Cancer – Page 37 – Trigger Warning Database

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins

The Winter Sister by Megan Collins

Sixteen years ago, Sylvie’s sister Persephone never came home. Out too late with the boyfriend she was forbidden to see, Persephone was missing for three days before her body was found—and years later, her murder remains unsolved.

In the present day, Sylvie returns home to care for her estranged mother, Annie, as she undergoes treatment for cancer. Prone to unexplained “Dark Days” even before Persephone’s death, Annie’s once-close… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Familial estrangement
Parent with alcoholism
Parent with cancer
Disappearance & murder of a sister recounted

The Family Plot by Megan Collins

The Family Plot by Megan Collins

At twenty-six, Dahlia Lighthouse has a lot to learn when it comes to the real world. Raised in a secluded island mansion deep in the woods and kept isolated by her true crime-obsessed parents, she has spent the last several years living on her own, but unable to move beyond her past—especially the disappearance of her twin brother Andy when they were sixteen.

With her father’s death, Dahlia returns to the house she has avoided for years. But as the rest of the Lighthouse family arrives for the memorial… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Cancer mentioned
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a brother
Death of a father
Disappearance of a sibling recounted

Let It Shine by Alyssa Cole

Let It Shine by Alyssa Cole

Sofronia Wallis knows that proper Black women don’t court trouble by upending the status quo, but it’s 1961 and the Civil Rights movement is in full swing. Sofie’s spent half her life being prim, proper, and reserved—as if that could bring her mother back—but the nonviolent protests happening across the South bring out her inner agitator.

Ivan Friedman has devoted his life to boxing, loving the finesse of a well-delivered punch… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Slut shaming
Antisemitism & antisemitic slurs
Racism & white supremacy
Abortion & miscarriage mentioned
Cancer
Death of a mother recounted
The Holocaust mentioned

Starting from Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow

Starting from Here by Lisa Jenn Bigelow

Sixteen-year-old Colby Bingham’s heart has been broken too many times. Her mother has been dead for almost two years, her truck driver father is always away, her almost girlfriend just dumped her for a guy, and now she’s failing chemistry.

When a stray dog lands literally at her feet, bleeding and broken on a busy road, it seems like the Universe has it in for Colby. But the incident also knocks a chink in the walls she’s built around her heart… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Bimisia
Cancer mentioned
Death of a parent mentioned

The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena

The Beauty of the Moment by Tanaz Bhathena

Susan is the new girl—she’s sharp and driven, and strives to meet her parents’ expectations of excellence. Malcolm is the bad boy—he started raising hell at age fifteen, after his mom died of cancer, and has had a reputation ever since.

Susan’s parents are on the verge of divorce. Malcolm’s dad is a known adulterer. Susan hasn’t told anyone, but she wants to be an artist. Malcolm doesn’t know what he wants—until he meets her.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental infidelity mentioned
Death of a mother from cancer

Afterland by Lauren Beukes

Afterland by Lauren Beukes

Twelve-year-old Miles is one of the last boys alive, and his mother, Cole, will protect him at all costs. On the run after a horrific act of violence-and pursued by Cole’s own ruthless sister, Billie — all Cole wants is to raise her kid somewhere he won’t be preyed on as a reproductive resource or a sex object or a stand-in son. Someplace like home.

To get there, Cole and Miles must journey across a changed America in disguise as mother and daughter. From a military base in Seattle… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Cancer

The Witches of Echo Park by Amber Benson

The Witches of Echo Park by Amber Benson

When Lyse MacAllister’s great-aunt Eleanora, the woman who raised her, becomes deathly ill, Lyse puts her comfortable life in Georgia on hold to rush back to Los Angeles. And once she returns to Echo Park, Lyse discovers her great-aunt has been keeping secrets—extraordinary secrets—from her. Not only is Lyse heir to Eleanora’s Victorian estate; she is also expected to take her great-aunt’s place in the Echo Park coven of witches. But to accept her destiny means to place herself in deadly peril—for the world of magic is under siege, and the battle the witches now fight may be their last…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Child abuse by a grandmother (on-page)
Nightmares
Seizures
Great-aunt & guardian with terminal cancer

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950’s America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

Misogyny (theme)
Parental abandonment
Emotional & physical child abuse
ALcoholism
Panic attack
Death of a father, off-page
Death of a mother from cancer, on-page
Fire mentioned
Animal cruelty & death

The Deal of a Lifetime and Other Stories by Fredrik Backman

The Deal of a Lifetime and Other Stories by Fredrik Backman

The Deal of a Lifetime is a profound and moving novella set on Christmas Eve. It tells the story of the intertwining destinies of a man who has built a global business empire but lost his family in the process and a courageous little girl fighting for her life, and it asks the question: if you had the chance to change your legacy, would you take it?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Cancer

Enemies by Tijan

Enemies by Tijan

Stone Reeves was my neighbour, and I’ve hated him since sixth grade. Gorgeous and charismatic, he became the town’s football god, while I became the town’s invisible girl. He went to a Division 1 school for football, while my father was fired by his father. His team won the National Championship, while my mother died the same day.

He was a first-round pick for the NFL.. while I made the worst decision of my life… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Rape, off-page
Death of parents in a car accident
Death of a parent from cancer, off-page
Stalking