Death of a Parent & Guardian – Page 96 – Trigger Warning Database

The Midwinter Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag

The Midwinter Witch by Molly Knox Ostertag

Aster always looks forward to the Midwinter Festival, a reunion of the entire Vanissen family that includes competitions in witchery and shape-shifting. This year, he’s especially excited to compete in the annual Jolrun tournament as a witch. He’s determined to show everyone that he’s proud of who he is and what he’s learned, but he knows it won’t be easy to defy tradition. Ariel has darker things on her mind than the Festival-like the mysterious witch who’s been visiting her dreams, claiming to know the truth about Ariel’s past. She appreciates everything the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment discussed
Death of a mother recounted
Bullying

The Untouchables by JJ McAvoy

The Untouchables by J.J. McAvoy

Everything Melody Callahan has ever been told about her past is a lie. Her father lied. Her husband lied. But like all secrets…they come out. Not only is her mother, Aviela, alive but she won’t stop until she tears down everything Liam and Melody have spent the past year building. With a new target on their back and the media now focused on their family as the Presidential election approaches, Liam and Melody must fight on two battlefronts. Melody is torn between being in love with Liam and wanting to kill him for lying to her. Being in love and showing love are two different… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Arranged marriage
Parental abandonment
Child abuse & neglect mentioned
Nyctophobia
Substance addiction
Drugging
Miscarriage
Blood & gore depiction
Hospitalisation
Needles mentioned
Death of a parent
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Gun & knife violence
Kidnapping
Plane crash

The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne

The Night of Many Endings by Melissa Payne

Orphaned at a young age and witness to her brother’s decline into addiction, Nora Martinez has every excuse to question the fairness of life. Instead, the openhearted librarian in the small Colorado community of Silver Ridge sees only promise. She holds on to the hope that she’ll be reunited with her missing brother and does what she can at the town library. It’s her home away from home, but it’s also a sanctuary for others who, like her brother, could use a second chance. There’s Marlene, an elderly loner who believes… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Substance addiction
Suicidal ideation
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent
Death of a spouse
Homelessness

Honeycomb by Joanne Harris

Honeycomb by Joanne M. Harris

The beauty of stories; you never know where they will take you. Full of dreams and nightmares, Honeycomb is an entrancing mosaic novel of original fairy tales from bestselling author Joanne M. Harris and legendary artist Charles Vess in a collaboration that’s been years in the making. The toymaker who wants to create the perfect wife; the princess whose heart is won by words, not actions; the tiny dog whose confidence far outweighs his size; and the sinister Lacewing King who rules over the Silken Folk. These are just a few of the weird and wonderful creatures who populate Joanne Harris’s first collection of fairy tales.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Sexual assault
Death of a child
Death of a parent

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

Better Than the Movies by Lynn Painter

Liz Buxbaum has always known that Wes Bennett was not boyfriend material. You would think that her next-door neighbour would be a prince candidate for her romantic comedy fantasies, but Wes has only proven himself to be a pain in the butt, ever since they were little. Wes was the kid who put a frog in her Barbie Dreamhouse, the monster who hid a lawn gnome’s severed head in her little homemade neighbourhood book exchange. Flash forward ten years from the Great Gnome Decapitation. It’s Liz’s senior year… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Alcohol consumption
Smoking
Emesis
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother in a car accident mentioned
Bullying

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight years old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as “the Child Finder,” Naomi is their last hope. Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Antiziganism (g slur)
Incest (foster siblings)
Paedophilia, child sexual assault and rape (theme)
Child abuse and neglect
Foster care system experiences recounted
Amnesia and memory loss
Dissociation
Blood and gore depiction
Physical injuries mentioned, including the loss of an arm in an explosion while deployed
Death of a foster mother, off-page and discussed
Death of a wife from cancer mentioned
Death of a wife from suicide mentioned
Accidental infanticide
Murder by stabbing, on-page
Physical assault
Kidnapping and captivity of a child
Incarceration
Graphic animal death and hunting
Animal dead bodies and butchery, on-page

Context : The story follows a private investigator trying to find a missing child. The book is told from her POV, the missing child, and the predator who kidnapped and held the child captive. While there are no on-page scenes of sexual violence, it is clear that the captor sexually abuses and rapes the child. It is vaguely mentioned through metaphors and lyrical writing from the child’s perspective; as well as mentions of pain and blood on her legs. The predator was also raped by his captor as a child. Again, there are no on-page scenes of this.

A secondary character leaves her baby in their stroller on a bus that is parked in storage. It is unclear how the baby dies but the protagonist finds his body (off-page, no descriptions).

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

These Shallow Graves by Jennifer Donnelly

Jo Montfort is beautiful and rich, and soon—like all the girls in her class—she’ll graduate from finishing school and be married off to a wealthy bachelor. Which is the last thing she wants. Jo secretly dreams of becoming a writer—a newspaper reporter like the trailblazing Nellie Bly. Wild aspirations aside, Jo’s life seems perfect until tragedy strikes: her father is found dead. Charles Montfort accidentally shot himself while cleaning his revolver. One of New York City’s wealthiest men, he owned a newspaper and was partner in a massive shipping firm, and Jo knows he was far… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Period-typical sexism & ableism
Slavery
Forced sex work
Suicide
Involuntary psychiatric hospitalisation
Murder of a father
Physical assault & kidnapping

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

Ace of Shades by Amanda Foody

Enne Salta was raised as a proper young lady, and no lady would willingly visit New Reynes, the so-called City of Sin. But when her mother goes missing, Enne must leave her finishing school—and her reputation—behind to follow her mother’s trail to the city where no one survives uncorrupted. Frightened and alone, Enne has only one lead: the name Levi Glaisyer. Unfortunately, Levi is not the gentleman she expected—he’s a street lord and a con man. Levi is also only one payment away from cleaning up a rapidly unravelling investment scam, so he doesn’t have time to investigate… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Paedophilia
Gambling & mentions of past substance addiction
Blood & injury depiction including burns
Death of a mother
Death of a friend in a fire
Murder & regicide (on-page)
Torture
Physical assault
Poisoning
Bullying

The Ability by MM Vaughan

The Ability by M.M. Vaughan and illustrated by Iacopo Bruno

No one has any confidence in twelve-year-old Christopher Lane. His teachers discount him as a liar and a thief, and his mom doesn’t have the energy to deal with him. But a mysterious visit from the Ministry of Education indicates that Chris might have some potential after all: He is invited to attend the prestigious Myers Holt Academy. When Christopher begins at his new school, he is astounded at what he can do. It seems that age twelve is a special time for the human brain, which is capable of remarkable feats—as… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Death of a father during military service
Death of a child
Kidnapping
Loss of autonomy (mind control)
Animal injury

Abel by Katee Robert

Abel by Katee Robert

Eight years ago, my family was betrayed by those closest to us. Now we’re back in Sabine Valley, staging our return during the feast of Lammas, where I step into the ring and ensure we’re given what we’re owed. Who we’re owed. Our enemies send their seven best warriors against me. With each victory, I win a Bride for each of my brothers. And for me? I’m saving the best for last. My Bride is Harlow, the woman claimed by the man I used to call friend—the one responsible for our exile. Eli. And if Eli has a problem with it? Well, then I’ll take him as my Bride, too. All the better to enact my revenge…and bring Sabine Valley to its knees.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Child abuse recounted
Alcohol consumption
Injury requiring surgery (gunshot wound)
Death of a mother from cancer mentioned
Murder of a father recounted
Gun violence
Mass death in an arson fire mentioned