Bullying & Hazing – Trigger Warning Database

One of Us Is Lying by Karen McManus

One of Us Is Lying by Karen M. McManus

On Monday afternoon, five students at Bayview High walk into detention. Bronwyn, the brain, is Yale-bound and never breaks a rule. Addy, the beauty, is the picture-perfect homecoming princess. Nate, the criminal, is already on probation for dealing. Cooper, the athlete, is the all-star baseball pitcher. And Simon, the outcast, is the creator of Bayview High’s notorious gossip app.

Only, Simon never makes it out of that classroom. Before the end of detention, Simon’s dead. And according to investigators, his death wasn’t an accident. On Monday, he died. But on Tuesday, he’d planned to post juicy reveals about all four of his high-profile classmates, which makes all four of them suspects in his murder. Or are they the perfect patsies for a killer who’s still on the loose?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Racism
Sexism
Slut shaming
Homomisia & homomisia slurs
Coming out themes
Dubious consent scenario*
Nonconsensual voyeurism mentioned
Parental abandonment recounted
Cheating, recounted & discussed
Alcoholism mentioned
Bipolar Disorder
Suicide & attempted suicide
Self harm
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Recreational drug use
Death from anaphylaxis
Cancer mentioned
Heart attack
Hospital
Death of a classmate, on-page
Death of an uncle
Death of a mother recounted
Murder & attempted murder
School shooting & gun violence discussed
Strangulation
Physical assault
Car accident recounted
Blackmail
Bullying

* Note : Characters under the influence of alcohol recount having sex, and a protagonist recounts coerced ‘consent’ to sex with her boyfriend.

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising.

But surprises aren’t always good.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Classism
Colourism
Racism
Mass rape
Gang rape
Sexual assault
Forced marriage
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Sterilization
Medical experimentation
Scars
Dead bodies
Death of a classmate or colleague
Decapitation and dismemberment
Knife violence
Graphic mass murder
Graphic murder
Physical assault
Torture
Trauma
Captivity and confinement
Military violence
War themes
Explosions
Fire and arson
Flooding
Bullying and hazing

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro

Hailsham seems like a pleasant English boarding school, far from the influences of the city. Its students are well tended and supported, trained in art and literature, and become just the sort of people the world wants them to be. But, curiously, they are taught nothing of the outside world and are allowed little contact with it.

Within the grounds of Hailsham, Kathy grows from schoolgirl to young woman, but it’s only when she and her friends Ruth and Tommy leave the safe grounds of the school (as they always knew they would) that they realize the full truth of what Hailsham is.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Medical experimentation
Bullying

One Last Chance by Therese Beharrie

One Last Chance by Therese Beharrie

Six years ago, Zoey Roux secretly married her best friend Sawyer. But all that did was destroy the best relationship she’s ever had. They went their separate ways, but Zoey never could go through with a divorce. Seeing him again at her sister’s charity event is a shock, but also enlightening: no matter how much she still loves him, it’s time to let him go.

Zoey was Sawyer Wilson’s first love. She broke his heart, but his feelings never died. Love was never their issue—only timing. Seeing her again is a shock: in a perfect world, she would run back into his arms. Instead, she’s asking for a divorce. But a lot can happen in twenty-four hours and a second chance might just lead to happily ever after.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Panic attack
Parent with dementia mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Death of a grandparent
Death of a father from a brain tumour recounted
Bullying recounted

What the Woods Keep by Katya de Becerra

What the Woods Keep by Katya de Becerra

Hayden tried to put the past behind her, and it worked. She’s getting ready for college, living in a Brooklyn apartment, and hanging out with her best friend and roommate Del. But now it’s all catching up with her: her mother’s mysterious disappearance a decade before, her father’s outlandish theories about a lost supernatural race, and Hayden’s own dark dreams of strange symbols and rituals in the Colorado woods where she grew up.

As soon as Hayden arrives at her hometown, her friend Del in tow, it begins: Neighbors whisper secrets about Hayden’s mother; the boy next door is now all grown-up in a very distracting way; and Hayden feels the trees calling to her. And among them, deep in the woods, Hayden will discover something incredible—something that threatens reality itself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Child abuse mentioned
Sleep disorders
Graphic self harm
Graphic blood test
Burns
Nonconsensual medical treatment
Needles
Physical assault
Hanging mentioned
Captivity mentioned
Bullying recounted

Oasis by Katya de Becerra

Oasis by Katya de Becerra

The oasis saved them. But who will save them from the oasis?

Alif had exciting summer plans: working on her father’s archaeological dig site in the desert with four close friends . . . and a very cute research assistant. Then the sandstorm hit.

With their camp wiped away, Alif and the others find themselves lost on the sands, seemingly doomed . . . until they find the oasis. It has everything they need: food, water, shade—and mysterious ruins that hide a deadly secret. As reality begins to shift around them, they question what’s real and what’s a mirage… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism mentioned
Smoking
Dehydration
Blood & physical injuries
Medical treatment & procedures
Seizures mentioned
Hospitalisation
Death from impalement
Bullying mentioned

Gertie’s Leap to Greatness by Kate Beasley

Gertie’s Leap to Greatness by Kate Beasley

Gertie Reece Foy is 100% Not-From-Concentrate awesome. She has a daddy who works on an oil rig, a great-aunt who always finds the lowest prices at the Piggly Wiggly, and two loyal best friends. So when her absent mother decides to move away from their small town, Gertie sets out on her greatest mission yet: becoming the best fifth grader in the universe to show her mother exactly what she’ll be leaving behind. There’s just one problem: Seat-stealing new girl Mary Sue Spivey wants to be the best fifth grader, too. And there is simply not enough room at the top for the two of them.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Physical injury (broken bone) mentioned
Bullying

The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister

The Scent Keeper by Erica Bauermeister

Emmeline lives an enchanted childhood on a remote island with her father, who teaches her about the natural world through her senses. What he won’t explain are the mysterious scents stored in the drawers that line the walls of their cabin, or the origin of the machine that creates them. As Emmeline grows, however, so too does her curiosity, until one day the unforeseen happens, and Emmeline is vaulted out into the real world—a place of love, betrayal, ambition, and revenge. To understand her past, Emmeline must unlock the clues to her identity, a quest that challenges the limits of her heart and imagination.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Domestic violence
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent
Bullying

Runt by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Runt by Nora Raleigh Baskin

Elizabeth Moon grew up around dogs. Her mom runs a boarding kennel out of their home, so she’s seen how dogs behave to determine pack order. Her experience in middle school is uncomfortably similar.

Maggie hates how Elizabeth acts so much better than everyone else. Besides, she’s always covered in dog hair. And she smells. So Maggie creates a fake profile on a popular social networking site to teach Elizabeth a lesson.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Animal abuse
Animal death
Animal injury
Bullying

The Black Mage by Daniel Barnes

The Black Mage by Daniel Barnes and illustrated by DJ Kirkland

When St. Ivory Academy, a historically white wizarding school, opens its doors to its first-ever black student, everyone believes that the wizarding community is finally taking its first crucial steps toward inclusivity. Or is it? When Tom Token, the beneficiary of the school’s “Magical Minority Initiative,” begins uncovering weird clues and receiving creepy texts on his phone, he and his friend, Lindsay, stumble into a conspiracy that dates all the way back to the American Civil War, and could cost Tom his very soul.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism (theme)
Klu Klux Klan, on-page
Murder & attempted murder
Cults
War themes recounted
Bullying