Tag Archives: Imprisonment & Incarceration

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of imprisonment and incarceration (which is separated from Captivity‎ and confinement but may overlap).

See also Police brutality & violence, Racism, Organised crime, and Murder & attempted murder.

The Connellys of County Down by Tracey Lange

When Tara Connelly is released from prison after serving eighteen months on a drug charge, she knows rebuilding her life at thirty years old won’t be easy. With no money and no prospects, she returns home to live with her siblings, who are both busy with their own problems. Her brother, a single dad, struggles with the ongoing effects of a brain injury he sustained years ago, and her sister’s fragile facade of calm and order is cracking under the burden of big secrets. Life becomes even more complicated when the cop who put her in prison keeps showing up unannounced… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parent with a traumatic brain injury
  • Incarceration for drug trafficking recounted

You’re Invited by Amanda Jayatissa

When Amaya is invited to Kaavi’s over-the-top wedding in Sri Lanka, she is surprised and a little hurt to hear from her former best friend after so many years of radio silence. But when Amaya learns that the groom is her very own ex-boyfriend, she is consumed by a single thought: She must stop the wedding from happening, no matter the cost.

But as the weeklong wedding celebrations begin and rumors about Amaya’s past begin to swirl… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia
  • Domestic abuse
  • Self-harm
  • Drug use
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Murder
  • Incarceration
  • Blackmail

How to Break an Evil Curse by Laura Morrison

The King of the Land of Fritillary has incurred the wrath of his ex-bestie, the evil wizard Farland Phelps. Farland curses the King’s firstborn to die if touched by sunlight, and just like that, Julianna must spend her life in the depths of a castle dungeon (emptied of prisoners and redecorated in the latest fashion, of course). A young woman of infinite resourcefulness, all she needs is a serving spoon, a loose rock in the wall, and eight years of digging, and Julianna is free to explore the city—just not while the sun is out!.. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Executions mentioned
  • Poisoning
  • Imprisonment mentioned

Desire or Defense by Leah Brunner

The notoriously angry, grouchy, D.C. Eagles defenseman that just can’t keep his temper in check. The temper that leads to a fifteen game suspension from the NHL. As if that’s not bad enough, I’m forced into a short term youth-hockey coaching gig. Which my manager swears will “rebuild my image.” But what I didn’t expect was for a gorgeous, spunky blonde to stomp onto the ice on day one and lecture me about being rude to her little brother. Something about this spitfire of a woman, and the boy she’s so protective of, has my defenses melting. And if I’m not careful, I’ll burst into flames, forever melting the ice I’ve carefully kept around my heart.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Incarceration of a parent
  • Death of parents in a car accident
  • Bullying

Mouth to Mouth by Tessa Bailey

A man with a prison record has no place around a fresh faced college student. Tell that to Rory Prince. He should stay the hell away from Olive Cunningham. There’s one small problem, though. She won’t stop almost getting killed—and with this too-smart, too-sweet girl holding his heart in her hands, Rory is powerless to do anything but keep saving her. Homeschooled from a young age, Olive is now out on her own and discovering the world, one milkshake flavor at a time. Until recently, she has experienced life through books. She’s walked in a million… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homomisic hate crime*
  • Child abuse & neglect recounted
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Coma mentioned*
  • Physical assault*
  • Imprisonment
  • Drowning*

*Context : The male protagonist was sentenced to jail for putting a man, who was committing a hate crime by attempting to drown the protagonist’s gay older brother, in a coma.

Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb

Fitz has survived his first hazardous mission as king’s assassin, but is left little more than a cripple. Battered and bitter, he vows to abandon his oath to King Shrewd, remaining in the distant mountains. But love and events of terrible urgency draw him back to the court at Buckkeep, and into the deadly intrigues of the royal family. Renewing their vicious attacks on the coast, the Red-Ship Raiders leave burned-out villages and demented victims in their wake. The kingdom is also under assault from within, as treachery threatens the throne of the ailing king. In this time of great danger, the fate of the kingdom may rest in Fitz’s hands—and his role in its salvation may require the ultimate sacrifice.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism & classism
  • Elder abuse
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Forced political marriage
  • Depressive episode recounted
  • Suicidal ideation mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Pregnancy & miscarriage discussed
  • Graphic blood & injury depiction, including dead bodies, emesis, seizures, and chronic illness
  • Death of a father from medical complications due to chronic alcoholism recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder and infanticide
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Knife, arrow and axe violence
  • Imprisonment
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control & invasion)
  • War themes & battle scenes and naval warfare
  • Regicide
  • Animal abuse (wolf)
  • Animal death mentioned, including the death of a pet dog

The Sandman, Vol. 1: Preludes & Nocturnes by Neil Gaiman and illustrated by Sam Kieth, Mike Dringenberg and Malcolm Jones III

A wizard attempting to capture Death to bargain for eternal life traps her younger brother Dream instead. Fearful for his safety, the wizard kept him imprisoned in a glass bottle for decades. After his escape, Dream, also known as Morpheus, goes on a quest for his lost objects of power. On the way, Morpheus encounters Lucifer and demons from Hell, the Justice League, and John Constantine, the Hellblazer.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic abuse
  • Infidelity
  • Death of a child
  • Torture
  • Imprisonment

No Place Like Here by Christina June

Ashlyn Zanotti has big plans for the summer. She’s just spent a year at boarding school and can’t wait to get home. But when Ashlyn’s father is arrested for tax evasion and her mother enters a rehab facility for “exhaustion,” a.k.a. depression, her life is turned upside down. The cherry on top? Ashlyn’s father sends her to work with a cousin she doesn’t even know at a rustic team-building retreat center in the middle of nowhere. A self-proclaimed “indoor girl,” not even Ash’s habit of leaving breadcrumb quotes—inspirational sayings she scribbles everywhere—can help her cope… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Incarcerated parent
  • Depression
  • Anaphylaxis
  • Near-drowning

Before We Disappear by Shaun David Hutchinson

Jack Nevin’s clever trickery and moral flexibility have served him well his entire life—making him the perfect assistant to the Enchantress, one of the most well-known stage magicians in early-twentieth-century Europe. Without Jack’s steady supply of stolen tricks and copycat sleight-of-hand illusions, the Enchantress’s fame would have burned out long ago—not that she would ever admit it. But when they’re forced to flee the continent for America, the Enchantress finds a new audience in Seattle at the 1909 Alaska–Yukon–Pacific World’s Fair Exposition. She and Jack are set to make a fortune until a new magician arrives on… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Racism
  • Emotional abuse & gaslighting
  • Bloodletting
  • Physical injuries, including graphic burns
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Imprisonment
  • Arson