The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff

The Mark of the Horse Lord by Rosemary Sutcliff 

So began the ceremony that was to make young Phaedrus, ex-slave and gladiator, Horse Lord of the Dalriadain. Phaedrus had come a long way since the fight in the arena that gained him his freedom. He had left behind his old Roman life and identity and had entered another, more primitive, world—that of the British tribes in the far north. In this world of superstition and ancient ritual, of fierce loyalties and intertribal rivalry, Phaedrus found companionship and love, and something more—a purpose and a meaning to his life as he came fully to understand the significance of the Mark of the Horse… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Sexual assault (nonconsensual kiss)
  • Forced arranged marriage
  • Suicide, on-page
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Emesis
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Forced murder of a friend
  • Animal sacrifice (horse)
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The Cane by Maryrose Cuskelly

The Cane by Maryrose Cuskelly

Quala, a North Queensland sugar town, the 1970s.
Barbara McClymont walks the cane fields searching for Janet, her sixteen-year-old daughter, who has been missing for weeks. The police have no leads. The people of Quala are divided by dread and distrust. But the sugar crush is underway and the cane must be burned.

Meanwhile, children dream of a malevolent presence, a schoolteacher yearns to escape, and history… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Child sexual abuse mentioned
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping mentioned
  • Motorcycle accident
  • Fire
  • Animal death
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The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson 

The Family Fang by Kevin Wilson

Mr. and Mrs. Fang called it art. Their children called it mischief.

Performance artists Caleb and Camille Fang dedicated themselves to making great art. But when an artist’s work lies in subverting normality, it can be difficult to raise well-adjusted children. Just ask Buster and Annie Fang. For as long as they can remember, they starred (unwillingly) in their parents’ madcap pieces. But now that… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Incest mentioned
  • Animal death mentioned
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Congo by Michael Crichton

Congo by Michael Crichton

Ten thousand miles away, Karen Ross, the Congo Project Supervisor, watches a gruesome video transmission of the aftermath: a camp destroyed, tents crushed and torn, equipment scattered in the mud alongside dead bodies — all motionless except for one moving image — a grainy, dark, man-shaped blur.

In San Francisco, primatologist Peter Elliot works with Amy, a gorilla with an extraordinary vocabulary of 620 “signs,” the most ever learned by a primate… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Colonialism
  • Blood & gore depiction including eye trauma
  • Death of a friend
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • Animal death
  • Animal experimentation discussed
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Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert 

Our Crooked Hearts by Melissa Albert

Seventeen-year-old Ivy’s summer break kicks off with an accident, a punishment, and a mystery: a stranger whose appearance in the middle of the road, in the middle of the night, heralds a string of increasingly unsettling events. As the days pass, Ivy grapples with eerie offerings, corroded memories, and a secret she’s always known—that there’s more to her mother than meets the eye.

Dana has always been perceptive. And the summer she turns sixteen, with the help of her best frie… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Animal abuse & torture
  • Animal death
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Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Behind Closed Doors by B.A. Paris

Everyone knows a couple like Jack and Grace. He has looks and wealth; she has charm and elegance. He’s a dedicated attorney who has never lost a case; she is a flawless homemaker, a masterful gardener and cook, and dotes on her disabled younger sister. Though they are still newlyweds, they seem to have it all. You might not want to like them, but you do. You’re hopelessly charmed by the ease and comfort of their home, by the graciousness of the dinner parties they throw. You’d like to get to know Grace better… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Domestic abuse
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal death
  • Animal cruelty
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A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

A Very Large Expanse of Sea by Tahereh Mafi

It’s 2002, a year after 9/11. It’s an extremely turbulent time politically, but especially so for someone like Shirin, a sixteen-year-old Muslim girl who’s tired of being stereotyped.

Shirin is never surprised by how horrible people can be. She’s tired of the rude stares, the degrading comments – even the physical violence – she endures as a result of her race, her religion, and the hijab she wears… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Islamomisia (theme)
  • Racism
  • Hate crimes
  • Terrorism
  • Child neglect
  • Physical assault
  • Strangulation recounted
  • Animal dissection for science class mentioned
  • Bullying (theme)
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Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris

Sookie Stackhouse is just a small-time cocktail waitress in small-town Louisiana. Until the vampire of her dreams walks into her life-and one of her coworkers checks out.

Maybe having a vampire for a boyfriend isn’t such a bright idea.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child sexual abuse recounted
  • Blood depiction & blood-drinking
  • Death of a parent by drowning recounted
  • Murder of a grandmother
  • Physical assault
  • Death of a pet cat
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1922 by Stephen King

1922 by Stephen King

I believe there is a man inside every man, a stranger.

So writes Wilfred James in his confession. It’s 1922. Wilfred owns eighty acres of farmland in Nebraska that have been in the family for generations. His wife, Arlette, owns an adjoining one hundred acres. But if Arlette carries out her threat to sell her land to a pig butcher, Wilfred will be forced to sell too. Worse, he’ll have to move to the city. But he has a daring plan. It may work if he can persuade his son.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Suicide
  • Abortion
  • Emesis
  • Animal death
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Under the Dome by Stephen King

Under the Dome by Stephen King

On an entirely normal, beautiful fall day in Chester’s Mill, Maine, the town is inexplicably and suddenly sealed off from the rest of the world by an invisible force field. Planes crash into it and fall from the sky in flaming wreckage, a gardener’s hand is severed as “the dome” comes down on it, people running errands in the neighbouring town are divided from their families, and cars explode on impact. No one can fathom what this barrier is, where it came from, and when—or if—it will go away… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Gang rape
  • Suicide
  • Drug use
  • Necrophilia
  • Dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Police brutality
  • Animal death
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