Tag Archives: Animal Cruelty, Abuse & Torture

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of animal abuse, cruelty, and torture.

See also Animal death, Animal illness & injury, and Animal attack.

Chainbreaker by Tara Sim

Clock mechanic Danny Hart knows he’s being watched. But by whom, or what, remains a mystery. To make matters worse, clock towers have begun falling in India, though time hasn’t Stopped yet. He’d hoped after reuniting with his father and exploring his relationship with Colton, he’d have some time to settle into his new life. Instead, he’s asked to investigate the attacks. After inspecting some of the fallen Indian towers, he realizes the British occupation may be sparking more than just attacks. And as Danny and Colton unravel… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & ableism
  • Parent in psychiatric care
  • Death of a father mentioned
  • Murder & torture
  • Explosion
  • Police brutality mentioned
  • Attempted kidnapping
  • Plane crash (airship)
  • Animal cruelty

The Loop by Jeremy Robert Johnson

Turner Falls is a small tourist town nestled in the hills of western Oregon, the kind of town you escape to for a vacation. When an inexplicable outbreak rapidly develops, this idyllic town becomes the epicenter of an epidemic of violence as the teenaged children of several executives from the local biotech firm become ill and aggressively murderous. Suddenly the town is on edge, and Lucy and her friends must do everything it takes just to fight through the night.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Child neglect
  • Suicide
  • Alcoholism
  • Drug use
  • Car accident (on-page)
  • Graphic animal death & animal abuse
  • Bullying

Unmissing by Minka Kent

Merritt Coletto and her husband, Luca, have the life they dreamed of: a coastal home, a promising future, and a growing family. That dream ends with a late-night knock on the door. Weak, broken, and emaciated, it’s Luca’s first wife, Lydia. Missing for ten years, presumed dead, and very much alive, she has quite a story. Her kidnapping. A torturous confinement that should’ve ended with her dead. And finally, escape. Racked with guilt over the beautiful life they’ve built, Merritt and Luca agree to help get Lydia back on her feet—it’s the least they can do. But the more enmeshed… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Fertility issues
  • Torture mentioned
  • Animal cruelty

Bat Eater and Other Names for Cora Zeng by Kylie Lee Baker

Cora Zeng is a crime scene cleaner, washing away the remains of brutal murders and suicides in Chinatown. The bloody messes don’t bother her, not when she’s already witnessed the most horrific thing possible: her sister being pushed in front of a train. Before fleeing the scene, the murderer whispered two words: bat eater. Months pass, the killer is never caught, and Cora can barely keep herself together. She pushes away all feelings, disregards the bite marks that appear on her coffee table, and won’t take her aunt’s advice to prepare for the Hungry Ghost Festival… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic racist & anti-Asian hate crimes
  • Parental abandonment & nglect
  • Health anxiety & intrusive thoughts
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore dpeiction and body horror
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Murder
  • Police brutality mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Car accient
  • Fire
  • Animal cruelty & dead bodies

The Winter Garden by Alexandra Bell

Welcome to the Winter Gardens of Half Moon House. Please do not mishandle the exhibits. (The owners accept no liability for any events that occur, magical or otherwise…) The Winter Garden open at the stroke of midnight with no great fanfare – after all, this is a time when all virtuous folk should be in bed. But for the few curious souls that brave the opening of its gates what enchantments await. There is all manner of strange and spectacular flora and fauna collected on her travels by the scandalous Lady Beatrice Sitwell and exhibited for the delight of paying customers. By… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape & sexual assault
  • Domestic abuse
  • Drug abuse
  • Depression
  • Death of a child & parent
  • Animal abuse

His Tesoro by Emilia Rossi

Sofiya: I’ve spent years hidden away to protect my father from the shame of having a defective daughter. The head of the Bratva can’t be associated with weakness—and to him, that’s all I am. That is, until a marriage alliance gives him the opportunity to finally be rid of me. As I head down the aisle towards my mysterious husband, I hope I’m moving towards love and freedom. But Matteo makes it clear he wants nothing to do with me. I wish I could return his coldness, but the dangerous Don sets my body ablaze whenever he’s near. Matteo: My life has been defined… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & misogyny
  • Threats of sexual assault
  • Arranged marriage
  • Child abuse
  • Infertility mentioned (secondary character) & unplanned pregnancy
  • Medical marijuana use
  • Chronic illness (protagonist with hypermobile ehlers-danlos syndrome)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Murder & torture
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal cruelty mentioned (secondary character)

The Lions’ Run by Sara Pennypacker

Petit éclair. That’s what the other boys at the orphanage call Lucas DuBois. Lucas is tired of his cowardly reputation, just as he’s tired of the war and the Nazi occupation of his French village. He longs to show how brave he can be. He gets the chance when he saves a litter of kittens from cruel boys and brings them to an abandoned stable to care for them. There he comes upon a stranger who is none too happy to see Alice, the daughter of a horse trainer, who is hiding her filly from German soldiers. Soon Lucas begins to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Discussions of Lebensborn hospitals (where unmarried pregnant women were forced to adopt out their children as part of a Nazi-German eugenics program)
  • Death of parents recounted
  • World War II (theme)
  • Bullying
  • Animal cruelty & death mentioned (bullies attempt to drowning a litter of kittens but the protagonist is able to save the majority of them)

Destiny’s Captive by Beverly Jenkins

Noah Yates fully believes in the joys of a happy family and a good wife. But that’s not the life for him. No, he would much rather sail the wild seas in search of adventure, not tied down. But then the unthinkable happens . . . he finds himself literally tied down. To a bed. By a woman. And Pilar isn’t just an ordinary woman. She’s descended from pirates. And after giving him one of the worst nights of his life, she steals his ship! Now Noah is on the hunt, and he’ll stop at nothing to find this extraordinary woman . . . and make her his.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Rape recounted
  • Serious physical injury to a spouse
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Gun violence
  • Animal cruelty

Redemption Point by Candice Fox

When former police detective Ted Conkaffey was wrongly accused of abducting Claire Bingley, he hoped the Queensland rainforest town of Crimson Lake would be a good place to disappear. But nowhere is safe from Claire’s devastated father. Dale Bingley has a brutal revenge plan all worked out – and if Ted doesn’t help find the real abductor, he’ll be its first casualty. Meanwhile, in a dark roadside hovel called the Barking Frog Inn, the bodies of two young bartenders lie on the beer-sodden floor. It’s Detective Inspector Pip Sweeney’s first homicide investigation – c… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia, grooming & child sexual abuse recounted
  • Rape recounted
  • Cheating
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Police corruption mentioned
  • Wrongful incarceration
  • Animal cruelty

How to Kill Men and Get Away With It by Katy Brent

Meet Kitty Collins. FRIEND. LOVER. KILLER. He was following me. That guy from the nightclub who wouldn’t leave me alone. I hadn’t intended to kill him of course. But I wasn’t displeased when I did and, despite the mess I made, I appeared to get away with it. That’s where my addiction started… I’ve got a taste for revenge and quite frankly, I’m killing it.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Date rape, gang rape, paedophilia, incest, sexual assault & rape culture discussed
  • Alcohol & drug abuse
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Dismemberment
  • Graphic murder & torture
  • Animal cruelty