The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Stephen King

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Stephen King

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Antiziganism
  • Antisemitism
  • Nazism
  • Rape
  • Genital mutilation
  • Gun violence
  • Chemical gassing (gas chambers)
  • World War Two & the Holocaust (theme)
  • Concentration camps (theme)
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The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See

Set on the Korean island of Jeju, The Island of Sea Women follows Mi-ja and Young-sook, two girls from very different backgrounds, as they begin working in the sea with their village’s all-female diving collective. Over many decades—through the Japanese colonialism of the 1930s and 1940s, World War II, the Korean War, and the era of cellphones and wet suits for the women divers—Mi-ja and Young-sook develop the closest of bonds. Nevertheless, their differences are impossible to ignore: Mi-ja is the daughter of a Japanese collaborator, forever marking her, and Young-sook was born into a long line of haenyeo and will inherit her mother’s position leading the divers… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic abuse
  • Breast mutilation
  • Jeju April 3 incident

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch 

The Republic of Thieves by Scott Lynch

With what should have been the greatest heist of their career gone spectacularly sour, Locke and his trusted partner, Jean, have barely escaped with their lives. Or at least Jean has. But Locke is slowly succumbing to a deadly poison that no alchemist or physiker can cure. Yet just as the end is near, a mysterious Bondsmage offers Locke an opportunity that will either save him or finish him off once and for all. Magi political elections are imminent, and the factions are in need of a pawn. If Locke agrees to play the role, sorcery will be used to… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Suicide
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Female genital mutilation
  • Eye trauma
  • Torture

The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad

The Wild Ones by Nafiza Azad

Meet the Wild Ones: girls who have been hurt, abandoned, and betrayed all their lives. It all began with Paheli, who was once betrayed by her mother and sold to a man in exchange for a favor. When Paheli escapes, she runs headlong into a boy with stars in his eyes. This boy, as battered as she is, tosses Paheli a box of stars before disappearing.

With the stars, Paheli gains access to the Between, a place of pure magic and mystery. Now, Paheli collects girls like herself and these Wild Ones use their magic to travel the world, helping the hopeless and saving others from the fates they suffered… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child trafficking
  • Rape, implied
  • Suicide
  • Forced pregnancy
  • Genital mutilation mentioned
  • Murder of a child
  • Torture mentioned
  • Drowning
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At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen

At the Water’s Edge by Sara Gruen

At the Water's Edge by Sara Gruen book cover

After embarrassing themselves at the social event of the year in high society Philadelphia on New Year’s Eve of 1942, Maddie and Ellis Hyde are cut off financially by Ellis’s father, a former army Colonel who is already embarrassed by his son’s inability to serve in WWII due to his being colorblind.

To Maddie’s horror, Ellis decides that the only way to regain his father’s favor is to succeed in a venture his father attempted and very publicly failed at: he will hunt the famous Loch Ness monster and when he finds it he will restore his father’s name and return to his father’s good graces (and pocketbook). Joined by their friend Hank, a wealthy socialite, the three make their way to Scotland in the midst of war.

Each day the two men go off to hunt the monster, while another monster, Hitler, is devastating Europe. And Maddie, now alone in a foreign country, must begin to figure out who she is and what she wants.

The novel tells of Maddie’s social awakening: to the harsh realities of life, to the beauties of nature, to a connection with forces larger than herself, to female friendship, and finally, to love.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic abuse, both physical and psychological
  • Gaslighting by a spouse
  • Medical abuse
  • Suicide
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Drug abuse
  • Death of a child
  • War and war wounds
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I Am Change by Suzy Zail

I Am Change by Suzy Zail

They told her that her body belonged to men and her mind didn’t matter. They were wrong.

“What if I don’t want to marry?” Lillian held her breath. She had never said the words out loud. “Not want to marry?” Her aunt frowned. “What else would you do?”

Set in a Ugandan village, Lilian has learned to shrink herself to fit other people’s ideas of what a girl is. In her village a girl is not meant to be smarter than her brother. A girl is not meant to go to school or enjoy her body or decide who to marry. Especially if she is poor.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Incest
  • Domestic violence
  • Female genital mutilation
  • Poverty themes
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Criminal by Karin Slaughter

Criminal by Karin Slaughter

A woman is found brutally murdered in a sordid Atlanta apartment.

Her blood-soaked body bears a chilling similarity to a woman found dead almost 40 years earlier.

Soon Special Agent Will Trent finds himself returning to the home he grew up in, and a past that could hold the clue to the killings…

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist slurs
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Misogyny
  • Rape
  • Murder
  • Torture
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A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter

A Faint Cold Fear by Karin Slaughter

Sara Linton, medical examiner in the small town of Heartsdale, is called out to an apparent suicide on the local college campus. The mutilated body provides little in the way of clues – and the college authorities are keen to avoid a scandal – but for Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver, things don’t add up.

Two more suspicious suicides follow, and a young woman is brutally attacked. For Sara, the violence strikes far too close to home. And as Jeffrey pursues the sadistic killer, he discovers that ex-police detective Lena Adams, now a security guard on campus, may be in possession of crucial information. But, bruised and angered by her expulsion from the force, Lena seems to be barely capable of protecting herself, let alone saving the next victim…

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Domestic abuse
  • Abusive relationship
  • Drug use
  • Graphic physical injuries
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Physical assault
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Kisscut by Karin Slaughter

Kisscut by Karin Slaughter

When a teenage quarrel in the small town of Heartsdale explodes into a deadly shoot-out, Sara Linton – paediatrician and medical examiner – finds herself entangled in a horrific tragedy. And what seems at first to be a terrible but individual catastrophe proves to have wider implications when the autopsy reveals evidence of long-term abuse and ritualistic self-mutilation.

Sara and police chief Jeffrey Tolliver start to investigate, but the children surrounding the victim close ranks. The families turn their backs. Then a young girl is abducted, and it becomes clear that the first death is linked to an even more brutal crime. And unless Sara and Jeffrey can uncover the deadly secrets the children hide, it’s going to happen again…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Rape
  • Paedophilia & child pornography
  • Incest
  • Suicide
  • Self harm
  • Female genital mutilation
  • Death of an infant & child
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
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Darksoul by Anna Stephens

Darksoul by Anna Stephens

The Wolves lie dead beside Rilpor’s soldiers, slaughtered at the hands of the Mireces and their fanatical army. The veil that once kept the Red Gods at bay has been left in tatters as the Dark Lady’s plans for the world come to fruition. Where the gods walk, blood is spilled on the earth.

All that stands between the Mireces army and complete control of the Kingdom of Rilpor are the walls of its capital, Rilporin, and those besieged inside. But hope might yet bloom in the unlikeliest of places: in the heart of a former slave, in the mind of a soldier with the eyes of a fox, and in the hands of a general destined to be king.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slavery
  • Rape & attempted rape
  • Torture
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