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.

Den of Vipers by KA Knight

Ryder, Garrett, Kenzo, and Diesel—The Vipers. They run this town and everyone in it. Their deals are as sordid as their business, and their reputation is enough to bring a grown man to his knees, forcing him to beg for mercy. They are not people you mess with, yet my dad did. The old man ran up a debt with them and then sold me to cover his losses. Yes, sold me. They own me now. I’m theirs in every sense of the word. But I’ve never been meek and compliant. These men, they look at me with longing. Their scarred, blood-stained hands holding me tight. They want everything I am, everything I have to give, and won’t stop until they get just… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Child abuse
  • Parent with alcoholism mentioned
  • Self-harm
  • Blood & gore depiction including blood play
  • Graphic mutilation
  • Death of a relative from terminal cancer recounted
  • Death of a parent from suicide recounted
  • Death of a parent from a drug overdose recounted
  • Graphic murder & attempted murder
  • Graphic torture
  • Gun & knife violence and play
  • Physical assault
  • Arson
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Car accident (on-page)
  • Organised crime (mafia)

The Housemaid by Freida McFadden

Every day I clean the Winchesters’ beautiful house top to bottom. I collect their daughter from school. And I cook a delicious meal for the whole family before heading up to eat alone in my tiny room on the top floor. I try to ignore how Nina makes a mess just to watch me clean it up. How she tells strange lies about her own daughter. And how her husband Andrew seems more broken every day. But as I look into Andrew’s handsome brown eyes, so full of pain, it’s hard not to imagine what it would be like to live Nina’s life. The walk-in closet, the fancy car, the perfect… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic domestic violence & abuse, including captivity, torture, unethical surveillance, and gaslighting (on-page)
  • Infidelity & divorce (on-page)
  • Weight gain discussed (on-page)
  • Infertility mentioned (faked)
  • Incarceration for assault recounted
  • Psychiatric hospitalisation for (perceived) hallucinations recounted
  • Captivity by intimate partner (on-page)
  • Physical & psychological torture, including forcing someone to remove their own tooth, and in a domestic violence context (on-page)
  • Stalking
  • Near-drowning of an infant child recounted

Context : The second narrator, Nina, covertly hired the main protagonist, Millie, as her housemaid in order to trick her into killing her husband. Nina has been abused and tortured by her husband, who even tried to drown their newborn daughter and gaslight her into believing she did it, for years. She is institutionalised after the incident, and convinces herself she hallucinated the abuse & incident, until it begins after her release. Nina believes she can make her husband fall in love & leave her for Millie, possibly even coerce Nina to kill him in self-defence, so she can escape with her daughter. She goes as far as to fake infertility, Millie was incarcerated for nearly fatally assaulted a man she caught sexually assaulting her friend.

To Love Jason Thorn by Ella Maise

To Love Jason Thorn by Ella Maise

Jason Thorn… My brother’s childhood friend. Oh, how stupidly in love with that boy I was. He was the first boy that made me blush, my first official crush. Sounds beautiful so far, right? That excitement that bubbles up inside you, those famous butterflies you feel for the very first time—he was the reason for them all. But, you only get to live in that fairytale world until they crush your hopes and dreams and then stomp on your heart for good measure. And boy did he crush my little heart into pieces. After the stomping part, he became the boy I did my best to stay away from-and let me… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child neglect
  • Infidelity (secondary characters)
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Drugging
  • Death of parents

It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

It Starts with Us by Colleen Hoover

Lily and her ex-husband, Ryle, have just settled into a civil co-parenting rhythm when she suddenly bumps into her first love, Atlas, again. After nearly two years separated, she is elated that for once, time is on their side, and she immediately says yes when Atlas asks her on a date. But her excitement is quickly hampered by the knowledge that, though they are no longer married, Ryle is still very much a part of her life—and Atlas Corrigan is the one man he will hate being in his ex-wife and daughter’s life.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child neglect & abandonment
  • Domestic abuse recounted
  • Homelessness recounted

Southern Storms by Brittainy C. Cherry

Southern Storms by Brittainy C. Cherry

All I wanted to do was run away, I never expected to crash into his arms… After leaving the city life behind to escape my loveless marriage, I moved to small town Havenbarrow for a fresh start. What I didn’t expect was to find myself drawn to the town’s black sheep. They called him troubled. Cold. A man with a dark past. What everyone seemed to miss about Jax was the splashes of light in his eyes. The random acts of kindness he performed when no one was watching. The way he made me smile and laugh. Jax helped unpack the baggage I’d been carrying around with me… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abuse
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Depression
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a parent
  • Gun violence
  • Bullying

The Summer We Forgot by Caroline George

The Summer We Forgot by Caroline George

Darby and Morgan haven’t spoken for two years, and their friend group has splintered. But when the body of their former science teacher is found in the marsh where they attended camp that summer, they realize they have more questions than answers . . . and even fewer memories. The group of reunited friends suspects that a murderer is stalking the coastal highway 30A, and they are desperate to recover their memories as quickly as possible . . . before their history they can’t remember repeats itself. As tensions rise… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Statutory rape
  • Attempted rape of a minor
  • Memory loss
  • Car accident
  • Kidnapping & hostage situtation
  • Blackmail
  • Death of a pet mentioned

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical, verbal & emotional child abuse recounted
  • Parental abandonment
  • Panic attack
  • Suicide recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drugging mentioned
  • Stillbirth recounted
  • Blood & physical injuries depiction
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father in a fire recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Explosion
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping & hostage situation
  • Blackmail
  • Colonialism & slavery discussed
  • Animal death mentioned

Wrecked Palace by Catherine Cowles

Wrecked Palace by Catherine Cowles

One night was all it took for everything to change. From college student to guardian in a single breath. My siblings became my world. No time for date nights or romantic dreams. Giving my all to make sure they were cared for. But Griffin had a brokenness that called to me—one that mirrored my own. Gruff and just a little bit reckless. He was the last thing I needed. But everything I wanted. Only someone isn’t happy about this new life I’m building. Deciding to set fire to everything I hold close. And when the smoke clears, there might be only ashes left behind.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child neglect
  • Trauma & nightmares
  • Death of a family in a boating accident
  • Drug use

Sacrifice by Katee Robert

Sacrifice by Katee Robert

All my life, I’ve wanted nothing more than to escape my father’s compound. Half human, half vampire, I have none of the perks and all of the weaknesses. Well, my father’s finally found a use for me. He’s sent me to Malachi Zion, the last vampire in his family. My role is to play resident blood bank and, should Malachi knock me up, my father gets access to a whole new bloodline to control. No one asks me what I want. But the longer I spend with Malachi, the more I realize that he’s not the monster I first thought, which makes it harder to resist the heat that flares between us. And then his two friends show up and complicate things…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Dubious consent scenario
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Pregnancy discussed
  • Scars
  • Blood depiction & blood play

Sugar by Bernice McFadden

Sugar by Bernice L. McFadden

Young and confident, with a swagger in her step, Sugar arrives in the southern town of Bigelow hoping to start over. Soon Bigelow is alight with gossip and suspicion, and Sugar fears her past is catching up with her. Then she meets Pearl, a woman trying to forget her own traumas. As these next-door neighbours become unlikely friends, they wonder if their lives could finally be changing for the better. But small towns have long memories…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Sex work
  • Murder