The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

The Child Finder by Rene Denfeld

Three years ago, Madison Culver disappeared when her family was choosing a Christmas tree in Oregon’s Skookum National Forest. She would be eight years old now—if she has survived. Desperate to find their beloved daughter, certain someone took her, the Culvers turn to Naomi, a private investigator with an uncanny talent for locating the lost and missing. Known to the police and a select group of parents as “the Child Finder,” Naomi is their last hope. Naomi’s methodical search takes her deep into the icy, mysterious forest in the Pacific Northwest, and into her own fragmented past. She understands children like… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Antiziganism (g slur)
  • Incest (foster siblings)
  • Paedophilia, child sexual assault and rape (theme)
  • Child abuse and neglect
  • Foster care system experiences recounted
  • Amnesia and memory loss
  • Dissociation
  • Blood and gore depiction
  • Physical injuries mentioned, including the loss of an arm in an explosion while deployed
  • Death of a foster mother, off-page and discussed
  • Death of a wife from cancer mentioned
  • Death of a wife from suicide mentioned
  • Accidental infanticide
  • Murder by stabbing, on-page
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping and captivity of a child
  • Incarceration
  • Graphic animal death and hunting
  • Animal dead bodies and butchery, on-page

Context : The story follows a private investigator trying to find a missing child. The book is told from her POV, the missing child, and the predator who kidnapped and held the child captive. While there are no on-page scenes of sexual violence, it is clear that the captor sexually abuses and rapes the child. It is vaguely mentioned through metaphors and lyrical writing from the child’s perspective; as well as mentions of pain and blood on her legs. The predator was also raped by his captor as a child. Again, there are no on-page scenes of this.

A secondary character leaves her baby in their stroller on a bus that is parked in storage. It is unclear how the baby dies but the protagonist finds his body (off-page, no descriptions).

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Decoy Training by Caridad Piñeiro

Decoy Training by Caridad Piñeiro

Former marine Shane Adler’s used to perilous situations. But he’s stunned to find danger in the peaceful Idaho mountains—especially swirling around his beautiful dog trainer. After tragically losing her hero husband, Piper Lambert’s rebuilt her life. Now it’s up to Shane—and his loyal K-9 in training, Decoy—to make sure a mysterious enemy won’t derail her new beginning…or his.  

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Chronic injury sustained from a car bomb
  • Death of a husband recounted
  • Military service
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Finn and the Subatomic Slip-And-Slide by Michael Buckley

Finn and the Subatomic Slip-And-Slide by Michael Buckley

After his adventures through time, Finn returns home to a world he doesn’t recognize. Changing the past has created an all-new present, one in which he and his friends never vanquished the Plague. Now the giant bugs rule Earth from their spaceship! What’s an intergalactic traveler to do? The answer is obvious. Finn, Lincoln and Julep must defeat the Plague. Again. But how? Julep and Lincoln don’t remember Finn or their friendships. In fact, they’ve changed just as much as the world itself has, and they want nothing to do with his dangerous plan to save humankind … Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical assault
  • Explosion
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The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo

The Magician’s Elephant by Kate DiCamillo and illustrated by Yoko Tanaka

What if? Why not? Could it be? When a fortuneteller’s tent appears in the market square of the city of Baltese, orphan Peter Augustus Duchene knows the questions that he needs to ask: Does his sister still live? And if so, how can he find her? The fortuneteller’s mysterious answer (an elephant! An elephant will lead him there!) sets off a chain of events so remarkable, so impossible, that you will hardly dare to believe it’s true.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Physical injury
  • Death of a mother in childbirth recounted
  • Death of a father during military service recounted
  • Explosion mentioned
  • Animal illness & injury
  • Animal attack
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Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie

