Blackmail – Page 23 – Trigger Warning Database

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn’t leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Rape & attempted rape recounted
Forced sex work, off-page
Child abuse
Intimate partner violence recounted
Suicide, on-page
Suicidal ideation
Pregnancy & childbirth, on-page
Stillbirth, on-page
Blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies
Graphic physical injuries & illness, including cholera, seizures, and fever
Field surgery
Syringes and needles
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father
Death of a brother
Murder & attempted murder
Gun & knife violence
Torture
Kidnapping & hostage situation
Blackmail
Fire
Drought
Death from starvation & dehydration
Death from exposure
Military deployment recounted
Animal death & death of a pet, on-page
Animal cruelty
Hunting & animal dead bodies

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

Mother May I by Joshilyn Jackson

Growing up poor in rural Georgia, Bree Cabbat was warned by her single mother that the world was a dark and scary place. Having married into a family with wealth and connections, Bree now has all a woman could ever dream of: a loving lawyer husband, two talented teenage daughters, a new baby boy, a gorgeous home, and every opportunity in the world.

Until the day she awakens and sees an old gray-haired woman peering into her bedroom window who vanishes as quickly as she appears. She spies the old woman again, in the parking lot of her daughters’ private school . . . just minutes before Bree’s infant son, asleep in his car seat only a few feet away, vanishes. There is a note left in his place, warning her that she is being is being watched; if she wants her baby back, she must not call the police or deviate in any way from the instructions that will follow.

To get her baby back, Bree must complete one small—but critical—task. It seems harmless enough, but her action comes with a devastating price, making her complicit in a tangled web of tragedy and shocking secrets that could destroy everything she loves.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Slut shaming
Rape
Incest
Nonconsensual pornography
Substance addiction
Overdose
Poisoning
Infanticide, attempted and threats of infanticide, central theme
Drugging of infants
Drowning of an infant
Bombs
Gun violence
Kidnapping and child abduction
Blackmail

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya–but neither wants to be. War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism & misogyny
Child emotional and verbal abuse & neglect
Blood, gore & injury depiction including dead bodies
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father
Death of a child
Death of a friend
Death of a cousin
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Imprisonment & captivity
Kidnapping & blackmail
War themes discussed
Animal death & hunting

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the centre of it.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Sex work discussed
Child abuse recounted
Disownment & familial estrangement
Cheating
Anxiety & panic attacks
PTSD
Alcohol consumption
Alcohol abuse recounted
Dubious consent to medication
Teen pregnancy
Miscarriage & abortion mentioned
Infertility mentioned
Emesis
Hospital
Minor blood & gore depiction and physical injuries
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father
Death of a grandmother
Death of a sister
Murder & attempted murder
Strangulation
Car accident
Disappearance of a loved one
Blackmail
Captivity recounted
Poverty themes & eviction

Tarnished Crown by Erin Watt

Tarnished Crown by Erin Watt

Two years ago, one mistake cost Gideon Royal the girl of his dreams. Since then he’s become jaded and stoic, caught in a spiral that has him dealing with blackmail, heartache and loss. When he left for college, he hoped to start over. But fate has other ideas, placing Savannah Montgomery in his path again.

Savannah believes there’s no coming back from Gideon’s betrayal. He thinks she’s wrong.

Forgiveness. Hope. Redemption. Gideon has vowed to win back the only girl who owns his heart. And when a Royal makes a promise, he’ll go to the ends of the earth to keep it.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Sexual harassment
Adult-minor relationship*
Cheating
Blackmail
Depression

*The female protagonist was 15-years-old when she started her then 18-year-old boyfriend.

Repo Virtual by Corey J. White

Repo Virtual by Corey J. White

The city of Neo Songdo is a Russian doll of realities — augmented and virtual spaces anchored in the weight of the real. The smart city is designed to be read by machine vision while people see only the augmented facade of the corporate ideal. At night the stars are obscured by an intergalactic virtual war being waged by millions of players, while on the streets below people are forced to beg, steal, and hustle to survive.

Enter Julius Dax, online repoman and real-life thief. He’s been hired for a special job: stealing an unknown object from a reclusive tech billionaire. But when he finds out he’s stolen the first sentient AI, his payday gets a lot more complicated.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Transmisia
Deadnaming & misgendering
Blackmailed outing*
Racism & racial slurs
Classism
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use mentioned
Blood & gore depiction
Graphic physical injuries & chronic pain
Death of a friend (on-page)
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Explosions
Gun violence
Strangulation
Kidnapping
Car accident
Fire
Blackmail
Flood
Cults
Animal death mentioned
Poverty themes & homelessness

*Note: the transgender protagonist is blackmailed to investigate a crime by a man with documents that would out her as a trans woman and her past as a secret agent.

