The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

The Family Upstairs by Lisa Jewell

Soon after her twenty-fifth birthday, Libby Jones returns home from work to find the letter she’s been waiting for her entire life. She rips it open with one driving thought: I am finally going to know who I am.

She soon learns not only the identity of her birth parents, but also that she is the sole inheritor of their abandoned mansion on the banks of the Thames in London’s fashionable Chelsea neighborhood, worth millions. Everything in Libby’s life is about to change. But what she can’t possibly know is that others have been waiting for this day as well—and she is on a collision course to meet them… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Marital rape
  • Child sexual abuse
  • Parental neglect
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Domestic violence
  • Drug abuse
  • Stillbirth
  • Murder
  • Cults
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1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

1Q84 by Haruki Murakami

The year is 1Q84. This is the real world, there is no doubt about that.

But in this world, there are two moons in the sky.

In this world, the fates of two people, Tengo and Aomame, are closely intertwined. They are each, in their own way, doing something very dangerous. And in this world, there seems no way to save them both.

Something extraordinary is starting. 

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Needles & syringes
  • Hospital
  • Death of a parent
  • Animal death
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The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett

The Vignes twin sisters will always be identical. But after growing up together in a small, southern black community and running away at age sixteen, it’s not just the shape of their daily lives that is different as adults, it’s everything: their families, their communities, their racial identities. Ten years later, one sister lives with her black daughter in the same southern town she once tried to escape. The other secretly passes for white, and her white husband knows nothing of her past. Still, even separated by so many miles and just as many lies, the fates of the twins remain intertwined. What will happen to the next generation, when their own daughters’ story lines intersect? … Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Transmisia
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Colourism
  • Sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Death of a parent
  • Lynching
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Indirection by Gregory Ashe

Indirection by Gregory Ashe

Shaw Aldrich and his best friend, boyfriend, and partner, North McKinney, are doing great, thanks. The aftermath of their search for the Slasher has finally settled down. Their private investigation agency is thriving. And after years of missed opportunities, they’re finally together. Sure, work might be taking up every spare minute, and their time together as a couple might have evaporated—but that’s normal, right?

When an author asks for their help investigating threats against a gay romance convention, Shaw sees an opportunity to shake up their routine and maybe have some fun. But the convention isn’t what he expects. Between the rabid fans and the backbiting authors, the death threats… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Homomisia
  • Bimisia
  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic violence mentioned
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Suicidal ideation mentioned
  • Drug use mentioned
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If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar

If They Come for Us by Fatimah Asghar

In this powerful and imaginative debut poetry collection, Fatimah Asghar nakedly captures the experiences of being a young Pakistani Muslim woman in America by braiding together personal and marginalized people’s histories. After being orphaned as a young girl, Asghar grapples with coming-of-age as a woman without the guidance of a mother, questions of sexuality and race, and navigating a world that put a target on her back. Asghar’s poems at once bear anguish, joy, vulnerability, and compassion, while exploring the many facets of violence: how it persists within us, how it is inherited across generations, and how it manifests in our relationships with friends and family, and in our own understanding of identity. Using experimental forms and a mix of lyrical and brash language, Asghar confronts her own understanding of identity and place and belonging.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Domestic abuse
  • Genocide
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The Deepest Roots by Miranda Asebedo

The Deepest Roots by Miranda Asebedo

Cottonwood Hollow, Kansas, is a strange place. For the past century, every girl has been born with a special talent, like the ability to Fix any object, Heal any wound, or Find what is missing.

Best friends Rome, Lux, and Mercy all have similar talents, but to them, their abilities often feel like a curse. Rome may be able to Fix anything she touches, but that won’t help her mom pay rent or make it any easier to confide in Lux and Mercy about what’s going on at home. And Rome isn’t the only one. Lux has been hiding bigger, more dangerous secrets… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slut shaming
  • Lesbomisia mentioned
  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic abuse
  • Death of a newborn
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Silky Smooth by AM Arthur

Silky Smooth by A.M. Arthur

College drop-out Nicolas Cannon has a secret he’s been hiding for all his adult life. A secret that has left him isolated and mostly friendless—until the day a very friendly parrot flies into his life. In his search to discover the parrot’s owner, Nicolas meets the handsome, enigmatic and much-older Alex Durant. But Nicolas has become fond of Alex’s pet Calamity, and the pair develop an unexpected friendship over their love of the bird.

Alex Durant is a man with money and power, but he’s also haunted by his past with an abusive ex. Calamity saved Alex’s sanity, and he’s surprised at how easily he shares her attention with Nicolas, a young artist who arrests Alex’s attention… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Physical parental abuse
  • Spousal abuse recounted
  • Panic attack, on-page
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Missing by Kelley Armstrong

Missing by Kelley Armstrong

Everyone knows they left. No one knows they’re… missing.

Reeve’s End is the kind of town every kid can’t wait to escape. Each summer, a dozen kids leave, and at least a quarter never come back. I don’t blame them – I’ll do the same in another year. We thought it was just something that happened in town like ours.

We were wrong.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Domestic abuse & violence
  • Animal cruelty
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The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert

The Princess Trap by Talia Hibbert

Cherry Neita is thirty, flirty, and done with men. As far as she can tell, they’re overrated, overpaid, and underperforming – in every area of life. But a girl has needs, and the smoking-hot stranger she just met at the office seems like the perfect one-night stand…

Prince Ruben of Helgmøre is reckless, dominant, and famously filthy. The outcast royal is rebuilding his reputation – all for a good cause – but he can’t resist a pretty face. And bossy whirlwind Cherry’s got the face, the body, and the attitude to make Ruben’s convictions crumble. Even better, when she propositions him, she has no idea who he really is… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Death of a parent recounted
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