Tag Archives: Estrangement & Disownment

Ms Behave by Cathy Yardley

Ms. Behave by Cathy Yardley

Simon has been away from his hometown for 12 years since a youthful prank got him kicked out of school, his home, and his best friend’s life. Now, his work on the hit TV show Mystics has brought him back to Snoqualmie and face-to-face with his past.

Mallory is a corporate lawyer who just wants to be accepted for who she is, and Simon was the one person who always seemed able to do that until he left town, and her, behind. Determined to fix things between them by any means, she vows to joke, cajole, and otherwise pester Simon into getting things back the way they were… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Bimisia
  • Disownment & familial estrangement
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The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

The Soulmate Equation by Christina Lauren

Single mom Jess Davis is a data and statistics wizard, but no amount of number crunching can convince her to step back into the dating world. Raised by her grandparents–who now help raise her seven-year-old daughter, Juno–Jess has been left behind too often to feel comfortable letting anyone in. After all, her father’s never been around, her hard-partying mother disappeared when she was six, and her ex decided he wasn’t “father material” before Juno was even born. Jess holds her loved ones close, but working constantly to stay afloat is hard…and lonely… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Abandonment
  • Familial estrangement
  • Alcoholism & substance addiction mentioned
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Traffick by Ellen Hopkins

Traffick by Ellen Hopkins

In Tricks, Ellen Hopkins introduced us to five characters tackling these enormous questions: Eden, the preacher’s daughter who turns tricks in Vegas and is helped into a child prostitution rescue; Seth, the gay farm boy disowned by his father who finds himself without money or resources other than his own body; Whitney, the privileged kid coaxed into the life by a pimp and whose dreams are ruined in a heroin haze; Ginger, who runs away from home with her girlfriend and is arrested for soliciting an undercover cop; and Cody, whose gambling habit forces him into the life, but who is shot and left for dead.

And now, in Traffick, these five are faced with the toughest question of all: Is there a way out?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Disownment
  • Sexual assault
  • Sex trafficking
  • Forced sex work
  • Substance addiction
  • Gambling addiction
  • Gun violence
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Burned by Ellen Hopkins

Burned by Ellen Hopkins

It all started with a dream. Nothing exceptional, just a typical fantasy about a boy, the kind of dream that most teen girls experience. But Pattyn Von Stratten is not like most teen girls. Raised in a religious—yet abusive—family, a simple dream may not be exactly a sin, but it could be the first step toward hell and eternal damnation.

This dream is a first step for Pattyn. But is it to hell or to a better life? For the first time Pattyn starts asking questions. Questions seemingly without answers—about God, a woman’s role, sex, love—mostly love. What is it? Where is it? Will she ever experience it? Is she deserving of it? … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Disownment*
  • Physical child abuse
  • Domestic abuse & violence
  • Suicide
  • Alcoholism & alcohol abuse
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Miscarriage
  • Car accident
  • Animal death & hunting

*Note: The protagonist’s half-brother is disowned by their father after he comes out as gay.

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I Love You so Mochi by Sarah Kuhn

I Love You so Mochi by Sarah Kuhn

Kimi Nakamura loves a good fashion statement. She’s obsessed with transforming everyday ephemera into Kimi Originals: bold outfits that make her feel like the Ultimate versions of themselves. But her mother disapproves, and when they get into an explosive fight, Kimi’s entire future seems on the verge of falling apart. So when a surprise letter comes in the mail from Kimi’s estranged grandparents, inviting her to Kyoto for spring break, she seizes the opportunity to get away from the disaster of her life.

When she arrives in Japan, she’s met with a culture both familiar and completely foreign to her. She loses herself in the city’s outdoor markets and meets Akira, a cute aspiring med student who moonlights as a costumed mochi mascot. And what begins as a trip to escape her problems quickly becomes a way for Kimi to figure out where her own heart lies.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Estrangement discussed
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother recounted
  • Death of an aunt recounted
  • Internment camps mentioned
  • Bullying recounted
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Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Lady Midnight by Cassandra Clare

Together with her parabatai Julian Blackthorn, Emma Carstairs must learn to trust her head and her heart as she investigates a demonic plot that stretches across Los Angeles, from the Sunset Strip to the enchanted sea that pounds the beaches of Santa Monica. If only her heart didn’t lead her in treacherous directions…

