The Body Lies by Jo Baker

The Body Lies by Jo Baker

When a young writer accepts a job at a university in the remote English countryside, it’s meant to be a fresh start, away from the bustle of London and the scene of a violent assault she is desperate to forget. But despite the distractions of her new life and the demands of single motherhood, her nerves continue to jangle. To make matters worse, during class a vicious debate about violence against women inflames the tensions and mounting rivalries in her creative writing group. When a troubled student starts turning in chapters that blur the lines between fiction and reality, the professor recognizes herself as the main character in his book–and he has written her a horrific fate. Will she be able to stop life imitating art before it’s too late

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Cheating
  • Rape
  • Suicide
  • Gun violence
  • Home invasion
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A Drop of Night by Stefan Bachmann

A Drop of Night by Stefan Bachmann

Seventeen-year-old Anouk has finally caught the break she’s been looking for—she’s been selected out of hundreds of other candidates to fly to France and help with the excavation of a vast, underground palace buried a hundred feet below the suburbs of Paris. Built in the 1780’s to hide an aristocratic family and a mad duke during the French Revolution, the palace has lain hidden and forgotten ever since. Anouk, along with several other gifted teenagers, will be the first to set foot in it in over two centuries. Or so she thought.

But nothing is as it seems, and the teens soon find themselves embroiled in a game far more sinister, and dangerous, than they could possibly have imagined. An evil spanning centuries is waiting for them in the depths.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Classism
  • Emotional child abuse
  • Parental abandonment
  • Hallucinations & delusions mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Nonconsensual drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injury
  • Dead bodies
  • Human experimentation
  • Needles
  • Hospital
  • Decapitation
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a wife
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Stabbing
  • Explosions
  • Physical assault
  • Torture & sensory deprivation
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Car accident
  • Plane crash mentioned
  • Bullying
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Love in Colour by Bolu Babalola

Love in Colour: Mythical Tales from Around the World, Retold by Bolu Babalola

A high-born Nigerian goddess, who has been beaten down and unappreciated by her gregarious lover, longs to be truly seen. A young businesswoman attempts a great leap in her company, and an even greater one in her love life. A powerful Ghanaian spokeswoman is forced to decide whether she should uphold her family’s politics or be true to her heart.

In her debut collection, internationally acclaimed writer Bolu Babalola retells the most beautiful love stories from history and mythology with incredible new detail and vivacity. Focusing on the magical folktales of West Africa, Babalola also reimagines Greek myths, ancient legends from the Middle East, and stories from long-erased places.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Cheating
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Gun violence
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Sophia’s War by Avi

Sophia’s War by Avi

On the remote island of Isola, seven people have been selected to compete in a 48-hour test for a top-secret intIn 1776, young Sophia Calderwood witnesses the execution of Nathan Hale in New York City, which is newly occupied by the British army. Sophia is horrified by the event and resolves to do all she can to help the American cause. Recruited as a spy, she becomes a maid in the home of General Clinton, the supreme commander of the British forces in America. Through her work she becomes aware that someone in the American army might be switching sides, and she uncovers a plot that will grievously damage the Americans if it succeeds. But the identity of the would-be traitor is so shocking that no one believes her, and so Sophia decides to stop the treacherous plot herself, at great personal peril: She’s young, she’s a girl, and she’s running out of time. And if she fails, she’s facing an execution of her own.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Physical injury
  • Hanging, on-page
  • Incarceration of a sibling
  • Gun violence
  • War themes (central)
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The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King

The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King

John Carver has three rules: Don’t drink in the daytime, don’t gamble when the luck has gone, and don’t talk to the dead people who come to visit.

It has been almost five years since the incident in Kabul. Since the magic stirred within him and the stories began. Fleeing the army, running from the whispers, the guilt, and the fear he was losing his mind, Carver fell into addiction, dragging himself through life one day at a time.

