Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine and Tee Morris

Phoenix Rising by Pip Ballantine & Tee Morris

In Victorian England, Londoners wash up dead on Thames, drained of blood and bone. Clandestine Ministry of Peculiar Occurrences is forbidden to investigate. But Eliza Braun, with bulletproof corset, fondness for dynamite, remarkable devices, drags along timorous new partner Wellington Books, of encyclopedic brain, against Phoenix intent on enslaving Britons.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Colonialism
  • Rape
  • Incest (uncle-niece)
  • Dismemberment mentioned
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Explosions
  • Gun violence
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Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi

Effia and Esi: two sisters with two very different destinies. One sold into slavery; one a slave trader’s wife. The consequences of their fate reverberate through the generations that follow. Taking us from the Gold Coast of Africa to the cotton-picking plantations of Mississippi; from the missionary schools of Ghana to the dive bars of Harlem, spanning three continents and seven generations, Yaa Gyasi has written a miraculous novel – the intimate, gripping story of a brilliantly vivid cast of characters and through their lives the very story of America itself.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slavery
  • Colonialism
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Rape
  • Arranged marriage
  • Substance addiction
  • Drug abuse
  • Death of a child
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • War themes
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27 Hours by Tristina Wright

27 Hours by Tristina Wright

Rumor Mora fears two things: hellhounds too strong for him to kill, and failure. Jude Welton has two dreams: for humans to stop killing monsters, and for his strange abilities to vanish.

But in no reality should a boy raised to love monsters fall for a boy raised to kill them.

Nyx Llorca keeps two secrets: the moon speaks to her, and she’s in love with Dahlia, her best friend. Braeden Tennant wants two things: to get out from his mother’s shadow, and to unlearn Epsilon’s darkest secret… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Panic attacks
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injury
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Death of a parent by a cave collapse
  • Death from drowning
  • Explosion
  • Fire
  • Colonialism & war themes
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Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

Hana Khan Carries On by Uzma Jalaluddin

Sales are slow at Three Sisters Biryani Poutine, the only halal restaurant in the close-knit Golden Crescent neighbourhood. Hana waitresses there part time, but what she really wants is to tell stories on the radio. If she can just outshine her fellow intern at the city radio station, she may have a chance at landing a job. In the meantime, Hana pours her thoughts and dreams into a podcast, where she forms a lively relationship with one of her listeners. But soon she’ll need all the support she can get: a new competing restaurant, a more upscale halal place, is about to open in the Golden Crescent, threatening Three Sisters… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Racism
  • Islamophobia
  • Gentrification
  • Hate crimes
  • Pregnancy
  • Chronic illness
  • Bullying
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One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

One Last Stop by Casey McQuiston

For cynical twenty-three-year-old August, moving to New York City is supposed to prove her right: that things like magic and cinematic love stories don’t exist, and the only smart way to go through life is alone. She can’t imagine how waiting tables at a 24-hour pancake diner and moving in with too many weird roommates could possibly change that. And there’s certainly no chance of her subway commute being anything more than a daily trudge through boredom and electrical failures.

But then, there’s this gorgeous girl on the train.

Jane. Dazzling, charming, mysterious, impossible Jane. Jane with her rough edges and swoopy hair and soft smile, showing up in a leather jacket to save August’s day when she needed it most. August’s subway crush becomes the best part of her day, but pretty soon, she discovers there’s one big problem: Jane doesn’t just look like an old school punk rocker. She’s literally displaced in time from the 1970s, and August is going to have to use everything she tried to leave in her own past to help her. Maybe it’s time to start believing in some things, after all.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Queermisia discussed
  • Racism & gentrification mentioned
  • Hate crimes, including the UpStairs Lounge fire, recounted (chp. 11)
  • Anxiety
  • Hurricane Katrina discussed
  • Alcohol consumption & recreational drug use
  • Minor mention of blood
  • Death of a grandparent mentioned (chps. 11 & 16)
  • Car accident mentioned (chp. 16)
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Throne of Glass by Sarah J Maas

Throne of Glass by Sarah J. Maas

In a land without magic, where the king rules with an iron hand, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She comes not to kill the king, but to win her freedom. If she defeats twenty-three killers, thieves, and warriors in a competition, she is released from prison to serve as the king’s champion. Her name is Celaena Sardothien.

The Crown Prince will provoke her. The Captain of the Guard will protect her. But something evil dwells in the castle of glass—and it’s there to kill. When her competitors start dying one by one, Celaena’s fight for freedom becomes a fight for survival, and a desperate quest to root out the evil before it destroys her world.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slavery
  • Misogyny
  • Classism
  • Slut shaming
  • Sexual harassment
  • Rape mentioned
  • Forced arranged marriage mentioned
  • Trauma & nightmares
  • Attempted suicide recounted
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Substance addiction
  • Nonconsensual drugging
  • Recreational drug abuse
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injury
  • Emesis
  • Dead bodies
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a boyfriend recounted
  • Death of an mother & father recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • Poisoning
  • Torture
  • Whipping recounted
  • Imprisonment
  • Death by a fall
  • War & colonialism themes
  • Animal death & hunting mentioned
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Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

With his wife dead and buried, and life nearly over at 75, John Perry takes the only logical course of action left: he joins the army. Now better known as the Colonial Defense Force (CDF), Perry’s service-of-choice has extended its reach into interstellar space to pave the way for human colonization of other planets while fending off marauding aliens.

The CDF has a trick up its sleeve that makes enlistment especially enticing for seniors: the promise of restoring their youth. After bonding with a group of fellow recruits who dub their clique the Old Farts, Perry finds himself in a new body crafted from his original DNA and upgraded for battle, including a brain-implanted computer. But all too quickly the Old Farts are separated, and Perry must fight for his life on various alien-infested battlegrounds.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a wife recounted
  • War & colonialism themes
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Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

Okonowo is the greatest warrior alive. His fame has spread like a bushfire in West Africa and he is one of the most powerful men of his clan.

But he also has a fiery temper. Determined not to be like his father, he refuses to show weakness to anyone – even if the only way he can master his feelings is with his fists. When outsiders threaten the traditions of his clan, Okonowo takes violent action. Will the great man’s dangerous pride eventually destroy him?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Religious persecution
  • Suicide
  • Colonialism
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Cloudburst by Wilbur Smith

Cloudburst by Wilbur Smith with Chris Walking

Jack Courtney has lived in the UK his whole life. But this summer his parents are travelling to the Democratic Republic of the Congo for a gorilla conference, and they’ve promised to take Jack and his friends with them.

When his parents go missing in the rainforest, abducted by mercenaries, nobody seems to have any answers. Jack is pretty sure that it’s got something to do with the nearby tantalum mines, but he needs to prove it. Along with Amelia and Xander, Jack must brave the jungle to save his parents. Standing in his way is a member of his own family – Caleb Courtney.

There are western gorillas, forest elephants and hippos. But there are also bandits, mercenaries and poachers. The three friends will need their wits about them if they are not only to save Jack’s parents, but their own lives too.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Blood depiction
  • Colonialism
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Kidnapping
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Shuri by Nic Stone

Shuri by Nic Stone

For centuries, the Chieftain of Wakanda (the Black Panther) has gained his powers through the juices of the Heart-Shaped Herb. Much like Vibranium, the Heart-Shaped Herb is essential to the survival and prosperity of Wakanda. But something is wrong. The plants are dying. No matter what the people of Wakanda do, they can’t save them. And their supply is running short. It’s up to Shuri to travel from Wakanda in order to discover what is killing the Herb, and how she can save it.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Colonisation mentioned
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