Tag Archives: Grief & Loss Depiction

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

The Half Life of Molly Pierce by Katrina Leno

You live and you remember. Me, I live and I forget. But now—now I am remembering. For all of her seventeen years, Molly feels like she’s missed bits and pieces of her life. Now, she’s figuring out why. Now, she’s remembering her own secrets. And in doing so, Molly uncovers the separate life she seems to have led…and the love that she can’t let go.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Dissociative Identity Disorder (theme)
  • Depression
  • Suicidal ideation discussed
  • Thwarted attempted suicide by drug overdose, on-page
  • Blood depiction
  • Hospital
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a brother
  • Car accident involving a truck hitting a motorcycle, on-page
  • Death of a pet goldfish mentioned

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

The Guncle by Steven Rowley

Patrick, or Gay Uncle Patrick (GUP, for short), has always loved his niece, Maisie, and nephew, Grant. That is, he loves spending time with them when they come out to Palm Springs for weeklong visits, or when he heads home to Connecticut for the holidays. But in terms of caretaking and relating to two children, no matter how adorable, Patrick is honestly a bit out of his league. So when tragedy strikes and Maisie and Grant lose their mother and Patrick’s brother has a health crisis of his own, Patrick finds himself suddenly taking on the role of primary guardian. Despite having a set of “Guncle Rules” ready to go, Patrick has no…Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Substance addiction
  • Emesis
  • Cancer
  • Hospital
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of a partner
  • Car accident
  • Earthquake

Steel King by Devney Perry

Steel King by Devney Perry

The former Clifton Forge, Montana motorcycle club has everyone in town convinced they’ve locked their clubhouse doors and ripped off their patches. Everyone but Bryce Ryan. There’s more happening at the club’s garage than muscle car restorations and Harley rebuilds. Her instincts are screaming there’s a story—one she’s going to tell. As the new owner of the small town’s newspaper, Bryce is hungry for more than birth announcements and obituaries. When a woman is brutally killed and all signs point to the club, Bryce is determined to expose the members and their leader, Kingston “Dash” Slater, as murderers… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Murder of a mother recounted
  • Organised crime (motorcycle gang)

The Birthday List by Devney Perry

The Birthday List by Devney Perry

I carry a journal with me. A journal with a list. Take a karate class. Go skydiving. Learn to play the ukulele. Say yes to everything for an entire day. The list goes on, line by line, of youthful dreams. Take a karate class. Go skydiving. Learn to play the ukulele. Say yes to everything for an entire day. The list goes on, line by line, of youthful dreams. It should have marked the first day of a new life. A fresh start. But then Cole Goodman waltzed through the door and brought with him the past. A man who shattered my heart. A man I tried to forget. Maybe it’s a good thing he insists on sticking around. Because the only way I’ll finish the list is with Cole’s help. And then I can finally say goodbye.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a husband, on-page
  • Murder

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Revolution by Jennifer Donnelly

Andi Alpers is on the edge. She’s angry at her father for leaving, angry at her mother for not being able to cope, and heartbroken by the loss of her younger brother, Truman. Rage and grief are destroying her. And she’s about to be expelled from Brooklyn Heights’ most prestigious private school when her father intervenes. Now Andi must accompany him to Paris for winter break. Alexandrine Paradis lived over two centuries ago. She dreamed of making her mark on the Paris stage, but a fateful encounter with a doomed prince of France cast her in a tragic role she didn’t want—and couldn’t escape. Two girls, two centuries apart… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Attempted suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

A Northern Light by Jennifer Donnelly

Sixteen-year-old Mattie Gokey has big dreams but little hope of seeing them come true. Desperate for money, she takes a job at the Glenmore, where hotel guest Grace Brown entrusts her with the task of burning a secret bundle of letters. But when Grace’s drowned body is fished from the lake, Mattie discovers that the letters could reveal the grim truth behind a murder. Set in 1906 against the backdrop of the murder that inspired Theodore Dreiser’s An American Tragedy, Jennifer Donnelly’s debut novel weaves romance, history, and a murder mystery into something moving and real.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • Murder by drowning

A House of Rage and Sorrow by Sangu Mandanna

A House of Rage and Sorrow by Sangu Mandanna

Esmae once wanted nothing more than to help her golden brother win the crown of Kali but that dream died with her best friend. Alexi broke her heart, and she vowed to destroy him for it. And with her sentient warship Titania beside her, how can she possibly fail? As gods, beasts, and kingdoms choose sides, Alexi seeks out a weapon more devastating than even Titania. Past lives threaten the present. Old enemies claim their due. And Esmae cannot outrun the ghosts and the questions that haunt her. What really happened to her father? What was the third boon her mother asked of Amba? For in the shadows, lurking in wait, are… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend recounted
  • Infanticide mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife & sword violence
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping
  • War, rebellion & royal coup (theme)

Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross

Letters to Nowhere by Julie Cross

I’ve gotten used to the dead parents’ face. I’ve gotten used to living with my gymnastics coach. I’ve even adjusted to sharing a bathroom with his way-too-hot son. Dealing with boys is not something that’s made it onto my list of experiences as of yet. But here I am, doing it. And something about Jordan–being around him, talking to him, thinking about him–makes me feel like I can finally breathe again. That’s something I haven’t been able to do lately. He knows what it feels like to be me right now. He knows what it’s like to wonder–what now? I think about it constantly. I need answers. I need to know how to get…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of parents recounted

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

The Dead Romantics by Ashley Poston

Florence Day is the ghostwriter for one of the most prolific romance authors in the industry, and she has a problem—after a terrible breakup, she no longer believes in love. It’s as good as dead. When her new editor, a too-handsome mountain of a man, won’t give her an extension on her book deadline, Florence prepares to kiss her career goodbye. But then she gets a phone call she never wanted to receive, and she must return home for the first time in a decade to help her family bury her beloved father. For ten… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Cheating recounted*
  • Panic attack, on-page
  • Grief & loss depiction (theme)
  • Death of a parent
  • Bullying recounted

*Context : The male protagonist’s ex-fiancé cheated on him.

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

Slave to Sensation by Nalini Singh

In a world that denies emotions, where the ruling Psy punish any sign of desire, Sascha Duncan must conceal the feelings that brand her as flawed. To reveal them would be to sentence herself to the horror of “rehabilitation”—the complete psychic erasure of everything she ever was. Both human and animal, Lucas Hunter is a Changeling hungry for the very sensations the Psy disdain. After centuries of uneasy co-existence, these two races are now on the verge of war over the brutal murders of several Changeling women. Lucas is determined to find the Psy killer who butchered his packmate, and Sascha is his ticket into… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Murder
  • Torture mentioned
  • Kidnapping