Making things even more complicated, Julian’s brother Mark—who was captured by the faeries five years ago—has been returned as a bargaining chip. The faeries are desperate to find out who is murdering their kind—and they need the Shadowhunters’ help to do it. But time works differently in faerie, so Mark has barely aged and doesn’t recognize his family. Can he ever truly return to them? Will the faeries really allow it?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Racism
  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Rape by coercion mentioned
  • Psychological, emotional & physical child abuse recounted
  • Trauma (theme)
  • Nightmares
  • Schizophrenia
  • Hallucinations
  • Nonconsensual drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Emesis
  • Physical injuries
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a brother
  • Death of a mother & father
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Home invasion
  • Exile
  • Drowning
  • Fire
  • Whipping
  • Cults
  • War themes including graphic battle scenes
  • Bullying
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City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

City of Heavenly Fire by Cassandra Clare

Darkness has descended on the Shadowhunter world. Chaos and destruction overwhelm the Nephilim as Clary, Jace, Simon, and their friends band together to fight the greatest evil they have ever faced: Clary’s own brother. Sebastian Morgenstern is on the move, systematically turning Shadowhunter against Shadowhunter. Bearing the Infernal Cup, he transforms Shadowhunters into creatures of nightmare, tearing apart families and lovers as the ranks of his Endarkened army swell. Nothing in this world can defeat Sebastian—but if they journey to the realm of demons, they just might have a chance…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Homomisia & queermisia
  • Racism
  • Hate crimes
  • Attempted rape & sexual assault recounted
  • Incest
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Parental abandonment
  • Intimate partner violence recounted
  • Cheating recounted
  • Nightmares
  • Suicide, self-sacrifice & attempted suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-inflicted injuries
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Nonconsensual drugging
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a brother & sister
  • Death of a mother & father
  • Death of a husband & wife
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Blackmail
  • Exile
  • Drowning
  • Fire
  • Whipping recounted
  • Disappearance of a loved one
  • War themes including graphic battle scenes
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City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

City of Lost Souls by Cassandra Clare

What price is too high to pay, even for love? When Jace and Clary meet again, Clary is horrified to discover that the demon Lilith’s magic has bound her beloved Jace together with her evil brother Sebastian, and that Jace has become a servant of evil. The Clave is out to destroy Sebastian, but there is no way to harm one boy without destroying the other.

As Alec, Magnus, Simon, and Isabelle wheedle and bargain with Seelies, demons, and the merciless Iron Sisters to try to save Jace, Clary plays a dangerous game of her own. The price of losing is not just her own life, but Jace’s soul. She’s willing to do anything for Jace, but can she still trust him? Or is he truly lost?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Homomisia & queermisia
  • Slut shaming
  • Hate crimes
  • Attempted rape & sexual assault
  • Incest
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Intimate partner violence recounted
  • Disownment
  • Hallucinations
  • Nightmares
  • Self-inflicted injuries
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Blood & gore depiction, including blood-drinking
  • Physical injuries
  • Dead bodies
  • Medical experimentation
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a brother & sister
  • Death of a mother & father
  • Death of a boyfriend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Poisoning
  • Fire
  • Whipping
  • Disappearance of a loved one
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City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

City of Fallen Angels by Cassandra Clare

The Mortal War is over, and sixteen-year-old Clary Fray is back home in New York, excited about all the possibilities before her. She’s training to become a Shadowhunter and to use her unique power. Her mother is getting married to the love of her life. Downworlders and Shadowhunters are at peace at last. And—most importantly of all—she can finally call Jace her boyfriend.

But nothing comes without a price… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Hate crimes
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Intimate partner violence recounted
  • Disownment
  • Substance addiction mentioned
  • Nightmares
  • Nonconsensual drugging
  • Infertility themes
  • Blood & gore depiction, including blood-drinking
  • Physical injuries
  • Dead bodies
  • Medical experimentation
  • Comas
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a brother
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • War themes & battle scenes
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Bowerbirds by Ada Maria Soto

Bowerbirds by Ada Maria Soto

After spending his teens and twenties raising his son, James Maron is now dating Gabriel Juarez, the wealthy and sophisticated CFO of the TechPrim technology empire. But after a life of proudly holding his head above the poverty line with the ethos of work, priorities, responsibility, and thrift, he is not looking for a Sugar Daddy, he does not need to be rescued, and Gabe’s wealth is as terrifying as feeling love for the first time.

Gabe has never been good at balancing his high-pressure job with his relationships. Money usually clears most of the bumps, and when a boyfriend walks away, Gabe figures it’s for a good reason. But James isn’t like other boyfriends. He doesn’t want Gabe’s money for one, and if Gabe wants to keep his relationship together, he will have to finally face the ghosts of his own past and reconsider his priorities.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Abusive relationship mentioned
  • Disownment
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Car accident recounted
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