Tag Archives: Fire & Arson

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of fire and arson.

See also Bushfires.

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik 

A Deadly Education by Naomi Novik

A Deadly Education is set at Scholomance, a school for the magically gifted where failure means certain death (for real) — until one girl, El, begins to unlock its many secrets. There are no teachers, no holidays, and no friendships, save strategic ones. Survival is more important than any letter grade, for the school won’t allow its students to leave until they graduate… or die! The rules are deceptively simple: Don’t walk the halls alone. And beware of the monsters who lurk everywhere.

El is uniquely prepared for the school’s dangers. She may be without allies, but she possesses a dark power strong enough to level mountains and wipe out millions. It would be easy enough for El to defeat the monsters that prowl the school. The problem? Her powerful dark magic might also kill all the other students.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Murder
  • Fire
  • Bullying

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

The Library Book by Susan Orlean

On the morning of April 29, 1986, a fire alarm sounded in the Los Angeles Public Library. As the moments passed, the patrons and staff who had been cleared out of the building realized this was not the usual fire alarm. As one fireman recounted, “Once that first stack got going, it was ‘Goodbye, Charlie.’” The fire was disastrous: it reached 2000 degrees and burned for more than seven hours. By the time it was extinguished, it had consumed four hundred thousand books and damaged seven hundred thousand more. Investigators descended on the scene, but more than thirty years later, the mystery remains: Did someone purposefully set fire to the library—and if so, who?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Death from HIV/AIDS
  • Fire & arson

Queens of Fennbirn by Kendare Blake 

Queens of Fennbirn by Kendare Blake

Uncover the sisters’ origins, dive deep into the catastrophic reign of the Oracle Queen, and reveal layers of Fennbirn’s past, hidden until now.

The Young Queens: Get a glimpse of triplet queens Mirabella, Arsinoe, and Katharine during a short period of time when they protected and loved one another. From birth until their claiming ceremonies, this is the story of the three sisters’ lives…before they were at stake.

The Oracle Queen: Everyone knows the legend of Elsabet, the Oracle Queen. The one who went mad. The one who orchestrated a senseless, horrific slaying of three entire houses. But what really happened? Discover the true story behind the queen who could foresee the future…just not her own downfall.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death from childbirth
  • Blood depiction
  • Beheading mentioned
  • Murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Poisoning
  • Fire

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne

The Terrible Thing That Happened to Barnaby Brocket by John Boyne

There’s nothing unusual about the Brockets. Normal, respectable, and proud of it, they turn up their noses at anyone strange or different. But from the moment Barnaby Brocket comes into the world, it’s clear he’s anything but ordinary. To his parents’ horror, Barnaby defies the laws of gravity – and floats.

Desperate to please his parents, Barnaby does his best to keep both feet on the ground – but he just can’t do it. One fateful day, the Brockets decide enough is enough. They never asked for a weird, abnormal, floating child. Barnaby has to go . . . Betrayed, frightened and alone, Barnaby floats into the path of a very special hot air balloon – and so begins a magical journey around the world, with a cast of extraordinary new friends.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Nonconsensual surgery
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

The Wife Upstairs by Rachel Hawkins

Meet Jane. Newly arrived to Birmingham, Alabama, Jane is a broke dog-walker in Thornfield Estates—a gated community full of McMansions, shiny SUVs, and bored housewives. The kind of place where no one will notice if Jane lifts the discarded tchotchkes and jewellery off the side tables of her well-heeled clients. Where no one will think to ask if Jane is her real name.

But her luck changes when she meets Eddie­ Rochester. Recently widowed, Eddie is Thornfield Estates’ most mysterious resident. His wife, Bea, drowned in a boating accident with her best friend, their bodies lost to the deep. Jane can’t help but see an opportunity in Eddie—not only is he rich, brooding, and handsome, he could also offer her the kind of protection she’s always yearned for… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Domestic abuse
  • Cheating
  • Child neglect mentioned
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Murder
  • Fire
  • Confinement

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

Falling Kingdoms by Morgan Rhodes

In the three kingdoms of Mytica, magic has long been forgotten. And while hard-won peace has reigned for centuries, a deadly unrest now simmers below the surface.

