Grief & Loss Depiction – Page 79 – Trigger Warning Database

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire

Dusk or Dark or Dawn or Day by Seanan McGuire

When her sister Patty died, Jenna blamed herself. When Jenna died, she blamed herself for that, too. Unfortunately Jenna died too soon. Living or dead, every soul is promised a certain amount of time, and when Jenna passed she found a heavy debt of time in her record. Unwilling to simply steal that time from the living, Jenna earns every day she leeches with volunteer work at a suicide prevention hotline.

But something has come for the ghosts of New York, something beyond reason, beyond death, beyond hope; something that can bind ghosts to mirrors and make them do its bidding. Only Jenna stands in its way.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Suicide*
Suicidal ideation*
Grief depiction
Death themes
Death of a sister
Death of a husband
Death of a daughter
Murder
Loss of autonomy
Death of pet/s, specifically cats

*Main character works at a suicide hotline

The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

The Empress of Salt & Fortune by Nghi Vo

A young royal from the far north is sent south for a political marriage. Alone and sometimes reviled, she has only her servants on her side. This evocative debut chronicles her rise to power through the eyes of her handmaiden, at once feminist high fantasy and a thrilling indictment of monarchy.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Body shaming
Misogyny
Parental abandonment
Arranged marriage
Suicide discussed
Pregnancy & childbirth mentioned
Nonconsensual & consensual adoption
Emesis mentioned
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a partner & wife mentioned
Murder
Exile
War themes, including rebellion & a political coup

The View on the Way Down by Rebecca Wait

The View on the Way Down by Rebecca Wait

This novel is the story of Emma’s two brothers: the one who died five years ago, and the one who left home on the day of the funeral and never came back. It is the story of Emma’s parents, who have been keeping the truth from her, and from each other. It is the story of Emma herself, caught in the middle and trying to work out how everything fell apart.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Suicide (on-page & theme)
Attempted suicide
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a brother

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

We Hunt the Flame by Hafsah Faizal

Zafira is the Hunter, disguising herself as a man when she braves the cursed forest of the Arz to feed her people. Nasir is the Prince of Death, assassinating those foolish enough to defy his autocratic father, the sultan. If Zafira was exposed as a girl, all of her achievements would be rejected; if Nasir displayed his compassion, his father would punish him in the most brutal of ways. Both Zafira and Nasir are legends in the kingdom of Arawiya–but neither wants to be. War is brewing, and the Arz sweeps closer with each passing day, engulfing the land in shadow. When Zafira embarks on a quest to uncover a lost artifact that can restore… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism & misogyny
Child emotional and verbal abuse & neglect
Blood, gore & injury depiction including dead bodies
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father
Death of a child
Death of a friend
Death of a cousin
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Imprisonment & captivity
Kidnapping & blackmail
War themes discussed
Animal death & hunting

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

The Wicked Deep by Shea Ernshaw

Where, two centuries ago, three sisters were sentenced to death for witchery. Stones were tied to their ankles and they were drowned in the deep waters surrounding the town. Now, for a brief time each summer, the sisters return, stealing the bodies of three weak-hearted girls so that they may seek their revenge, luring boys into the harbor and pulling them under. Like many locals, seventeen-year-old Penny Talbot has accepted the fate of the town. But this year, on the eve of the sisters’ return, a boy named Bo Carter arrives; unaware of the danger he has just stumbled into. Mistrust and lies spread quickly through the salty, rain… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableist language
Misogyny & slut-shaming
Persecution for witchcraft
Dubious consent scenes & sexual assault (non-consensual kiss) (on-page)
Suicide & self-sacrifice (on-page, discussed)
Alcohol consumption
Injury & gore depiction including dead bodies
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a brother
Death of a father & husband
Death of a fiancé
Murder & kidnapping
Drowning (multiple scenes, on-page & recounted)
Fire

Context : The protagonist lies to her love interest about her identity and they have sex (on-page).

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor

The day Fatima forgot her name, Death paid a visit. From hereon in she would be known as Sankofa–a name that meant nothing to anyone but her, the only tie to her family and her past. Her touch is death, and with a glance a town can fall. And she walks–alone, except for her fox companion–searching for the object that came from the sky and gave itself to her when the meteors fell and when she was yet unchanged; searching for answers. But is there a greater purpose for Sankofa, now that Death is her constant companion?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abuse
Smoking mentioned
Malaria & fevers
Dead bodies
Body horror
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a brother
Death of a mother & father, off-page
Death of a grandmother mentioned
Death of a child in a pedestrian-car accident, on- & off-page
Murder & attempted murder
Mass death
Gun violence
Physical assault
Stoning
Carjacking mentioned
Animal death (insects, repeated scenes)

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

In a Dark, Dark Wood by Ruth Ware

Nora hasn’t seen Clare for ten years. Not since Nora walked out of school one day and never went back.

