The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson

The Wreckage of My Presence by Casey Wilson

Casey Wilson has a lot on her mind and she isn’t afraid to share. In this dazzling collection of essays, skillfully constructed and brimming with emotion, she shares her thoughts on the joys and vagaries of modern-day womanhood and motherhood, introduces the not-quite-typical family that made her who she is, and persuasively argues that lowbrow pop culture is the perfect lens through which to understand human nature. Whether she’s extolling the virtues of eating in bed, processing the humiliation over her father’s late in life perm, or exploring her pathological need to be liked, Casey is witty, candid, and full of poignant… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression & postpartum depression
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Febrile seizure, on-page
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandfather
  • Death of a mother from a heart attack
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These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

These Fleeting Shadows by Kate Alice Marshall

Helen Vaughan doesn’t know why she and her mother left their ancestral home at Harrowstone Hall, called Harrow, or why they haven’t spoken to their extended family since. So when her grandfather dies, she’s shocked to learn that he has left everything—the house, the grounds, and the money—to her. The inheritance comes with one condition: she must stay on the grounds of Harrow for one full year, or she’ll be left with nothing. There is more at stake than money. For as long as she can remember, Harrow has haunted Helen’s dreams—and now those dreams have… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Eye trauma mentioned
  • Body horror
  • Death of a child
  • Deth of a grandfather
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Poisoning
  • Animal attack

The Loose Ends List by Carrie Firestone

Maddie has big plans to spend the last months before college tying up high school “loose ends” alongside her best friends. Then her beloved grandmother drops two bombshells: (1) Gram is dying. (2) She’s taking her entire family on a round-the-world cruise of dreams come true—but at the end, Gram won’t be returning home. With a promise to live in the now without regrets, Maddie boards the Wishwell determined to make every moment count. She finds new friends in her fellow Wishwellians, takes advantage of the trip’s many luxuries, gets even closer to her quirky family, and falls for painfully gorgeous Enzo. But despite… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grandmother with terminal pancreatic cancer (theme)

Root Magic by Eden Royce

Root Magic by Eden Royce

It’s 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won’t stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn eleven—and their uncle, Doc, tells them he’s going train them in footwork. Jez and Jay have always been fascinated by the African American folk magic that has been the legacy of her family for generations—especially the curious potions and powders Doc and Gran would make… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Racism
  • Hate crime
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a grandparent
  • Police brutality
  • Animal death
  • Animal cruelty
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Sweet Home by Tillie Cole

Sweet Home by Tillie Cole

At age twenty, Molly Shakespeare knows a lot. She knows Descartes and Kant. She knows academia and Oxford. She knows that the people who love you leave you. ⁣⁣⁣She knows how to be alone. But when Molly leaves England’s grey skies behind to start a new life at the University of Alabama, she finds that she has a lot to learn — she didn’t know a summer could be so hot, she didn’t know students could be so intimidating, and she certainly didn’t know just how much the folks of Alabama love their football. When a… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Miscarriage, on-page
  • Death of parents, off-page
  • Death of a grandparent, off-page

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

Heart of Iron by Ashley Poston

Seventeen-year-old Ana is a scoundrel by nurture and an outlaw by nature. Found as a child drifting through space with a sentient android called D09, Ana was saved by a fearsome space captain and the grizzled crew she now calls family. But D09—one of the last remaining illegal Metals—has been glitching, and Ana will stop at nothing to find a way to fix him. Ana’s desperate effort to save D09 leads her on a quest to steal the coordinates to a lost ship that could offer all the answers. But at the last moment, a spoiled Ironblood boy beats Ana to her prize. He has his own reasons for taking the coordinates, and he… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Burn scars
  • Medical experimentation
  • Death of a grandmother
  • Death of a mother, father & brother in a fire
  • Graphic murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Explosion
  • Arson

The Last Paper Crane by Kerry Drewery

The Last Paper Crane by Kerry Drewery

1945, Hiroshima: Ichiro is a teenage boy relaxing at home with his friend Hiro. Moments later there is a blinding flash as the horrific nuclear bomb is dropped. With great bravery, the two boys find Hiro’s five-year-old sister Keiko in the devastated and blasted landscape. With Hiro succumbing to his wounds, Ichiro is now the only one who can take care of Keiko. But in the chaos, Ichiro loses her when he sets off to find help. Seventy years later, the loss of Keiko and his broken promise to his dying friend are… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Radiation poisoning
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a grandparent recounted
  • World War Two
  • Nuclear bombing

Archangel’s Shadows by Nalini Singh

Archangel’s Shadows by Nalini Singh

In the wake of a brutal war, the archangel Raphael and his hunter consort, Elena, are dealing with the treacherously shifting tides of archangelic politics and the people of a battered but not broken city. The last thing their city needs is more death, especially a death that bears the eerie signature of an insane enemy archangel who cannot—should not—be walking the streets. This hunt must be undertaken with stealth and without alerting their people. It must be handled by those who can become shadows themselves. Ash is a gifted tracker and a woman cursed with the ability to sense the secrets of anyone she touches… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & Magical Disability Cure trope
  • Rape (off-page, secondary characters)
  • Attempted sexual assault recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Cannibalism mentioned
  • Blood-drinking
  • Death of parents in a car accident recounted
  • Death of a great-grandmother from suicide recounted
  • Death of a sister & brother from suicide by a combined overdose recounted
  • Involuntary institutionalisation of a minor recounted (protagonist)
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Torture & disembowelment (secondary character)
  • Imprisonment & captivity (secondary character)
  • Animal death

Just One More by Jodie Slaughter

Just One More by Jodie Slaughter

Tattoo artist Whitney Harris loves Valentine’s Day. The bright colours, giant hearts, and sugary sweet coating that seems to cover the world on February 14th make her feel all kinds of warm and fuzzy inside. She may be more festive than the average person, but her plans for her long weekend off are pretty tame. As long as she gets to stay in her bed, marathon a ton of romantic movies, and eat at least three of her favourite pink heart cupcakes, she’ll count it as a win. The very last thing she expects is for a handsome stranger to get in the way of that. The only thing Victor … Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Recreational drug use
  • Death of a grandfather recounted

Hitting the Wall by Cate Wells

Hitting the Wall by Cate C. Wells

Shay. Six years ago, the good, upstanding men of Stonecut County ran me off. I took a secret with me. An inconvenient truth they wanted buried. Actions have consequences. Their perfect golden boy maybe wasn’t so perfect after all. Then life hands me one too many lemons. I’m forced to go back, and in Stonecut, nothing ever changes. Kellum Wall is still golden. I’m still unwanted. And falling for his cocksure smile will most certainly ruin my life all over again. Kellum
I believe there are still good men left in this world, and I strive to be one. I was raised to live by a code. God and country. Protect and serve. I always do the… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Rape & statutory rape recounted
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Parent with alcoholism mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Teen pregnancy recounted
  • Emesis
  • Death of a grandparent mentioned
  • Attempted infanticide by drowning mentioned
  • Physical assault
  • Police corruption & abuse of power
  • Accidental death of a pet horse mentioned
  • Animal hunting
  • Poverty
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