Animal Cruelty, Abuse & Torture – Page 18

The Great Trouble by Deborah Hopkinson

The Great Trouble by Deborah Hopkinson

Eel has troubles of his own: As an orphan and a “mudlark,” he spends his days in the filthy River Thames, searching for bits of things to sell. He’s being hunted by Fisheye Bill Tyler, and a nastier man never walked the streets of London. And he’s got a secret that costs him four precious shillings a week to keep safe. But even for Eel, things aren’t so bad until that fateful August day in 1854—the day the deadly cholera (“blue death”) comes to Broad Street… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child abuse
Cholera epidemic
Dead bodies mentioned
Death of a parent mentioned
Physical assault
Kidnapping & captivity
Animal abuse

The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude

The May Queen Murders by Sarah Jude

Those are the rules in Rowan’s Glen, a remote farming community in the Missouri Ozarks where Ivy Templeton’s family has lived for centuries. It’s an old-fashioned way of life, full of superstition and traditions, and sixteen-year-old Ivy loves it. The other kids at school may think the Glen kids are weird, but Ivy doesn’t care—she has her cousin Heather as her best friend. The two girls share everything with each other—or so Ivy thinks. When Heather goes missing after a May Day celebration, Ivy discovers that both her best friend and her beloved hometown are as full of secrets as the woods that surround them.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Bury Your Gays trope
Murder
Physical assault
Animal cruelty

She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard

She’s Too Pretty to Burn by Wendy Heard

The summer is winding down in San Diego. Veronica is bored, caustically charismatic, and uninspired in her photography. Nico is insatiable, subversive, and obsessed with chaotic performance art. They’re artists first, best friends second. But that was before Mick. Delicate, lonely, magnetic Mick: the perfect subject, and Veronica’s dream girl. The days are long and hot―full of adventure―and soon they are falling in love. Falling so hard, they never imagine what comes next. One fire. Two murders. Three drowning bodies… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Emotional child abuse
Toxic mother-daughter relationship
Panic attack
Blood depiction
Death of a child
Murder
Kidnapping
Fire
Strangulation
Car accident
Drowning
Vivisepulture (buried alive)
Animal death
Animal cruelty

Malice of Crows by Lila Bowen

Malice of Crows by Lila Bowen

The Ranger known as Rhett has shut down a terrible enterprise running on the blood of magical folk but failed to catch the dark alchemist behind it. And now the Shadow refuses to let him rest. Rhett must make the ultimate transformation if he has any hope of stopping the alchemist or fulfilling his destiny; he must become the leader of a new Rangers outpost. To save his friends, and the lives of countless others, he’ll first have to lead them on a mission more dangerous than anything they’ve ever faced.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Suicide
Surgery
Emesis
Poisoning
Gun violence
Animal abuse

Almost Home by Joan Bauer

Almost Home by Joan Bauer

When twelve-year-old Sugar’s grandfather dies and her gambling father takes off yet again, Sugar and her mother lose their home in Missouri. They head to Chicago for a fresh start, only to discover that fresh starts aren’t so easy to come by for the homeless. Nevertheless, Sugar’s mother has taught her to be grateful no matter what, so Sugar does her best. With the help of a rescue dog, Shush; a foster family; a supportive teacher; a love of poetry; and her own grace and good humor, Sugar comes to understand that while she can’t control the hand life deals her, she can control how she responds.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment
Parent with alcoholism
Hospitalisation
Death of a grandfather
Animal abuse mentioned

13 Days of Midnight by Leo Hunt

13 Days of Midnight by Leo Hunt

When Luke Manchett’s estranged father dies unexpectedly, he leaves his son a dark inheritance: a Host of eight unique, powerful, and restless spirits. Unfortunately, Luke has no clue how to manage them, which the ghosts figure out pretty quickly. Armed with only his father’s indecipherable notes and a locked copy of The Book of Eight, Luke struggles to adapt to his new role as a necromancer. Meanwhile, the increasingly belligerent Host mutinies, possesses Luke’s mother, and forces him out of his own house… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Animal cruelty
Death of a father

Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett

Onyx and Ivory by Mindee Arnett

They call her Traitor Kate. It’s a title Kate Brighton inherited from her father after he tried to assassinate the high king years ago. Now Kate lives as an outcast, clinging to the fringes of society as a member of the Relay, the imperial courier service. Only those most skilled in riding and bow hunting ride for the Relay; and only the fastest survive, for when dark falls, the nightdrakes—deadly flightless dragons—come out to hunt. Fortunately, Kate has a secret edge: she is a wilder, born with magic that allows her to influence the minds of animals. But it’s this magic that she needs to keep hidden, as being a wilder is forbidden… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Gun & sword violence
Animal attack
Animal abuse mentioned (horse)

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins

When a young man is found gruesomely murdered in a London houseboat, it triggers questions about three women who knew him. Laura is the troubled one-night-stand last seen in the victim’s home. Carla is his grief-stricken aunt, already mourning the recent death of yet another family member. And Miriam is the nosy neighbour clearly keeping secrets from the police. Three women with separate connections to the victim. Three women who are – for different reasons – simmering with resentment. Who are, whether they know it or not, burning to right the wrongs… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Fatmisia
Incest
Alcoholism
Infertility mentioned
Physical injury
Death of a child
Murder
Car accident
Animal death
Animal cruelty

The Woods by Harlan Coben

The Woods by Harlan Coben

Twenty years ago at summer camp, Paul Copeland’s sister died in the woods, the alleged victim of a serial killer. Her body was never found. Now, Paul is the prosecutor for Essex County, New Jersey, immersed in one of the biggest cases of his career-a case that will change everything he believes about the past…and the truth.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape
Misogyny
Animal death
Animal cruelty
Mentions of children starving to death

They Belong Only to Themselves by Brandon Taylor

They Belong Only to Themselves by Brandon Taylor

In They Belong Only to Themselves, two strangers become entwined in each other’s lives during a potluck dinner and struggle with the consequences.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Cheating
Depression
Attempted suicide recounted
Animal cruelty mentioned