The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill 

The Witch’s Boy by Kelly Barnhill

When Ned and his identical twin brother Tumble from their raft into a raging river, only Ned survives. Villagers are convinced the wrong boy lived. But when a bandit king comes to steal the magic Ned’s mother, a Witch, is meant to protect, it’s Ned who safeguards the magic and summons the strength to protect his family and community. Meanwhile, across the Enchanted forest that borders Ned’s village lives Aine, the resourceful and pragmatic daughter of the bandit king, who is haunted by her mother’s last words to her: ‘the wrong boy will save your life, and you will save his.’… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Death of a mother
  • Attempted murder
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Drowning
  • Animal death (wolf)
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The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill 

The Ogress and the Orphans by Kelly Barnhill

Stone-in-the-Glen, once a lovely town, has fallen on hard times. Fires, floods, and other calamities have caused the people to lose their library, their school, their park, and even their neighbourliness. The people put their faith in the Mayor, a dazzling fellow who promises he alone can help. After all, he is a famous dragon slayer. (At least, no one has seen a dragon in his presence.) Only the clever children of the Orphan House and the kindly Ogress at the edge of town can see how dire the town’s problems are… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Disappearance of a child
  • Fire
  • Animal attack (birds)
  • Animal abuse & injury*

*Explanation : A dog is blinded by his previous abusive owner.

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The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill 

The Girl Who Drank the Moon by Kelly Barnhill

Every year, the people of the Protectorate leave a baby as an offering to the witch who lives in the forest. They hope this sacrifice will keep her from terrorizing their town. But the witch in the forest, Xan, is kind and gentle. She shares her home with a wise Swamp Monster named Glerk and a Perfectly Tiny Dragon, Fyrian. Xan rescues the abandoned children and deliver them to welcoming families on the other side of the forest, nourishing the babies with starlight on the journey. 

One year, Xan accidentally feeds a baby moonlight instead of starlight, filling the ordinary… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Abandonment
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother
  • Infanticide
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Animal injury
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Goblin King by Kara Barbieri 

Janneke has survived the Hunt for the Stag but all good things come with a cost. Lydian might be dead, but he took the Stag with him. Janneke now holds the mantle, while Soren, now her equal in every way, has become the new Erlking. Janneke’s powers as the new Stag has brought along haunting visions of a world thrown into chaos and the ghost of Lydian taunts her with the riddles he spoke of when he was alive. When Janneke discovers the truth of Lydian and his madness, she’s forced to see her tormentor in a different light for the first time. The world they know is dying and Lydian may have been the only person with the key to saving it.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abandonment
  • Disordered eating recounted
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Nightmares
  • Suicidal ideation & suicide (on-page)
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Graphic physical injuries, including on-page eyeball trauma & loss of vision
  • Death of a newborn son from exposure to the cold mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture (on-page & recounted)
  • Knife, arrow & axe violence
  • Drowning (on-page)
  • Kidnapping & captivity recounted
  • Animal attack (on-page)

White Stag by Kara Barbieri 

As the last child in a family of daughters, seventeen-year-old Janneke was raised to be the male heir. While her sisters were becoming wives and mothers, she was taught to hunt, track, and fight. On the day her village was burned to the ground, Janneke—as the only survivor—was taken captive by the malicious Lydian and eventually sent to work for his nephew Soren. Janneke’s survival in the court of merciless monsters has come at the cost of her connection to the human world. And when the Goblin King’s death ignites an ancient hunt for the next king, Soren senses… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Rape recounted
  • Eating disorder
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSDF)
  • Panic attacks
  • Blood & gore depiction including body mutilation
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Sword violence & stabbing
  • Torture recounted
  • Kidnapping & captivity recounted
  • Animal death & hunting (theme)

The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft

The Hod King by Josiah Bancroft

Fearing an uprising, the Sphinx sends Senlin to investigate a plot that has taken hold in the ringdom of Pelphia. Alone in the city, Senlin infiltrates a bloody arena where hods battle for the public’s entertainment. But his investigation is quickly derailed by a gruesome crime and an unexpected reunion.

Posing as a noble lady and her handmaid, Voleta and Iren attempt to reach Marya, who is isolated by her fame. While navigating the court, Voleta attracts the unwanted attention of a powerful prince whose pursuit of her threatens their plan… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery & human trafficking
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • War themes
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Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

Senlin Ascends by Josiah Bancroft

The Tower of Babel is the greatest marvel in the world. Immense as a mountain, the ancient Tower holds unnumbered ringdoms, warring and peaceful, stacked one on the other like the layers of a cake. It is a world of geniuses and tyrants, of airships and steam engines, of unusual animals and mysterious machines.

Soon after arriving for his honeymoon at the Tower, the mild-mannered headmaster of a small village school, Thomas Senlin, gets separated from his wife, Marya, in the overwhelming swarm of tourists… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Attempted rape
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My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

My Killer Vacation by Tessa Bailey

It was supposed to be a relaxing vacation in sweet, sunny Cape Cod—just me and my beloved brother—but discovering a corpse in our rental house really throws a wrench into our tanning schedule. Now a rude, crude bounty hunter has arrived on the back of his motorcycle to catch the killer and refuses to believe I can be helpful, despite countless hours of true-crime podcast listening. Not to mention a fulfilling teaching career of wrangling second graders.

A brash bounty hunter and an energetic elementary schoolteacher: the murder-solving team… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment mentioned
  • Divorce recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping mentioned
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The Special Ones by Em Bailey 

The Special Ones by Em Bailey

Esther is one of the Special Ones – four teens who live under his protection in a remote farmhouse. The Special Ones are not allowed to leave, but why would they want to? Here, they are safe from toxic modern life, safe from a meaningless existence, safe in their endless work. He watches them every moment of every day, ready to punish them if they forget who they are – all while broadcasting their lives to eager followers on the outside.

Esther knows he will renew her if she stops being Special. And yet she also knows she’s a fake. She has no ancient wisdom, no genuine… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Kidnapping
  • Cults
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The Insiders by Tijan

The Insiders by Tijan

Bailey is as normal as could be, with a genius IQ and a photographic memory. But still, normal for her. Then, things happen—a guy breaks into her house in the middle of the night to take her hostage. She finds out her father is actually billionaire tech genius Peter Francis, the same guy she’s idolized all her life. She learns all this when she meets dark, mysterious, and electrifying Kashton Colello. He’s an associate of her father’s, and he gives Bailey two choices—go with him and meet her father or survive on her own because those kidnappers are going to try again. It’s a no-brainer… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Attempted murder
  • Attempted kidnapping