Bonds of Brass by Emily Skrutskie

Ettian Nassun’s life was shattered when the merciless Umber Empire invaded. He’s spent seven years putting himself back together under its rule, joining an Umber military academy and becoming the best pilot in his class. Even better, he’s met Gal Veres–his exasperating and infuriatingly enticing roommate who’s made the Academy feel like a new home. But when dozens of classmates spring an assassination plot on Gal, a devastating secret comes to light: Gal is the heir to the Umber Empire. Ettian barely manages to save his best friend and flee the compromised … Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Torture mentioned
  • Explosion
  • Electrocution
  • Hostage situation
  • War themes
  • Homelessness
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Thirsty by Mia Hopkins

Thirsty by Mia Hopkins

My name is Salvador Rosas. Back in the barrio, my past is written on the walls: ESHB. Short for East Side Hollenbeck, my father’s gang—my gang. Hell, it’s a family tradition, one that sent both my brothers away. They used to call me “Ghost” because I haunted people’s dreams. Now I’ve got nothing going for me except a hipster gringo mentoring me in a new career. An ex-con making craft beer? No names. Still, people in this neighbourhood look out for one another. That’s how I became Vanessa Velasco’s unwelcome tenant. Chiquita pero picosa. She’s little, but with curves so sweet they’re dangerous. I remember… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Recreational drug use
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Hospital
  • Death of a mother in a car accident recounted
  • Death of a sister
  • Gang violence
  • Bombing
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Crossbones by Kimberly Vale

Crossbones by Kimberly Vale

The Blood Bell tolls, marking the death of the pirate king and the start of the Trials—a heart-stopping competition where the reward is the Bone Crown. Only one contender can claim the coveted island throne; each will gamble life and limb to win. Csilla Abado yearns to prove her strength to the seasoned pirates who balk at her youth and to her elder sister who has always craved Csilla’s captainship. She will risk everything to become the first pirate queen, no matter the cost. Kane Blackwater wants to leave… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother, on-page and recounted
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Eye trauma & loss of vision
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Explosion
  • Drowning
  • Fire
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The Angel of Waterloo by Jackie French

The Angel of Waterloo by Jackie French

The soldiers she saved called her the Angel of Waterloo. The husband she loved and lost called her Hen. The patients she treated in secret called her Auntie Love. She was Henrietta Bartlett, a surgeon’s daughter, a survivor of the Napoleonic Wars. But now the battlefield is just a blood-soaked memory, and Hen dreams of peace, a home, and a society that allows women to practise medicine. On the other side of the world, the newly founded colony of New South Wales seems like a paradise. But Europe’s wars cast long shadows …

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Attempted murder
  • Medical treatment & procedures
  • Amputation mentioned
  • Death of a husband in an explosion
  • Napoleonic War
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Give Up the Ghost by Jenn Burke

Give Up the Ghost by Jenn Burke

Immortal not-ghost Wes Cooper and his vampire partner, Hudson Rojas, have it all—rewarding private investigation work, great friends and, most important, a love that’s endured. But ever since Wes sent a demon screaming back to the beyond, his abilities have grown overpowering and overwhelming. He’s hiding the fact that he’s losing control the best he can, but it’s hard to keep anything a secret for long when your partner’s a former cop…and especially when your partner’s a former cop who wants to move in toge… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use mentioned
  • Blood-drinking
  • Coma
  • Hospital
  • Murder recounted
  • Gas explosion
  • Car accident
  • Strangulation
  • Loss of autonomy (mind & memory manipulation)
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The Will to Battle by Ada Palmer

The Will to Battle by Ada Palmer

The long years of near-utopia have come to an abrupt end. Peace and order are now figments of the past. Corruption, deception, and insurgency hum within the once steadfast leadership of the Hives, nations without fixed location. The heartbreaking truth is that for decades, even centuries, the leaders of the great Hives bought the world’s stability with a trickle of secret murders, mathematically planned. So that no faction could ever dominate. So that the balance held. The Hives’ façade of solidity is the only hope… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bombing
  • Kidnapping
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