Death of a Parent & Guardian – Page 166

The Ice Dragon by George RR Martin

The Ice Dragon by George R.R. Martin

The ice dragon was a creature of legend and fear, for no man had ever tamed one. When it flew overhead, it left in its wake desolate cold and frozen land. But Adara was not afraid. For Adara was a winter child, born during the worst freeze that anyone, even the Old Ones, could remember.

Adara could not remember the first time she had seen the ice dragon. It seemed that it had always been in her life, glimpsed from afar as she played in the frigid snow long after the other children had fled the cold. In her fourth year she touched it, and in her fifth year she rode upon its broad, chilled back for the first time. Then, in her seventh year, on a calm summer day, fiery dragons from the North swooped down upon the peaceful farm that was Adara’s home. And only a winter child—and the ice dragon who loved her—could save her world from utter destruction.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Blood & gore depiction
Death of a mother in childbirth mentioned
Animal injury & illness

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

Jane, Unlimited by Kristin Cashore

Jane has lived a mostly ordinary life, raised by her recently deceased aunt Magnolia, whom she counted on to turn life into an adventure. Without Aunt Magnolia, Jane is directionless. Then an old acquaintance, the glamorous and capricious Kiran Thrash, blows back into Jane’s life and invites her to a gala at the Thrashes’ extravagant island mansion called Tu Reviens. Jane remembers her aunt telling her: “If anyone ever invites you to Tu Reviens, promise me that you’ll go.”

What Jane doesn’t know is that at Tu Reviens her story will change; the house will offer her five choices that could ultimately determine the course of her untethered life. But every choice comes with a price. She might fall in love, she might lose her life, she might come face-to-face with herself. At Tu Reviens, anything is possible.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcohol consumption mentioned
Blood & physical injury depiction
Death of a parent recounted
Death of an aunt
Murder
Plane crash recounted
Death from exposure to the cold
Animal injury

Fire by Kristin Cashore

Fire by Kristin Cashore

She is the last of her kind… It is not a peaceful time in the Dells. In King City, the young King Nash is clinging to the throne, while rebel lords in the north and south build armies to unseat him. War is coming. And the mountains and forest are filled with spies and thieves. This is where Fire lives, a girl whose beauty is impossibly irresistible and who can control the minds of everyone around her.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape mentioned
Attempted sexual assault
Cheating
Suicide
Pregnancy from rape mentioned
Death of a father
Murder
Torture
Loss of autonomy (mind control)
Animal attack
Animal abuse

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

The Cost of Knowing by Brittney Morris

Sixteen-year-old Alex Rufus is trying his best. He tries to be the best employee he can be at the local ice cream shop; the best boyfriend he can be to his amazing girlfriend, Talia; the best protector he can be over his little brother, Isaiah. But as much as Alex tries, he often comes up short.

It’s hard to for him to be present when every time he touches an object or person, Alex sees into its future. When he touches a scoop, he has a vision of him using it to scoop ice cream. When he touches his car, he sees it years from now, totaled and underwater. When he touches Talia, he sees them at the precipice of breaking up, and that terrifies him. Alex feels these visions are a curse, distracting him, making him anxious and unable to live an ordinary life.

And when Alex touches a photo that gives him a vision of his brother’s imminent death, everything changes.

With Alex now in a race against time, death, and circumstances, he and Isaiah must grapple with their past, their future, and what it means to be a young Black man in America in the present.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Self-harm
Depression
Anxiety
Death of a parent
Death of a sibling
Anti-black violence
Slavery
Inter-generational trauma
Poverty
Police brutality

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Graceling by Kristin Cashore

Katsa has been able to kill a man with her bare hands since she was eight—she’s a Graceling, one of the rare people in her land born with an extreme skill. As niece of the king, she should be able to live a life of privilege, but Graced as she is with killing, she is forced to work as the king’s thug.

She never expects to fall in love with beautiful Prince Po.

She never expects to learn the truth behind her Grace—or the terrible secret that lies hidden far away . . . a secret that could destroy all seven kingdoms with words alone.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape mentioned
Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
Sexual harassment
Child abuse
Coerced suicide mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Nonconsensual drugging
Blood & physical injury depiction
Death of a mother
Murder
Knife violence
Near-death experience from hypothermia
Animal attack
Animal abuse

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Bitterblue by Kristin Cashore

Eight years have passed since the young Princess Bitterblue, and her country, were saved from the vicious King Leck. Now Bitterblue is the queen of Monsea, and her land is at peace.

