The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson

The Bands of Mourning are the mythical metalminds owned by the Lord Ruler, said to grant anyone who wears them the powers that the Lord Ruler had at his command. Hardly anyone thinks they really exist. But now a kandra researcher has returned to Elendel with images that seem to depict the Bands, as well as writings in a language that no one can read. Waxillium Ladrian is recruited to travel south to the city of New Seran to investigate, and along the way he discovers hints that point to the true goals of his uncle Edwarn and the shadowy organization known as The Set.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Gun violence

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

The Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

In a world recovering only slowly from evil, a world where allomancers wield immense power through their ability to unleash the magic bound up in common metals someone who can burn metals that no one has burned before can tip the balance…

Sanderson has the knack of giving the epic fantasy reader exactly what they want. This ability has thrown him to the forefront of the genre and the dramatic story within The Alloy of Law shows off this skill to its very best.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse & neglect mentioned
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Sword violence
  • Explosions
  • Kidnapping

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson

Ten years ago, Calamity came. It was a burst in the sky that gave ordinary men and women extraordinary powers. The awed public started calling them Epics. But Epics are no friend of man. With incredible gifts came the desire to rule. And to rule man you must crush his wills.

Nobody fights the Epics… nobody but the Reckoners. A shadowy group of ordinary humans, they spend their lives studying Epics, finding their weaknesses, and then assassinating them.

And David wants in. He wants Steelheart—the Epic who is said to be invincible. The Epic who killed David’s father. For years, like the Reckoners, David’s been studying, and planning—and he has something they need. Not an object, but an experience.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Car accident

The Girl with All the Gifts by MR Carey

The Girl with All the Gifts by M.R. Carey

Melanie is a very special girl. Dr. Caldwell calls her “our little genius.”

Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don’t like her. She jokes that she won’t bite, but they don’t laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children’s cells. She tells her favourite teacher all the things she’ll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn’t know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Global pandemic
  • Gun violence
  • Animal death

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

Lilac Girls by Martha Hall Kelly

New York socialite Caroline Ferriday has her hands full with her post at the French consulate and a new love on the horizon. But Caroline’s world is forever changed when Hitler’s army invades Poland in September 1939—and then sets its sights on France.
 
An ocean away from Caroline, Kasia Kuzmerick, a Polish teenager, senses her carefree youth disappearing as she is drawn deeper into her role as a courier for the underground resistance movement. In a tense atmosphere of watchful eyes and suspecting neighbours, one false move can have dire consequences… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Antisemitism
  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Forced incest
  • Child abuse
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Attempted suicide
  • Self harm mentioned
  • Starvation
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Medical experimentation
  • Eugenics
  • Explosion & bombings
  • Gun violence
  • Whipping
  • Genocide
  • World War Two
  • Concentration & labour camps
  • Death by animal attack

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner

A Mutiny in Time by James Dashner

When best friends Dak Smyth and Sera Froste stumble upon the secret of time travel — a hand-held device known as the Infinity Ring — they’re swept up in a centuries-long secret war for the fate of mankind. Recruited by the Hystorians, a secret society that dates back to Aristotle, the kids learn that history has gone disastrously off course.

Now it’s up to Dak, Sera, and teenage Hystorian-in-training Riq to travel back in time to fix the Great Breaks . . . and to save Dak’s missing parents while they’re at it. First stop: Spain, 1492, where a sailor named Christopher Columbus is about to be thrown overboard in a deadly mutiny!

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Explosion
  • Gun & sword violence
  • Near drowning incident

The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner

The Rule of Thoughts by James Dashner

Michael completed the Path. What he found at the end turned everything he’d ever known about his life—and the world—completely upside down.

He barely survived. But it was the only way VirtNet Security knew to find the cyber-terrorist Kaine—and to make the Sleep safe for gamers once again. And, the truth Michael discovered about Kaine is more complex than they anticipated and more terrifying than even the worst of their fears.

Kaine is a tangent, a computer program that has become sentient… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Gun violence

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

The Eye of Minds by James Dashner

Michael is a gamer. And like most gamers, he almost spends more time on the VirtNet than in the actual world. The VirtNet offers total mind and body immersion, and it’s addictive. Thanks to technology, anyone with enough money can experience fantasy worlds, risk their life without the chance of death, or just hang around with Virt-friends. And the more hacking skills you have, the more fun. Why bother following the rules when most of them are dumb, anyway?

But some rules were made for a reason. Some technology is too dangerous to fool with. And recent reports claim that one gamer is going beyond what any gamer has done before… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Attempted suicide

The Death Cure by James Dashner

The Death Cure by James Dashner

WICKED has taken everything from Thomas: his life, his memories, and now his only friends—the Gladers. But it’s finally over. The trials are complete, after one final test.

What WICKED doesn’t know is that Thomas remembers far more than they think. And it’s enough to prove that he can’t believe a word of what they say.

Thomas beat the Maze. He survived the Scorch. He’ll risk anything to save his friends. But the truth might be what ends it all.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Plague
  • Decapitation
  • Physical injuries, including burns and a severed leg
  • Nonconsensual body modifications (tattoo)
  • Coerced consumption of drugged alcohol
  • Death of children
  • Knife violence
  • Gun violence
  • Electrocution by lightning strikes

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

The Scorch Trials by James Dashner

Solving the Maze was supposed to be the end.
 
Thomas was sure that escape from the Maze would mean freedom for him and the Gladers. But WICKED isn’t done yet. Phase Two has just begun. The Scorch.
 
The Gladers have two weeks to cross through the Scorch—the most burned-out section of the world. And WICKED has made sure to adjust the variables and stack the odds against them.
 
There are others now. Their survival depends on the Gladers’ destruction—and they’re determined to survive.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Plague
  • Decapitation
  • Physical injuries, including burns and a severed leg
  • Nonconsensual body modifications (tattoo)
  • Coerced consumption of drugged alcohol
  • Death of children
  • Knife violence
  • Gun violence
  • Electrocution by lightning strikes