Drug Use & Abuse – Page 73 – Trigger Warning Database

Danced Close by Annabeth Albert

Danced Close by Annabeth Albert

Newly clean and sober, Todd’s taken a shine to his job at Portland’s most talked about bakery. It’s not just the delicious desserts they sell, but the tasty treats who keep walking through the door. That certainly includes Kendall Rose, a wedding planner. Todd doesn’t try to hide his attraction to Kendall’s elegant confidence, even as he worries about exposing the secrets of his past.

For Kendall, the attention is just part of the anything-goes Portland he’s grown to love. But he’s still looking for that special someone who will embrace all of him—including his gender fluidity. So he takes a chance and asks Todd to be his partner in a dance class leading to a fundraiser. When the music starts and he takes Todd in his arms, Kendall is shocked at how good it feels.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Transmisia
Addiction recovery (theme)
Drug abuse
Death of a friend from an overdose
Homelessness mentioned

Baked Fresh by Annabeth Albert

Baked Fresh by Annabeth Albert

Vic Degrassi is a baker on the rise, and it’s all thanks to his rare ability to make—and keep—his New Year’s resolutions. Whether it’s losing weight, giving up smoking, or graduating from culinary school, Vic goes after what he wants—and gets it. This year? He wants Robin Dawson, the sweet-hearted hottie who volunteers with him at the local homeless shelter.

When he learns that Robin is suddenly single after being unceremoniously dumped, Vic is more than happy to offer a shoulder to cry on. But it’s been a long time since Vic’s gone on a date, and he’s nervous about risking his friendship with Robin. So when their flirtation turns into a steamy night together, Vic and Robin have to figure out if they’re friends with benefits or lovers in the making, and if Robin is ready for something more than just a rebound, there’s only one way to find out…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Body image issues
Weight loss & dietary restriction discussed
Lap band surgery recounted
Drug abuse
Death from a drug overdose, on-page
Homelessness

Mad, Bad and Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

Mad, Bad & Dangerous to Know by Samira Ahmed

It is August in Paris and budding art historian Khayyam should be having the time of her life – but even in the City of Lights she can’t stop worrying about the mess she left back home in Chicago. Only when she meets a dashing young Parisian – who happens to be a distant relative of the novelist Alexandre Dumas – do things start to get interesting.

Two hundred years earlier in the Ottoman empire, Leila is the most favoured woman in the Pasha’s harem. Her position is meant to be a gift; but for her it is a curse, as she fights to keep her true love hidden from her jealous captor. Echoing across centuries, as Khayyam uncovers the scintillating truth of Leila’s long-forgotten life, her own destiny is transformed forever.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual assault
Nonconsensual polygyny
Recreational drug use
Drowning

Breaking Drake by Joel Abernathy

Breaking Drake by Joel Abernathy

Sterling Crane is my idol, my inspiration, and my rival—and I’m determined to be the one who brings him to his knees. He has other ideas, of course, and I keep going back for more.

I’m horrified when the news breaks that the bands we manage are merging, and we’re all going to share a home like one big happy family. Horrified because I hate Sterling more than anything in this world—and because I know I’m not going to be able to stay away from him.

He’s a god amongst men, and the worst part is, he knows it. Am I ever going to stop worshiping him?… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Abusive relationship recounted
Parental abuse mentioned
Recreational drug use
Blackmail (theme)

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

The Glass Hotel by Emily St. John Mandel

Gifty is a fifth-year candidate in neuroscience at Stanford Vincent is a bartender at the Hotel Caiette, a five-star glass and cedar palace on an island in British Columbia. Jonathan Alkaitis works in finance and owns the hotel. When he passes Vincent his card with a tip, it’s the beginning of their life together. That same day, Vincent’s half-brother, Paul, scrawls a note on the windowed wall of the hotel: “Why don’t you swallow broken glass.” Leon Prevant, a shipping executive for a company called Neptune Logistics, sees the note from the hotel bar and is shaken to his core. Thirteen years later Vincent mysteriously disappears from the deck of the Neptune Cumberland.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Heroin addiction
Alcohol consumption
Drug use
Overdose
Drowning
Imprisonment

