Bullying & Hazing – Trigger Warning Database

The Fall of Iris Henley by Jennifer Graham

All it takes to ruin someone’s life is the stroke of a key. Just ask Iris Henley. Her life is destroyed when someone posts an anonymous message on her high school’s subreddit thread: “Iris Henley is a killer. I’ve been too scared to come forward until now, but I saw her murder Rocky and Lynette last summer.” Just like that, Iris loses everything. Her reputation. Her friends. Her hope of getting into college on scholarship. Even, possibly, her freedom, once the police start to investigate. After all, she’s the perfect suspect: Rocky was her boyfriend, and Lynette was her ex-best friend—and… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Toxic friendship
Suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption & drug abuse
Murder
Kidnapping mentioned
Bullying & cyberbullying
Stalking mentioned

Sanctuary by V.V. James

To Detective Maggie Knight, the death of Sanctuary’s star quarterback seems to be a tragic accident. Only, everyone knows his ex-girlfriend is the daughter of a witch – and she was there when he died. Then the rumours start Bereaved mother Abigail will stop at nothing until she has justice for her dead son. Her best friend Sarah will do everything in her power to protect her accused daughter. And both women share a secret that could shatter their lives. It falls to Maggie to prevent her investigation – and Sanctuary itself – from spiralling out of control.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Sexual assault
Domestic violence
Bullying

Badger to the Bone by Shelly Laurenston

She’s the woman he’s been hired to kidnap. But ZeZé Vargas has other ideas . . . like getting them both out of this nightmare alive. Just one problem. She’s crazy. Certifiably. Because while he’s plotting their escape, the petite Asian beauty is plotting something much more deadly. Max “Kill It Again” MacKilligan has no idea what one of her own is doing with all these criminal humans until she realizes that Zé has no idea who or what he is. Or exactly how much power he truly has. But Max is more than happy to bring this handsome… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Misogyny & sexism
Racism & mentions of Klu Klux Klan
Sex trafficking mentioned
Drug dealing mentioned
Blood & injury depiction
Murder
Gun violence
Kidnapping
Bullying recounted

The Backstagers, Vol. 1: Rebels Without Applause by James Tynion IV, Rian Sygh & Walter Baiamonte

When Jory transfers to an all-boys private high school, he’s taken in by the only ones who don’t treat him like a new kid, the lowly stage crew known as the Backstagers. Not only does he gain great, lifetime friends, Jory is also introduced to an entire magical world that lives beyond the curtain. With the unpredictable twists and turns of the underground world, the Backstagers venture into the unknown, determined to put together the best play their high school has ever seen.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableist language
Bullying
Disappearance of a friend

Bride of Ignat, Volume 1 by Moyori Mori

Rita, a lonely boy, is chosen as the “Dragon’s Bride” by the village custom. The ancient legend of the “Snowy Mountain Dragon” is now nothing more than a legend, but Rita, unable to find his role in the village, accepts the sacrifice while realizing that it is to reduce the number of mouths to feed. Rita, who was left alone and freezing in the snowstorm, is saved by Ignat, a beautiful dragon in human form. Rita’s eyes sparkle because the dragon really exists, and he is able to fulfill his role as a “bride”, but Ignat rejects him, saying “I… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Pandemic mentioned
Death of parents recounted
Bullying

Blood in the Water by Tiffany D. Jackson

Kaylani is a born-and-bred Brooklyn girl. She expects to feel like a fish out of water spending the hot and sticky summer on Martha’s Vineyard with family friends, the Watsons. But her mother insists, especially since Kaylani still spends long hours on the phone with her imprisoned father. The Watsons live in the town of Oak Bluffs, a place with a rich Black history that fascinates Kaylani. Though the Watsons’ daughter, London, is snobby and unfriendly, Kaylani ends up connecting with some other kids in the town, who show… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Classism
Emesis
Blood depiction
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a child
Murder
Imprisonment
Bullying

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

Nobody Owens, known to his friends as Bod, is a perfectly normal boy. Well, he would be perfectly normal if he didn’t live in a graveyard, being raised and educated by ghosts, with a solitary guardian who belongs to neither the world of the living nor the world of the dead. There are dangers and adventures for Bod in the graveyard: the strange and terrible menace of the Sleer; a gravestone entrance to a desert that leads to the city of ghouls; friendship with a witch, and so much more. But it is in the land of the living that real danger lurks, for it is there that the man Jack lives and he has already killed Bod’s family.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Drugging
Murder of a father, mother & sister by stabbing
Kidnapping
Gun & knife violence
Car accident mentioned (hit-and-run)
Bullying

Aggie Flea is NOT a Liar! by Tania Ingram

Meet Aggie Flea-a girl with a BIG imagination … that lands her in even BIGGER trouble! When a mysterious new neighbour arrives in the middle of the night, Aggie’s convinced he’s a vampire! Can she prove it? Or will everyone think she’s a liar?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Mentions of parental divorce
Minor bullying

Against a Wall by Cate C. Wells

My high school bully is now my fake boyfriend. Cash Wall has been messing with me since junior high. Nuisance stuff, mostly. Name calling. Pranks. Honestly, he’s nowhere near the worst of my problems. Back in school, I had bigger fish to fry, and now, I’ve got a “scarlet letter” situation going on. The whole town hates me. For some reason, Cash offers himself up as my knight in shining armor. So now my former bully is my fake boyfriend. What could possibly go wrong? Cash: Glenna Dobbs thinks I’m an idiot, and she’s mostly right. I hunt. Fish. Go mudding. I’m not a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Fatphobia & body shaming
Workplace sexual harassment & dubious consent scenario
Cheating mentioned
Emotionally abusive relationships recounted
Anxiety & insomnia
Alcohol consumption and drug use, including vaping & cigar smoking
Physical injury (gunshot wound)
Emesis mentioned
Parent with agina
Death of a mother from a heart attack recounted
Death of a grandparent mentioned
Murder of an uncle
Physical assault
Police corruption
Hunting & death of a pet dog mentioned
Bullying

Afterlight by Rebecca Lim

Since her parents died in a freak motorbike accident, Sophie Teague’s life has fallen apart. But she’s just enrolled at a new high school, hoping for a fresh start. That’s until Eve, a beautiful ghost in black, starts making terrifying nightly appearances, wanting Sophie to be her hands, eyes and go-to girl. There are loose ends that Eve needs Sophie to tie up. But dealing with the dead might just involve the greatest sacrifice of all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism
Attempted sexual assault & sexual harassment
Domestic violence
Death of parents in a motorcycle accident
Bullying