Ruckus by LJ Shen

Ruckus by L.J. Shen

They say that life is a beautiful lie and death a painful truth. They’re right. No one has ever made me feel more alive than the guy who serves as a constant reminder that my clock is ticking. He is my forbidden, shiny apple. The striking fallacy to my blunt, raw, truth. He is also my sister’s ex-boyfriend. One thing you should know before you judge me; I saw him first. I craved him first. I loved him first. Eleven years later, he waltzes into my life, demanding a second chance. Dean Cole wants to be my bronze horseman. But my clock is ticking. See, I’m not like the rest. I have an illness. Sometimes I conquer it. Sometimes it conquers me. My white knight has finally arrived. Hopefully, he isn’t too late.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abandonment recounted
  • Panic attack
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Drug abuse
  • Infertility (on-page)
  • Cystic fibrosis (on-page)
  • Blackmail (on-page)

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

A Stranger in the House by Shari Lapena

Karen and Tom Krupp are happy—they’ve got a lovely home in upstate New York, they’re practically newlyweds, and they have no kids to interrupt their comfortable life together. But one day, Tom returns home to find Karen has vanished—her car’s gone and it seems she left in a rush. She even left her purse—complete with phone and ID—behind. There’s a knock on the door—the police are there to take Tom to the hospital where his wife has been admitted. She had a car accident, and lost control as she sped through the worst part of town… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape by coercion*
  • Cheating recounted
  • Domestic abuse recounted
  • Amnesia & memory loss (theme)
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug abuse discussed
  • Infertility
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction including dead bodies and hospitalisation
  • Death of an ex-husband
  • Murder (off-page)
  • Gun violence (off-page)
  • Car accident
  • Disappearance of a spouse
  • Incarceration
  • Home invasion
  • Blackmail
  • Stalking

Vampires Never Get Old edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie Parker

Vampires Never Get Old: Tales with Fresh Bites edited by Zoraida Córdova and Natalie C. Parker with contributions by Samira Ahmed, Julie Murphy, Dhonielle Clayton, Tessa Gratton, Heidi Heilig, Mark Oshiro, Rebecca Roanhorse, Laura Ruby, V.E. Schwab and Kayla Whaley

Eleven fresh vampire stories from young adult fiction’s leading voices! In this delicious new collection, you’ll find stories about lurking vampires of social media, rebellious vampires hungry for more than just blood, eager vampires coming out―and going out for their first kill―and other bold, breathtaking, dangerous, dreamy, eerie, iconic, powerful creatures of the night. Welcome to the evolution of the vampire―and a revolution on the page.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Seven Nights for Dying by Tessa Gratton– Alcohol consumption
– Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent
Mirrors, Windows & Selfies by Mark Oshiro– Blood depiction
– Murder
– Captivity mentioned
The House of Black Sapphire by Dhonielle Clayton– Slavery mentioned
– Blood depiction
The Boy from Blood River by Rebecca Roanhorse– Homomisia
– Terminal illness
– Death of a parent
– Murder
– Bullying
Senior Year Sucks by Julie Murphy– Animal abuse mentioned
The Boy and the Bell by Heidi Heilig– Transmisia
– Misgendering
– Threatened outing (blackmail)
– Vivisepulture (being buried alive)
In Kind by Kayla Whaley– Abelsim
– Parental abuse
– Attempted murder by overdosing (filicide)
A Guidebook for the Newly Sired Desi Vampire by Samira Ahmed– Colonialism
– Racism
Bestiary by Laura Ruby– Parental abuse & neglect
– Abandonment
– Alcohol consumption
– Drug abuse
– Murder mentioned
Vampires Never Say Die by Zoraida Córdova & Natalie C. Parker– Blood depiction
First Kill by V.E. Schwab– Anxiety
– Murder mentioned

One of Us Is Next by Karen McManus

One of Us Is Next by Karen M. McManus

A ton of copycat gossip apps have popped up since Simon died, but in the year since the Bayview four were cleared of his shocking death, no one’s been able to fill the gossip void quite like he could. The problem is no one has the facts. Until now. This time it’s not an app, though—it’s a game.

