Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo

Ruin and Rising by Leigh Bardugo book cover

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.

GoodreadsThe 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
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The Project by Courtney Summers

The Project by Courtney Summers

The Project by Courtney Summers book cover

Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo’s sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there’s more to the group than meets the eye. She’s spent the last six years of her life trying—and failing—to prove it. When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abandonment
  • Disfigurmisia
  • Child abuse & neglect recounted, including emotional abuse & gaslighting
  • Infidelity
  • Trauma, panic attacks, nightmares & mentions of hallucinations
  • Suicide by train (on-page) & mentions of suicidal ideation
  • Pregnancy & pregnancy complications (on-page), including traumatic premature childbirth (on-page)
  • Blood & injury depiction, including graphic burns, hospitalisation, comas, broken bones, and facial scars
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father in a car accident (off-page)
  • Death of a mother in a fire mentioned
  • Death of a guardian mentioned
  • Death of a sister by drowning (off-page)
  • Death of a son discussed
  • Murder
  • Torture (on-page)
  • Disappearance of a sibling
  • Car accident (on- & off-page)
  • Blackmail mentioned and mentions of stalking & harassment
  • Cults (theme)
  • Homelessness mentioned

Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Coming out themes & blackmailed forced outing
  • Homophobia & slurs
  • Bullying

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo

Crooked Kingdom by Leigh Bardugo book cover

Kaz Brekker and his crew of deadly outcasts have just pulled off a heist so daring even they didn’t think they’d survive. But instead of divvying up a fat reward, they’re right back to fighting for their lives.

Double-crossed and badly weakened, the crew is low on resources, allies, and hope. As powerful forces from around the world descend on Ketterdam to root out the secrets of the dangerous drug known as jurda parem, old rivals and new enemies emerge to challenge Kaz’s cunning and test the team’s fragile loyalties.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Persecution for witchcraft
  • Classism
  • Indentured servitude discussed
  • Forced underaged sex work recounted
  • Child rape recounted
  • Child abuse
  • Parental abandonment
  • Disownment
  • Drug addiction
  • Gambling addiction
  • Drug dependency and withdrawal discussed
  • Recreational drug use recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy mentioned (secondary character)
  • Blood and gore depiction
  • Graphic physical injuries
  • Chronic illness and pain
  • Plague mentioned
  • Consensual body modification
  • Death of a boyfriend and death of a friend, on-page
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture, on-page
  • Explosions
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Imprisonment
  • Home invasion
  • Blackmail and death threats
  • Poverty themes and debt collection mentioned

Noah Can’t Even by Simon James Green

Noah Can’t Even by Simon James Green

His dad disappeared years ago, his mother’s Beyonce tribute act is an unacceptable embarrassment, and his beloved gran isn’t herself anymore. He only has one friend, Harry, and school is…Well, it’s pure HELL.

Why can’t Noah be normal, like everyone else at school? Maybe if he struck up a romantic relationship with someone – maybe Sophie, who is perfect and lovely – he’d be seen in a different light?

But Noah’s plans for romance are derailed when Harry kisses him at a party. That’s when things go from bad to worse utter chaos.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slut-shaming
  • Classism
  • Blackmail
  • Bullying
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Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler

Last Will and Testament by Dahlia Adler

Lizzie Brandt was valedictorian of her high school class, but at Radleigh University, all she’s acing are partying and hooking up with the wrong guys. But all that changes when her parents are killed in a tragic accident, making her guardian to her two younger brothers. To keep them out of foster care, she’ll have to fix up her image, her life, and her GPA—fast. Too bad the only person on campus she can go to for help is her humorless, pedantic Byzantine History TA, Connor Lawson, who isn’t exactly Lizzie’s biggest fan. But Connor surprises her. Not only is he a great tutor, but he’s also a pretty great babysitter. And chauffeur. And listener. And he understands exactly what… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Cheating
  • Teacher-student relationship*
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of both parents in a car accident
  • Blackmail

*Context: Relationship between an 18-year-old girl and a 25-year old-man.