Tag Archives: Bullying & Hazing

How to Say Goodbye in Cuban by Daniel Miyares

The year is 1957. Carlos lives with his family in Ceiba Mocha, a small town in the Cuban countryside. He loves to play baseball with his best friend, Alvaro, and to shoot home-made slingshots with his abuelo. One day, a miracle Carlos’ father, his papi, wins the lottery! He uses the money to launch his growing furniture business and to move the family to a big house in the city. Carlos hates having to move – hates leaving Abuelo and Alvaro behind – and hates being called country kid at his new school. But the pains of moving and middle school turn out to be the least of his… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Gun violence
  • Cuban Revolution (theme)
  • Bullying

This Place Kills Me by Mariko Tamaki & Nicole Goux

At Wilberton Academy, few students are more revered than the members of the elite Wilberton Theatrical Society—a.k.a. the WTS—and no one represents that exclusive club better than Elizabeth Woodward. Breathtakingly beautiful, beloved by all, and a talented thespian, it’s no surprise she’s starring as Juliet in the WTS’s performance of Shakespeare’s classic tragedy. But when she’s found dead the morning after opening night, the whole school is thrown into chaos. Transfer student Abby Kita was one of the last people to see Elizabeth alive, and when local authorities… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Sexual assault of a minor & grooming
  • Suicide
  • Bullying

The History of Everything by Victoria Evans

Daisy and Agnes have always had each other. And that’s all they’ve ever needed—or wanted, at least. So when Agnes’s mom drops the bombshell that she and Agnes are moving at the end of the summer, the girls are crushed. All seems lost until the pair unearth “The History of Everything,” an old friendship scrapbook with the ultimate bucket list to make their last summer together unforgettable. But when Daisy starts dating a charming drummer, her social calendar suddenly has less room for her best friend. Insecurities bubble to the surface, and Daisy and Agnes begin to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Bullying

The Gingerbread Bakery by Laurie Gilmore

As owner of her beloved Gingerbread Bakery, Annie Andrews should have a love life to match her business; sugary and sweet. But instead, she’s locked in a game of words with the irritatingly upbeat bar owner down the street. Mac Sullivan has everything he wants, except the girl he dreams of. It’s easier to argue with Annie than get her to talk to him but with Jeanie and Logan’s wedding coming up, they’re about to spend a lot more time together. As the snowflakes fall and with romance in the air, will Annie see that the one she loves to hate might just be her perfect match after all?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Bullying recounted

The Launch Date by Annabelle Slator

Grace Hastings’s dream job at the popular “true love” dating app, Fate, has turned into a nightmare. Her boss is a leech, her career is stagnating, and her fiancé has just brutally dumped her. Her hope for finding her own love story is waning, and she feels like a fraud for promoting a concept she no longer believes in. When the company’s CEO offers her an opportunity to earn a big promotion, she resolves to fight her imposter syndrome to show she deserves a seat at the table. The opportunity? To launch a brand-new app focusing on IRL dating and genuine connection… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Parental infidelity mnetuoned
  • Depression
  • Workplace bullying & mentions of childhood bullying

Ellie Engle Saves Herself by Leah Johnson

Ellie Engle doesn’t stand out. Not at home, where she’s alone with her pet fish since her dad moved away and her mom has to work around the clock. Not at the bakery, where she helps out old Mr. Walker on the weekends. And definitely not at school, where her best friend, Abby—the coolest, boldest, most talented girl in the world—drags Ellie along on her never-ending quest to “make her mark.” To someone else, a life in the shadows might seem boring, or lonely. But not to Ellie. As long as she has Abby by her side and a comic book in her hand, she’s quite content. Too bad life… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Anxiety (protagonist)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandparent recounted
  • Earthquake
  • Animal death
  • Bullying

The Maid’s Secret by Nita Prose

Molly Gray’s life is about to change in ways she could never have imagined. As the esteemed Head Maid and recently promoted Special Events Manager of the Regency Grand Hotel, good things are just around the corner, including her marriage to her beloved fiancé, Juan Manuel, only two months away. But Molly’s entire existence is upended when a film crew descends upon the hotel to shoot the hit reality TV show Hidden Treasures, starring popular art appraisers Brown and Beagle. On a whim, Molly brings in a shoebox containing a few of her gran’s old things…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexual assault & mentions of rape
  • Disownment
  • Child abuse
  • Arranged marriage
  • Involuntary pregnancy & death during childbirth
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother & guardian
  • Death of a child
  • Homelessness
  • Bullying

Great Big Beautiful Life by Emily Henry

Alice Scott is an eternal optimist still dreaming of her big writing break. Hayden Anderson is a Pulitzer-prize winning human thundercloud. And they’re both on balmy Little Crescent Island for the same reason: To write the biography of a woman no one has seen in years–or at least to meet with the octogenarian who claims to be the Margaret Ives. Tragic heiress, former tabloid princess, and daughter of one of the most storied (and scandalous) families of the 20th Century. When Margaret invites them both for a one-month trial period, after which she’ll choose the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity mentioned (secondary characters)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Health-related anxiety discussed
  • Body image & weight discussed
  • Pregnancy & miscarriage
  • Serious childhood illness discussed
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent in a car accident mentioned
  • Blackmail
  • Bullying recounted

The Games Gods Play by Abigail Owen

Every hundred years, the gods toy with us mere mortals. And we let them. The gods of myth are alive and well. Once every century, they select a new ruler in a cutthroat competition, pushing mortal players to the limit. But this year, Hades is done sitting on the sidelines. And he’s picking a champion no one expects—in this modern mythic romantasy, she’ll fight for her life… for the god of Death.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Fire
  • Bullying

In the Solace by Hailey Turner

Colonel Liam Wessex is happy to see Jamie Callahan and Kyle Brannigan finally married, but it leaves him wishing his own life wasn’t such a mess. With his classified identity revealed to the British public, Liam struggles with the transition into civilian life. When MI6 Agent Oliver Archer stumbles back into his world, Liam has a second chance to make things right between them, if only the prickly agent would let him close again. Oliver thought he’d done enough to cut Liam out of his life for good after a disastrous night together during their youth. But when terrorists… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Torture
  • Bombing
  • Electrocution
  • Kidnapping
  • Car accident
  • Terrorism
  • Bullying mentioned