Dreams of Gods and Monsters by Laini Taylor

Dreams of Gods & Monsters by Laini Taylor

Two worlds are poised on the brink of a vicious war. By way of a staggering deception, Karou has taken control of the chimaera’s rebellion and is intent on steering its course away from dead-end vengeance. The future rests on her.

When the brutal angel emperor brings his army to the human world, Karou and Akiva are finally reunited – not in love, but in a tentative alliance against their common enemy. It is a twisted version of their long-ago dream, and they begin to hope that it might forge a way forward for their people. And, perhaps, for themselves.

But with even bigger threats on the horizon, are Karou and Akiva strong enough to stand among the gods and monsters?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Graphic sexual assault
  • Rape mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies & body parts
  • Physical injuries
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes
  • Cult
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Days of Blood and Starlight by Laini Taylor

Days of Blood & Starlight by Laini Taylor

Once upon a time, an angel and a devil fell in love and dared to imagine a world free of bloodshed and war.

This is not that world.

Art student and monster’s apprentice Karou finally has the answers she has always sought. She knows who she is—and what she is. But with this knowledge comes another truth she would give anything to undo: She loved the enemy and he betrayed her, and a world suffered for it.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault
  • Attempted rape
  • Nightmares
  • Suicide
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies & body parts
  • Physical injuries
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

Silver in the Wood by Emily Tesh

There is a Wild Man who lives in the deep quiet of Greenhollow, and he listens to the wood. Tobias, tethered to the forest, does not dwell on his past life, but he lives a perfectly unremarkable existence with his cottage, his cat, and his dryads.

When Greenhollow Hall acquires a handsome, intensely curious new owner in Henry Silver, everything changes. Old secrets better left buried are dug up, and Tobias is forced to reckon with his troubled past—both the green magic of the woods, and the dark things that rest in its heart.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Mild blood depiction & physical injuries
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Kidnapping
  • Disappearance of a loved one
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

On the Come Up by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Bri wants to be one of the greatest rappers of all time. Or at least make it out of her neighborhood one day. As the daughter of an underground rap legend who died before he hit big, Bri’s got big shoes to fill. But now that her mom has unexpectedly lost her job, food banks and shutoff notices are as much a part of Bri’s life as beats and rhymes. With bills piling up and homelessness staring her family down, Bri no longer just wants to make it—she has to make it.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Abeism & ableist language
  • Classism
  • Racism & racial profiling
  • Substance addiction
  • Drug use
  • Death of a parent
  • Gun violence
  • Incarceration
  • Police brutality mentioned
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

Concrete Rose by Angie Thomas

If there’s one thing seventeen-year-old Maverick Carter knows, it’s that a real man takes care of his family. As the son of a former gang legend, Mav does that the only way he knows how: dealing for the King Lords. With this money he can help his mom, who works two jobs while his dad’s in prison.Life’s not perfect, but with a fly girlfriend and a cousin who always has his back, Mav’s got everything under control.

Until, that is, Maverick finds out he’s a father. Suddenly he has a baby, Seven, who depends on him for everything. But it’s not so easy to sling dope, finish school, and raise a child. So when he’s offered the chance to go straight, he takes it. In a world where he’s expected to amount to nothing, maybe Mav can prove he’s different.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Coming out themes
  • Bimisia
  • Child neglect & parental abandonment
  • Recreational drug use
  • Substance addiction mentioned
  • Postnatal depression discussed
  • Teen pregnancy (theme)
  • Abortion discussed
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a cousin
  • Death of a sister to sickle cell mentioned
  • Incarceration
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Gang violence
  • Police brutality & violence mentioned
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas

Sixteen-year-old Starr Carter moves between two worlds: the poor neighborhood where she lives and the fancy suburban prep school she attends. The uneasy balance between these worlds is shattered when Starr witnesses the fatal shooting of her childhood best friend Khalil at the hands of a police officer. Khalil was unarmed. Soon afterward, his death is a national headline. Some are calling him a thug, maybe even a drug dealer and a gangbanger. Protesters are taking to the streets in Khalil’s name. Some cops… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Physical child abuse & domestic abuse mentioned
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & nightmares
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use mentioned
  • Teen pregnancy recounted
  • Death of a friend & child (on-page & recounted)
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Gang violence
  • Incarceration recounted
  • Police brutality & violence, including the fatal shooting of an unarmed Black teen

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Noah Ramirez thinks he’s an expert on romance. He has to be for his popular blog, the Meet Cute Diary, a collection of trans happily ever afters. There’s just one problem—all the stories are fake. What started as the fantasies of a trans boy afraid to step out of the closet has grown into a beacon of hope for trans readers across the globe.

When a troll exposes the blog as fiction, Noah’s world unravels. The only way to save the Diary is to convince everyone that the stories are true, but he doesn’t have any proof. Then Drew walks into Noah’s life, and the pieces fall into place: Drew is willing to fake-date Noah to save the Diary. But when Noah’s feelings grow beyond their staged romance, he realizes that dating in real life isn’t quite the same as finding love on the page.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism mentioned
  • Transmisia & transmisogyny mentioned
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks
  • Attempted suicide recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Emesis
  • Bullying mentioned
  • Cyberharassment
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas

Wild and Crooked by Leah Thomas

In Samsboro, Kentucky, Kalyn Spence’s name is inseparable from the brutal murder her father committed when he was a teenager. Forced to return to town, Kalyn must attend school under a pseudonym . . . or face the lingering anger of Samsboro’s citizens, who refuse to forget the crime.

Gus Peake has never had the luxury of redefining himself. A Samsboro native, he’s either known as the “disabled kid” because of his cerebral palsy, or as the kid whose dad was murdered. Gus just wants to be known as himself.

When Gus meets Kalyn, her frankness is refreshing, and they form a deep friendship. Until their families’ pasts emerge. And when the accepted version of the truth is questioned, Kalyn and Gus are caught in the center of a national uproar. Can they break free from a legacy of inherited lies and chart their own paths forward?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist slurs (r slur)
  • Classism
  • Slut-shaming
  • Queermisia (f & d slur)
  • Transmisia
  • Conversion therapy
  • Child abuse
  • Recreational drug use
  • Descriptions of dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Incarceration of a parent
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson

Nancy Drew: The Palace of Wisdom by Kelly Thompson & illustrated by Jenn St. Onge

Nancy Drew is seventeen and good at everything… ESPECIALLY solving crimes. But her totally-in-control-and-obviously-running-perfectly-smooth-(but-not-really) life hits a snag when a mysterious message drags her back to the hometown she left behind. There she’ll have to find out which of her friends are still her friends, which are enemies, and who exactly is trying to kill her…and (hopefully) stop them before they succeed.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism mentioned
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Recreational drug use
  • Hospital
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping & hostage situation
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson

The Rosewater Insurrection by Tade Thompson

All is quiet in the city of Rosewater as it expands on the back of the gargantuan alien Wormwood. Those who know the truth of the invasion keep the secret.

The government agent Aminat, the lover of the retired sensitive Kaaro, is at the forefront of the cold, silent conflict. She must capture a woman who is the key to the survival of the human race. But Aminat is stymied by the machinations of the Mayor of Rosewater and the emergence of an old enemy of Wormwood…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Rape & rape camps mentioned
  • Body horror
  • Loss of limb
  • Paedophilia & child sexual assault
  • Mass murder
  • Death by fire (‘necklacing’)