How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

How to Excavate a Heart by Jake Maia Arlow

It all starts when Shani runs into May. Like, literally. With her mom’s Subaru. Attempted vehicular manslaughter was not part of Shani’s plan. She was supposed to be focusing on her monthlong paleoichthyology internship. She was going to spend all her time thinking about dead fish and not at all about how she was unceremoniously dumped days before winter break. It could be going better. It could be going better. Then they’re snowed in together on Christmas Eve. As things start to feel more serious, though, Shani’s hurt over her ex-girlfriend’s rejection comes rushing… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Antisemitism
  • Sexual assault recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Hospitalisation of an elderly relative for a fall

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by CA Fletcher

A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by C.A. Fletcher

My name’s Griz. My childhood wasn’t like yours. I’ve never had friends, and in my whole life I’ve not met enough people to play a game of football. My parents told me how crowded the world used to be, but we were never lonely on our remote island. We had each other, and our dogs. Then the thief came. There may be no law left except what you make of it. But if you steal my dog, you can at least expect me to come after you. Because if we aren’t loyal to the things we love, what’s the point?

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Forced sex work & sexual assault of a minor, off-page
  • Forced pregnancy of a child mentioned
  • Miscarriage
  • Physical injury
  • Emesis
  • Death of a sister from a fall recounted
  • Animal death

Wild Sky by Zaya Feli

Wild Sky by Zaya Feli

Tauran Darrica has been retired from the Valreus Sky Guard for four years following the Battle of the Broken Wings that resulted in the death of his dragon. Now, all Tauran wants to do is spend his days forgetting the past and gambling his way to an unsteady income. So when his old general from the Sky Guard hunts Tauran down to request his help with staving off the increasingly aggressive wild dragon population, Tauran refuses. But a fire ruins his rented room and leaves him without a place to stay, and Tauran finds himself on the road to Valreus, after all. Tauran is determined to… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Substance addiction
  • Attempted suicide mentioned
  • Medical abuse*
  • Physical injury & illness, including fainting episodes & broken legs
  • Death from a fall mentioned
  • Arson mentioned
  • Animal death mentioned (dragon)
  • Homelessness mentioned

* Context : A character is intentionally given addictive drugs under the guise of another non-addictive kind of medication.

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If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser

If I Grow Up by Todd Strasser

In the Frederick Douglass Project where DeShawn lives, daily life is ruled by drugs and gang violence. Many teenagers drop out of school and join gangs, and every kid knows someone who died. Gunshots ring out on a regular basis. DeShawn is smart enough to know he should stay in school and keep away from the gangs. But while his friends have drug money to buy fancy sneakers and big-screen TVs, DeShawn’s family can barely afford food for the month. How can he stick to his principles when his family is hungry?

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Substance addiction
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Pregnancy
  • Death of a child from fall
  • Death of a pregnant woman from gun violence
  • Murder
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Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

Scavenge the Stars by Tara Sim

When Amaya rescues a mysterious stranger from drowning, she fears her rash actions have earned her a longer sentence on the debtor ship where she’s been held captive for years. Instead, the man she saved offers her unimaginable riches and a new identity, setting Amaya on a perilous course through the coastal city-state of Moray, where old-world opulence and desperate gamblers collide. Amaya wants one thing: revenge against the man who ruined her family and stole the life she once had. But the more entangled she becomes in this game of deception—and as her path intertwines with the son of the man she’s… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Indentured servitude of children, discussed in-depth
  • Sexual assault, on-page
  • Child abuse
  • Forced arranged marriage
  • Gambling addiction recovery & relapse (theme)
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse, recounted & discussed
  • Drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction,
  • Dead bodies & body parts
  • Needles
  • Terminal illness (plague-like), recounted & on-page
  • Depiction of starvation
  • Cannibalism mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Death of children, on-page
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Torture recounted
  • Whipping recounted
  • Hanging mentioned
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Blackmail
  • Death by a fall recounted
  • Near-drowning incident
  • War themes discussed
  • Poverty themes & debt collection (theme)

