Emotional Abuse & Gaslighting – Page 18

The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu

The Best Lies by Sarah Lyu

Remy Tsai used to know how her story would turn out. But now, she doesn’t even know what tomorrow will look like. She was happy once. Remy had her boyfriend Jack, and Elise, her best friend—her soulmate—who understood her better than anyone else in the world. But now Jack is dead, shot through the chest—

And it was Elise who pulled the trigger… Was it self-defense? Or something deeper, darker than anything Remy could have imagined?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Physical & emotional child abuse
Cheating
Divorce
Suicidal ideation
Alcohol consumption
Smoking
Death of a friend
Murder
Arson

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

When Women Were Dragons by Kelly Barnhill

Alex Green is a young girl in a world much like ours. But this version of 1950’s America is characterized by a significant event: The Mass Dragoning of 1955, when hundreds of thousands of ordinary wives and mothers sprouted wings, scales and talons, left a trail of fiery destruction in their path, and took to the skies. Seemingly for good. Was it their choice? What will become of those left behind? Why did Alex’s beloved Aunt Marla transform but her mother did not? Alex doesn’t know. It’s taboo to speak of, even more so than her crush on Sonja, her schoolmate… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Misogyny (theme)
Parental abandonment
Emotional & physical child abuse
ALcoholism
Panic attack
Death of a father, off-page
Death of a mother from cancer, on-page
Fire mentioned
Animal cruelty & death

Lease on Love by Falon Ballard

Lease on Love by Falon Ballard

After getting passed over for an overdue—and much needed—promotion, Sadie Green is in desperate need of three things: a stiff drink, a new place to live, and a one-night-stand. When one drink turns into one too many, Sadie mixes up a long-ignored dating app for a roommate-finding app and finds herself on the doorstep of Jack Thomas’s gorgeous Brooklyn brownstone. Too bad she’s more attracted to his impressive real estate than she is to the man himself… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Emotional & verbal parental abuse recounted
Anxiety
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a parent

Throttled by Lauren Asher

Throttled by Lauren Asher

Noah Slade is a Formula 1 legend in the making. Focused. Unapproachable. Ruthless on and off the track. A man with walls higher than the Grand Canyon. And my brother’s new teammate. I want more of the prince who disguises himself as the villain. But while I crave a happy ending, he wants to destroy his.

Maya Alatorre is a forbidden temptation. An ambitious post-grad I should stay far away from. And chaos wrapped with a bow. We’re a ticking time bomb, about one wrong move away from exploding. I want to trip the wire, detonating together in passion and pain. Because in the end, all’s fair in lust and war.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental emotional & verbal abuse
Car accident

Redirection by Gregory Ashe

Redirection by Gregory Ashe

The Borealis boys are settling into their new normal, or at least into their new digs. But when North’s soon-to-be (please-let-it-be-soon) ex-husband, Tucker, is arrested and charged with murder, everything goes sideways.

Hired by Tucker’s parents, North and Shaw begin looking for proof that Tucker is innocent, in spite of the evidence against him. When they find seemingly incriminating photos hidden in Tucker’s BMW, North is convinced that someone is trying to frame Tucker—and might get away with it… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Ableism
Rape mentioned
Emotional abuse & gaslighting
Alcohol abuse
Drug abuse & overdose
Parent with cancer mentioned
Stroke mentioned
Murder & attempted murder
Blackmail
Death of a pet recounted

Misdirection by Gregory Ashe

Misdirection by Gregory Ashe

When a rising star in the state senate asks Shaw Aldrich and North McKinney to transport her son, Flip, to and from his drug testing appointments, they’re not happy—they don’t do babysitting jobs. Arriving at the boy’s dorm room, though, they discover that the door has been forced and that Flip has disappeared, and rumours of strange men on campus suggest that something seriously bad has happened. The students and staff at the ritzy private school have plenty to tell about Flip, but the deeper North and Shaw dig, the less they understand what might have happened to the boy… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Statutory rape
Emotional & physical abuse mentioned
Bulimia mentioned
Blackmail
Murder
Fire & destruction of property in a house fire

Transactional Dynamics by Gregory Ashe

Transactional Dynamics by Gregory Ashe

Emery Hazard is ready for Valentine’s Day. He’s made reservations months in advance, he’s ordered flowers, and he’s got a boyfriend he wants to treat right—even if John-Henry Somerset occasionally lets the dishes sit in the sink a little too long. They even have an extra reason to celebrate this year: Somers has received a special commendation for his police work.

Everything begins to go wrong, though, when Hazard’s ex-boyfriend shows up on their doorstep. Billy claims he just needs help getting away from… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Sexism
Sex work mentioned
Domestic abuse mentioned
Emotional abuse & gaslighting
Alcoholism
Drug use mentioned

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Delilah Green Doesn’t Care by Ashley Herring Blake

Delilah Green swore she would never go back to Bright Falls—nothing is there for her but memories of a lonely childhood where she was little more than a burden to her cold and distant stepfamily. Her life is in New York, with her photography career finally gaining steam and her bed never empty. Sure, it’s a different woman every night, but that’s just fine with her. When Delilah’s estranged stepsister, Astrid, pressures her into photographing her wedding with a guilt trip and a five-figure check, Delilah finds herself back… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Lesbomisia (d slur)
Cheating recounted
Parental abandonment, off-page
Emotional abusive relationship & gaslighting mentioned
Toxic relationship with step-parent
Alcohol consumption
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father from an aneurysm recounted
Death of a mother from cervical cancer recounted
Death of a spouse from cancer mentioned

Convict by A Zavarelli

Convict by A. Zavarelli

From the shadows, I’ve tracked her every move. I was just supposed to watch her. But now, I can’t stop. She’s my obsession. My addiction. My poison. Watching her isn’t enough. The savage in me won’t be satisfied until I take her and make her mine. One taste and I’m hooked. Too bad for her… I’m never letting her go. He took me from my life and locked me away in his compound. The ex-con. The big bad biker. Inked, bearded, and inhumanely sized. And yet, every time he looks at me, I melt… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child sex trafficking
Physical & emotional abuse
Threats of rape

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

A young woman murdered in a run-down Manhattan hotel. A father publicly beheaded in the blistering sun of Saudi Arabia. A man’s eyes stolen from his living body as he leaves a secret Syrian research laboratory. Smouldering human remains on a mountainside in the Hindu Kush.

A plot to commit an appalling crime against humanity. One thread that binds them all. One man to take the journey.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Torture
Terrorism