Tag Archives: Grief & Loss Depiction

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of grief and loss depiction.

Words in Deep Blue by Cath Crowley

Years ago, Rachel had a crush on Henry Jones. The day before she moved away, she tucked a love letter into his favorite book in his family’s bookshop. She waited. But Henry never came. Now Rachel has returned to the city—and to the bookshop—to work alongside the boy she’d rather not see, if at all possible, for the rest of her life. But Rachel needs the distraction, and the escape. Her brother drowned months ago, and she can’t feel anything anymore. She can’t see her future. Henry’s future isn’t looking too promising, either. His girlfriend dumped him. The bookstore is slipping… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a brother from drowning recounted
  • Bullying mentioned

The Wrong Heart by Jennifer Hartmann

When my husband died, he left my broken heart behind. He left another heart behind, too—his. I know it’s wrong. I shouldn’t be contacting the recipient of my husband’s heart. I don’t even expect him to reply… But there’s a desperate, twisted part of me that hopes he will. No names. No personal details. Just a conversation. The only thing I have left of my husband is inside him.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hospitalisation for attempted suicide (protagonist)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a husband recounted

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter

Welcome to North Falls-a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think. Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend’s daughter needed help-and now she must bring her home. But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia, grooming & rape of a minor
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping

Beautiful Broken Love by Shanora Williams

Version 1.0.0

It’s been months since her dreams of forever were brutally shattered. Seven long months since her husband and soulmate, Lew, died in her arms, leaving her to carry on. Alone. And Davina Klein-Roberts still isn’t sure how to move forward. To escape her anguish, Davina throws everything into work, pushing Golden Oil Co., her self-built skincare line, to become a viral success. Now she’s poised to clinch a major endorsement deal too. But it’s bittersweet without Lew by her side. A meeting with Deke Bishop, the hot NBA star she’s courting for her brand, leaves… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a husband

Battle Royal by Lucy Parker

Four years ago, Sylvie Fairchild charmed the world as a contestant on the hit baking show, Operation Cake. Her ingenious, colourful creations captivated viewers and intrigued all but one of the judges, Dominic De Vere, the hottest pastry chef in London. When her glittery unicorn cake went spectacularly sideways, Dominic was quick to vote her off the show. Since then, Sylvie has managed to use her fame to help fulfil her dream of opening a bakery, Sugar Fair. The toast of Instagram, Sugar Fair has captured the attention of the Operation Cake producers…and a princess. Dominic… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Child neglect recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Death of an aunt recounted
  • Death of a grandfather recounted

Happy Medium by Sarah Adler

Fake spirit medium Gretchen Acorn is happy to help when her best ( wealthiest) client hires her to investigate the unexplained phenomena preventing the sale of her bridge partner’s struggling goat farm. Gretchen may be a fraud, but she’d like to think she’s a beneficent one. So if “cleansing” the property will help a nice old man finally retire and put some much-needed cash in her pockets at the same time, who’s she to say no? Of course, it turns out said bridge partner isn’t the kindly AARP member Gretchen imagined—Charlie Waybill is young, hot as hell, and extreme… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment & estrangement
  • Grandfather with dementia
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother

Mrs. Nash’s Ashes by Sarah Adler

Millicent Watts-Cohen is on a mission. When she promised her elderly best friend that she’d reunite her with the woman she fell in love with nearly eighty years ago, she never imagined that would mean traveling from D.C. to Key West with three tablespoons of Mrs. Nash’s remains in her backpack. But Millie’s determined to give her friend a symbolic happily-ever-after, before it’s (really) too late—and hopefully reassure herself of love’s lasting power in the process. She just didn’t expect to have a living travel companion. After a computer glitch grounds flights, Millie is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Lesbophobia discussed
  • Sexism & sexual harassment
  • Familial estrangement
  • Parental infidelity
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a parent recounted (off-page)
  • Animal death in a car accident (deer)

Problematic Summer Romance by Ali Hazelwood

Maya Killgore is twenty-three and still in the process of figuring out her life. Conor Harkness is thirty-eight, and Maya cannot stop thinking about him. It’s such a cliché, it almost makes her heart implode: older man and younger woman; successful biotech guy and struggling grad student; brother’s best friend and the girl he never even knew existed. As Conor loves to remind her, the power dynamic is too imbalanced. Any relationship between them would be problematic in too many ways to count, and Maya should just get over him. After all, he has made it clear that he wants her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny & sexism
  • Infidelity
  • Toxic friendship
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted

Merit by Devney Perry

The world loves Maverick Houston. Me? I’ve hated him since we were ten. It’s not exactly easy to escape your childhood nemesis when your parents are best friends who live on the same block. Through countless vacations, parties and holidays, Maverick and I have spent the past decade trading insults. Until that family dinner when his mother tells us she’s dying. When she asks us to forget the past and start fresh. That’s how I found myself on a date with the Treasure State Wildcats football star. The campus playboy. The boy I kissed when I was three. The man who is the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Anxiety
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent from cancer

The Brood by Devney Perry

The last thing Wilder Abbott needs is a houseguest. Solitude has been his stoic companion for nearly a decade. He prefers to brood over his mistakes in seclusion. Besides, he gets enough social interaction as a high school science teacher in Calamity, Montana. But when his oldest friend calls, begging for a favor, Wilder begrudgingly agrees. For the next two months, he’ll give up his guest room to his friend’s little sister. Iris Monroe isn’t the girl Wilder remembers. Gone is the shy, quiet mouse ten years his junior who always had her nose in a book. Grown-up Iris talks too much and asks too many questions, especially about his past. And… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a wife recounted