His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler

His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler

His Hideous Heart edited by Dahlia Adler book cover

Thirteen of YA’s most celebrated names reimagine Edgar Allan Poe’s most surprising, unsettling, and popular tales for a new generation.

Edgar Allan Poe may be a hundred and fifty years beyond this world, but the themes of his beloved works have much in common with modern young adult fiction. Whether the stories are familiar to readers or discovered for the first time, readers will revel in Edgar Allan Poe’s classic tales, and how they’ve been brought to life in 13 unique and unforgettable ways.

Contributors include Kendare Blake (reimagining “Metzengerstein”), Rin Chupeco (“The Murders in the Rue Morge”), Lamar Giles (“The Oval Portrait”), Tessa Gratton (“Annabel Lee”), Tiffany D. Jackson (“The Cask of Amontillado”), Stephanie Kuehn (“The Tell-Tale Heart”), Emily Lloyd-Jones (“The Purloined Letter”), Hillary Monahan (“The Masque of the Red Death”), Marieke Nijkamp (“Hop-Frog”), Caleb Roehrig (“The Pit and the Pendulum”), and Fran Wilde (“The Fall of the House of Usher”).

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism, homomisia, misogyny and transmisia
  • Abusive relationship/s
  • Suicide
  • Substance abuse
  • Death of a partner (implied)
  • Murder and torture
  • Animal death
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Selection Day by Aravind Adiga

Selection Day by Aravind Adiga

Selection Day by Aravind Adiga book cover

Manju is fourteen. He knows he is good at cricket — if not as good as his elder brother Radha. He knows that he fears and resents his domineering and cricket-obsessed father, admires his brilliantly talented brother and is fascinated by CSI and curious and interesting scientific facts. But there are many things, about himself and about the world, that he doesn’t know . . . Everyone around him, it seems, has a clear idea of who Manju should be, except Manju himself. But when Manju begins to get to know Radha’s great rival, a boy as privileged and confident as Manju is not, everything in Manju’s world begins to change and… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Abusive relationship

Junk Boy by Tony Abbott

Junk Boy by Tony Abbott

Junk Boy by Tony Abbott book cover

Junk. That’s what the kids at school call Bobby Lang, mostly because his rundown house looks like a junkyard, but also because they want to put him down. Trying desperately to live under the radar at school—and at the home he shares with his angry, neglectful father—Bobby develops a sort of proud loneliness. The only buffer between him and the uncaring world is his love of the long, wooded trail between school and home.

Life grinds along quietly and hopelessly for Bobby until he meets Rachel. Rachel is an artist who sees him in a way no one ever has. Maybe it’s because she has her own kind of junk, and a parent who hates what Rachel is: gay. Together the two embark on journeys to clean up the messes that fill their lives, searching against all odds for hope and redemption.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Parental abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicidal ideation
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What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

What If It’s Us by Becky Albertalli & Adam Silvera

Arthur is only in New York for the summer, but if Broadway has taught him anything, it’s that the universe can deliver a show stopping romance when you least expect it. Ben thinks the universe needs to mind its business. If the universe had his back, he wouldn’t be on his way to the post office carrying a box of his ex-boyfriend’s things. But when Arthur and Ben meet-cute at the post office, what exactly does the universe have in store for them? Maybe nothing. After all, they get separated. Maybe everything. After all, they get reunited… But what if it is?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & coming out themes
  • Racism
  • Cheating recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Hospitalisation for a panic attack (secondary character)

The King’s Men by Nora Sakavic

The King’s Men by Nora Sakavic

The King's Men by Nora Sakavic book cover

Neil Josten is out of time. He knew when he came to PSU he wouldn’t survive the year, but with his death right around the corner he’s got more reasons than ever to live.

Befriending the Foxes was inadvisable. Kissing one is unthinkable. Neil should know better than to get involved with anyone this close to the end, but Andrew’s never been the easiest person to walk away from. If they both say it doesn’t mean anything, maybe Neil won’t regret losing it, but the one person Neil can’t lie to is himself.

