Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #metoo and #timesup, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. SHOUT speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice– and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatphobia & body shaming
  • Rape & sexual assault (theme)
  • Child & spousal abuse, including physical abuse & gaslighting
  • Military service-related PTSD
  • Alcohol & drug abuse
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The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

The Upside of Unrequited by Becky Albertalli

Seventeen-year-old Molly Peskin-Suso knows all about unrequited love—she’s lived through it twenty-six times. She crushes hard and crushes often, but always in secret. Because no matter how many times her twin sister, Cassie, tells her to woman up, Molly can’t stomach the idea of rejection. So she’s careful. Fat girls always have to be careful. Then a cute new girl enters Cassie’s orbit, and for the first time ever, Molly’s cynical twin is a lovesick mess… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racist microaggressions & antisemitism
  • Fatphobia and body-shaming (theme)
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Bullying

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

Leah on the Offbeat by Becky Albertalli

When it comes to drumming, Leah Burke is usually on beat—but real life isn’t always so rhythmic. An anomaly in her friend group, she’s the only child of a young, single mom, and her life is decidedly less privileged. She loves to draw but is too self-conscious to show it. And even though her mom knows she’s bisexual, she hasn’t mustered the courage to tell her friends—not even her openly gay BFF, Simon. So Leah really doesn’t know what to do when her rock-solid friend group starts to fracture in unexpected ways. With prom and college on the horizon, tensions are running high. It’s hard for Leah to strike the right note while the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Biphobia & internalised biphobia
  • Fatphobia & body-shaming
  • Alcohol consumption

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo

King of Scars by Leigh Bardugo book cover

The dashing young king, Nikolai Lantsov, has always had a gift for the impossible. No one knows what he endured in his country’s bloody civil war–and he intends to keep it that way. Now, as enemies gather at his weakened borders, Nikolai must find a way to refill Ravka’s coffers, forge new alliances, and stop a rising threat to the once-great Grisha Army. Yet with every day a dark magic within him grows stronger, threat-ening to destroy all he has built. With the help of a young monk and a legendary Grisha general, Nikolai will journey to the places in Ravka where the deepest magic survives to vanquish the terrible…. Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatphobia & body-shaming
  • Slavery
  • Sexual assault (implied)
  • Substance addiction & drug abuse
  • Suicide
  • Torture
  • Captivity
  • War themes
  • Bullying

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi book cover

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Slavery
  • Attempted rape
  • Threats of rape
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Self-harm
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Death of a friend
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • War themes
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The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

The Colour of Magic by Terry Pratchett

On a world supported on the back of a giant turtle (sex unknown), a gleeful, explosive, wickedly eccentric expedition sets out. There’s an avaricious but inept wizard, a naive tourist whose luggage moves on hundreds of dear little legs, dragons who only exist if you believe in them, and of course THE EDGE of the planet…

GoodreadsThe Book Depository

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableist language
  • Fat-shaming comments
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • Fire
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The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

The Candle and the Flame by Nafiza Azad

Fatima lives in the city of Noor, a thriving stop along the Silk Road. There the music of myriad languages fills the air, and people of all faiths weave their lives together. However, the city bears scars of its recent past, when the chaotic tribe of Shayateen djinn slaughtered its entire population — except for Fatima and two other humans. Now ruled by a new maharajah, Noor is protected from the Shayateen by the Ifrit, djinn of order and reason, and by their commander, Zulfikar.

But when one of the most potent of the Ifrit dies, Fatima is changed in ways she cannot fathom, ways that scare even those who love her. Oud in hand, Fatima is drawn into the intrigues of the maharajah and his sister, the affairs of Zulfikar and the djinn, and the dangers of a magical battlefield.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual harassment
  • Grief depiction
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Disappearance of a sibling
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Massacre and genocide recounted
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Poisoning
  • Fire
  • War themes
  • Poverty themes
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I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee

I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee

Skye Shin has heard it all. Fat girls shouldn’t dance. Wear bright colors. Shouldn’t call attention to themselves. But Skye dreams of joining the glittering world of K-Pop, and to do that, she’s about to break all the rules that society, the media, and even her own mother, have set for girls like her.

She’ll challenge thousands of other performers in an internationally televised competition looking for the next K-pop star, and she’ll do it better than anyone else… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Queermisia & queermisic parents mentioned*
  • Coming out themes recounted & on-page*
  • Fat-shaming & body shaming (theme)
  • Disordered food & weight thoughts discussed, including forced dieting
  • Verbal & emotional parental abuse
  • Hospitalisation of a child due to malnutrition mentioned
  • Bullying
  • Cyberbullying & cyberharassment

*Context: The love interest comes out as bisexual to the main character and she comes out as bisexual to him. She is closeted from her family for the whole book. Her love interest recounts how his family bribed his ex-boyfriend to break up with him. Side f/f couple talk about being disowned and kicked out of their homes when they came out to their families.

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Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

Alias Grace by Margaret Atwood

It’s 1843, and Grace Marks has been convicted for her involvement in the vicious murders of her employer and his housekeeper and mistress. Some believe Grace is innocent; others think her evil or insane. Now serving a life sentence, Grace claims to have no memory of the murders.

An up-and-coming expert in the burgeoning field of mental illness is engaged by a group of reformers and spiritualists who seek a pardon for Grace. He listens to her story while bringing her closer and closer to the day she cannot remember. What will he find in attempting to unlock her memories?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fat shaming
  • Slut-shaming
  • Attempted rape
  • Domestic violence
  • Child abuse
  • Abortion and death due to a ‘backstreet’ abortion
  • Medical procedures
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder

The Poet X by Elizabeth Acevedo

Xiomara Batista feels unheard and unable to hide in her Harlem neighbourhood. Ever since her body grew into curves, she has learned to let her fists and her fierceness do the talking. But Xiomara has plenty she wants to say, and she pours all her frustration and passion onto the pages of a leather notebook, reciting the words to herself like prayers—especially after she catches feelings for a boy in her bio class named Aman, who her family can never know about. With Mami’s determination to force her daughter to obey the laws of the church, Xiomara understands that her thoughts are best kept to herself. So when she is… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Misogyny & slut-shaming
  • Fatphobia & body shaming
  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abuse & abandonment mentioned
  • Cheating
  • Panic attacks
  • Recreational drug use
  • Alcohol abuse recounted
  • Minor physical injuries
  • Infertility & difficult childbirth mentioned
  • Bullying