Nine First Dates by Jennifer Ryder

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

In the small hours of the morning, Abi Knight is startled awake by the phone call no mother ever wants to get: her teenage daughter Olivia has fallen off a bridge. Not only is Olivia brain dead, she’s pregnant and must remain on life support to keep her baby alive. And then Abi sees the angry bruises circling Olivia’s wrists. When the police unexpectedly rule Olivia’s fall an accident, Abi decides to find out what really happened that night. Heartbroken and grieving, she unravels the threads of her daughter’s life. Was Olivia’s fall an accident? Or something far more sinister?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault of a minor
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Death from a fall
  • Daughter on life support

* Context : The protagonist’s pregnant teenage daughter fell off a bridge after being assaulted. She is on life support until she is able to deliver the baby or the baby dies.

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Clown in a Cornfield by Adam Cesare

Quinn Maybrook just wants to make it until graduation. She might not make it to morning. Quinn and her father moved to tiny, boring Kettle Springs to find a fresh start. But ever since the Baypen Corn Syrup Factory shut down, Kettle Springs has cracked in half. On one side are the adults, who are desperate to make Kettle Springs great again, and on the other are the kids, who want to have fun, make prank videos, and get out of Kettle Springs as quick as they can. Kettle Springs is caught in a battle between old and new, tradition and progress. It’s a fight that looks like it will destroy the town. Until Frendo, the Baypen mascot, a… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Medical trauma & treatment
  • Amputation & loss of limb
  • Graphic burns
  • Dead bodies
  • Murder & mass murder
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence
  • Physical assault
  • Fire
  • Death from a fall
  • Hostage situation

All Eyes on Her by Laurie Elizabeth Flynn

All Eyes on Her by L.E. Flynn

You heard the story on the news. A girl and a boy went into the woods. The girl carried a picnic basket. The boy wore bright yellow running shoes. The girl found her way out, but the boy never did… Everyone thinks they know what happened. Some say Tabby pushed him off that cliff— she didn’t even like hiking. She was jealous. She had more than her share of demons. Others think he fell accidentally—she loved Mark. She would never hurt him…even if he hurt her. But what’s the real story?

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut shaming
  • Adult-minor relationship
  • Cheating discussed
  • Abusive relationship
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a boyfriend & best friend (theme)
  • Death from a fall
  • Drowning
  • Bullying
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Prophecy by Ellen Oh

Prophecy by Ellen Oh

Kira’s the only female in the king’s army, and she’s also the prince’s bodyguard. A demon slayer and an outcast, she’s hated by nearly everyone in her home city of Hansong. And she’s their only hope Murdered kings and discovered traitors point to a demon invasion, sending Kira on the run with the young prince. He may be the saviour predicted in the Dragon King’s prophecy, but the legendary lost ruby treasure just might be the true key to victory. With only the guidance of the cryptic prophecy, Kira must battle demon soldiers, an evil shaman, and the Demon Lord himself to find what was once lost while raising a prince into a king.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Nightmares
  • Mass suicide mentioned
  • Decapitation, on-page
  • Death of a father from sword stabbing, on-page
  • Death of a mother from self-sacrifice, on-page
  • Death of a wife & baby son in childbirth mentioned
  • Death of a wife & children in an influenza epidemic mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife & sword violence
  • Death from a fall
  • Near drowning
  • Strangulation
  • Kidnapping
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Animal death
  • Animal hunting
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Everything All at Once by Katrina Leno

Everything All at Once by Katrina Leno

Lottie Reeves has always struggled with anxiety, and when her beloved Aunt Helen dies, Lottie begins to fear that her own unexpected death might be waiting around every corner. Aunt Helen wasn’t a typical aunt. She was the author of the best–selling Alvin Hatter series, about siblings who discover the elixir of immortality. Her writing inspired a generation of readers. In her will, she leaves one last writing project—just for Lottie. It’s a series of letters, each containing mysterious instructions designed to push Lottie out of her comfort zone. Soon, Lottie’s trying some writing of her own, leaping off cliffs, and even fall… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Queermisia
  • Child abuse
  • Anxiety & panic attacks, on-page
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Terminal cancer
  • Hospital
  • Emesis mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of an aunt
  • Death from a fall
  • Drowning mentioned