Tag Archives: Drug Use & Abuse

Tom Lake by Ann Patchett

This is a story about Peter Duke who went on to be a famous actor. This is a story about falling in love with Peter Duke who wasn’t famous at all. It’s about falling so wildly in love with him – the way one will at twenty-four – that it felt like jumping off a roof at midnight. There was no way to foresee the mess it would come to in the end.

It’s spring and Lara’s three grown daughters have returned to the family orchard… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcoholism
  • Cheating mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug abuse
  • Abortion
  • COVID-19 pandemic mentioned
  • Death of a grandmother from breast cancer
  • Drowning

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

Clara’s magic has always been wild. But it’s never been dangerous. Then a simple touch causes poisonous flowers to bloom in her father’s chest.

The only way to heal him is to cast an extremely difficult spell that requires perfect control. And the only person willing to help is her former best friend, Xavier, who’s grown from a sweet, shy child into someone distant and mysterious… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Drug abuse (fantastical substance)
  • Anxiety
  • Emesis
  • Body horror

You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

When Amaya is invited to Kaavi’s over-the-top wedding in Sri Lanka, she is surprised and a little hurt to hear from her former best friend after so many years of radio silence. But when Amaya learns that the groom is her very own ex-boyfriend, she is consumed by a single thought: She must stop the wedding from happening, no matter the cost.

But as the weeklong wedding celebrations begin and rumors about Amaya’s past begin to swirl… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia
  • Domestic abuse
  • Self-harm
  • Drug use
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Murder
  • Incarceration
  • Blackmail

Friends Like These by Jennifer Lynn Alvarez

Tegan Sheffield’s annual end-of-summer beach party is the only way to start their senior year. At least that’s what Jake Healy tells his girlfriend Jessica Sanchez.

But when a video prank from the party goes viral and a body is discovered at the beach, Jake and Jessica find themselves at the centre of a national media storm and a police investigation.

It’s a race to uncover the truth before the killer strikes again… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Date rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Revenge pornography of a minor
  • Abusive relationship
  • Toxic friendship
  • Panic attack
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use mentioned
  • Physical injury (minor)
  • Emesis mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Disappearance (theme)
  • Physical assault

The Death of Jane Lawrence by Caitlin Starling

Practical, unassuming Jane Shoringfield has done the calculations, and decided that the most secure path forward is this: a husband, in a marriage of convenience, who will allow her to remain independent and occupied with meaningful work. Her first choice, the dashing but reclusive doctor Augustine Lawrence, agrees to her proposal with only one condition: that she must never visit Lindridge Hall, his crumbling family manor outside of town. Yet on their wedding night, an accident strands her at his door in a pitch-black rainstorm, and she finds him changed… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Drug use
  • Miscarriage
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a spouse
  • Animal death

String Follow by Simon Jacobs

Something strange is happening to the teens in Adena, Ohio.

A mysterious force is seeking vulnerabilities to exploit, friendships to hijack, untapped rage to harness toward its own ends. Who will serve it best? Claire is abrasive and aimless, embarrassed by her privilege. Weak-willed David entertains fantasies of cultish orgies, while Tyler covertly takes up residence in his basement. Greg wages war on the voices in his head, while his sister Beth quietly, furiously unravels… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Schizophrenia & psychosis
  • Attempted suicide
  • Drug use
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • School shooting
  • Car accident
  • Fire

Deep in Providence by Riss M. Neilson

For best friends Miliani, Inez, Natalie and Jasmine, Providence, Rhode Island has a magic of its own. From the bodegas and late-night food trucks on Broad Street to The Hill that watches over the city, every corner of Providence glows with memories of them practicing spells, mixing up potions and doing séances with the help of the magic Miliani’s Filipino grandfather taught her.

But when Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver, the world they have always known is left haunted… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Religious bigotry & trauma
  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abandonment
  • Anxiety
  • Parent with substance addiction
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Overdose
  • Pregnancy
  • Abortion
  • Forced institutionalisation mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Car accident, off-page
  • Deportation mentioned

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Classism
  • Elder abuse
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Forced political marriage
  • Depressive episode recounted
  • Suicidal ideation mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Pregnancy & miscarriage discussed
  • Graphic injuries & illness
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Emesis
  • Seizures
  • Chronic illness
  • Death of a father from medical complications due to chronic alcoholism recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Infanticide
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Knife, arrow and axe violence
  • Imprisonment
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control & invasion)
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Naval warfare
  • Regicide
  • Animal abuse (wolf)
  • Animal death mentioned, including the death of a pet dog.

The Last Forever by Deb Caletti

Endings and beginnings sit so close to each other that it’s sometimes impossible to tell which is which. Nothing lasts forever, and no one gets that more than Tessa. After her mother died, it’s all she can do to keep her friends, her boyfriend, her happiness from slipping away. And then there’s her dad. He’s stuck in his own daze, and it’s so hard to feel like a family when their house no longer seems like a home. Her father’s solution? An impromptu road trip that lands them in a small coastal town at Tessa’s grandmother’s. Despite all the warmth and beauty there, Tessa can’t… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from cancer

The Six Rules of Maybe by Deb Caletti

Scarlet spends most of her time worrying about other people. Some are her friends, others are practically strangers, and then there are the ones no else even notices. Trying to fix their lives comes naturally to her. And pushing her own needs to the side is part of the deal. So when her older sister comes home unexpectedly married and pregnant, Scarlet has a new person to worry about. But all of her good intentions are shattered when the unthinkable happens: she falls for her sister’s husband. For the first time in a long time, Scarlet’s not fixing a problem, she’s at the centre, and ignoring her feelings doesn’t seem to be an option…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity, on-page
  • Smoking
  • Pregnancy (secondary character)
  • A secondary character builds a bomb which, when set off, causes a fire (on-page)

*Context : The protagonist kisses her pregnant sister’s husband.