The Blossom and the Firefly by Sherri Smith

The Blossom and the Firefly by Sherri L. Smith

Japan 1945. Taro is a talented violinist and a kamikaze pilot in the days before his first and only mission. He believes he is ready to die for his country . . . until he meets Hana. Hana hasn’t been the same since the day she was buried alive in a collapsed trench during a bomb raid. She wonders if it would have been better to have died that day . . . until she meets Taro. A song will bring them together. The war will tear them apart. Is it possible to live an entire lifetime in eight short days?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bombing
  • Vivisepulture (buried alive)
  • World War Two
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A Million Worlds with You by Claudia Gray

A Million Worlds with You by Claudia Gray

The fate of the multiverse rests in Marguerite Caine’s hands. Marguerite has been at the centre of a cross-dimensional feud since she first travelled to another universe using her parents’ invention, the Firebird. Only now has she learned the true plans of the evil Triad Corporation—and that those plans could spell doom for dozens or hundreds of universes, each facing total annihilation. Paul Markov has always been at Marguerite’s side, but Triad’s last attack has left him a changed man—angry and shadowed by tragedy. He struggles to overcome the damage done… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Drugging
  • Substance addiction
  • Teen pregnancy from rape by coercion mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Hospitalisation
  • Medical treatment & procedures
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a daughter
  • Death of a sister
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • Strangulation
  • Car accident
  • Hostage situation
  • Loss of autonomy*
  • Blackmail
  • War & rebellion themes

* Context : The use of futuristic technology to ‘take over’ people’s bodies without consent. Sexual conduct in this situation is not consented to by the host.

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Code of Honor by Alan Gratz

Code of Honor by Alan Gratz

Kamran Smith has it all. He’s the star of the football team, dates the most popular girl, and can’t wait to enlist in the army like his big brother, Darius. Although Kamran’s mother is from Iran, Kamran has always felt 100% American. Accepted. And then everything implodes. Darius is accused of being a terrorist. Kamran refuses to believe it. But Darius has been filmed making threats against his country, hinting at an upcoming deadly attack. Suddenly, everyone in Kamran’s life turns against him and his family. Kamran knows it’s up to him to clear his brother’s name. In a race against time, Kamran must piece together a series of… Read more,

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Terrorism
  • Suicide bombings
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The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

Séverin and his team members might have successfully thwarted the Fallen House, but victory came at a terrible cost — one that still haunts all of them. Desperate to make amends, Séverin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long-lost artifact rumoured to grant its possessor the power of God. Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into the icy heart of Russia where crystalline ice animals stalk forgotten mansions, broken goddesses carry deadly secrets, and a string of unsolved murders makes the crew question whether an ancient myth is a myth after all. As hidden… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical ableism, classism, misogyny, racism and antisemitism
  • Colonialism discussed
  • Sex work shaming
  • Attempted rape by coercion
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Self harm for magic
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Stillbirth & infertility mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Death of a friend recounted
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Psychological torture
  • Explosion
  • Vivisepulture (being buried alive) mentioned
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal death mentioned

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

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Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard

Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard

High in a snowy mountain range, a monastery that holds more than just faith clings to the side of a cliff. Below, thwarted by a lake, a bloodthirsty horde of raiders await the coming of winter and the frozen path to destroy the sanctuary and its secrets. The Bloodwitch Aeduan has teamed up with the Threadwitch Iseult and the magical girl Owl to stop the destruction. But to do so, he must confront his own father, and his past.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Nightmares
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Graphic physical injuries & illness
  • Emesis
  • Death of a baby, on-page
  • Death of a wife & daughter mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Mass murder & massacres, on-page
  • Torture mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Fire
  • Explosions, on-page
  • Decapitation
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Kidnapping
  • Disappearance of a friend
  • Imprisonment mentioned
  • War & military violence (theme)

