicide mentioned
Drug use recounted
Blood & injury depiction
Emesis mentioned
Murder & torture
Physical assault
Animal death & cruelty

The Fourth Monkey by J.D. Barker

For over five years, the Four Monkey Killer has terrorized the residents of Chicago. When his body is found, the police quickly realize he was on his way to deliver one final message, one which proves he has taken another victim who may still be alive. As the lead investigator on the 4MK task force, Detective Sam Porter knows even in death, the killer is far from finished. When he discovers a personal diary in the jacket pocket of the body, Porter finds himself caught up in the mind of a psychopath, unraveling a twisted history in hopes of finding one last girl, all while struggling with personal demons of his own.… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Homophobia
Rape
Child abuse & neglect
Domestic violence
Substance addiction & alcoholism
Drug use
Kidnapping & captivity
Murder
Torture
Gun violence
Animal death & cruelty

Trial by Desire by Courtney Milan

Lady Kathleen Carhart knows all about imperfect marriages. For years, she has secretly helped women escape their violent husbands. She feels she owes it to womankind. After all, her husband is handsome, gentle, amusing…and best of all, he left the country three years ago. She isn’t even bitter about that anymore. Mostly. When Ned Carhart returns in the middle of her most delicate operation to date, her life is thrown into turmoil. She’ll do anything to preserve her secrets…even if it means risking her heart to the man who abandoned her once.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Misogyny
Domestic violence
Depression
Suicidal ideation recounted
Physical injury (broken leg)
Animal abuse

The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett

Everything readers expect from Follett is here: intrigue, fast-paced action, and passionate romance. But what makes The Pillars of the Earth extraordinary is the time the twelfth century; the place feudal England; and the subject the building of a glorious cathedral. Follett has re-created the crude, flamboyant England of the Middle Ages in every detail. The vast forests, the walled towns, the castles, and the monasteries become a familiar landscape. Against this richly imagined and intricately interwoven backdrop, filled with the ravages of war and the rhythms of daily life, the master storyteller draws the reader irresistibly into the intertwined… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Rape
Domestic violence
Animal abuse

The Secret History by Donna Tartt

Under the influence of their charismatic classics professor, a group of clever, eccentric misfits at an elite New England college discover a way of thinking and living that is a world away from the humdrum existence of their contemporaries. But when they go beyond the boundaries of normal morality they slip gradually from obsession to corruption and betrayal, and at last—inexorably—into evil.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism (r slur)
Slut-shaming
Homophobia & slurs
Racism & racial slur
Sexual assault & incest (implied)
Suicide & mentions of suicidal ideation
Drug abuse
Emesis
Murder
Poisoning
Animal death & cruelty

My Husband’s Wife by Alice Feeney

Eden Fox, an artist on the brink of her big break, sets off for a run before her first exhibition. When she returns to the home she recently moved into, Spyglass, an enchanting old house in Hope Falls, nothing is as it should be. Her key doesn’t fit. A woman, eerily similar to her, answers the door. And her husband insists that the stranger is his wife. One house. One husband. Two women. Someone is lying. Six months earlier, a reclusive Londoner called Birdy, reeling from a life-changing diagnosis, inherits Spyglass. This unexpected gift from a long-lost grandmother brings her to the pretty seaside village of Hope Falls. But… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Child abuse & neglect mentioned
Infidelity
Suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Emesis
Terminal cancer
Death of a parent mentioned
Murder
Car accident
Animal death & cruelty mentioned

A War of Wyverns by S.F. Williamson

Who is Vivien Featherswallow? Is she The Swallow, the most wanted rebel in all of Britannia? Is she a Brasstongue on the cusp of translating a new language? Or is she just Viv, the girl who lost the love of her life after playing spy? Though this war might have begun with bombs and teeth, it will be fought with tongues. And Viv will soon learn that everything she thought she knew—even about herself—might be a lie.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Alcohol consumption mentioned & smoking (on-page)
Blood & injury depiction, including amputation
Imprisonment mentioned
War themes & battle scenes, including chemical gassing, knife & crossbow violence, and stabbing
Mythical animal attacks, injuries & cruelty, including torture and death of a dragon from a poisonous bullet

A Sea Monster Conundrum by Lisa Yee

Oof! When reports of ghosts arise around an abandoned lighthouse, Olive and her elite team of underdogs are immediately thrust into a brand new case. After all, ghosts don’t exist . . . right? Real or not, the ghosts draw quite a crowd at Olive’s beloved Reforming Arts School, or RASCH (not “rash”). Turns out everyone wants a glimpse of the ghosts, including . . . the nearby marine life?! Between RASCH’s ghosts and newfound tourism, rumors soon spiral out of control about a sea monster in the bay—snagging unwanted attention from a corrupt mogul. What is going on at RASCH? Does… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Emesis (on-page)
Animal abuse (held in captivity, separating parents from their children)