Death of a Parent & Guardian – Page 171

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison

Maia, the youngest, half-goblin son of the Emperor has lived his entire life in exile, distant from the Imperial Court and the deadly intrigue that suffuses it. But when his father and three sons in line for the throne are killed in an “accident,” he has no choice but to take his place as the only surviving rightful heir.

Entirely unschooled in the art of court politics, he has no friends, no advisors, and the sure knowledge that whoever assassinated his father and brothers could make an attempt on his life at any moment.

Surrounded by sycophants eager to curry favour with the naïve new emperor, and overwhelmed by the burdens of his new life, he can trust nobody. Amid the swirl of plots to depose him, offers of arranged marriages, and the spectre of the unknown conspirators who lurk in the shadows, he must quickly adjust to life as the Goblin Emperor.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Racism
Physical & verbal abuse mentioned
Attempted sexual assault
Arranged marriage
Suicide
Alcohol consumption
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father
Death of a brother

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

This Poison Heart by Kalynn Bayron

Briseis has a gift: she can grow plants from tiny seeds to rich blooms with a single touch.

When Briseis’s aunt dies and wills her a dilapidated estate in rural New York, Bri and her parents decide to leave Brooklyn behind for the summer. Hopefully there, surrounded by plants and flowers, Bri will finally learn to control her gift. But their new home is sinister in ways they could never have imagined–it comes with a specific set of instructions, an old-school apothecary, and a walled garden filled with the deadliest botanicals in the world that can only be entered by those who share Bri’s unique family lineage… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Self-injury
Death of a parent
Murder & attempted murder
Poisoning

Thanks a Lot Universe by Chad Lucas

Thanks a Lot, Universe by Chad Lucas

Brian has always been anxious, whether at home, or in class, or on the basketball court. His dad tries to get him to stand up for himself and his mom helps as much as she can, but after he and his brother are placed in foster care, Brian starts having panic attacks. And he doesn’t know if things will ever be “normal” again . . .

Ezra’s always been popular. He’s friends with most of the kids on his basketball team—even Brian, who usually keeps to himself. But now, some of his friends have been acting differently, and Brian seems to be pulling away. Ezra wants to help, but he worries if he’s too nice to Brian, his friends will realize that he has a crush on him . . .

But when Brian and his brother run away, Ezra has no choice but to take the leap and reach out.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Attempted suicide by overdose
Depression
Anxiety
Panic attacks
Hospitalisation
Incarceration of a parent
Death of a parent from cancer mentioned
Bullying

A Curse of Ash and Embers by Jo Spurrier

A Curse of Ash & Embers by Jo Spurrier

Some people knit socks by the fire at night. Gyssha Blackbone made monsters. But the old witch is dead now, and somehow it’s Elodie’s job to clean up the mess. When she was hired at Black Oak Cottage, Elodie had no idea she’d find herself working for a witch; and her acid-tongued new mistress, Aleida, was not expecting a housemaid to turn up on her doorstep.

Gyssha’s final curse left Aleida practically dead on her feet, and now, with huge monsters roaming the woods, a demonic tree lurking in the orchard and an angry warlock demanding repayment of a debt, Aleida needs Elodie’s help, whether she likes it or not. And no matter what the old witch throws at her, to Elodie it’s still better than going back home.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Graphic verbal & emotional child abuse
Physical child abuse mentioned
Domestic violence mentioned
Misogyny
Dissociation
Suicide
Blood depiction
Physical injuries
Emesis
Death of a father
Death of a child mentioned
Death of a friend recounted
Murder mentioned
Kidnapping mentioned
Strangulation
Poisoning
Loss of autonomy (possession)

Nameless by Lili St Crow

Nameless by Lili St. Crow

When Camille was six years old, she was discovered alone in the snow by Enrico Vultusino, godfather of the Seven—the powerful Families that rule magic-ridden New Haven. Papa Vultusino adopted the mute, scarred child, naming her after his dead wife and raising her in luxury on Haven Hill alongside his own son, Nico.

