Tag Archives: Knife, Sword & Axe Violence

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of knife, sword, and axe, and weapon violence and stabbing.

Song of Silver, Flame Like Night by Amélie Wen Zhao

Once, Lan had a different name. Now she goes by the one the Elantian colonizers gave her when they invaded her kingdom, killed her mother, and outlawed her people’s magic. She spends her nights as a songgirl in Haak’gong, a city transformed by the conquerors, and her days scavenging for what she can find of the past. Anything to understand the strange mark burned into her arm by her mother in her last act before she died.

The mark is mysterious—an untranslatable Hin character—and no one but Lan can see it… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Colonialism
  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Death of parents
  • Genocide
  • Torture
  • Knife violence
  • Physical assault
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)

The Fallen & the Kiss of Dusk by Carissa Broadbent

Mische made the ultimate sacrifice to save those she loves – and plunged the world into an eternal night. Now, imprisoned by the gods and obsessed with revenge, Asar is desperate to find her again. When a goddess offers them a final path to redemption – and back to each other – Asar and Mische embark on an extraordinary mission. Together, they must seize the power of the god of death so Asar may do the impossible: ascend to true divinity. Their journey will take them through mortal and immortal realms, alongside both old friends and ruthless… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction
  • Emesis
  • Murder
  • Graphic torture
  • Sword violence
  • War themes & mentions of genocide

Mother of Death and Dawn by Carissa Broadbent

In the wake of a crushing defeat, Tisaanah and Maxatarius have been ripped apart. Tisaanah is desperate to rescue Max from his imprisonment, even as her people’s fight for freedom grows more treacherous. But within the walls of Ilyzath, Max’s mind is a shadow of what it once was… leaving his past a mystery and his future at the mercy of Ara’s new, ruthless queen. Meanwhile, in the Fey lands, Aefe has been dragged back into this world by a king who vows to destroy civilizations in her name. But even as her past returns to claim her, her former self… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction
  • Emesis
  • Murder
  • Graphic torture
  • Sword violence
  • War themes & mentions of genocide

Children of Fallen Gods by Carissa Broadbent

No war can be fought with clean hands. Not even the ones waged for the right reasons. Not even the ones you win. Tisaanah bargained away her own freedom to save those she left behind in slavery. Now, bound by her blood pact, she must fight the Orders’ war — and Max is determined to protect her at all costs. But when a betrayal tears apart Ara, Max and Tisaanah are pushed into an even bloodier conflict. Tisaanah must gamble with Reshaye’s power to claim an impossible victory. And Max, forced into leadership, must confront everything he hoped to forget: his past… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Trauma & nightmares
  • Blood, gore & injury depiction
  • Emesis
  • Medical experimentation
  • Murder
  • Sword violence
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Kidnapping
  • War themes & mentions of genocide

The Dire King by William Ritter

The fate of the world is in the hands of detective of the supernatural R. F. Jackaby and his intrepid assistant, Abigail Rook. An evil king is turning ancient tensions into modern strife, using a blend of magic and technology to push Earth and the Otherworld into a mortal competition. Jackaby and Abigail are caught in the middle as they continue to solve the daily mysteries of New Fiddleham, New England — like who’s created the rend between the worlds, how to close it, and why zombies are appearing around. At the same time, the romance between Abigail and the shape… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Sword & knife violence
  • Animal attack

Ghostly Echoes by William Ritter

Jenny Cavanaugh, the ghostly lady of 926 Augur Lane, has enlisted the investigative services of her fellow residents to solve a decade-old murder—her own. Abigail Rook and her eccentric employer, Detective R. F. Jackaby, dive into the cold case, starting with a search for Jenny’s fiancé, who went missing the night she died. But when a new, gruesome murder closely mirrors the events of ten years prior, Abigail and Jackaby realize that Jenny’s case isn’t so cold after all, and her killer may be far more dangerous than they… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia
  • Murder
  • Sword violence
  • Physical assault of a trans woman mentioned

Every Last Fear by Alex Finlay

After a late night of partying, NYU student Matt Pine returns to his dorm room to devastating news: nearly his entire family—his mom, his dad, his little brother and sister—have been found dead from an apparent gas leak while vacationing in Mexico. The local police claim it was an accident, but the FBI and State Department seem far less certain—and they won’t tell Matt why. The tragedy makes headlines everywhere because this isn’t the first time the Pine family has been thrust into the media spotlight. Matt’s older brother, Danny—currently serving a life sentence for the murder… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Prescription drug abuse & recreational drug use
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a girlfriend, daughter & sister
  • Death of a mother & father
  • Murder
  • Stabbing
  • Gassing
  • Physical assault
  • Wrongful imprisonment
  • Animal attack mentioned

A Kingdom of Fire and Fate by Holly Renee

Love and loyalty collide in the aftermath of war, where Sorin consumes my every thought. Haunted by nightmares, the intensity of our connection blazes brighter than ever. In the dead of night, he visits, whispering promises of a future that weakens my resolve. The fear of losing him becomes an inferno, overshadowing all else. But destiny takes a wicked twist. When news arrives that the human king, now allied with Evren’s father, has invited Starblessed contenders to compete for his hand in marriage, I embark on a perilous journey into enemy territory. My goal: to uncover the enigmatic ruler’s… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Infidelity (on-page)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood and injury depiction
  • Consensual blood-drinking (on-page) & nonconsensual blood-drinking recounted
  • Grief and loss depiction
  • Death of a friend in battle recounted
  • Death of a father from heart failure mentioned
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Torture recounted
  • Sword violence
  • Kidnapping and captivity (on-page & recounted)

The Last Voyage of Poe Blythe by Ally Condie

Who do you become when you have nothing left to lose? There is something Poe Blythe, the seventeen-year-old captain of the Outpost’s last mining ship, wants far more than the gold they tear from the Serpentine River. Revenge. Poe has vowed to annihilate the river raiders who robbed her of everything two years ago. But as she navigates the treacherous waters of the Serpentine and realizes there might be a traitor among her crew, she must also reckon with who she has become, who she wants to be, and the ways love can change and shape you. Even – and especially – when you think all is lost.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic physical injuries including burns & gunshot wounds
  • Battle scenes including violent takeovers by raiders and knife & gun violence
  • Fire

A War of Wyverns by S.F. Williamson

Who is Vivien Featherswallow? Is she The Swallow, the most wanted rebel in all of Britannia? Is she a Brasstongue on the cusp of translating a new language? Or is she just Viv, the girl who lost the love of her life after playing spy? Though this war might have begun with bombs and teeth, it will be fought with tongues. And Viv will soon learn that everything she thought she knew—even about herself—might be a lie.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned & smoking (on-page)
  • Blood & injury depiction, including amputation
  • Imprisonment mentioned
  • War themes & battle scenes, including chemical gassing, knife & crossbow violence, and stabbing
  • Mythical animal attacks, injuries & cruelty, including torture and death of a dragon from a poisonous bullet