For readers everywhere
This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of death of a child.
See also Grief & loss depiction.
The Gunslinger by Stephen King
Roland is a haunting figure, a loner, on a spellbinding journey toward the mysterious Dark Tower, in a desolate world that frighteningly echoes our own.
On his quest, Roland begins a friendship with a kid from New York named Jake, encounters an alluring woman and faces an agonising choice between damnation and salvation as he pursues the Man in Black.
Trigger & Content Warnings
Imaginary Friend by Stephen Chbosky
Christopher is seven years old. Christopher is the new kid in town. Christopher has an imaginary friend. We can swallow our fear or let our fear swallow us.
Single mother Kate Reese is on the run. Determined to improve life for her and her son, Christopher, she flees an abusive relationship in the middle of the night with her child. Together, they find themselves drawn to the tight-knit community of Mill Grove, Pennsylvania… Read more.
Trigger & Content Warnings
Girl, 11 by Amy Suiter Clarke
Once a social worker specializing in kids who were the victims of violent crime, Elle Castillo is now the host of a popular true-crime podcast that tackles cold cases of missing children in her hometown of the Twin Cities. After two seasons of successfully solving cases, Elle decides to tackle her white whale—The Countdown Killer. Twenty years ago, TCK abruptly stopped after establishing a pattern of taking and ritualistically murdering three girls over seven days, each a year younger than the last. No one’s ever known why—why he stopped with his eleventh victim, a girl of eleven years old, or why he… Read more.
Trigger & Content Warnings
The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron
One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make…
It is 1943, and for four years, sixteen-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemsyl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio — a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish… Read more.
Trigger & Content Warnings
The Storm of Life by A.R. Capetta
By turns thrilling, witty, and heartbreaking, this dramatic conclusion to the Brilliant Death duet transports us to a Vinalia on the verge of transformation and radiates with the electric power of love.
With her power over magic finally in hand, and her love for Cielo, at last, confessed, Teodora di Sangro should be on top of the world. But the country of Vinalia is in chaos as the dictator-like Capo threatens to plunge them all into war and capture every strega in the land… Read more.
Trigger & Content Warnings
Dark Water by Robert Bryndza
Beneath the water the body sank rapidly. She would lie still and undisturbed for many years but above her on dry land, the nightmare was just beginning.
When Detective Erika Foster receives a tip-off that key evidence for a major narcotics case was stashed in a disused quarry on the outskirts of London, she orders for it to be searched. From the thick sludge the drugs are recovered, but so is the skeleton of a young… Read more.
Trigger & Content Warnings
Dead Heat by Patricia Briggs
For once, mated werewolves Charles and Anna are not travelling because of Charles’s role as his father’s enforcer. This time, their trip to Arizona is purely personal–or at least it starts out that way.
Charles and Anna soon discover that a dangerous Fae being is on the loose, replacing human children with simulacrums. The Fae’s cold war with humanity is about to heat up—and Charles and Anna are in the crossfire.
Trigger & Content Warnings
Open Season by C.J. Box
There’s nothing unusual about the sound of a gunshot in Twelve Sleep. Here in remotest Wyoming, where elk roam the pine forests and cougars prowl the mountains, everyone owns a gun. But when Joe Pickett hears two sharp cracks ring out months before hunting season, it’s his job to investigate. As game warden in Twelve Sleep, father-of-two Joe Pickett is not only badly paid and poorly housed, but deeply unpopular. So when the source of the shots – a well-known poacher – gets off scot-free after a humiliating confrontation, the locals are delighted. And then the poacher turns up dead in the Pickett’s backyard. Charged with… Read more.
Trigger & Content Warnings
Hazel Bly and the Deep Blue Sea by Ashley Herring Blake
Hazel Bly used to live in the perfect house with the perfect family in sunny California. But when a kayaking trip goes horribly wrong, Mum is suddenly gone forever and Hazel is left with crippling anxiety and a jagged scar on her face. After Mum’s death, Hazel, her other mother, Mama, and her little sister, Peach, needed a fresh start. So for the last two years, the Bly girls have lived all over the country, never settling anywhere for more than a few months… Read more.
Trigger & Content Warnings
The Business of Blood by Kerrigan Byrne
Dying is the only thing people do with any regularity, and Fiona makes her indecorous living cleaning up after the corpses are carted away. Her childhood best friend, Mary, was the last known victim of Jack the Ripper. It’s been two years since Fiona scrubbed Mary’s blood from the floorboards, and London is no longer buzzing about the Ripper, but Fiona hasn’t forgotten.
And she hasn’t stopped searching for Jack…. Read more.
Trigger & Content Warnings
Trigger Warning Database