Phoebe’s the first target. If you choose not to play, it’s a truth. And hers is dark. Then comes Maeve and she should know better—always choose the dare. But by the time Knox is about to be tagged, things have gotten dangerous. The dares have become deadly, and if Maeve learned anything from Bronwyn last year, it’s that they can’t count on the police for help. Or protection.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Public outing recounted
  • Slut-shaming
  • Victim-blaming
  • Sexual assault, on-page & detailed
  • Suicide recounted
  • Alcoholism
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Cancer remission & relapsing discussed
  • Mild blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Hospital
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Death of a classmate & ex-boyfriend, off-page
  • Death of a child, off-page
  • Death by a fall
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion & attempted bombing
  • Death threats
  • Blackmail
  • Stalking
  • Bullying

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

Eight Perfect Murders by Peter Swanson

Years ago, bookseller and mystery aficionado Malcolm Kershaw compiled a list of the genre’s most unsolvable murders, those that are almost impossible to crack—which he titled “Eight Perfect Murders”—chosen from among the best of the best including Agatha Christie, Patricia Highsmith, and Donna Tartt. But no one is more surprised than Mal, now the owner of the Old Devils Bookstore in Boston, when an FBI agent comes knocking on his door one snowy day in February. She’s looking for information about a series of unsolved murders that look eerily similar to the killings on Mal’s old list. And the FBI agent isn’t the only… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Homomisia
  • Rape
  • Cheating
  • Alcoholism
  • Substance addiction
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Overdose
  • Death from a heart attack
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Drowning
  • Gun violence
  • Car accident
  • Blackmail

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

The Darkness Outside Us by Eliot Schrefer

The Perfect Girlfriend by Karen Hamilton

Juliette loves Nate. She will follow him anywhere. She’s even become a flight attendant for his airline so she can keep a closer eye on him. They are meant to be.

The fact that Nate broke up with her six months ago means nothing. Because Juliette has a plan to win him back. She is the perfect girlfriend. And she’ll make sure no one stops her from getting exactly what she wants.

True love hurts, but Juliette knows it’s worth all the pain…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slut-shaming
  • Dubious consent
  • Toxic relationship
  • Emotional abuse
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Murder
  • Stabbing
  • Stalking
  • Kidnapping
  • Blackmail

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

The First Sister by Linden A. Lewis

First Sister has no name and no voice. As a priestess of the Sisterhood, she travels the stars alongside the soldiers of Earth and Mars—the same ones who own the rights to her body and soul. When her former captain abandons her, First Sister’s hopes for freedom are dashed when she is forced to stay on her ship with no friends, no power, and a new captain—Saito Ren—whom she knows nothing about. She is commanded to spy on Captain Ren by the Sisterhood, but soon discovers that working for the war effort is so much harder to do when you’re falling in love.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misgendering
  • Racism
  • Sexual assault implied
  • Sex work of a minor
  • Child abuse
  • Threats of sexual violence
  • Post traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Anxiety
  • Gender dysphoria & body dysmorphia
  • Blood depiction
  • Amputation
  • Nonconsensual surgery & implants, including body modifications
  • Medical experimentation
  • Graphic injury
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Loss of bodily autonomy
  • Blackmail

Echo by A Zavarelli 

Echo by A. Zavarelli

How far would you go to save someone you love? Would you give up your body? I did and it cost me everything. He says he owns me. And it’s true. I’ve signed over complete control of my life for six months to a man I don’t know. Five years he’s been planning this. They say revenge is a dish best served cold. But my blackmailer serves it up white-hot.

But he also scares me. He holds the fate of my brother’s life in his hands. A life behind bars for crimes I know he didn’t commit. My blackmailer can’t give up his revenge on my family, and I can’t be with him if he doesn’t. Do I really have a choice?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Blackmail
  • Incarceration of a sibling

Crow by A Zavarelli 

Crow by A. Zavarelli

I had a plan. Get in, get my information, and get out. Easy, right? Turns out, infiltrating the Irish mafia isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I just wanted a soldier. Someone I could flirt with to get me in the door.

That’s when Lachlan Crow noticed me. Problem was, he wasn’t a soldier. No, he was next in line for the throne of the Irish underworld. And he was determined to hate me from the outset. My sob story about needing a job? Yeah, he wasn’t buying that either. Too bad for him, I won’t let anyone get in the way of my mission.

Who cares if we have some kind of crazy chemistry? He’s the worst kind of wrong- and I would never in a million years be with a guy like him. Because they took her from me, and I’m going to make them pay. 

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Human trafficking
  • Rape & attempted rape, on-page
  • Sex work
  • Cheating recounted
  • Death of a parent from cancer recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Blackmail
  • Organised crime

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

How We Fall Apart by Katie Zhao

Nancy Luo is shocked when her former best friend, Jamie Ruan, top-ranked junior at Sinclair Prep, goes missing, and then is found dead. Nancy is even more shocked when word starts to spread that she and her friends–Krystal, Akil, and Alexander–are the prime suspects, thanks to “The Proctor,” someone anonymously incriminating them via the school’s social media app.

They all used to be Jamie’s closest friends, and she knew each of their deepest, darkest secrets. Now, somehow The Proctor knows them, too. The four must uncover the true killer before The Proctor exposes more than they can bear and costs them more than they can afford, like Nancy’s full scholarship. Soon, Nancy suspects that her friends may be keeping secrets from her, too.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Parental neglect
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self harm
  • Panic attack
  • Recreational drug use
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Blackmail
  • Fire