Desperation has pulled him back to Afghanistan, back to the heat, the dust, and the truth he worked so hard to avoid. But there are others, obsessed with power and forbidden magics… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Drugging
  • Hallucinations
  • Medical experimentation
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Gun violence
  • Torture
  • Immolation
  • Kidnapping
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Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold

Dead Man in a Ditch by Luke Arnold

The name’s Fetch Phillips — what do you need? Cover a Gnome with a crossbow while he does a dodgy deal? Sure. Find out who killed Lance Niles, the big-shot businessman who just arrived in town? I’ll give it shot. Help an old-lady Elf track down her husband’s murderer? That’s right up my alley. What I don’t do, because it’s impossible, is search for a way to bring the goddamn magic back.

Rumors got out about what happened with the Professor, so now people keep asking me to fix the world. But there’s no magic in this story. Just dead friends, twisted miracles, and a secret machine made to deliver a single shot of murder.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slavery
  • Self harm
  • Alcoholism
  • Gun violence
  • Torture
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We Are All That’s Left by Carrie Arcos

We Are All That’s Left by Carrie Arcos

Zara and her mother, Nadja, have a strained relationship. Nadja just doesn’t understand Zara’s creative passion for, and self-expression through, photography. And Zara doesn’t know how to reach beyond their differences and connect to a closed-off mother who refuses to speak about her past in Bosnia. But when a bomb explodes as they’re shopping in their local farmers’ market in Rhode Island, Zara is left with PTSD–and her mother is left in a coma. Without the opportunity to get to know her mother, Zara is left with questions–not just about her mother, but about faith, religion, history, and her own path forward.

As Zara tries to sort through her confusion, she meets Joseph, whose grandmother is also in the hospital, and whose exploration of religion and philosophy offer comfort and insight into Zara’s own line of thinking.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Attempted rape
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Alcohol consumption
  • SMoking
  • Blood & physical injury depiction
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Explosions
  • Physical assault
  • Bosnian War
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The Education of Ivy Blake by Ellen Airgood

The Education of Ivy Blake by Ellen Airgood

Ivy has loved living with her best friend, Prairie, and being part of Prairie’s lively, happy family. But now Ivy’s mom has decided to take her back. Ivy tries to pretend everything is fine, but her mom’s neglect and embarrassing public tantrums often make Ivy feel ashamed and alone. Fortunately, Ivy is able to find solace in art, in movies, and from the pleasure she finds in observing and appreciating life’s small, beautiful moments. And when things with her mom reach the tipping point, this ability gives her the strength and power to push on and shape her own future.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Smoking mentioned
  • Hospitalisation mentioned
  • Gun violence recounted
  • Incarceration of a parent
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In the Winter Woods by Isabelle Adler

In the Winter Woods by Isabelle Adler

Declan Kensington isn’t really in the mood for Christmas. His latest mystery book sales are tanking, his finances are in a dismal state, and his spirits are anything but festive. Perhaps spending the holidays alone at his family lakeside cabin in the small village of Maplewood, Vermont, will provide him much-needed peace and quiet. Then he might finally get to work on a new book and (hopefully) jumpstart his stalling writing career.

When he starts receiving anonymous letters threatening him to leave, Declan realizes his solitary writer’s retreat isn’t at all what he bargained for. And if the threats aren’t enough, a killer strikes, casting Declan in the role of the most likely suspect. Now it’s up to him… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Dead body
  • Murder, off-page
  • Gun violence
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The Gift by Rilzy Adams

The Gift by Rilzy Adams

When Maya’s best friend, Charlotte, asks her to be her surrogate, she reluctantly agrees. Although pregnancy and motherhood were things Maya didn’t plan to deal with for years, she was willing to sacrifice nine months of her time for her best friend’s happiness.

Her world is turned inside out when Charlotte is murdered just as Maya gets confirmation of the IVF’s success. Now, Maya must raise the child she never intended to keep and preserve peace with Charlotte’s widower, Jaxon.

Soon Maya finds that pregnancy and impending motherhood are the least of her worries. She must fight against the tenderness she’s begun to feel for her best friend’s husband and she must atone for the sin she desperately tries to keep hidden. Maya Jenkins killed her best friend.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Pregnancy
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
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