Chronic Illness & Chronic Pain – Page 15

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

Our Chemical Hearts by Krystal Sutherland

Henry Page has never been in love. He fancies himself a hopeless romantic, but the slo-mo, heart palpitating, can’t-eat-can’t-sleep kind of love that he’s been hoping for just hasn’t been in the cards for him-at least not yet. Instead, he’s been happy to focus on his grades, on getting into a semi-decent college and finally becoming editor of his school newspaper. Then Grace Town walks into his first period class on the third Tuesday of senior year and he knows everything’s about to change.

Grace isn’t who Henry pictured as his dream girl-she walks with a cane, wears oversized boys’ clothes, and rarely seems to shower. But when Grace and Henry are both chosen to edit the school paper, he quickly… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Self-harm
Depression
Car accident
Death of a teenager recounted

These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas

These Vicious Masks by Tarun Shanker & Kelly Zekas

England, 1882. Evelyn is bored with society and its expectations. So when her beloved sister, Rose, mysteriously vanishes, she ignores her parents and travels to London to find her, accompanied by the dashing Mr. Kent. But they’re not the only ones looking for Rose. The reclusive, young gentleman Sebastian Braddock is also searching for her, claiming that both sisters have special healing powers. Evelyn is convinced that Sebastian must be mad, until she discovers that his strange tales of extraordinary people are true—and that her sister is in graver danger than she feared.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Sex worker shaming
Slut-shaming
Attempted rape, on-page
Alcohol consumption
Blood depiction
Chronic illness
Physical injury
Human medical experimentation
Hospital
Death of a brother reounted
Death of a mother mentioned
Death of a father mentioned
Mugging with a knife
Gun violence
Murder
Attempted murder
Kidnapping
Disappearance of a sibling
Fire

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

Daughter of the Burning City by Amanda Foody

Sixteen-year-old Sorina has spent most of her life within the smoldering borders of the Gomorrah Festival. Yet even among the many unusual members of the traveling circus-city, Sorina stands apart as the only illusion-worker born in hundreds of years. This rare talent allows her to create illusions that others can see, feel and touch, with personalities all their own. Her creations are her family, and together they make up the cast of the Festival’s Freak Show.

But no matter how lifelike they may seem, her illusions are still just that—illusions, and not truly real. Or so she always believed…until one of them is murdered.

Desperate to protect her family, Sorina must track down the culprit and determine how they killed a person who doesn’t actually exist. Her search for answers leads her to the self-proclaimed gossip-worker Luca, and their investigation sends them through a haze of political turmoil and forbidden romance, and into the most sinister corners of the Festival. But as the killer continues murdering Sorina’s illusions one by one, she must unravel the horrifying truth before all of her loved ones disappear.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Chronic illness
Death of a family member
Murder

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother.

The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. Yet even as Daunis falls for Jamie, certain details… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Misogyny
Fatmisia
Racism & racial slurs
Sexual harassment
Sexual assault, on-page
Rape, on-page
Cheating recounted
Child abuse & neglect mentioned
Substance addiction discussed
Nightmares
Suicide by a gunshot to the head, on-page
Alcohol consumption
Drug use & abuse (theme)
Overdose mentioned
Teen pregnancy recounted
Grandparent recovering from a stroke
Physical injuries, including nerve damage & chronic shoulder injury
Hospitalisation for internalised bleeding & liver damage
Surgery mentioned
Emesis
Grief & loss depiction
Death of an uncle
Death of a father
Murder of a friend & teenager by gun violence, on-page
Car accident, on- & off-page
Bullying

Repo Virtual by Corey J. White

Repo Virtual by Corey J. White

The city of Neo Songdo is a Russian doll of realities — augmented and virtual spaces anchored in the weight of the real. The smart city is designed to be read by machine vision while people see only the augmented facade of the corporate ideal. At night the stars are obscured by an intergalactic virtual war being waged by millions of players, while on the streets below people are forced to beg, steal, and hustle to survive.

Enter Julius Dax, online repoman and real-life thief. He’s been hired for a special job: stealing an unknown object from a reclusive tech billionaire. But when he finds out he’s stolen the first sentient AI, his payday gets a lot more complicated.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Transmisia
Deadnaming & misgendering
Blackmailed outing*
Racism & racial slurs
Classism
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use mentioned
Blood & gore depiction
Graphic physical injuries & chronic pain
Death of a friend (on-page)
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Explosions
Gun violence
Strangulation
Kidnapping
Car accident
Fire
Blackmail
Flood
Cults
Animal death mentioned
Poverty themes & homelessness

*Note: the transgender protagonist is blackmailed to investigate a crime by a man with documents that would out her as a trans woman and her past as a secret agent.