Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

Outlander by Diana Gabaldon

The year is 1945. Claire Randall, a former combat nurse, is just back from the war and reunited with her husband on a second honeymoon when she walks through a standing stone in one of the ancient circles that dot the British Isles. Suddenly she is a Sassenach—an “outlander”—in a Scotland torn by war and raiding border clans in the year of Our Lord…1743.

Hurled back in time by forces she cannot understand, Claire is catapulted into the intrigues of lairds and spies that may threaten her life, and shatter her heart. For here James Fraser, a gallant young Scots warrior, shows her a love so absolute that Claire becomes a woman torn between fidelity and desire—and between two vastly different men in two irreconcilable lives.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Cheating mentioned
  • Child abuse, off-page
  • Graphic rape & attempted rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Intimate partner abuse
  • Suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • Poisoning
  • Torture
  • Animal attack
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The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley

The Firebrand by Marion Zimmer Bradley book cover

Blending archaeological fact and legend, the myths of the gods and the feats of heroes, Marion Zimmer Bradley breathes new life into the classic tale of the Trojan War-reinventing larger-than-life figures as living people engaged in a desperate struggle that dooms both the victors and the vanquished, their fate seen through the eyes of Kassandra-priestess, princess, and passionate woman with the spirit of a warrior.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault of a child
  • Death of a child, resulting from sexual assault
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Lila and Hadley by Kody Keplinger

Lila and Hadley by Kody Keplinger

Lila and Hadley by Kody Keplinger book cover

Hadley is angry about a lot of things: Her mom going to jail. Having to move to another state to live with her older sister, Beth, even though they haven’t spoken in five years. Leaving her friends and her school behind. And going blind. But then Hadley meets Lila.

Lila is an abandoned dog who spends her days just quietly lying around at the local dog rescue where Beth works. She doesn’t listen to directions or play with the other dogs or show any interest in people. So when Lila comes and sits by Hadley (which is hardly anything, but it’s more than she’s done with others), Beth thinks maybe Hadley can help Lila. She tells Hadley they’ll bring Lila home as a foster dog and Hadley can teach her to follow commands, walk on a leash, and be more of a people dog so she’ll be ready to be adopted… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Verbal child abuse
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Waiting by Carol Lynn Williams

Waiting by Carol Lynn Williams

Growing up in Africa and Latin America as the children of missionaries, London and Zach were as close as could be. And then Zach dies, and the family is gutted. London’s father is distant. Her mother won’t speak. The days are filled with what-ifs and whispers: Did Zach take his own life? Was it London’s fault?

Alone and adrift, London finds herself torn between her brother’s best friend and the handsome new boy in town as she struggles to find herself—and ultimately redemption.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Teen pregnancy
  • Depression
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother by suicide
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Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Seven Days in June by Tia Williams

Brooklynite Eva Mercy is a single mom and bestselling erotica writer, who is feeling pressed from all sides. Shane Hall is a reclusive, enigmatic, award-winning literary author who, to everyone’s surprise, shows up in New York. When Shane and Eva meet unexpectedly at a literary event, sparks fly, raising not only their past buried traumas, but the eyebrows of New York’s Black literati. What no one knows is that twenty years earlier, teenage Eva and Shane spent one crazy, torrid week madly in love. They may be pretending that everything is fine now, but they can’t deny their chemistry-or the fact that they’ve been secretly writing to… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Divorce recounted
  • Sexual harassment of a minor mentioned
  • Child neglect recounted
  • Chronic migraines (protagonist)
  • Alcoholism recovery (protagonist)
  • Self-harm recounted
  • Alcohol consumption (secondary characters)
  • Incarceration recounted (off-page)

Context : The protagonist has chronic migraines and her ex-husband divorced her because he didn’t want to be her caregiver. The protagonist was also harassed by her mother’s partner when she was a teenager.

Glimpse by Carol Lynn Williams

Glimpse by Carol Lynn Williams

In one moment
it is over.
In one moment
it is gone.

Twelve-year-old Hope’s life is turned upside down when her older sister, Lizzie, becomes an elective mute and is institutionalized after trying to kill herself. Hope and Lizzie have relied on each other from a young age, ever since their dad died. Their mother, who turns tricks to support her family, is a reluctant and unreliable parent—at best.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault
  • Forced sex work
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Attempted suicide
  • Abortion
  • Hospitalisation
  • Death of a pet dog
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A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

A Long Way Gone by Ishmael Beah

This is how wars are fought now: by children, hopped-up on drugs and wielding AK-47s. Children have become soldiers of choice. In the more than fifty conflicts going on worldwide, it is estimated that there are some 300,000 child soldiers. Ishmael Beah used to be one of them.

What is war like through the eyes of a child soldier? How does one become a killer? How does one stop? Child soldiers have been profiled by journalists, and novelists have struggled to imagine their lives. But until now, there has not been a first-person account from someone who came through this hell and survived… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Substance addiction
  • Recreational drug use & abuse
  • Blood & physical injury depiction
  • Hospital
  • Needles
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Immolation
  • Torture
  • Vivisepulture (being buried alive)
  • Drowning mentioned
  • Kidnapping
  • War & rebellion themes, including child soldiers (themes)
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1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that.

But in this world, there are two moons in the sky.

In this world, the fates of two people, Tengo and Aomame, are closely intertwined. They are each, in their own way, doing something very dangerous. And in this world, there seems no way to save them both.

Something extraordinary is starting. 

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Needles & syringes
  • Hospital
  • Death of a parent
  • Animal death
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The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes by Suzanne Collins

It is the morning of the reaping that will kick off the tenth annual Hunger Games. In the Capital, eighteen-year-old Coriolanus Snow is preparing for his one shot at glory as a mentor in the Games. The once-mighty house of Snow has fallen on hard times, its fate hanging on the slender chance that Coriolanus will be able to outcharm, outwit, and outmaneuver his fellow students to mentor the winning tribute.

The odds are against him. He’s been given the humiliating assignment of mentoring the female tribute from District 12, the lowest of the low. Their fates are now completely intertwined — every choice Coriolanus makes could lead to favor or failure, triumph or ruin. Inside the arena, it will be a fight to the death. Outside the arena, Coriolanus starts to feel for his doomed tribute… and must weigh his need to follow the rules against his desire to survive no matter what it takes.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault, implied
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Emotional abuse
  • Drug use
  • Beheading
  • Cannibalism mentioned
  • Starvation
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Physical & psychological torture
  • Hanging
  • Poverty themes
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The Closest I’ve Come by Fred Aceves

The Closest I’ve Come by Fred Aceves

Marcos Rivas wants to find love. He’s sure as hell not getting it at home, where his mom’s racist boyfriend beats him up. Or from his boys, who aren’t exactly the “hug it out” type. Marcos yearns for love, a working cell phone, and maybe a pair of sneakers that aren’t falling apart. But more than anything, Marcos wants to get out of Maesta, his hood—which seems impossible.

When Marcos is placed in a new after-school program for troubled teens with potential, he meets Zach, a theater geek whose life seems great on the surface, and Amy, a punk girl who doesn’t care what anyone thinks of her. These new friendships inspire Marcos to open up to his Maesta crew, too, and along the way, Marcos starts to think more about his future and what he has to fight for. Marcos ultimately learns that bravery isn’t about acting tough and being macho; it’s about being true to yourself.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Graphic physical & verbal child abuse
  • Suicide of a gay teenager due to bullying mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Recreational drug use
  • Overdose mentioned
  • Emesis, off-page
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