Chronic Illness & Chronic Pain – Page 6

I’m Fine and Neither Are You by Camille Pagán

I’m Fine and Neither Are You by Camille Pagán

Wife. Mother. Breadwinner. Penelope Ruiz-Kar is doing it all—and barely keeping it together. Meanwhile, her best friend, Jenny Sweet, appears to be sailing through life. As close as the two women are, Jenny’s passionate marriage, pristine house, and ultra-polite child stand in stark contrast to Penelope’s underemployed husband, Sanjay, their unruly brood, and the daily grind she calls a career. Then a shocking tragedy reveals that Jenny’s life is far from perfect. Reeling, Penelope vows to stop keeping the peace and finally deal with the issues in her relationship. So she and Sanjay agree to a radical proposal: both will write a list of changes… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Substance addiction
Overdose
Chronic illness
Infertility mentioned

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

Love, Theoretically by Ali Hazelwood

The many lives of theoretical physicist Elsie Hannaway have finally caught up with her. By day, she’s an adjunct professor, toiling away at grading labs and teaching thermodynamics in the hopes of landing tenure. By other day, Elsie makes up for her non-existent paycheck by offering her services as a fake girlfriend, tapping into her expertly honed people-pleasing skills to embody whichever version of herself the client needs. Honestly, it’s a pretty sweet gig—until her carefully constructed Elsie-verse comes crashing down. Because Jack Smith, the annoyingly attractive and broody old… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Sexism
Chronic illness (Type 1 Diabetes)
Death of a parent recounted

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson

Nine Lives by Peter Swanson

Nine strangers receive a list with their names on it in the mail. Nothing else, just a list of names on a single sheet of paper. None of the nine people know or have ever met the others on the list. They dismiss it as junk mail, a fluke – until very, very bad things begin happening to people on the list. First, a well-liked old man is drowned on a beach in the small town of Kennewick, Maine. Then, a father is shot in the back while running through his quiet neighbourhood in suburban Massachusetts. A frightening pattern is emerging, but what do these nine people have in common? Their professions range from… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Misogyny
Racism mentioned
Ableism (r slur), on-page
Sexual assault mentioned (groping)
Child abuse and neglect recounted including a mention of child sexual assault
Spousal abandonment
Abusive relationship (scs)
Cheating
Sex work, on-page
Familial estrangement mentioned
Alcohol consumption, on-page
Alcohol abuse (implied)
Recreational drug use, on-page
Chronic leg injury
Grief and loss depiction
Death of a girlfriend from an oxycontin overdose mentioned
Death of a husband and a pet dog in a car accident recounted
Death of a sister from drowning recounted
Murder by drowning
Murder by gun violence
Murder by poisoning
Stalking
Animal dead body mentioned (seagull)

Neon Hearts by Stefanie Simpson

Neon Hearts by Stefanie Simpson

Bea strikes up an online friendship with Josh, the mod of her disability support group, as she adapts to her new disabled reality after a serious accident. When the danger that’s dogged her for months closes in, she flees to Josh’s home during a terrible snowstorm, knowing he’s the only one she can go to. Josh needed to cut ties with his security job and life in Chadford, to seek solace in the hills and valleys of home. His intense connection and friendship with Bea made him second-guess his isolated life. He could protect her, but it would take him back to a dark place. Yet letting her go… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Panic attack
Memory loss
Physical injury, including brain trauma & nerve damage
Burn scars
Eyeball trauma
Chronic illness, including vertigo
Coma recounted
Heart attack & stroke mentioned
Physical assault recounted
Stalking
Car accident recounted
Fire recounted
Homelessness recounted

Dream by Garrett Leigh

Dream by Garrett Leigh

When unrequited love leaves Dylan Hart sleepless and nursing his wounds, instinct draws him to the one place he’s found mindless respite in the past—Lovato’s. It’s a place for every fantasy — for crazy-hot encounters — where a night of insane NSA sex brings relief to Dylan’s fragile feelings. It should be a perfect escape, and for one magical night it seems that way, but then worlds collide, and reality bites when his hookup desperately needs a friend. Surely Dylan can’t trust his instincts when friendship has bruised his heart so badly before? The deck is stacked against former ballet… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Racism
Parental abandonment
Anxiety
Chronic fatigue
Pneumonia
Death of a father

Our Little World by Karen Winn

Our Little World by Karen Winn

July 1985. It’s a normal, sweltering New Jersey summer for soon-to-be seventh grader Bee Kocsis. Her thoughts centre only on sunny days spent at Deer Chase Lake, evenings chasing fireflies around her cul-de-sac with the neighbourhood kids, and Max, the boy who just moved in across the street. That and the burgeoning worry that she’ll never be as special as her younger sister, Audrina, who seems to effortlessly dazzle wherever she goes. But when Max’s little sister, Sally, goes missing at the lake, Bee’s long-held illusion of stability is shattered in an instant… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Cheating
Diabetes
Kidnapping

Full Tilt by Emma Scott

Full Tilt by Emma Scott

Kacey Dawson has always lived life on the edge–impulsively, sometimes recklessly. And now, as lead guitarist for a hot up-and-coming band, she is poised at the brink of fame and fortune. But she is torn between wanting to be a serious musician, and the demons that lure her down the glittering, but alcohol-soaked path of rock stardom. A wrecked concert in Las Vegas threatens to ruin her career entirely. She wakes up with the hangover from hell and no memory of the night before, or how she ended up on her limo driver’s couch. Jonah Fletcher is running out of time. He knows… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Child abuse
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Chronic heart condition

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

The Bone Houses by Emily Lloyd-Jones

Seventeen-year-old Aderyn (“Ryn”) only cares about two things: her family, and her family’s graveyard. And right now, both are in dire straits. Since the death of their parents, Ryn and her siblings have been scraping together a meager existence as gravediggers in the remote village of Colbren, which sits at the foot of a harsh and deadly mountain range that was once home to the fae. The problem with being a gravedigger in Colbren, though, is that the dead don’t always stay dead. The risen corpses are known as “bone houses,” and legend says that they’re the result of a decades-old curse. When Ellis, an… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism & ableist language
Classism
Parental abandonment mentioned
Nightmares
Alcohol consumption
Blood & gore depiction
Dead bodies & body parts (theme)
Physical injury
Emesis
Chronic pain
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father
Death of an uncle
Murder
Axe violence
Strangulation
Near-drowning incident
Animal death & dead bodies
Death of a pet goat
Hunting mentioned
War themes recounted
Poverty & eviction

The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

The Summer I Found You by Jolene Perry

All they have in common is that they’re less than perfect. And all they’re looking for is the perfect distraction. Kate’s dream boyfriend has just broken up with her and she’s still reeling from her diagnosis of type 1 diabetes. Aidan planned on being a lifer in the army and went to Afghanistan straight out of high school. Now he’s a disabled young veteran struggling to embrace his new life. When Kate and Aidan find each other neither one wants to get attached. But could they be right for each other after all?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Type 1 Diabetes
Loss of limb (arm) from an explosion during military service

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

The Dutch House by Ann Patchett

At the end of the Second World War, Cyril Conroy combines luck and a single canny investment to begin an enormous real estate empire, propelling his family from poverty to enormous wealth. His first order of business is to buy the Dutch House, a lavish estate in the suburbs outside of Philadelphia. Meant as a surprise for his wife, the house sets in motion the undoing of everyone he loves. The story is told by Cyril’s son Danny, as he and his older sister, the brilliantly acerbic and self-assured Maeve, are exiled from the house where they grew up by their stepmother.… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment
Divorce
Diabetes
Death of a parent