Drug Use & Abuse – Page 90 – Trigger Warning Database

The Loop by Ben Oliver

The Loop by Ben Oliver

It’s Luka Kane’s sixteenth birthday and he’s been inside The Loop for over two years. Every inmate is serving a death sentence with the option to push back their execution date by six months if they opt into “Delays”, scientific and medical experiments for the benefit of the elite in the outside world. But rumors of a war on the outside are spreading amongst the inmates, and before they know it, their tortuous routine becomes disrupted. The government issued rain stops falling. Strange things are happening to the guards. And it’s not long until the inmates are left alone inside the prison… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Suicide
Drug use
Medical experimentation
Amputation
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Animal attack

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

Yellow Jessamine by Caitlin Starling

Powerful shipping magnate Evelyn Perdanu lives a tight, contained life, holding herself at a distance from all who would get close to her. Her family is dead, her country is dying, and when something foul comes to the city of Delphinium, the brittle, perilous existence she’s built for herself is strained to breaking.

When one of her ships arrives in dock, she counts herself lucky that it made it through the military blockades slowly strangling her city. But one by one, the crew fall ill with a mysterious sickness: an intense light in their eyes and obsessive behavior, followed by a catatonic stupor… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Blood & gore depiction
Body horror
Emesis
Plague
Drug abuse
Murder
Kidnapping
Loss of autonomy (possession)
Poisoning

Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck

Of Mice & Men by John Steinbeck

Clinging to each other in their loneliness and alienation, George and his simple-minded friend Lennie dream, as drifters will, of a place to call their own—a couple of acres and a few pigs, chickens, and rabbits back in Hill Country where land is cheap. But after they come to work on a ranch in the fertile Salinas Valley of California, their hopes, like “the best laid schemes o’ mice an’ men,” begin to go awry.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Misogyny
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use (smoking)
Murder
Gun violence
Animal death

How to Be a Movie Star by T. J. Klune

How to Be a Movie Star by T. J. Klune

Josiah Erickson wants to be a movie star. The problem with that is so does half of Los Angeles. But he’s on his way, what with memorable roles as a TV show background cadaver and a guy in a commercial for herpes medication. All he needs is his big break. And that break may come in the form of a novelist who goes by the enigmatic name of Q-Bert.

Q-Bert, who is ready to make his directorial debut in a film Josy would be perfect for. Q-Bert, who Josy may or may not have a friend-crush on, and potentially something more. Being demisexual can be confusing.

From the City of Angels to the small mountain town of Abby, Oregon, Josy will give his all to make sure his dreams come true—even the ones he never thought possible.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Amisia
Aromisia
Queermisia
Homomisia
Ableism and ableist language
Toxic relationship recounted
Anxiety
Depression
Suicidal ideation recounted
Recreational drug use

Everlyn, After by Victoria Helen Stone

Evelyn, After by Victoria Helen Stone

Evelyn Tester is sleepwalking through her suburban life—until a late-night phone call startles her awake. Her husband, a prestigious psychiatrist, has been in an accident. And he isn’t alone. Suddenly Evelyn’s world isn’t as tidy as she thought. And in the midst of it all is Juliette, not only her husband’s secret lover but also his patient. If news of the affair were to get out, it would ruin more than just Evelyn’s marriage. Although it’s a bitter pill for Evelyn to swallow, protecting her family means staying silent—even if, as she begins to discover, the night of the accident has consequence… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Cheating
Psychiatrist-patient relationship
Attempted suicide, on-page
Drug use mentioned
Vehicular manslaughter

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Some Girls Are by Courtney Summers

Climbing to the top of the social ladder is hard—falling from it is even harder. Regina Afton used to be a member of the Fearsome Fivesome, an all-girl clique both feared and revered by the students at Hallowell High… until vicious rumors about her—and her best friend’s boyfriend—start going around. Now Regina’s been frozen out, and her ex-best friends are out for revenge. If Regina were guilty, it would be one thing, but the rumors are far from the terrifying truth, and the bullying is getting more intense by the day. She takes solace in the company of Michael Hayden, a misfit with a tragic past whom she herself used to bully. Friendship doesn’t come easily for these onetime enemies, and as Regina works hard to make amends for her past, she realizes Michael could be more than just a friend… if threats from the Fearsome Foursome don’t break them both first.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Fatmisia & body shaming
Sexual assault (on-page)
Eating disorder
Suicide mentioned
Alcohol abuse
Drug abuse
Bullying

The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

The Life and (Medieval) Times of Kit Sweetly by Jamie Pacton

Working as a wench ― i.e. waitress ― at a cheesy medieval-themed restaurant in the Chicago suburbs, Kit Sweetly dreams of being a knight like her brother. She has the moves, is capable on a horse, and desperately needs the raise that comes with knighthood, so she can help her mom pay the mortgage and hold a spot at her dream college.

Company policy allows only guys to be knights. So when Kit takes her brother’s place and reveals her identity at the end of the show, she rockets into internet fame and a whole lot of trouble with the management. But the Girl Knight won’t go down without a fight. As other wenches join her quest, a protest forms. In a joust before Castle executives, they’ll prove that gender restrictions should stay medieval―if they don’t get fired first.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Emotional abuse
Alcohol consumption
Drug abuse
Poverty themes

Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 1 by Ryōsuke Takeuchi and Hikaru Miyoshi

Moriarty the Patriot, Vol. 1 by Ryōsuke Takeuchi & illustrated by Hikaru Miyoshi

Before he was Sherlock’s rival, Moriarty fought against the unfair class caste system in London by making sure corrupt nobility got their comeuppance. But even the most well-intentioned plans can spin out of control—will Moriarty’s dream of a more just and equal world turn him into a hero…or a monster?

In the late 19th century, Great Britain rules over a quarter of the world. Nobles sit in their fancy homes in comfort and luxury, while the working class slaves away at their jobs. When young Albert James Moriarty’s upper-class family adopts two lower-class orphans, the cruelty the boys experience at his family’s hands cements Albert’s hatred of the nobility he was born into. He asks the older of the two boys—who has a genius mind and a killer instinct—to help him rid the world of evil, starting with Albert’s own family!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abuse
Self-harm
Nonconsensual drugging
Drug abuse
Death of a child mentioned
Murder
Gun violence
Poisoning
Arson

Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takaoka

Everything I Thought I Knew by Shannon Takaoka

Seventeen-year-old Chloe had a plan: work hard, get good grades, and attend a top-tier college. But after she collapses during cross-country practice and is told that she needs a new heart, all her careful preparations are laid to waste.

Eight months after her transplant, everything is different. Stuck in summer school with the underachievers, all she wants to do now is grab her surfboard and hit the waves—which is strange, because she wasn’t interested in surfing before her transplant. (It doesn’t hurt that her instructor, Kai, is seriously good-looking.)

And that’s not all that’s strange. There’s also the vivid recurring nightmare about crashing a motorcycle in a tunnel and memories of people and places she doesn’t recognize.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Nightmares
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Surgery (organ transplant)
Motorcycle accident

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

Calling My Name by Liara Tamani

This unforgettable novel tells a universal coming-of-age story about Taja Brown, a young African American girl growing up in Houston, Texas, and deftly and beautifully explores the universal struggles of growing up, battling family expectations, discovering a sense of self, and finding a unique voice and purpose.

Told in fifty-three short, episodic, moving, and iridescent chapters, Calling My Name follows Taja on her journey from middle school to high school.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcohol consumption mentioned
Recreational drug use (smoking) mentioned