He’s got promises to keep and a team to get to championships if he can just outrun Riko a little longer, but Riko’s not the only monster in Neil’s life. The truth might get them all killed—or be Neil’s one shot at getting out of this alive.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Ableism
  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Physical & emotional abuse
  • Self-harm
  • Addiction
  • Alcohol & drug use, consensual and non-consensual
  • Graphic blood and gore depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Knife violence
  • Bullying
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The Raven King by Nora Sakavic

The Raven King by Nora Sakavic

The Foxes are a fractured mess, but their latest disaster might be the miracle they’ve always needed to come together as a team. The one person standing in their way is Andrew, and the only one who can break through his personal barriers is Neil.

Except Andrew doesn’t give up anything for free and Neil is terrible at trusting anyone but himself. The two don’t have much time to come to terms with their situation before outside forces start tearing them apart. Riko is intent on destroying Neil’s fragile new life, and the Foxes have just become collateral damage.

Neil’s days are numbered, but he’s learning the hard way to go down fighting for what he believes in, and Neil believes in Andrew even if Andrew won’t believe in himself.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Ableism
  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Physical & emotional abuse
  • Self-harm
  • Addiction
  • Alcohol & drug use, consensual and non-consensual
  • Graphic blood and gore depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Knife violence
  • Bullying
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The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic

The Foxhole Court by Nora Sakavic book cover

Neil Josten is the newest addition to the Palmetto State University Exy team. He’s short, he’s fast, he’s got a ton of potential—and he’s the runaway son of the murderous crime lord known as The Butcher.

Signing a contract with the PSU Foxes is the last thing a guy like Neil should do. The team is high profile and he doesn’t need sports crews broadcasting pictures of his face around the nation. His lies will hold up only so long under this kind of scrutiny and the truth will get him killed.

But Neil’s not the only one with secrets on the team. One of Neil’s new teammates is a friend from his old life, and Neil can’t walk away from him a second time. Neil has survived the last eight years by running. Maybe he’s finally found someone and something worth fighting for.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Ableism
  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Physical & emotional abuse
  • Self-harm
  • Addiction
  • Alcohol & drug use, consensual and non-consensual
  • Graphic blood and gore depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Knife violence
  • Bullying
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Simon vs the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli

Sixteen-year-old and not-so-openly gay Simon Spier prefers to save his drama for the school musical. But when an email falls into the wrong hands, his secret is at risk of being thrust into the spotlight. Now Simon is actually being blackmailed: if he doesn’t play wingman for class clown Martin, his sexual identity will become everyone’s business. Worse, the privacy of Blue, the pen name of the boy he’s been emailing, will be compromised. With some messy dynamics emerging in his once tight-knit group of friends, and his email correspondence with Blue growing more flirtatious every day, Simon’s junior year has… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Coming out themes & blackmailed forced outing
  • Homophobia & slurs
  • Bullying

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

It’s 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over. Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she’s tiny until the night she’s sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball are forfeit. But Sophia doesn’t want to be chosen – she’s in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia’s night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s tomb. And there… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny (central theme)
  • Racism & queerphobia (specifically lesbophobia & homophobia)
  • Nonconsensual and coerced marriage of teenage girls to adult men (theme), including ‘corrective’ marriage & nonconsensual polygamy
  • Sexual harassment & sexual assault (on-page)
  • Physical & financial domestic abuse (on-page & off-page)
  • Child abuse
  • Implied suicide
  • Food deprivation mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • Explosion & fire
  • Imprisonment
  • Animal death & animal attack

A Curse of Roses by Diana Pinguicha

A Curse of Roses by Diana Pinguicha

A Curse of Roses by Diana Pinguicha book cover

There’s a famine plaguing the land, and Princess Yzabel is wasting food simply by trying to eat. Before she can even swallow, her magic—her curse—has turned her meal into a bouquet. She’s on the verge of starving, which only reminds her that the people of Portugal have been enduring the same pain. If only it were possible to reverse her magic. Then she could turn flowers…into food.

Fatyan, a beautiful Enchanted Moura, is the only one who can help. But she is trapped by magical binds. She can teach Yzabel how to control her curse—if Yzabel sets her free with a kiss. As the King of Portugal’s betrothed, Yzabel would be committing treason, but what good is a king if his country has starved to death?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Sexism
  • Sexual harassment
  • Ritualistic self-harm
  • Blood depiction
  • Body horror
  • Murder
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