Emotional Abuse & Gaslighting – Page 28

The Devil and the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

The Devil & the Dark Water by Stuart Turton

It’s 1634 and Samuel Pipps, the world’s greatest detective, is being transported to Amsterdam to be executed for a crime he may, or may not, have committed. Travelling with him is his loyal bodyguard, Arent Hayes, who is determined to prove his friend innocent.

But no sooner are they out to sea than devilry begins to blight the voyage. A twice-dead leper stalks the decks. Strange symbols appear on the sails. Livestock is slaughtered.

And then three passengers are marked for death, including Samuel. Could a demon be responsible for their misfortunes?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcoholism
Physical & emotional domestic abuse
Rape mentioned
Immolation
Murder
Animal death

The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis

The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis

Seventeen-year-old Evan Panos doesn’t know where he fits in. His strict Greek mother refuses to see him as anything but a disappointment. His quiet, workaholic father is a staunch believer in avoiding any kind of conflict. And his best friend Henry has somehow become distractingly attractive over the summer.

Tired, isolated, scared—Evan’s only escape is drawing in an abandoned church that feels as lonely as he is. And, yes, he kissed one guy over the summer. But it’s his best friend Henry who’s now proving to be irresistible. It’s Henry who suddenly seems interested in being more than friends. And it’s Henry who makes him believe that he’s more than his mother’s harsh words and terrifying abuse.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Hate crimes
Physical & emotional child abuse (theme)
Depression
Suicidal ideation
Grief & loss depiction

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

Docile by KM Szpara

Docile by K.M. Szpara

To be a Docile is to be kept, body and soul, for the uses of the owner of your contract. To be a Docile is to forget, to disappear, to hide inside your body from the horrors of your service. To be a Docile is to sell yourself to pay your parents’ debts and buy your children’s future.

Elisha Wilder’s family has been ruined by debt, handed down to them from previous generations. His mother never recovered from the Dociline she took during her term as a Docile, so when Elisha decides to try and erase the family’s debt himself, he swears he will never take the drug that took his mother from him. Too bad his contract has been purchased by Alexander Bishop III, whose ultra-rich family is the brains (and money) behind Dociline and the entire Office of Debt Resolution. When Elisha refuses Dociline, Alex refuses to believe that his family’s crowning achievement could have any negative side effects—and is determined to turn Elisha into the perfect Docile without it.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Slavery & sex slavery
Physical, emotional & psychological abuse
Graphic rape (on-page)
Attempted suicide (on-page)
PTSD & trauma
Depression
Nonconsensual psychiatric hospitalisation
Forced drug use

Fruits Basket, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya

Fruits Basket, Vol. 1 by Natsuki Takaya

A family with an ancient curse and the girl who will change their lives forever…

Tohru Honda was an orphan with no place to go until the mysterious Sohma family offered her a place to call home. Now her ordinary high school life is turned upside down as she’s introduced to the Sohma’s world of magical curses and family secrets.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abandonment
Emotional abuse
Social anxiety

Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry

Forget Me Not by Ellie Terry

Astronomy-loving Calliope June has Tourette syndrome, so she sometimes makes faces or noises that she doesn’t mean to make. When she and her mother move yet again, she tries to hide her TS. But it isn’t long before the kids at her new school realize she’s different. Only Calli’s neighbor, who is also the popular student body president, sees her as she truly is—an interesting person and a good friend. But is he brave enough to take their friendship public?

As Calli navigates school, she must also face her mother’s new relationship and the fact that she might be moving, again, just as she starts to make friends and finally accept her differences.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Racism
Emotional parental abuse
Anxiety
OCD & intrusive thoughts
Death of a father mentioned
Bullying

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer

Not Even Bones by Rebecca Schaeffer

Nita doesn’t murder supernatural beings and sell their body parts on the internet—her mother does that. Nita just dissects the bodies after they’ve been “acquired.” But when her mom brings home a live specimen, Nita decides she wants out — dissecting living people is a step too far.

But when she tries to save her mother’s victim, she ends up sold on the black market in his place — because Nita herself is a supernatural being. Now Nita is on the other side of the bars, and there is no line she won’t cross to escape and make sure no one can ever capture her again.

Nita did a good deed, and it cost her everything. Now she’s going to do a lot of bad deeds to get it all back.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Paedophilia mentioned
Emotional parental abuse
Nonconsensual drugging
Blood and gore depiction
Body horror
Torture
Explosions
Kidnapping
Fire

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Wundersmith: The Calling of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Morrigan Crow may have defeated her deadly curse, passed the dangerous trials and joined the mystical Wundrous Society, but her journey into Nevermoor has only just begun. And she is fast learning that not all magic is used for good.

Morrigan Crow has been invited to join the prestigious Wundrous Society, a place that promised her friendship, protection and belonging for life. She’s hoping for an education full of wunder, imagination and discovery – but all the Society want to teach her is how evil Wundersmiths are. And someone is blackmailing Morrigan’s unit, turning her last few loyal friends against her. Has Morrigan escaped from being the cursed child of Wintersea only to become the most hated figure in Nevermoor? Worst of all, people have started to go missing. The fantastical city of Nevermoor, once a place of magic and safety, is now riddled with fear and suspicion…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Alcohol consumption
Emotional & verbal child abuse
Emesis
Blackmail
Kidnapping & captivity
Disappearance of a child
Animal cruelty
Bullying

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Nevermoor: The Trials of Morrigan Crow by Jessica Townsend

Morrigan Crow is cursed. Having been born on Eventide, the unluckiest day for any child to be born, she’s blamed for all local misfortunes and, worst of all, the curse means that Morrigan is doomed to die at midnight on her eleventh birthday But as Morrigan awaits her fate, a strange and remarkable man named Jupiter North appears. Chased by black-smoke hounds and shadowy hunters on horseback, he whisks her away into the safety of a secret, magical city called Nevermoor.

It’s then that Morrigan discovers Jupiter has chosen her to contend for a place in the city’s most prestigious organization: the Wundrous Society. In order to join, she must compete in four difficult and dangerous trials against hundreds of other children, each boasting an extraordinary talent that sets them apart–an extraordinary talent that Morrigan insists she does not have. To stay in the safety of Nevermoor for good, Morrigan will need to find a way to pass the tests–or she’ll have to leave the city to confront her deadly fate.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abuse
Terminal illness*
Animal death
Bullying
Kidnapping
Exile

*Note: The protagonist believes she has a terminal condition.

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

Pretty Little Liars by Sara Shepard

EVERYONE HAS SOMETHING TO HIDE – ESPECIALLY HIGH SCHOOL JUNIORS SPENCER, ARIA, EMILY, AND HANNA

Spencer covets her sister’s boyfriend. Aria’s fantasizing about her English teacher. Emily’s crushing on the new girl at school. Hanna uses some ugly tricks to stay beautiful. But they’ve all kept an even bigger secret since their friend Alison vanished.

How do I know? Because I know everything about the bad girls they were, the naughty girls they are, and the dirty secrets they’ve kept. And guess what? I’m telling.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Fatmisia and body shaming
Slut-shaming
Misogyny
Queermisia
Lesbomisic language
Racism
Teacher-student relationship
Sexual harassment
Cheating
Parental neglect and emotional abuse
Eating disorders, specifically bulimia
Disordered thinking about food
Binging and purging, on-page
Self-harm mentioned
Recreational drug use
Murder
Stalking
Blackmail
Car accident
Bullying