But the influence of her father, a violent psychopath with mind-altering abilities, lives on. Her advisers, who have run the country on her behalf since Leck’s death, believe in a forward-thinking plan: to pardon all of those who committed terrible acts during Leck’s reign; and to forget every dark event that ever happened. Monsea’s past has become shrouded in mystery, and it’s only when Bitterblue begins sneaking out of her castle – curious, disguised and alone – to walk the streets of her own city, that she begins to realise the truth. Her kingdom has been under the thirty-five-year long spell of a madman, and now their only chance to move forward is to revisit the past.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Rape
Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
Child abuse
Domestic abuse
Suicide & suicidal ideation
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Physical injuries
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent
Torture

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Aging and reclusive Hollywood movie icon Evelyn Hugo is finally ready to tell the truth about her glamorous and scandalous life. When she chooses unknown magazine reporter Monique Grant for the job, no one in the journalism community is more astounded than Monique herself. Why her? Why now? Monique is not exactly on top of the world. Her husband, David, has left her, and her career has stagnated. Regardless of why Evelyn has chosen her to write her biography, Monique is determined to use this opportunity to jumpstart her career. Summoned to Evelyn’s Upper East… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Misogyny
Bimisia
Homomisia
Lesbomisia
Forced outing
Paedophilia
Rape & statutory rape
Sexual assault & harassment
Child abuse
Domestic abuse
Cheating
Alcoholism, secondary character
Drug use
Suicide & suicidal ideation
Abortion
Miscarriage mentioned
Physical injury
Hospitalisation
Terminal breast cancer
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a partner
Death of a child
Death of a friend
Death of parents in a car accident
Blackmail

Torn Away by Jennifer Brown

Torn Away by Jennifer Brown

Jersey Cameron has always loved a good storm. Watching the clouds roll in and the wind pick up. Smelling the electricity in the air. Dancing barefoot in the rain. She lives in the Midwest, after all, where the weather is sure to keep you guessing. Jersey knows what to do when the tornado sirens sound. But she never could have prepared for this.

When her town is devastated by a tornado, Jersey loses everything. As she struggles to overcome her grief, she’s sent to live with relatives she hardly knows-family who might as well be strangers. In an unfamiliar place, can Jersey discover that even on the darkest of days, there are some things no tornado can destroy?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abandonment
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Panic attacks
Alcoholism mentioned
Death of a sibling
Death of a parent
Tornado, central theme

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks and Sarah Pekkanen

You Are Not Alone by Greer Hendricks & Sarah Pekkanen

Shay Miller wants to find love, but it eludes her. She wants to be fulfilled, but her job is a dead end. She wants to belong, but her life is increasingly lonely.

Until Shay meets the Moore sisters. Cassandra and Jane live a life of glamorous perfection, and always get what they desire. When they invite Shay into their circle, everything seems to get better. Shay would die for them to like her. She may have to.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist language
Fatmisia & body shaming
Rape (on-page)
Trauma & panic attacks
Graphic suicide by train (on-page)
Suicide (theme)
Alcohol consumption
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a friend
Death of a sister
Death of a father recounted
Strangulation
Stalking

*Note: A character is described as having ‘almond-shaped eyes’.

The Possession of Mr Cave of Matt Haig

The Possession of Mr Cave by Matt Haig

Terence Cave, intellectual, music-lover and owner of Cave Antiques, has experienced more than his share of tragedies. His mother’s suicide and his young wife’s death at the hands of burglars left him to bring up his young twins alone. And now one of them has died in a grotesque accident as a result of bullying.

Bryony, the remaining twin, has always been the family’s great hope: a golden teenager, in love with her cello and her pony, clever, sweet and eager to please. Now that she is all Terence has left, he realises that his one duty in life is to keep her safe from the world’s malign forces, whatever that may take. As he starts to follow his grieving daughter’s movements, and enforces a draconian set of rules purely for her own safety, the voices in his head convince him to protect her innocence at any cost.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Suicide
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a wife
Death of a mother