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.

Pros & Cons of Desire by A.E. Wasp

Pros & Cons of Desire by A.E. Wasp

Two jobs down, three to go, and job #3 is mine. My name is Ridge Pfeiffer, I’m a dirt poor jewel thief from the wrong side of the tracks, and I don’t play well with others. Theoretically, the deal works like this. I do the job Charlie planned for me and Miranda erases my past, makes my biggest problems go away. Too bad my biggest problem is the one thing I don’t want to go away: Diplomatic Security Agent Davis Ethan. When Davis caught me breaking into a safe during job #2, I should have ended up in jail. instead, I ended up in his bed. Rich, gorgeous, and privileged, the only thing we have in common is a love of beautiful… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Paedophilia
  • Parental neglect mentioned
  • Emesis
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Blackmail

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Rules for Vanishing by Kate Alice Marshall

Once a year, the path appears in the forest and Lucy Gallows beckons. Who is brave enough to find her–and who won’t make it out of the woods? It’s been exactly one year since Sara’s sister, Becca, disappeared, and high school life has far from settled back to normal. With her sister gone, Sara doesn’t know whether her former friends no longer like her…or are scared of her, and the days of eating alone at lunch have started to blend together. When a mysterious text message invites Sara and her estranged friends to “play the game” and find local ghost legend Lucy Gallows, Sara… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Physical child abuse, off-page
  • Amnesia
  • Suicide
  • Eye trauma
  • Starvation discussed
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • Disappearance of a sibling (theme)
  • Drowning, on-page
  • Animal attack

Thirteens by Kate Alice Marshall

Thirteens by Kate Alice Marshall

Twelve-year-old Eleanor has just moved to Eden Eld to live with her aunt and uncle after her mother was killed in a fire. Her birthday, which falls on Halloween, is just around the corner, and she hopes that this year will be a fresh start at a new life. But then one morning, an ancient grandfather clock counting down thirteen hours appears outside of her bedroom. And then she spots a large black dog with glowing red eyes prowling the grounds of her school. A book of fairytales she’s never heard of almost willingly drops in front of her, as if asking to be read. Something is wrong in… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment & neglect
  • Pregnancy & childbirth, off-page
  • Death of a mother, implied
  • Attempted murder
  • Kidnapping
  • House fire recounted

A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova

A Deal with the Elf King by Elise Kova

The elves come for two things: war and wives. In both cases, they come for death. Three thousand years ago, humans were hunted by powerful races with wild magic until the treaty was formed. Now, for centuries, the elves have taken a young woman from Luella’s village to be their Human Queen. To be chosen is seen as a mark of death by the townsfolk. A mark nineteen-year-old Luella is grateful to have escaped as a girl. Instead, she’s dedicated her life to studying herbology and becoming the town’s only healer. That is, until the Elf King unexpectedly arrives, for her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child neglect recounted
  • Forced marriage
  • Sibling with substance addiction
  • Drug use & abuse discussed
  • Alcohol consumption, on-page
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Heart disease & other chronic illnesses mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Attempted kidnapping
  • War & rebellion discussed

A Darkness At The Door by Intisar Khanani

A Darkness At The Door by Intisar Khanani

Only Rae knows the extent of the corruption at the heart of the kingdom of Menaiya, from the noble lord who betrayed her to the Circle of Mages whose wards protect the slavers from discovery. Injured and imprisoned on a slave ship, Rae’s options are quickly running out. When a desperate escape attempt goes terribly wrong, she finds herself indebted to a terrifying Fae sorceress. Now Rae will not rest until she has rescued her fellow prisoners and freed her land from the darkness that has taken hold. To succeed, she’ll need every ally she can find—including Bren, the thief who may have stolen her heart. But Bren… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Human trafficking, off-page
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Attempted murder

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

Children have been disappearing from across Menaiya for longer than Amraeya ni Ansarim can remember. When her friend’s sister is snatched, Rae knows she can’t look away any longer – even if that means seeking answers from the royal court, where her country upbringing and clubfoot will only invite ridicule. Yet the court holds its share of surprises. There she discovers an ally in the foreign princess, who recruits her as an attendant. Armed with the princess’s support, Rae seeks answers in the dark city streets, finding unexpected help in a rough-around-the-edges street thief with secrets of his own. But treachery… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Ableism
  • Human trafficking, off-page
  • Sexual assault
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

Thorn by Intisar Khanani

Between her cruel family and the contempt she faces at court, Princess Alyrra has always longed to escape the confines of her royal life. But when she’s betrothed to the powerful prince Kestrin, Alyrra embarks on a journey to his land with little hope for a better future. When a mysterious and terrifying sorceress robs Alyrra of both her identity and her role as princess, Alyrra seizes the opportunity to start a new life for herself as a goose girl. But Alyrra soon finds that Kestrin is not what she expected. The more Alyrra learns of this new kingdom, the pain and suffering its people endure, as well as the danger facing Kestrin from the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Human trafficking, off-page
  • Rape
  • Death of a parent
  • Hanging
  • Animal death

Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra

Ben and Beatriz by Katalina Gamarra

Beatriz Herrera is a fierce woman who will take you down with her quick wit and keen intellect. And after the results of the 2016 election worked hard to erase her identity as a queer biracial woman, she’d be right to. Especially if you come for her sweet BFF cousin, Hero. Beatriz would do anything for her, a loyalty that lands Beatriz precisely where she doesn’t want to be: spending a week at the ridiculous Cape Cod mansion of stupid-hot playboy Ben Montgomery. The same Ben Montgomery she definitely shouldn’t have hooked up with that one time. The things we do for… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Colourism
  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Alcoholism
  • Substance addiction
  • Attempted suicide, off-page
  • Psychiatric hospitalisation

Keystone by Katie Delahanty

Keystone by Katie Delahanty

When Ella Karman debuts on the Social Stock Exchange, she finds out life as a high-profile “Influencer” isn’t what she expected. Everyone around her is consumed by their rankings, in creating the smoke and mirrors that make them the envy of the world. But then Ella’s best friend betrays her, her rankings tank, and she loses—everything. Leaving her old life behind, she joins Keystone, a secret school for thieves, where students are being trained to steal everything analog and original because something—or someone—is changing history to suit their… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child neglect & abandonment
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug abuse, on- & off-page

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur

Folklorn by Angela Mi Young Hur

Elsa Park is a particle physicist at the top of her game, stationed at a neutrino observatory in the Antarctic, confident she’s put enough distance between her ambitions and the family ghosts she’s run from all her life. But it isn’t long before her childhood imaginary friend—an achingly familiar, spectral woman in the snow—comes to claim her at last. Years ago, Elsa’s now-catatonic mother had warned her that the women of their line were doomed to repeat the narrative lives of their ancestors from Korean myth and legend. But beyond these ghosts, Elsa also faces a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Emotional & verbal child abuse
  • Hate crime
  • Death of a parent
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