Tag Archives: Domestic Abuse & Violence

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of abusive relationships, and domestic and intimate partner abuse & violence. This includes all kinds of emotional, verbal, psychological, and physical abuse perpetrated by a spouse or intimate partner.

See also Child abuse & neglect, Rape, and Sexual assault.

The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III

A wizard attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. Fearful for his safety, the wizard kept him imprisoned in a glass bottle for decades. After his escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On the way, Morpheus encounters Lucifer and demons from Hell, the Justice League, and John Constantine, the Hellblazer.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic abuse
  • Infidelity
  • Death of a child
  • Torture
  • Imprisonment

Bestiary by K-Ming Chang

Three generations of Taiwanese American women are haunted by the myths of their homeland in this spellbinding, visceral debut about one family’s queer desires, violent impulses, and buried secrets.

One evening, Mother tells Daughter a story about a tiger spirit who lived in a woman’s body. She was called Hu Gu Po, and she hungered to eat children, especially their toes. Soon afterwards, Daughter awakes with a tiger tail. And more mysterious events follow: Holes in the backyard spit up letters penned by her grandmother; a visiting aunt arrives with snakes in her belly… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Homomisia
  • Domestic violence
  • Child abuse
  • Dementia
  • Suicide & mass suicide mentioned
  • Miscarriage
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Amputation
  • Animal abuse

The Hidden by Melanie Golding

When a small child is found wandering alone, the local shopkeepers call the authorities immediately. Twenty minutes later, the girl’s mother turns up, panicked and distraught. It doesn’t take long to clear things up, and mother and daughter are soon reunited and sent on their way.

Miles away, the body of a man is discovered, floating in a bathtub, but the most surprising discovery of all is that he isn’t dead. Despite his injuries, he is very much alive… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Emotional abuse & gaslighting

Storms of Paine by Opal Reyne

After the storm that separates them, Captains Rosetta Silver and Alister Paine find themselves sailing side by side together once more. Their passion refuses to fizzle out and burns brighter, hotter, and, frighteningly, deeper every time. Rosetta manages to convince the land hating Alister to port. They need supplies and the Laughing Siren still needs repairs. But land may be dangerous for them and not just because of the bounty on his head. Emotions within Rosetta are stirring and she doesn’t have a compass to navigate these unfamiliar waters. Alister’s behaviour… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence recounted
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction

Sea of Roses by Opal Reyne

Captain Alister Paine has always had his good eye set on treasure, murder, and sinking ships. His fame as a ruthless, blood-thirsty pirate has spread across the Seven Seas. The Howling Death, his precious warship, is the deadliest ship on the ocean waters, striking fear into the hearts of all those who see it. So when a deceitful yet sensual woman steals his bloody ship from him, he wants nothing but revenge! His anger holds no bounds. He wants to punish her, but there is something about Rosetta Silver that has Alister drowning beneath the waves of his carnal desires. Despite her… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Domestic violence recounted
  • Miscarriage recounted
  • Blood, gore and injury depiction

The Invisible Hour by Alice Hoffman

One June day when Mia Jacob can no longer see a way to survive, the power of words saves her. The Scarlet Letter was written almost two hundred years earlier, but it seems to tell the story of Mia’s mother, Ivy, and their life inside the Community—an oppressive cult in western Massachusetts where contact with the outside world is forbidden. But how could this be? How could Nathaniel Hawthorne have so perfectly captured the pain and loss that Mia carries inside her? Through a journey of heartbreak, love, and time, Mia must abandon the rules she was raised with at the Community. As she does, she realizes that… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Abortion including death from an attempted abortion
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of a guardian from cancer
  • Stalking
  • Cult

Dreamland by Nicholas Sparks

Colby Mills once felt destined for a musical career, until tragedy grounded his aspirations. Now the head of a small family farm in North Carolina, he spontaneously takes a gig playing at a bar in St. Pete’s Beach, Florida, seeking a rare break from his duties at home. But when he meets Morgan Lee, his world is turned upside-down, making him wonder if the responsibilities he has shouldered need dictate his life forever. The daughter of affluent Chicago doctors, Morgan has graduated from a prestigious college music program with the ambition to move to Nashville and become a star. Romantically and musically, she and Colby complete each… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse

Death on Ocean Boulevard by Caitlin Rother

The call came on the morning of July 13, 2011, from the historic Spreckels Mansion, a lavish beachfront property in Coronado, California, owned by pharmaceutical tycoon and multimillionaire Jonah Shacknai. When authorities arrived, they found the naked body of Jonah’s girlfriend, Rebecca Zahau, gagged, her ankles tied and her wrists bound behind her. Jonah’s brother, Adam, claimed to have found Rebecca hanging by a rope from the second-floor balcony. On a bedroom door in black paint were the cryptic words: She saved hum can you save her. Was this scrawled… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia & child molestation
  • Domestic abuse
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Miscarriage
  • Death of a child
  • Kidnapping

Behind Every Lie by Christina McDonald

Eva Hansen wakes in the hospital after being struck by lightning and discovers her mother, Kat, has been murdered. Eva was found unconscious down the street. She can’t remember what happened but the police are highly suspicious of her. Determined to clear her name, Eva heads from Seattle to London—Kat’s former home—for answers. But as she unravels her mother’s carefully held secrets, Eva soon realizes that someone doesn’t want her to know the truth. And with violent memories beginning to emerge, Eva doesn’t know who to trust. Least of all herself.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Domestic abuse
  • Death of a child
  • Murder of a mother
  • Lightning strike recounted

Horseman by Christina Henry

Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt’s grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that’s just legend, the village gossips talking. Twenty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play “Sleepy Hollow boys,” reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adult… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transmisia & misgendering
  • Attempted rape
  • Domestic abuse mentioned
  • Kidnapping