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

Ivy Aberdeen’s Letter to the World by Ashley Herring Blake

When a tornado rips through town, twelve-year-old Ivy Aberdeen’s house is destroyed and her family of five is displaced. Ivy feels invisible and ignored in the aftermath of the storm–and what’s worse, her notebook filled with secret drawings of girls holding hands has gone missing.

Mysteriously, Ivy’s drawings begin to reappear in her locker with notes from someone telling her to open up about her identity. Ivy thinks–and hopes–that this someone might be her classmate, another girl for whom Ivy has begun to develop a crush. Will Ivy find the strength and courage to follow her true feelings?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Coming out themes
Cancer, mentioned
Physical injury
Tornado, central theme
Blackmail
Homelessness

Smoke in the Sun by Renée Ahdieh

Smoke in the Sun by Renée Ahdieh

Smoke in the Sun by Renee Adieh book cover

For weeks, seventeen-year-old Mariko pretended to be a boy to infiltrate the notorious Black Clan and bring her would-be murderer to justice. She didn’t expect to find a place for herself among the group of fighters—a life of usefulness—and she certainly didn’t expect to fall in love. Now she heads to the imperial castle to resume a life she never wanted to save the boy she loves.

Ōkami has been captured, and his execution is a certainty. Mariko will do what she must to ensure his survival—even marry the sovereign’s brother, saying goodbye to a life with Ōkami forever.

As Mariko settles into her days at court—making both friends and enemies—and attempting Ōkami’s rescue at night, the secrets of the royal court begin to unravel as competing agendas collide. One arrow sets into motion a series of deadly events even the most powerful magic cannot contain. Mariko and Ōkami risk everything to right past wrongs and restore the honor of a kingdom thrown into chaos by a sudden war, hoping against hope that when the dust settles, they will find a way to be together.

Set against the backdrop of feudal Japan, Smoke in the Sun is the breathless, romantic, not-to-be-missed fiery conclusion to a spell-binding adventure.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Slut-shaming
Classism
Marital rape, implied and discussed
Body modifications without consent
Grief depiction
Death of a father
Death of a mother
Death of a husband
Death of a girlfriend
Death of a friend
Death of a public figure
Murder
Physical assault
Torture
Explosion, recounted
Imprisonment
Blackmail
Loss of autonomy
Kidnapping
Poisoning, recounted
Fire
Drowning
Exile

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Shadow and Bone by Leigh Bardugo

Surrounded by enemies, the once-great nation of Ravka has been torn in two by the Shadow Fold, a swath of near impenetrable darkness crawling with monsters who feast on human flesh. Now its fate may rest on the shoulders of one lonely refugee.

Alina Starkov has never been good at anything. But when her regiment is attacked on the Fold and her best friend is brutally injured, Alina reveals a dormant power that saves his life—a power that could be the key to setting her war-ravaged country free. Wrenched from everything she knows, Alina is whisked away to the royal court to be trained as a member of the Grisha, the magical elite led by the mysterious Darkling.

Yet nothing in this lavish world is what it seems. With darkness looming and an entire kingdom depending on her untamed power, Alina will have to confront the secrets of the Grisha . . . and the secrets of her heart.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Classism
Ableist language
Fatmisia
Slavery (mentioned)
Kiss without consent
Blood and gore depiction, dead bodies and physical injuries
Death of a friend and parents (recounted)
Murder and attempted murder
Kidnapping, hostage situation and blackmail
War themes
Graphic animal death

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

The Darkling rules Ravka from his shadow throne.

Now the nation’s fate rests with a broken Sun Summoner, a disgraced tracker, and the shattered remnants of a once-great magical army.

Deep in an ancient network of tunnels and caverns, a weakened Alina must submit to the dubious protection of the Apparat and the zealots who worship her as a Saint. Yet her plans lie elsewhere, with the hunt for the elusive firebird and the hope that an outlaw prince still survives.

Alina will have to forge new alliances and put aside old rivalries as she and Mal race to find the last of Morozova’s amplifiers. But as she begins to unravel the Darkling’s secrets, she reveals a past that will forever alter her understanding of the bond they share and the power she wields. The firebird is the one thing that stands between Ravka and destruction—and claiming it could cost Alina the very future she’s fighting for.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Classism
Victim blaming
Facial difference discrimination
Persecution for witchcraft (mentioned)
Rape and sexual assault (recounted)
Parental abandonment (implied)
Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Suicide attempt as self-sacrifice (recounted)
Alcohol consumption
Blood and gore depiction, dead bodies, eyeball trauma and branding
Physical sickness and scars
Death of a brother, son, girlfriend and friend (recounted)
Murder and attempted murder
Explosion, knife violence, physical assault and poisoning
Captivity, blackmail, hostage situation, exile and banishment
War themes
Animal death and bodies (recounted), hunting