Now Cami is turning sixteen. She’s no longer mute, though she keeps her faded scars hidden under her school uniform, and though she opens up only to her two best friends, Ruby and Ellie, and to Nico, who has become more than a brother to her. But even though Cami is a pampered Vultusino heiress, she knows that she is not really Family. Unlike them, she is a mortal with a past that lies buried in trauma. And it’s not until she meets the mysterious Tor, who reveals scars of his own, that Cami begins to uncover the secrets of her birth… to find out where she comes from and why her past is threatening her now.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Parental abuse
Death of a parent
Scars

Hot Response by Shannon Stacey

Hot Response by Shannon Stacey

Gavin Boudreau lives for the job, but he also believes in “work hard, play harder.” As the youngest guy in Ladder 37, he figures he’s got plenty of time before settling down becomes a priority. Soft, pretty women who aren’t looking for promises are exactly his type, and he’s comfortable with that. Working with a gorgeous EMT isn’t going to change who he is.

The last thing Cait Tasker needs in her personal life is a firefighter whose challenges on-scene have been a thorn in her side from minute one. Her plate’s too full for a man anyway. Back in her childhood home to help her family cope with an unexpected tragedy, she’s got enough to handle without throwing a hot, testosterone-laden fireman into the mix.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a step-parent recounted

One Italian Summer by Keris Stainton

One Italian Summer by Keris Stainton

It’s been a year since Milly, Elyse and Leonie’s dad died, and a year since their last trip to Rome. Summer’s here again, and once again they are heading with their mum to Italy – but what’s it going to be like going without Dad? Rome still holds its familiar charms but nothing is quite as it once was …

With grief still raw for all of them, Milly is facing the additional awfulness of having to see Luke again, who she had a fling with last year, and who she made a total fool of herself with – or so she thinks. What’s going to happen this time? What’s more, things between Milly, her sisters and their mum are rocky – Leonie is being tempestuous and unpredictable, Elyse is caught up with her new boyfriend, and Milly feels like she just doesn’t know how she fits in any more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcohol abuse
Emesis
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father from a heart attack recounted

Past Perfect by Danielle Steel

Past Perfect by Danielle Steel

Sybil and Blake Gregory live a predictable Manhattan life — she as a cutting-edge design authority and museum consultant, he in high-tech investments — raising their teenagers Andrew and Caroline and six-year-old Charlie. But when Blake is offered a dream job as CEO of a start-up in San Francisco, he accepts it, without consulting his wife, and buys a magnificent, historic mansion as their new home in Pacific Heights.

Past and present collide at their elegant mansion, when they meet the large and lively family who lived there a century ago. All long dead but very much alive in spirit—visible to the Gregorys and no one else. Have the Gregorys been given a perfect gift; beloved friends, a chance to relive the past and the wisdom and grace to shape the future?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Death of a child
Death of a parent

When My Heart Joins the Thousand by AJ Steiger

When My Heart Joins the Thousand by A.J. Steiger

Alvie Fitz doesn’t fit in, and she doesn’t care. She’s spent years swallowing meds and bad advice from doctors and social workers. Adjust, adapt. Pretend to be normal. It sounds so easy. If she can make it to her eighteenth birthday without any major mishaps, she’ll be legally emancipated. Free. But if she fails, she’ll become a ward of the state and be sent back to the group home.

All she wants is to be left alone to spend time with her friend, Chance, the one-winged hawk at the zoo where she works. She can bide her time with him until her emancipation. Humans are overrated anyway… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism & ableist slurs
Homomisia & homomisic slurs
Parental abuse
Anxiety & panic attacks
Depression
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Suicide mentioned & recounted
Suicidal ideation
Alcohol consumption
Blood depiction & physical injuries
Surgery
Emesis
Hospitalisation
Cancer mentioned
Death of a parent mentioned
Police brutality
Drowning recounted
Bullying
Attempted murder of an autistic child by a parent
Poverty themes & homelessness

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck

Steinbeck’s Pulitzer Prize-winning epic of the Great Depression chronicles the Dust Bowl migration of the 1930s and tells the story of one Oklahoma farm family, the Joads—driven from their homestead and forced to travel west to the promised land of California.

Out of their trials and their repeated collisions against the hard realities of an America divided into Haves and Have-Nots evolves a drama that is intensely human yet majestic in its scale and moral vision, elemental yet plainspoken, tragic but ultimately stirring in its human dignity.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Domestic & child physical abuse
Stillbirth
Starvation
Death of a parent
Death of a child mentioned
Murder
Imprisonment
Graphic animal death