Tag Archives: Blood & Gore Depiction

The Surrogate Mother by Freida McFadden

Abby wants a baby more than anything. But after years of failed infertility treatments and adoptions that have fallen through, it seems like motherhood is not in her future. That is, until her personal assistant Monica makes a generous offer that will make all of Abby’s dreams come true. Or all of her nightmares. Because it turns out Monica isn’t who she says she is. The woman now carrying Abby’s child has dark, twisted secrets. And she will stop at nothing to get what she wants.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Drug use & drugging
  • Infertility
  • Blood depiction & surgery

The Crash by Freida McFadden

Tegan is eight months pregnant, alone, and desperately wants to put her crumbling life in the rearview mirror. So she hits the road, planning to stay with her brother until she can figure out her next move. But she doesn’t realize she’s heading straight into a blizzard. She never arrives at her destination. Stranded in rural Maine with a dead car and broken ankle, Tegan worries she’s made a terrible mistake. Then a miracle she is rescued by a couple who offers her a room in their warm cabin until the snow clears. But something isn’t right. Tegan believed she was waiting out the storm, but as time ticks by, she comes to realize she is.… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Drugging
  • Pregnancy (protagonist)
  • Infertility & miscarriage mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction and hospitalisation
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Car accident

Watch Over Me by Nina LaCour

Eighteen-year-old Mila has been in the foster system since her mother abandoned her. Now that she’s graduating high school, she has nothing to do and nowhere to call home. So when she gets an offer to work as an intern on the Farm, she readily accepts. Her main job is to take care of eight-year-old Lee. At first the Farm seems like an idyllic paradise, a remote place on the cliffs with view of the sea far below. But Mila soon realises there’s something more sinister going on. Lee’s recent trauma causes Mila’s own frightening memories to bubble to the surface…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & neglect (theme)
  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Emotional, psychological & financial domestic abuse
  • Gaslighting
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Needles & medical treatment mentioned
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Death of grandmother & grandfather mentioned
  • Fire & death from fire
  • Near-drowning incident

Mirror to Mirror by Rajani LaRocca

Maya is the pragmatic twin. But when her sister threatens to reveal her secret anxiety to their parents, she feels completely betrayed. Chaya is the outgoing twin. With Maya shutting her out, she decides to make a drastic change to give her twin the space she seems to need. The once-close sisters can’t seem to find their rhythm, but they know that something has to give. So they make a bet: they’ll switch places at summer camp, and whoever can keep the ruse going longer will get to decide where they both attend high school—the source of frequent arguments. But stepping into each other’s shoes isn’t as easy as it sounds. Will the twins’ relationship recover?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety (protagonist)
  • Self-harm
  • Blood & injury depiction

Red, White, and Whole by Rajani LaRocca

Reha feels torn between two worlds: school, where she’s the only Indian American student, and home, with her family’s traditions and holidays. But Reha’s parents don’t understand why she’s conflicted—they only notice when Reha doesn’t meet their strict expectations. Reha feels disconnected from her mother, or Amma, although their names are linked—Reha means “star” and Punam means “moon”—but they are a universe apart. Then Reha finds out that her Amma is sick. Really sick. Reha, who dreams of becoming a doctor even though she can’t stomach the sight of blood, is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Displacement (theme)
  • Blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from leukemia

Radiant Sin by Katee Robert

As a disgraced member of a fallen house, Cassandra Gataki has seen firsthand what comes from trusting the venomous Thirteen. But when the maddeningly gorgeous and kind Apollo asks her to go undercover as his plus-one at a week-long party hosted by a dangerous new power player…Cassandra reluctantly agrees to have his back. On one condition: when it’s all over, and Apollo has the ammunition he needs to protect Olympus, she and her sister will be allowed to leave. For good. Apollo may be the city’s… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Body-shaming mentioned
  • Boss-employee relationship
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Gun violence

Undercover by Tamsyn Muir

A fresh-faced newcomer arrives in an isolated, gang-run town and soon finds herself taking a job nobody else wants: bodyguard to a ghoul. Not just your average mindless, half-rotted shuffler, though. Lucille is a dancer who can still put on her own lipstick and whose shows are half burlesque, half gladiator match. But the stranger is no stranger to this particular ghoul. Both women are undercover in their own way. And both have something to lose if their connection comes to light

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction including body horror and cannibalism
  • Murder
  • Animal death

Nona the Ninth by Tamsyn Muir

Her city is under siege. The zombies are coming back. And all Nona wants is a birthday party. In many ways, Nona is like other people. She lives with her family, has a job at her local school, and loves walks on the beach and meeting new dogs. But Nona’s not like other people. Six months ago she woke up in a stranger’s body, and she’s afraid she might have to give it back. The whole city is falling to pieces. A monstrous blue sphere hangs on the horizon, ready to tear the planet apart. Blood of Eden forces have surrounded the last Cohort facility and wait for the…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicidal ideation & suicide (secondary character)
  • Protagonist with pica & food sensory issues
  • Panic attack
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction including body horror, cancer, jellyfish sting, needles and dead bodies
  • Eugenics recounted
  • Murder by stabbing & shooting
  • Immolation (secondary characters)
  • Physical assault
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Nuclear bombs
  • Alcohol consumption & smoking (cigarettes)

Children of Anguish and Anarchy by Tomi Adeyemi

When Zelie seized the royal palace that fateful night, she thought her battles had come to an end. The monarchy had finally fallen. The maji had risen again. Zélie never expected to find herself locked in a cage and trapped on a foreign ship. Now warriors with iron skulls traffic her and her people across the seas, far from their homeland. Then everything changes when Zélie meets King Baldyr, her true captor, the ruler of the Skulls, and the man who has ravaged entire civilizations to find her. Baldyr’s quest to harness Zélie’s strength sends Zélie, Amari, and Tzain searching for allies in unknown lands… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking
  • Self-harm (blood magic) & self-sacrifice
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction including broken bones, seizures (secondary character) and needles for piercing/tattooing
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture & physical assault
  • Imprisonment
  • Volcanic eruption
  • Explosion
  • Animal death, abuse & injury

The Lotus Empire by Tasha Suri

Malini has claimed her rightful throne as the empress of Parijatdvipa, just as the nameless gods prophesied. Now, in order to gain the support of the priesthood who remain loyal to the fallen emperor, she must consider a terrible Claim her throne and burn in order to seal her legacy—or find another willing to take her place on the pyre. Priya has survived the deathless waters and now their magic runs in her veins. But a mysterious yaksa with flowering eyes and a mouth of thorns lies beneath the waters. The yaksa promises protection for Ahiranya. But in exchange, she needs a sacrifice. And she’s chosen Priya as the one to offer it… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny & sexism
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Forced parent-child separation mentioned
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicidal ideation & self-sacrifice
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use (pipe & hookah smoking)
  • Blood & injury depiction including burns, broken bones, chronic pain, illness (which causes plants to grow through skin) and emesis
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Fire
  • Drowning
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Animal death