The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough

The Boy from the Mish by Gary Lonesborough

It’s a hot summer, and life’s going all right for Jackson and his family on the Mish. It’s almost Christmas, school’s out, and he’s hanging with his mates, teasing the visiting tourists, avoiding the racist boys in town. Just like every year, Jackson’s Aunty and annoying little cousins visit from the city – but this time a mysterious boy with a troubled past comes with them… As their friendship evolves, Jackson must confront the changing shapes of his relationships with his friends, family and community. And he must face his darkest secret – a secret he thought he’d locked away for good

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racial slurs
Homomisia, internalised homomisia & homomisic slurs
Coming out themes
Outing
Parental abandonment
Physical child abuse recounted
Domestic violence recounted
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Emesis
Minor physical injuries, including broken bones & snake bite
Police violence & racial profiling
Incarceration

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

Am I Normal Yet? by Holly Bourne

All Evie wants is to be normal. She’s almost off her meds and at a new college where no one knows her as the girl-who-went-crazy. She’s even going to parties and making friends. There’s only one thing left to tick off her list…

But relationships are messy – especially relationships with teenage guys. They can make any girl feel like they’re going mad. And if Evie can’t even tell her new friends Amber and Lottie the truth about herself, how will she cope when she falls in love?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Anxiety
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Intrusive thoughts
Self harm
Alcohol abuse
Drug abuse

Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora

Fragile Remedy by Maria Ingrande Mora

Ren Kolins is a silver wielder—a dangerous thing to be in the kingdom of Erdis, where magic has been outlawed for a Sixteen-year-old Nate is a GEM—Genetically Engineered Medi-tissue created by the scientists of Gathos City as a cure for the elite from the fatal lung rot ravaging the population. As a child, he was smuggled out of the laboratory where he was held captive and into the Withers—a quarantined, lawless region. Nate manages to survive by using his engineering skills to become a Tinker, fixing broken tech in exchange for food or a safe place to sleep. When he meets Reed, a kind and fiercely protective boy that makes his heart race, and his misfit gang of scavengers, Nate finds the family he’s always longed for—even if he can’t risk telling them what he is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Human medical experimentation, implied
Substance addiction
Drug abuse
Blood & gore depiction
Starvation
Torture

A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price

A Thousand Fires by Shannon Price

Valerie Simons knows the city’s gang wars are dangerous—her own brother was killed by the Boars two years ago. But nothing will sway her from joining the elite and beautiful Herons to avenge his death—a death she feels responsible for.

But when Valerie is recruited by the mysterious Stags, their charismatic and volatile leader Jax promises to help her get revenge. Torn between old love and new loyalty, Valerie fights to stay alive as she races across the streets of San Francisco to finish the mission that got her into the gangs.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Abusive relationship
Graphic self harm
Attempted suicide
Suicidal ideation
Anxiety
Depression
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Blood & gore depiction
Open heart surgery
Cancer mentioned
Death of a sibling
Death of a child
Murder
Gang violence
Gun violence
Kidnapping
Drowning mentioned

100 Cupboards by ND Wilson

100 Cupboards by N.D. Wilson

Twelve-year-old Henry York is going to sleep one night when he hears a bump on the attic wall above his head. It’s an unfamiliar house—Henry is staying with his aunt, uncle, and three cousins—so he tries to ignore it. But the next night he wakes up with bits of plaster in his hair. Two knobs have broken through the wall, and one of them is slowly turning…

Henry scrapes the plaster off the wall and discovers doors—ninety-nine cupboards of all different sizes and shapes. Through one he can hear the sound of falling rain. Through another he sees a glowing room—with a man strolling back and forth! Henry and his cousin Henrietta soon understand that these are not just cupboards. They are, in fact, portals to other worlds.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Loss of limb
Smoking
Disappearance of a mother & father