Exile & Excommunication – Trigger Warning Database

Polaris Rising by Jessie Mihalik

In the far distant future, the universe is officially ruled by the Royal Consortium, but the High Councillors, the heads of the three High Houses, wield the true power. As the fifth of six children, Ada von Hasenberg has no authority; her only value to her High House is as a pawn in a political marriage. When her father arranges for her to wed a noble from House Rockhurst, a man she neither wants nor loves, Ada seizes control of her own destiny. The spirited princess flees before the betrothal ceremony and disappears among the stars. Ada eluded her father’s forces for two years, but now… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Sexual harassment
Exile & familial disownment
Intimate partner violence
Alcohol consumption
Dieting & mentions of a secondary character’s stress-related weight loss
Physical illness & injury including knife wounds, broken bones & hypothermia
Murder & physical assault
Torture (off-page)
Kidnapping & imprisonment

Love Letters for Joy by Melissa See

Less than a year away from graduation, seventeen-year-old Joy is too busy overachieving to be worried about relationships. She’s determined to be Caldwell Prep’s first disabled valedictorian. And she only has one person to beat, her academic rival Nathaniel. But it’s senior year and everyone seems to be obsessed with pairing up. One of her best friends may be developing feelings for her and the other uses Caldwell’s anonymous love-letter writer to snag the girl of her dreams. Joy starts to wonder if she has missed out on a quintessential high school experience. She is asexual, but that’s no reason she can’t experience… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Acephobia including mentions of a teenager being disowned by queerphobic parents
Forced outing & coming out themes
Sexual assault (nonconsensual kiss)
Parental divorce discussed
Asthma attack
Mentions of fertility & premature labour

The Boy at the Back of the Class by Onjali Q. Raúf

There used to be an empty chair at the back of my class, but now a new boy called Ahmet is sitting in it. He’s eight years old (just like me), but he’s very strange. He never talks and never smiles and doesn’t like sweets – not even lemon sherbets, which are my favorite! But the truth is, Ahmet really isn’t very strange at all. He’s a refugee who’s run away from a War. A real one. With bombs and fires and bullies that hurt people. And the more I find out about him, the more I want to be his friend. That’s where my best friends Josie, Michael and Tom come in. Because you see, together we’ve come up with a plan.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Death of a sister mentioned
Death of a parent in a car accident mentioned
Bombing raid mentioned
Physical assault
Exile mentioned
Bullying
Death of a pet cat mentioned

The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

No one knows death like Tea. A bone witch who can resurrect the dead, she has the power to take life…and return it. And she is done with her self-imposed exile. Her heart is set on vengeance, and she now possesses all she needs to command the mighty daeva. With the help of these terrifying beasts, she can finally enact revenge against the royals who wronged her–and took the life of her one true love. But there are those who would use Tea’s dark power for their own nefarious ends. Because you can’t kill someone who can never die… War is brewing among the kingdoms, and when dark magic is at play, no one is safe.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Transmisia
Sexism
Child abuse
Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies and body horror
Death of a brother discussed
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Imprisonment
Exile
War themes

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Lord of Shadows by Cassandra Clare

Emma Carstairs has learned that the love she shares with her parabatai, Julian Blackthorn, isn’t just forbidden—it could destroy them both. She knows she should run from Julian. But how can she when the Blackthorns are threatened by enemies on all sides? Their only hope is the Black Volume of the Dead, a spell book of terrible power. Everyone wants it. Only the Blackthorns can find it. Spurred on by a dark bargain with the Seelie Queen, Emma; her best friend, Cristina; and Mark and Julian Blackthorn journey into the Courts of Faerie, where glittering revels hide bloody danger and no promise can be trusted. Meanwhile… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
Grief and loss depiction
Death of a mother and father recounted
Murder and attempted murder
Exile
Drowning
Whipping recounted
War themes

Empress of All Seasons by Holly Miller

Empress of All Seasons by Holly Miller

Each generation, a competition is held to find the next empress of Honoku. The rules are simple. Survive the palace’s enchanted seasonal rooms. Conquer Winter, Spring, Summer, and Fall. Marry the prince. All are eligible to compete—all except yōkai, supernatural monsters and spirits whom the human emperor is determined to enslave and destroy. Mari has spent a lifetime training to become empress. Winning should be easy. And it would be, if she weren’t hiding a dangerous secret. Mari is a yōkai with the ability to transform into a terrifying monster. If discovered, her life… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Slavery
Rape
Child abuse
Parental abandonment
Self-injury
Childbirth
Forced adoption
Exile
Death by starvation
Murder
Poisoning
Explosions
Fire
Cyclones
Animal attack
Animal cruelty & death
Bullying

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

Queen of Air and Darkness by Cassandra Clare

Innocent blood has been spilled on the steps of the Council Hall, the sacred stronghold of the Shadowhunters. In the wake of the tragic death of Livia Blackthorn, the Clave teeters on the brink of civil war. One fragment of the Blackthorn family flees to Los Angeles, seeking to discover the source of the disease that is destroying the race of warlocks. Meanwhile, Julian and Emma take desperate measures to put their forbidden love aside and undertake a perilous mission to Faerie to retrieve the Black Volume of the Dead. What they find in the Courts is a secret that may tear the Shadow World asunder and open a dark… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Blood and gore depiction including dead bodies
Grief and loss depiction
Death of a sister recounted
Death of a mother and father recounted
Murder and attempted murder
Exile
Drowning
Whipping recounted
War themes

The Fifth Gender by Gail Carriger

The 5th Gender by Gail Carriger

Tristol lives in exile. But he’s built a life for himself aboard a human space station. He’s even begun to understand the complex nuances of human courting rituals. Detective Hastion is finally flirting back! Except that Tristol’s beloved space station is unexpectedly contacted by the galoi – a xenophobic species with five genders, purple skin, and serious attitude. They need the help of a human detective because there’s a murderer aboard their spaceship. Murder is so rare, the galoi don’t even have a word for it… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Suicide
Forced pregnancy*
Exile

* Note : Unwanted pregnancy due to a medical professional tampering with birth control; also deals with denial of reproductive autonomy.

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

The Weight of Ink by Rachel Kadish

Set in London of the 1660s and of the early twenty-first century, The Weight of Ink is the interwoven tale of two women of remarkable intellect: Ester Velasquez, an emigrant from Amsterdam who is permitted to scribe for a blind rabbi, just before the plague hits the city; and Helen Watt, an ailing historian with a love of Jewish history. As the novel opens, Helen has been summoned by a former student to view a cache of seventeenth-century Jewish documents newly discovered in his home during a renovation. Enlisting the help of Aaron Levy, an American graduate student as impatient as he is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Misogyny
Homomisia
Antisemitism
Chronic illness
Plague
Death of a parent
Murder
Exile
Forced conversion

The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

The Keeper of Night by Kylie Lee Baker

Half British Reaper, half Japanese Shinigami, Ren Scarborough has been collecting souls in the London streets for centuries. Expected to obey the harsh hierarchy of the Reapers who despise her, Ren conceals her emotions and avoids her tormentors as best she can.

When her failure to control her Shinigami abilities drives Ren out of London, she flees to Japan to seek the acceptance she’s never gotten from her fellow Reapers… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Racism
Blood & gore depiction
Dismemberment & decapitation
Cannibalism mentioned
Death of a mother
Murder & attempted murder
Knife violence & stabbing
Death from exposure to the cold
Drowning
Exile
Bullying