Until, out of the blue, an invitation to Clare’s hen do arrives. Is this a chance for Nora to finally put her past behind her?

But something goes wrong. Very wrong.

Some things can’t stay secret for ever.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Suicide & attempted suicide
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use
Overdose
Nonconsensual drugging
Teen pregnancy recounted
Abortion recounted
Hospital
Blood depiction & physical injuries
Serious injury to a loved one
Forced hospitalisation
Scars
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a friend
Death of a fiancé
Murder
Gun violence
Car accident
Animal hunting mentioned

*Note: Adult-minor relationship & statutory rape briefly mentioned.

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

The Death of Mrs Westaway by Ruth Ware

On a day that begins like any other, Hal receives a mysterious letter bequeathing her a substantial inheritance. She realizes very quickly that the letter was sent to the wrong person—but also that the cold-reading skills she’s honed as a tarot card reader might help her claim the money.

Soon, Hal finds herself at the funeral of the deceased…where it dawns on her that there is something very, very wrong about this strange situation and the inheritance at the centre of it.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Sex work discussed
Child abuse recounted
Disownment & familial estrangement
Cheating
Anxiety & panic attacks
PTSD
Alcohol consumption
Alcohol abuse recounted
Dubious consent to medication
Teen pregnancy
Miscarriage & abortion mentioned
Infertility mentioned
Emesis
Hospital
Minor blood & gore depiction and physical injuries
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father
Death of a grandmother
Death of a sister
Murder & attempted murder
Strangulation
Car accident
Disappearance of a loved one
Blackmail
Captivity recounted
Poverty themes & eviction

Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher

Amelia Unabridged by Ashley Schumacher

Eighteen-year-old Amelia Griffin is obsessed with the famous Orman Chronicles, written by the young and reclusive prodigy N. E. Endsley. They’re the books that brought her and her best friend Jenna together after Amelia’s father left and her family imploded. So when Amelia and Jenna get the opportunity to attend a book festival with Endsley in attendance, Amelia is ecstatic. It’s the perfect way to start off their last summer before college.

In a heartbeat, everything goes horribly wrong. When Jenna gets a chance to meet the author and Amelia doesn’t, the two have a blowout fight like they’ve never experienced. And before Amelia has a chance to mend things, Jenna is killed in a freak car accident. Grief-stricken, and without her best friend to guide her, Amelia questions everything she had planned for the future.

When a mysterious, rare edition of the Orman Chronicles arrives, Amelia is convinced that it somehow came from Jenna. Tracking the book to an obscure but enchanting bookstore in Michigan, Amelia is shocked to find herself face-to-face with the enigmatic and handsome N. E. Endsley himself, the reason for Amelia’s and Jenna’s fight and perhaps the clue to what Jenna wanted to tell her all along.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Parental neglect
Anxiety and panic attacks
Death of a friend
Death of a sister
Grief depiction
Drowning
Car accident

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

When No One Is Watching by Alyssa Cole

Sydney Green is Brooklyn born and raised, but her beloved neighborhood seems to change every time she blinks. Condos are sprouting like weeds, FOR SALE signs are popping up overnight, and the neighbors she’s known all her life are disappearing. To hold onto her community’s past and present, Sydney channels her frustration into a walking tour and finds an unlikely and unwanted assistant in one of the new arrivals to the block—her neighbor Theo.

But Sydney and Theo’s deep dive into history quickly becomes a dizzying descent into paranoia and fear. Their neighbors may not have moved to the suburbs after all, and the push to revitalize the community may be more deadly than advertised.

When does coincidence become conspiracy? Where do people go when gentrification pushes them out? Can Sydney and Theo trust each other—or themselves—long enough to find out before they too disappear?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism, including aversive racism
Gentrification
Attempted genocide
Racial profiling
Cheating
Alcohol abuse
Alcohol consumption
Drug use, mentioned
Death of a friend
Death of a mother
Grief depiction
Arrest and incarceration, mentioned
Dead body, on page