As the rulers of each kingdom grapple for power, the lives of their subjects are brutally transformed… and four key players, royals and rebels alike, find their fates forever intertwined. Cleo, Jonas, Lucia, and Magnus are caught in a dizzying world of treacherous betrayals, shocking murders, secret alliances, and even unforeseen love.

The only outcome that’s certain is that kingdoms will fall. Who will emerge triumphant when all they know has collapsed? It’s the eve of war… Choose your side.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexual harassment
  • Incest (sibling)
  • Arranged marriage
  • Parental infidelity
  • Infertility mentoned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Starvation
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Death of a brother, on-page
  • Murder
  • Death from exposure mentioned

Echoes and Empires by Morgan Rhodes

Echoes and Empires by Morgan Rhodes

Josslyn Drake knows only three things about magic: it’s rare, illegal, and always deadly. So when she’s caught up in a robbery gone wrong at the Queen’s Gala and infected by a dangerous piece of magic—one that allows her to step into the memories of an infamously evil warlock—she finds herself living her worst nightmare. Joss needs the magic removed before it corrupts her soul and kills her. But in Ironport, the cost of doing magic is death, and seeking help might mean scheduling her own execution. There’s nobody she can trust.

Nobody, that is, except wanted criminal Jericho Nox, who offers her a deal: his help extracting the magic in exchange for the magic itself… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Forced sterilisation
  • Blood depiction
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Arson

The Sixth Extinction by James Rollins 

The Sixth Extinction by James Rollins

A remote military research station broadcasts a frantic distress call that ends with a chilling message: Kill us all. When soldiers arrive to investigate, they discover everyone in the lab is dead—not just the scientists, but every living thing for fifty square miles is annihilated: every animal, plant, and insect, even bacteria. The land is completely sterile—and the blight is spreading.

To prevent the inevitable, Commander Gray Pierce and Sigma must decipher a threat that rises out of the distant past, a time when Antarctica was green and Earth’s life balanced on a knife-edge. Following clues from an ancient map rescued from the lost Library of Alexandria, Sigma will make a shocking discovery involving a prehistoric continent, and a new form of death buried under miles of ice. But is it already too late?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Amputation
  • Murder
  • Fire
  • Animal death
  • Medical crisis of a pet

Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

Defy the Night by Brigid Kemmerer

The kingdom of Kandala is on the brink of disaster. Rifts between sectors have only worsened since a sickness began ravaging the land, and within the Royal Palace, the king holds a tenuous peace with a ruthless hand. King Harristan was thrust into power after his parents’ shocking assassination, leaving the younger Prince Corrick to take on the brutal role of the King’s Justice. The brothers have learned to react mercilessly to any sign of rebellion–it’s the only way to maintain order when the sickness can strike anywhere, and the only known cure, an elixir made from delicate… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Epidemic (theme)
  • Blood & injury depiction including detailed dead bodies
  • Medical treatment
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend, off-page
  • Murder of a mother & father
  • Torture
  • Knife violence
  • Explosion
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping
  • Imprisonment
  • Fire
  • Poverty discussed

Faith: Greater Heights by Julie Murphy

Faith: Greater Heights by Julie Murphy

Faith Herbert can finally admit that she’s not a regular teen. Thankfully, her two best friends, Matt and Ches, are now in on her superhero secret. But after the chaos of her first semester, Faith just wants to end her senior year on a normal note—enjoying all the hallmarks of graduating high school—like prom! And, possibly, getting to attend college in the fall. A new teacher has taken over journalism class, and Faith is only occasionally reminded of the empty spot left by Colleen Bristow, the quiet nerd-turned-supervillain. That is, until Faith hears from Peter that other psiots have been… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Strangulation
  • Physical assault
  • Fire
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control)