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.

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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
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Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Emma Carstairs has learned that the love she shares with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, isn’t just forbidden—it could destroy them both. She knows she should run from Julian. But how can she when the Blackthorns are threatened by enemies on all sides? Their only hope is the Black Volume of the Dead, a spell book of terrible power. Everyone wants it. Only the Blackthorns can find it. Spurred on by a dark bargain with the Seelie Queen, Emma; her best friend, Cristina; and Mark and Julian Blackthorn journey into the Courts of Faerie, where glittering revels hide bloody danger and no promise can be trusted. Meanwhile… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Grief and loss depiction
  • Death of a mother and father recounted
  • Murder and attempted murder
  • Exile
  • Drowning
  • Whipping recounted
  • War themes
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The Castaways by Lucy Clarke

You wake on a beautiful, remote island. Sparkling blue seas, golden sunsets, barely a footprint in the sand. Yet this is no ordinary escape. Next to the wreck of a plane, a stranger paces. Another sharpens a knife, scoring a list of the dead onto a palm tree. Others watch from the shadows of a campfire – all with untold stories, and closely-guarded secrets. This is no ordinary holiday. This is no ordinary island. This is no ordinary beach read….

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Spousal & parental abandonment
  • Attempted rape (on-page)
  • Sexual assault (unwanted non-consensual kiss, on-page)
  • Spousal infidelity discussed
  • Suicidal ideation, including an on-page scene where the protagonist begins an attempt by jumping
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Drug use and abuse mentioned
  • Parent with alcoholism mentioned
  • Starvation and food scarcity
  • Infertility discussed
  • Blood & gore depiction including physical injuries and dead bodies
  • Death of a lover by shark attack (off-page)
  • Disappearance of a sibling (theme)
  • Murder by drowning in self-defence from attempted rape
  • Attempted murder by strangulation
  • Near-death of an infant from choking
  • Plane crash (theme)
  • Animal hunting & butchering (mostly fish)

All That Remains by Sue Black

All That Remains by Sue Black

Sue Black confronts death every day. As Professor of Anatomy and Forensic Anthropology, she focuses on mortal remains in her lab, at burial sites, at scenes of violence, murder and criminal dismemberment, and when investigating mass fatalities due to war, accident or natural disaster. In All That Remains she reveals the many faces of death she has come to know, using key cases to explore how forensic science has developed, and what her work has taught her. Do we expect a book about death to be sad? Macabre? Sue’s book is neither. There is tragedy, but there is also humour… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Graphic dead bodies
  • Murder & genocide
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a parent
  • Natural disasters

Midnight in Everwood by Maria Kuzniar

Midnight in Everwood by Maria M.A. Kuzniar

There’s nothing Marietta Stelle loves more than ballet, but after Christmas, her dreams will be over as she is obligated to take her place in Edwardian society. While she is chafing against such suffocating traditions, a mysterious man purchases the neighbouring townhouse. Dr Drosselmeier is a charming but calculating figure who wins over the rest of the Stelle family with his enchanting toys and wondrous mechanisms. When Drosselmeier constructs an elaborate set for Marietta’s final ballet performance, she discovers it carries a magic all of its own… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Body shaming
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Claustrophobia
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Physical assault
  • Animal hunting

Luminous by Mara Rutherford

Luminous by Mara Rutherford

Liora has spent her life in hiding, knowing discovery could mean falling prey to the king’s warlock, Darius, who uses mages’ magic to grow his own power. But when her worst nightmare comes to pass, Darius doesn’t take her. Instead, he demands that her younger sister return to the capital with him. To make matters worse, Evran, Liora’s childhood friend and the only one who knows her secret, goes missing following Darius’s visit, leaving her without anyone to turn to. To find Evran and to save her sister, Liora must embrace the power she has always feared. But the greatest danger she’ll face is yet to come, for Darius has… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Persecution for magic & witchcraft (theme)
  • Blood depiction
  • Dead body
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother in a fire recounted
  • Knife violence
  • Imprisonment mentioned
  • Blackmail
  • Animal attack
  • Animal hunting
  • Animal death, on-page
  • Animal dead bodies mentioned
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The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye

The Crown’s Fate by Evelyn Skye

Russia is on the brink of great change. Pasha’s coronation approaches, and Vika is now the Imperial Enchanter, but the role she once coveted may be more difficult—and dangerous—than she ever expected. Pasha is grappling with his own problems—his legitimacy is in doubt, the girl he loves loathes him, and he believes his best friend is dead. When a challenger to the throne emerges—and with the magic in Russia growing rapidly—Pasha must do whatever it takes to keep his position and protect his kingdom. For Nikolai, the ending of the Crown’s Game stung deeply… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Persecution for witchcraft
  • Rape, implied
  • Sexual harassment
  • Nightmares
  • Attempted suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Amputation
  • Physical injury
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a mother & guardian
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion
  • Gun violence
  • Incarceration & captivity
  • Avalanche
  • War, revolt & rebellion themes
  • Poverty themes

People Like Us by Dana Mele

People Like Us by Dana Mele

Kay Donovan may have skeletons in her closet, but the past is past, and she’s reinvented herself entirely. Now she’s a star soccer player whose group of gorgeous friends run their private school with effortless popularity and acerbic wit. But when a girl’s body is found in the lake, Kay’s carefully constructed life begins to topple. The dead girl has left Kay a computer-coded scavenger hunt, which, as it unravels, begins to implicate suspect after suspect, until Kay herself is in the crosshairs of a murder investigation… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Classism
  • Teacher-student relationship
  • Parent with depression mentioned
  • Suicide, recounted & on-page
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use & doping mentioned
  • Dead body
  • Death of a friend, recounted & on-page
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Murder
  • Drowning
  • Death of a pet cat
  • Bullying

The Dark Club Pact by Alison Goodman

The Dark Days Club by Alison Goodman

London, April 1812. On the eve of eighteen-year-old Lady Helen Wrexhall’s presentation to the queen, one of her family’s housemaids disappears-and Helen is drawn into the shadows of Regency London. There, she meets Lord Carlston, one of the few who can stop the perpetrators: a cabal of demons infiltrating every level of society. Dare she ask for his help, when his reputation is almost as black as his lingering eyes? And will her intelligence and headstrong curiosity wind up leading them into a death trap?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Misogyny (theme)
  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic & child abuse
  • Suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Blood, gore and injury depiction including graphic dead bodies
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Murder
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Drowning

Ruin of Stars by Linsey Miller

Ruin of Stars by Linsey Miller

As one of the Queen’s elite assassins, Sal finally has the power, prestige, and permission to hunt down the lords who killed their family. But Sal still has to figure out who the culprits are. They must enlist the help of some old friends and enemies while ignoring a growing distaste for the queen and that the charming Elise is being held prisoner by her father. But there’s something terribly wrong in the north. Talk of the return of shadows, missing children, and magic abounds. As Sal takes out the people responsible for their ruined homeland, Sal learns secrets and truths that can’t be forgotten.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misgendering
  • Misogyny
  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Graphic dead bodies
  • Medical experimentation
  • Panic attack
  • Death of a friend mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Skinning
  • Torture
  • Physical assault
  • Immolation
  • Kidnapping
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