The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

These are the secrets I have kept. This is the trust I never betrayed. But he is dead now and has been for more than forty years, the one who gave me his trust, the one for whom I kept these secrets. The one who saved me . . . and the one who cursed me.

So starts the diary of Will Henry, orphaned assistant to Dr. Pellinore Warthorpe, a man with a most unusual specialty: monstrumology, the study of monsters. In his time with the doctor, Will has met many a mysterious late-night visitor, and seen things he never imagined were real. But when a grave robber comes calling in the middle of the night with a gruesome find, he brings with him their most deadly case yet.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Poisoning
  • Fire recounted
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The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

The Nature of Witches by Rachel Griffin

For centuries, witches have maintained the climate, their power from the sun peaking in the season of their birth. But now their control is faltering as the atmosphere becomes more erratic. All hope lies with Clara, an Everwitch whose rare magic is tied to every season.

In Autumn, Clara wants nothing to do with her power. It’s wild and volatile, and the price of her magic―losing the ones she loves―is too high, despite the need to control the increasingly dangerous weather… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
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Spells Trouble by PC Cast and Kristin Cast

Spells Trouble by P.C. Cast & Kristin Cast

Hunter and Mercy Goode are twin witches, direct descendants of the founder of their town of Goodeville. As their ancestors have done before them, it is now time for the twins to learn what it means to be Gatekeepers–the protectors of the Gates to different underworlds, ancient portals between their world and realms where mythology rules and nightmares come to life.

When their mother becomes the first victim in a string of murders, the devastated sisters vow to avenge her death. But it will take more than magic to rein in the ancient mythological monsters who’ve infected their peaceful town. Now Hunter and Mercy must come together and accept their destiny or risk being separated for good.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • Murder
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City of Secrets by Victoria Ying

City of Secrets by Victoria Ying

Ever Barnes is a shy orphan guarding a secret in an amazing puzzle box of a building. Most of the young women who work at the building’s Switchboard Operating Facility, which connects the whole city of Oskar, look the other way as Ever roams around in the shadows. But one of them, Lisa, keeps an eye on the boy. So does the head of the Switchboard, Madame Alexander . . . a rather sharp eye. Enter Hannah, the spunky daughter of the building’s owner. She thinks Ever needs a friend, even if he doesn’t know it yet. Lisa and Madame Alexander are each clearly… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hospitalisation for injury & blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Death from a fall
  • War themes, including a missile strike
  • Child homelessness & poverty

Foxen Bloom by Parker Foye

Foxen Bloom by Parker Foye

Season after season, hunters have attempted to capture the white-tailed stag. Local legend holds that its capture promises prosperity, and in a land that is dying—to hunger, to war; to a magical curse, some say—even a whisper of hope is a powerful lure. Yet every hunter who tries fails, never to leave the forest. Fenton, god of the forest, yet imprisoned within its borders, watches from his place in the trees as the hunters first despoil and then fall to his land, dispassionate as his deadwood heart.

Prior doesn’t hope to capture the stag or secure prosperity. He has a far bolder hunt in mind: to entreat the god of the forest to save his sister from the sickness sweeping the land… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Self harm
  • Blood depiction & physical injury
  • Body horror
  • Emesis
  • Pandemic (contagious magical illness)
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal death

Master of One by Jaida Jones and Danielle Bennett

Master of One by Jaida Jones & Danielle Bennett

Rags is a thief—an excellent one. He’s stolen into noble’s coffers, picked soldier’s pockets, and even liberated a ring or two off the fingers of passersby. Until he’s caught by the Queensguard and forced to find an ancient fae relic for a sadistic royal sorcerer. But Rags could never have guessed this “relic” would actually be a fae himself—a distractingly handsome, annoyingly perfect, ancient fae prince called Shining Talon. Good thing Rags can think on his toes, because things just get stranger from there…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Physical child abuse
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Infertility mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal death

The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

The Girl the Sea Gave Back by Adrienne Young

For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.

For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power?… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Decapitation
  • Death of a child by drowning mentioned
  • Murder & mass murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Physical assault recounted
  • War themes & battle scenes
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Human Enough by ES Yu

Human Enough by E.S. Yu

When Noah Lau joined the Vampire Hunters Association, seeking justice for his parents’ deaths, he didn’t anticipate ending up imprisoned in the house of the vampire he was supposed to kill—and he definitely didn’t anticipate falling for that vampire’s lover.

Six months later, Noah’s life has gotten significantly more complicated. On top of being autistic in a world that doesn’t try to understand him, he still hunts vampires for a living…while dating a vampire himself. Awkward. Yet Jordan Cross is sweet and kind, and after braving their inner demons and Jordan’s vicious partner… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Racism
  • Emotional abuse & gaslighting
  • Abusive relationship recounted
  • Depression
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood drinking
  • Death of a parent
  • Kidnapping & captivity
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The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate

The Route of Ice and Salt by José Luis Zárate 

It’s an ordinary assignment, nothing more. The cargo? Fifty boxes filled with Transylvanian soil. The route? From Varna to Whitby. The Demeter has made many trips like this. The captain has handled dozens of crews.

He dreams familiar dreams: to taste the salt on the skin of his men, to run his hands across their chests. He longs for the warmth of a lover he cannot have, fantasizes about flesh and frenzied embraces. All this he’s done before, it’s routine, a constant, like the tides.

Yet there’s something different, something wrong. There are odd nightmares, unsettling omens and fear. For there is something in the air. Someone stalking the ship.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Antiziganism (g slur)
  • Homomisia & internalised homomisia
  • Hate crimes
  • Suicide
  • Blood & gore depiction
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Palaces of Spies by Sarah Zettel

Palace of Spies by Sarah Zettel

A warning to all young ladies of delicate breeding who wish to embark upon lives of adventure: Don’t.

Sixteen-year-old Peggy is a well-bred orphan who is coerced into posing as a lady in waiting at the palace of King George I. Life is grand, until Peggy starts to suspect that the girl she’s impersonating might have been murdered. Unless Peggy can discover the truth, she might be doomed to the same terrible fate. But in a court of shadows and intrigue, anyone could be a spy—perhaps even the handsome young artist with whom Peggy is falling in love…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
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