Tag Archives: Death of a Parent & Guardian

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of death of a parent or guardian.

See also Death of a mother, Death of a father, and Grief & loss depiction.

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto Is Back by Taylor Jenkins Reid

Carrie Soto is fierce, and her determination to win at any cost has not made her popular. But by the time she retires from tennis, she is the best player the world has ever seen. She has shattered every record and claimed twenty Grand Slam titles. And if you ask Carrie, she is entitled to every one. She sacrificed nearly everything to become the best, with her father, Javier, as her coach. A former champion himself, Javier has trained her since the age of two. But six years after her retirement, Carrie finds herself sitting in the stands of the 1994 US Open, watching her record be taken from her by a brutal, stunning player named… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Infidelity mentioned (sc)
  • Alcoholism mentioned
  • Sports injury
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent

Southern Storms by Brittainy C. Cherry

Southern Storms by Brittainy C. Cherry

All I wanted to do was run away, I never expected to crash into his arms… After leaving the city life behind to escape my loveless marriage, I moved to small town Havenbarrow for a fresh start. What I didn’t expect was to find myself drawn to the town’s black sheep. They called him troubled. Cold. A man with a dark past. What everyone seemed to miss about Jax was the splashes of light in his eyes. The random acts of kindness he performed when no one was watching. The way he made me smile and laugh. Jax helped unpack the baggage I’d been carrying around with me… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abuse
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Depression
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a parent
  • Gun violence
  • Bullying

Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indriðason

Reykjavik Nights by Arnaldur Indriðason

The loner Erlendur has recently joined the police force as a young officer. The beat on the streets in Reykjavik is busy: traffic accidents, theft, domestic violence, contraband… And an unexplained death. When a tramp he met regularly on the night shift is found drowned in a ditch no one seems to care. But his fate haunts Erlendur and drags him inexorably into the strange and dark underworld of the city.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Alcoholism
  • Drug abuse

Chorus by Rebecca Kauffman

Chorus by Rebecca Kauffman

The seven Shaw siblings have long been haunted by two early and profoundly consequential events. Told in turn back and forth over time, from the early twentieth century through the 1950s, each sibling relays their own version of the memories that surround both their mother’s mysterious death and the circumstances leading up to and beyond one sister’s scandalous teenage pregnancy. As they move into adulthood, the siblings assume various new roles: caretaker to their aging father, addict, enabler, academic, decorated veteran, widow, and mothers and fathers… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Teen pregnancy
  • Death of a mother

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

The Gilded Wolves by Roshani Chokshi

It’s 1889. The city is on the cusp of industry and power, and the Exposition Universelle has breathed new life into the streets and dredged up ancient secrets. Here, no one keeps tabs on dark truths better than treasure-hunter and wealthy hotelier Séverin Montagnet-Alarie. When the elite, ever-powerful Order of Babel coerces him to help them on a mission, Séverin is offered a treasure that he never imagined: his true inheritance. To hunt down the ancient artifact the Order seeks, Séverin calls upon a band of unlikely experts: An engineer with a debt to pay. A historian banished from… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical, verbal & emotional child abuse recounted
  • Parental abandonment
  • Panic attack
  • Suicide recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drugging mentioned
  • Stillbirth recounted
  • Blood & physical injuries depiction
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father in a fire recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Explosion
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping & hostage situation
  • Blackmail
  • Colonialism & slavery discussed
  • Animal death mentioned

For the Wolf by Hannah Whitten

For the Wolf by Hannah F. Whitten

As the only Second Daughter born in centuries, Red has one purpose-to be sacrificed to the Wolf in the Wood in the hope he’ll return the world’s captured gods. Red is almost relieved to go. Plagued by a dangerous power she can’t control, at least she knows that in the Wilderwood, she can’t hurt those she loves. Again. But the legends lie. The Wolf is a man, not a monster. Her magic is a calling, not a curse. And if she doesn’t learn how to use it, the monsters the gods have become will swallow the Wilderwood-and her world-whole.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental emotional abuse & neglect
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Audio & visual hallucinations
  • Self-harm for magic (cutting)
  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

The Star-Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi

Maya is cursed. With a horoscope that promises a marriage of death and destruction, she has earned only the scorn and fear of her father’s kingdom. Content to follow more scholarly pursuits, her whole world is torn apart when her father, the Raja, arranges a wedding of political convenience to quell outside rebellions. Soon Maya becomes the queen of Akaran and wife of Amar. Neither roles are what she expected: As Akaran’s queen, she finds her voice and power. As Amar’s wife, she finds something else entirely: Compassion. Protection. Desire. But Akaran has its own secrets… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Sexual assault by coercion
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence recounted
  • Arranged marriage
  • Forced attempted suicide
  • Stillbirth mentioned
  • Blood & genital mutilation mentioned
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a mother
  • Torture mentioned
  • Captivity
  • Bullying
  • War themes

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

What if? Why not? Could it be? When a fortuneteller’s tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller’s mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical injury
  • Death of a mother in childbirth recounted
  • Death of a father during military service recounted
  • Explosion mentioned
  • Animal illness & injury
  • Animal attack

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

The Unexpected Everything by Morgan Matson

Andie had it all planned out. When you are a politician’s daughter who’s pretty much raised yourself, you learn everything can be planned or spun, or both. Especially your future. Important internship? Check. Amazing friends? Check. Guys? Check (as long as we’re talking no more than three weeks). But that was before the scandal. Before having to be in the same house with her dad. Before walking an insane number of dogs. That was before Clark and those few months that might change her whole life. Because here’s the thing—if everything’s planned out, you can never find the unexpected. And where’s the fun in that?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cancer recounted
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Animal illness

The Make-Up Test by Jenny Howe

The Make-Up Test by Jenny L. Howe

Allison Avery loves to win. After acing every academic challenge she’s come up against, she’s finally been accepted into her dream Ph.D. program at Claymore University, studying medieval literature under a professor she’s admired for years. Sure, grad school isn’t easy—the classes are intense, her best friend is drifting away, and her students would rather pull all-nighters than discuss The Knight’s Tale—but she’s got this. Until she discovers her ex-boyfriend has also been accepted. Colin Benjamin might be the only person who loves winning more than Allison does, and when they’re both assigned to TA for the same profess… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Anxiety
  • Death of a parent