Tag Archives: Child Abuse & Neglect

Second Chance by Audra North

Wilford town librarian Marnie Thomas has had too much loss to risk her heart ever again. She buries her hurt in books and finds her friends in stories, even though she longs for love and a family of her own. Real estate developer Collin Morgan is back in town on Halloween to help his sister, but the last person he expected to see at his niece’s story hour is Marnie Thomas. The shy, awkward girl he remembered from high school has turned into a beautiful—but still shy—woman, and Collin can’t help the desire that rises up when he sees her.
But this year, the magic of Halloween conjures a wisecracking, cigar-smoking ghost name… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental & spousal abandonment
  • Verbal child abuse
  • Smoking
  • Death from a heart attack mentioned
  • Death of a mother from cancer recounted

We Can Be Heroes by Kyrie McCauley

Beck and Vivian never could stand each other, but they always tried their best for their mutual friend, Cassie. After the town moves on from Cassie’s murder too fast, Beck and Vivian finally find common ground: vengeance. They memorialize Cassie by secretly painting murals of her around town, a message to the world that Cassie won’t be forgotten. But Beck and Vivian are keeping secrets, like the third passenger riding in Beck’s VW bus with them—Cassie’s ghost. When their murals catch the attention of a podcaster covering Cassie’s case, they become the catalyst,,, Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Statutory rape mentioned
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Domestic abuse
  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Lung cancer
  • Gun violence
  • School shooting
  • Car accident mentioned

Little Heaven by Nick Cutter

A trio of mismatched mercenaries is hired by a young woman for a deceptively simple task: check in on her nephew, who may have been taken against his will to a remote New Mexico backwoods settlement called Little Heaven. Shortly after they arrive, things begin to turn ominous. Stirrings in the woods and over the treetops—the brooding shape of a monolith known as the Black Rock casts its terrible pall. Paranoia and distrust grips the settlement. The escape routes are gradually cut off as events spiral towards madness. Hell—or the closest thing to it—invades Little Heaven. The remaining occupants are forced to take a stand and… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Child abuse
  • Gun violence
  • Cults

Stella by Starlight by Sharon M. Draper and illustrated by Sarah Jane Coleman

Stella lives in the segregated South; in Bumblebee, North Carolina, to be exact about it. Some stores she can go into. Some stores she can’t. Some folks are right pleasant. Others are a lot less so. To Stella, it sort of evens out, and heck, the Klan hasn’t bothered them for years. But one late night, later than she should ever be up, much less wandering around outside, Stella and her little brother see something they’re never supposed to see, something that is the first flicker of change to come, unwelcome change by any stretch of the imagination. As Stella’s community – her world – is upended, she decides to fight fire with fire. And she learns that ashes don’t necessarily signify an end.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • White supremacy & Klu Klux Klan
  • Hate crimes
  • Physical child abuse
  • Domestic abuse & violence
  • Death of a father in a lumber mill accident mentioned
  • House fire & arson

Black Sheep by Brynne Weaver and Alexa Harlowe

Serial killer. That’s not the first thing you’d think when you meet Bria Brooks.She’s reserved. Polite. Charming, when she wants to be. But delve a little deeper. She’s cunning. Brilliant. Ruthless. Bria Brooks is not just a black sheep. She’s a wolf. And she has her heart set on a very elusive prize. Caron Berger. Trouble is, she’s not the only one. Dr. Elijah Kaplan is also on the hunt for the enigmatic leader of the Legio Agni cult. Caron Berger is a phantom, and Eli is keen on catching the ghost. What he doesn’t need is a beautiful and brutal doctoral student haunting his steps. Especially not one who seems so breakable, or who tempts him to bend every rule until it snaps, or who calls to each of… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Consensual non-consensual (noncon)
  • Parental abandonment
  • Child abuse & neglect recounted including whipping, burning and physical assault
  • Panic attacks & claustrophobia
  • Undiagnosed Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Religious trauma & cults recounted

Canadian Boyfriend by Jenny Holiday

The fake Canadian boyfriend. It’s a thing. The get out of jail free card for all kinds of sticky social situations. “I can’t go to prom; I’m going to be out of town visiting my boyfriend in Canada.” It’s all over pop culture. But Aurora Evans did it first. Once upon a time she met a teenage hockey player at the Mall of America. He was from Canada. He was a boy. She may have fudged the “friend” part a little, but it wasn’t like she was ever going to see him again. It wasn’t like she hurt anyone. Until she did—years later—on both counts. When pro hockey player and recent widower Mike Martin walks into the dance studio where Aurora Evans… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Verbal parental abuse
  • Eating disorder recovery
  • Anxiety & panic attack, on-page
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a spouse & mother in a car accident

Darling Girls by Sally Hepworth

For as long as they can remember, Jessica, Norah, and Alicia have been told how lucky they are. As young girls they were rescued from family tragedies and raised by a loving foster mother, Miss Fairchild, on an idyllic farming estate and given an elusive second chance at a happy family life. But their childhood wasn’t the fairy tale everyone thinks it was. Miss Fairchild had rules. Miss Fairchild could be unpredictable. And Miss Fairchild was never, ever to be crossed. In a moment of desperation, the three broke away from Miss Fairchild and thought they were free. Even though they never saw her again, she was always somewhere… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child physical & sexual abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Foster care system
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Childhood trauma

Mad Honey by Jodi Picoult and Jennifer Finney Boylan

Olivia McAfee knows what it feels like to start over. Her picture-perfect life—living in Boston, married to a brilliant cardiothoracic surgeon, raising a beautiful son, Asher—was upended when her husband revealed a darker side. She never imagined she would end up back in her sleepy New Hampshire hometown, living in the house she grew up in, and taking over her father’s beekeeping business. Lily Campanello is familiar with do-overs, too. When she and her mom relocate to Adams, New Hampshire, for her final year of high school, they both hope it will be a fresh start. And for just a short while, these new beginnings… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia & deadnaming
  • Physical & emotional domestic violence
  • Child abuse
  • Self-harm
  • Attempted suicide discussed
  • Abortion
  • Murder of a trans woman (theme)
  • Physical assault
  • Drunk driving car accident
  • Police brutality
  • Bullying

Aru Shah and the City of Gold by Roshani Chokshi

Aru Shah and her sisters–including one who also claims to be the Sleeper’s daughter–must find their mentors Hanuman and Urvashi in Lanka, the city of gold, before war breaks out between the devas and asuras. Aru has just made a wish on the tree of wishes, but she can’t remember what it was. She’s pretty sure she didn’t wish for a new sister, one who looks strangely familiar and claims to be the Sleeper’s daughter, like her. Aru also isn’t sure she still wants to fight on behalf of the devas in the war against the Sleeper and his demon army. The gods have been too devious up to now. Case in point: Kubera, ruler of the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment & neglect
  • Nightmares
  • Sword violence
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Disappearance of a parent
  • War themes & battle scenes, on-page

Once More Upon a Time by Roshani Chokshi

Once upon a dream, there was a prince named Ambrose
and a princess named Imelda who loved each other…
But alas, no more.
“What a witch takes, a witch does not give back!”
their friends and family warn.
They resign themselves to this loveless fate…
A year and a day pass.
And then their story truly begins…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Emotional parental abuse
  • Cannibalism
  • Attempted murder by poisoning