Tag Archives: Death of a Friend

The Castaways by Elin Hilderbrand

With rumours of infidelity straining Greg and Tess MacAvoy’s marriage, the couple head out on their sailboat one early summer day to celebrate their wedding anniversary, hoping the roughest waters are behind them. But in an accident off Nantucket, they mysteriously drown, leaving behind two small children as well as three couples who have long been their closest friends. Tragedy brings to the surface long-simmering conflicts and emotions, and the MacAvoys’ six grieving friends find themselves unprepared for the revelation of secret upon secret as they struggle to answer the: What happened to Greg & Tess?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Death of friends in a boating accident

The Book of M by Peng Shepherd

One afternoon at an outdoor market in India, a man’s shadow disappears—an occurrence science cannot explain. He is only the first. The phenomenon spreads like a plague, and while those afflicted gain a strange new power, it comes at a horrible price: the loss of all their memories. Ory and his wife Max have escaped the Forgetting so far by hiding in an abandoned hotel deep in the woods. Their new life feels almost normal, until one day Max’s shadow disappears too. Knowing that the more she forgets, the more dangerous she will become to Ory, Max runs away. But Ory refuses to give up the time they have left together. Desperate to… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cheating
  • Memory loss
  • Body horror
  • Medical experimentation
  • Death of a friend, spouse, sibling & parent
  • Animal death

Midnight at the Bright Ideas Bookstore by Matthew J. Sullivan

Lydia Smith lives her life hiding in plain sight. A clerk at the Bright Ideas bookstore, she leads a meticulously ordered existence among her beloved books, eccentric colleagues, and the BookFrogs — the lost and lonely regulars who spend every day browsing the overwhelmed stacks. But when a young BookFrog, Joey Molina, hangs himself in one of the upper rooms of the store, Lydia’s life comes unglued. Inside one of Joey’s pockets is a photograph of Lydia as a little girl. And when she flips through some of his books, she finds them defaced in ways both disturbing and inexplicable. They reveal the psyche of a young man… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a friend from suicide by hanging recounted

This Is Why They Hate Us by Aaron H. Aceves

Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. Never mind that he has absolutely zero game. And definitely forget the fact that good and kind and, not to mention, beautiful Saleem is leaving L.A. for the summer to meet a girl his parents are trying to set him up with. Enrique “Quique” Luna has one goal this summer—get over his crush on Saleem Kanazi by pursuing his other romantic prospects. Never mind that he’s only out to his best friend, Fabiola. N…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hate crime recounted (off-page)
  • Coming out
  • Homophobia & slurs
  • Anxiety, intrusive thoughts & depression
  • Suicidal ideation & mentions of suicide
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Gambling
  • Mass shooting mentioned
  • Bullying

Darkhearts by James L. Sutter

When David quit his band, he missed his shot at fame. For the past two years, he’s been trapped in an ordinary Seattle high school life, working summers for his dad’s construction business while his former best friends Chance and Eli became the hottest teen pop act in America. Then Eli dies. Suddenly David and Chance are thrown back into contact, forcing David to rediscover all the little things that once made the two of them so close, even as he continues to despise the singer’s posturing and attention-hogging. As old wounds break open, an unexpected kiss leads the boys to trade frenemy status for a confusing, tentative… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Death of a friend from alcohol poisoning (teenager)

Ghost Book by Remy Lai

July Chen sees ghosts. But her dad insists ghosts aren’t real. So she pretends they don’t exist. Which is incredibly difficult now as it’s Hungry Ghost month, when the Gates of the Underworld open and dangerous ghosts run amok in the living world. When July saves a boy ghost from being devoured by a Hungry Ghost, he becomes her first ever friend. Except William is not a ghost. He’s a wandering soul wavering between life and death. As the new friends embark on an adventure to return William to his body, they unearth a ghastly truth―for William to live, July must die.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a mother and wife in childbirth recounted
  • Near-death of a friend and child (on-page)
  • Mentions of death of a pet dog.

Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen

Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata–a mermaid–collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home. But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable–she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods. To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail. Danger lurks at every… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery discussed
  • Alcohol consumption (wine)
  • Blood, gore and injury depiction including dead bodies
  • Mutilation & eye trauma mentioned
  • Grief and loss depiction
  • Death of a friend, on-page
  • Murder and attempted murder
  • Massacres mentioned
  • Sword, knife and axe violence
  • Kidnapping and captivity
  • War themes and battles scenes , on-page
  • Animal death mentioned (elephant)

The Devil You Know by Kit Rocha

Maya has had a price on her head from the day she escaped the TechCorps. Genetically engineered for genius and trained for revolution, there’s only one thing she can’t do—forget. Gray has finally broken free of the Protectorate, but he can’t escape the time bomb in his head. His body is rejecting his modifications, and his months are numbered. When Maya’s team uncovers an operation trading in genetically enhanced children, she’ll do anything to stop them. Even risk falling back into the hands of the TechCorps. And Gray has found a purpose for his final days: keeping Maya safe.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Pregnancy & abortion mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Seizure
  • Medical experimentation recounted
  • Nonconsensual body modification
  • Surgery
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a close friend recounted
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Torture, on-page & recounted
  • Kidnapping of children

Deal with the Devil by Kit Rocha

The United States went belly up 45 years ago when our power grid was wiped out. Too few live in well-protected isolation while the rest of us scrape by on the margins. The only thing that matters is survival. By any means. At any cost. Nina is an information broker with a mission: to bring hope to the darkest corners of Atlanta. She and her team of mercenary librarians use their knowledge to help those in need. But altruism doesn’t pay the bills—raiding vaults and collecting sensitive data is where the real money is. Knox is a bitter, battle-weary supersoldier who leads the Silver Devils… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Medical experimentation recounted
  • Seizures
  • Death of a sister recounted
  • Death of a friend recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Physical assault (cage fighting, attempted mugging)
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Poverty themes

One of Us Is Back by Karen M. McManus

Ever since Simon died in detention, life hasn’t been easy for the Bayview Crew. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation had to outwit a vengeful copycat. Now, it’s beginning again.

At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the crew disappears, it’s clear this ‘game’ just got serious – and no one understands the rules… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Cancer remission mentioned
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Attempted murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Stalking
  • Gun violence