Unknown Threat by Lynn Blackburn

Unknown Threat by Lynn H. Blackburn

US Secret Service Special Agent Luke Powell is lucky to be alive. Three of his fellow agents have died in unusual circumstances in the past ten weeks. Luke is devastated by the loss of his friends and colleagues, and his inability to locate the killer feels like a personal failure. He’s an expert at shielding others, but now the protectors are in need of protection. FBI Special Agent Faith Malone is driven to succeed and confident in her ability to solve every case she’s assigned. She’s been put in charge of the investigation into the unprecedented attacks, and with Luke’s life in danger, the stakes have never been higher. But… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion

Seven Mercies by L. R. Lam and Elizabeth

After an ambush leaves the Novantae resistance in tatters, the survivors scatter across the galaxy. Wanted by two great empires, the bounty on any rebel’s head is enough to make a captor filthy rich. And the seven devils? Biggest score of them all. To avoid attacks, the crew of Zelus scavenge for supplies on long-abandoned Tholosian outposts. Not long after the remnants of the rebellion settle briefly on Fortuna, Ariadne gets a message with unimaginable consequences: the Oracle has gone rogue. In a planned coup against the Empire’s new ruler, the AI has developed a way of mass programming citizens into mindless drone… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Dysphoria
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Panic attacks
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Chronic illness
  • Murder
  • Genocide
  • Torture
  • Police brutality
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • War & colonialisation
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The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield

The Apollo Murders by Chris Hadfield

From internationally bestselling astronaut Chris Hadfield comes an exceptional Cold War thriller from the dark heart of the Space Race. As Russian and American crews sprint for a secret bounty hidden away on the Moon’s surface, old rivalries blossom and the political stakes are stretched to breaking point back on Earth. Houston flight controller Kazimieras ‘Kaz’ Zemeckis must do all he can to keep the NASA crew together while staying one step ahead of his Soviet rivals. But not everyone on board Apollo 18 is quite who they appear to be. Full of the fascinating… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Graphic eye trauma
  • Murder
  • Stabbing
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • Plane & helicopter crash
  • Drowning
  • Cold War

Confessions by Kanae Minato

Confessions by Kanae Minato

After calling off her engagement in wake of a tragic revelation, Yuko Moriguchi had nothing to live for except her only child, four-year-old Manami. Now, following an accident on the grounds of the middle school where she teaches, Yuko has given up and tendered her resignation. But first she has one last lecture to deliver. She tells a story that upends everything her students ever thought they knew about two of their peers, and sets in motion a maniacal plot for revenge.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Parental neglect & abandonment
  • Transphobia mentioned & misgendering
  • Depression
  • HIV/AIDs (theme)*
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father in a car accident mentioned
  • Death of a mother from illness mentioned
  • Murder of a daughter from drowning
  • Attempted murder of a child from electrocution
  • Murder of a teen girl from strangulation
  • Mass death of a family from poisoning discussed (mother, father & child)
  • Explosion, off-page
  • Animal death & cruelty mentioned

*Context: A teacher purposefully infects the two teenage boys who murdered her daughter with HIV/AIDs. The aftereffects of being infected are explored in depth. Mentions of HIV+ stigma and how the teacher’s ex-husband is dying of HIV/AIDs.

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Home Fire by Kamila Shamsie

Isma is free. After years of watching out for her younger siblings in the wake of their mother’s death, she’s accepted an invitation from a mentor in America that allows her to resume a dream long deferred. But she can’t stop worrying about Aneeka, her beautiful, headstrong sister back in London, or their brother, Parvaiz, who’s disappeared in pursuit of his own dream, to prove himself to the dark legacy of the jihadist father he never knew. When he resurfaces half a globe away, Isma’s worst fears are confirmed. Then Eamonn enters the sisters’ lives. Son of a powerful political figure, he has his own birthright to live up to—or defy… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Islamomisia
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Death of a sibling
  • Suicide bombing
  • Beheading
  • Drive-by shooting
  • Terrorism
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