Tag Archives: Child Abuse & Neglect

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of child abuse and neglect, including emotional, verbal, psychological and physical abuse, and gaslighting.

For child sexual abuse, see Paedophilia & CSA.

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there’s only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she’s determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god–and she’s decided Jess is going to help her do it. Drawn into a world... Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Homomisia
  • Misogyny
  • Racism
  • Coming out themes
  • Graphic attempted rape, on-page
  • Sexual assault recounted
  • Domestic abuse
  • Physical child abuse
  • Cheating recounted
  • Cancer & remission discussed
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a grandmother, off-page
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gang violence
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Loss of autonomy (possession, theme)
  • Poverty themes

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

The Chestnut Man by Søren Sveistrup

If you find one, he’s already found you. A psychopath is terrorizing Copenhagen. His calling card is a “chestnut man”—a handmade doll made of matchsticks and two chestnuts—which he leaves at each bloody crime scene. Examining the dolls, forensics makes a shocking discovery—a fingerprint belonging to a young girl, a government minister’s daughter who had been kidnapped and murdered a year ago. A tragic coincidence—or something more twisted? To save innocent lives, a pair of detectives must put aside their differences to piece together the... Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Anti-immigration rhetoric
  • Paedophilia & rape of a child
  • Child pornography
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Mutilation
  • Torture
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping & disappearance of a child
  • Stalking
  • Fire

The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector

The Goddess of Nothing At All by Cat Rector

Perhaps you know the myths. Furious, benevolent Gods. A tree that binds nine realms. A hammer stronger than any weapon. And someday, the end of everything. Furious, benevolent Gods. A tree that binds nine realms. A hammer stronger than any weapon. And someday, the end of everything. Looking back, it’s easy to know what choices I might have made differently. At least it feels that way. I might have given up on my title. Told my father he was useless, king of Gods or no, and left Asgard. Made a life somewhere else. Maybe I would never have let Loki cross my path. Never… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Coming out scene
  • Psychological, emotional, and verbal abuse
  • Rape mentioned
  • Pregnancy & childbirth
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Death of an infant & teenager mentioned
  • Kidnapping
  • Torture
  • Battle scenes
  • Animal death

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

A Shadow Bright and Burning by Jessica Cluess

Henrietta Howel can burst into flames. Forced to reveal her power to save a friend, she’s shocked when, instead of being executed, she’s invited to train as one of Her Majesty’s royal sorcerers. Thrust into the glamour of Victorian London, Henrietta is declared the chosen one, the girl who will defeat the Ancients, bloodthirsty demons terrorising humanity. She also meets her fellow sorcerer trainees, handsome young men eager to test her power and her heart. One will challenge her. One will fight for her. One will betray her. But Henrietta Howel is not the chosen one. As she plays… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Child abuse
  • Physical injury

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

When the Stars Go Dark by Paula McLain

Anna Hart is a missing persons detective in San Francisco. When tragedy strikes her personal life, Anna, desperate and numb, flees to the Northern California village of Mendocino to grieve. She lived there as a child with her beloved foster parents, and now she believes it might be the only place left for her. Yet the day she arrives, she learns a local teenage girl has gone missing. The crime feels frighteningly reminiscent of the most crucial time in Anna’s childhood, when the unsolved murder of a young girl touched Mendocino and changed the community forever… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical child abuse
  • Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Animal abuse

From Scratch by Katrina Jackson

From Scratch by Katrina Jackson

Sea Port is a tiny southern town on the verge of collapse looking to entice people to move to the middle of nowhere and start life anew. Mary Woods, stinging from her life as a failed academic, takes the opportunity by the reins and resettles in Sea Port to try her hand as a small-town baker. A few days before the opening of her shop, Confections by Mary, she runs into small-town cop, Miguel Santos, and small-town fire chief, Billy Knox and there’s a whole lot of chemistry to go around. Welcome to Sea Port, where the town baker, cop and fire chief fall heavily in lust.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Queermisia
  • Child sexual abuse recounted
  • Physical child abuse mentioned
  • Domestic abuse mentioned
  • Parent with alcoholism & alcohol abuse mentioned
  • Physical assault mentioned

The Legacy by Elle Kennedy

The Legacy by Elle Kennedy

A wedding. A proposal. An elopement. And a surprise pregnancy. Can you guess which couple is which? Come for the drama, stay for the laughs! Catch up with your favorite Off-Campus characters as they navigate the changes that come with growing up and discover that big decisions can have big consequences…and big rewards.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Unplanned pregnancy

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. Yes–the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges: A new hallucinogenic drug sweeping the country. An emerging AI… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Child abuse
  • Rape
  • Genital mutilation
  • Torture
  • Mass murder
  • Bombing
  • Animal hunting & poaching

North to Paradise by Ousman Umar

North to Paradise by Ousman Umar

Ousman Umar is a shaman’s son born in a small village in Ghana. Though his mother died giving birth, he spent a contented childhood working the fields, setting traps in the jungle, and living off the land. Still, as strange and wondrous flying machines crisscrossed the skies overhead, Ousman dreamed of a different life. And so, when he was only twelve years old, he left his village and began what would be a five-year journey to Europe. Every step of the way, as he travelled across the Sahara desert, through the daunting metropolises… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Child abuse (child labour)
  • Death of a parent
  • Police brutality
  • Drowning
  • Imprisonment & confinement
  • Homelessness

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

House of Hunger by Alexis Henderson

Marion Shaw has been raised in the slums, where want and deprivation is all she knows. Despite longing to leave the city and its miseries, she has no real hope of escape until the day she spots a peculiar listing in the newspaper, seeking a bloodmaid. Though she knows little about the far north–where wealthy nobles live in luxury and drink the blood of those in their service–Marion applies to the position. In a matter of days, she finds herself the newest bloodmaid at the notorious House of Hunger. There, Marion is swept into a world of dark debauchery–and at the center of it… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Incest
  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Self-harm
  • Drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction including blood-drinking & letting (theme)
  • Body horror
  • Needles
  • Murder including patricide
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Vivisepulture (buried alive)
  • Poisoning
  • Animal death & cruelty