Loss of Autonomy – Page 18 – Trigger Warning Database

We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal

We Free the Stars by Hafsah Faizal

The battle on Sharr is over. The dark forest has fallen. Altair may be captive, but Zafira, Nasir, and Kifah are bound for Sultan’s Keep, determined to finish the plan he set in motion: restoring the hearts of the Sisters of Old to the minarets of each caliphate, and finally returning magic to all of Arawiya. But they are low on resources and allies alike, and the kingdom teems with fear of the Lion of the Night’s return.

As the zumra plots to overthrow the kingdom’s darkest threat, Nasir fights to command the magic in his blood. He must learn to hone his power into a weapon, to wield not only against the Lion but against his father, trapped under the Lion’s control. Zafira battles a very different darkness festering in her through her bond with the Jawarat—a darkness that hums with voices, pushing her to the brink of her sanity and to the edge of a chaos she dare not unleash. In spite of the darkness enclosing ever faster, Nasir and Zafira find themselves falling into a love they can’t stand to lose…but time is running out to achieve their ends, and if order is to be restored, drastic sacrifices will have to be made.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Grooming
Coerced sexual assault*
Child abuse
Parental abuse
Starvation mentioned
Eye horror
Gore depiction
Murder
Imprisonment
Mind control
War themes
Chemical warfare

*Kissing under the disguise of someone else

Network Effect by Martha Wells

Network Effect by Martha Wells

You know that feeling when you’re at work, and you’ve had enough of people, and then the boss walks in with yet another job that needs to be done right this second or the world will end, but all you want to do is go home and binge your favorite shows? And you’re a sentient murder machine programmed for destruction? Congratulations, you’re Murderbot.

When Murderbot’s human associates (not friends, never friends) are captured and another not-friend from its past requires urgent assistance, Murderbot must choose between inertia and drastic action.

Drastic action it is, then.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Indentured servitude & slavery discussed
Amnesia
Blood & gore depiction
Physical injuries
Contagion
Murder & attempted murder
Gun violence
Explosions
Kidnapping & hostage situation
Loss of autonomy discussed

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

Rogue Protocol by Martha Wells

SciFi’s favorite antisocial A.I. is again on a mission. The case against the too-big-to-fail GrayCris Corporation is floundering, and more importantly, authorities are beginning to ask more questions about where Dr. Mensah’s SecUnit is.

And Murderbot would rather those questions went away. For good.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Self-sacrifice
Physical injuries
Murder & attempted murder
Gun violence
Loss of autonomy discussed

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

Artificial Condition by Martha Wells

It has a dark past – one in which a number of humans were killed. A past that caused it to christen itself “Murderbot”. But it has only vague memories of the massacre that spawned that title, and it wants to know more.

Teaming up with a Research Transport vessel named ART (you don’t want to know what the “A” stands for), Murderbot heads to the mining facility where it went rogue.

What it discovers will forever change the way it thinks…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Dubious consent to sex work discussed*
Blood & gore depiction
Physical injuries
Surgery for coerced body modifications
Murder & attempted murder
Mass murder recounted
Gun violence
Explosion mentioned
Kidnapping
Attempted plane crash
Mind control discussed

*Note: Android sex workers have a limited or no ability to override their mind control-like regulating system and therefore are unable to truly consent.

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

In the Shadow of Blackbirds by Cat Winters

In 1918, the world seems on the verge of apocalypse. Americans roam the streets in gauze masks to ward off the deadly Spanish influenza, and the government ships young men to the front lines of a brutal war, creating an atmosphere of fear and confusion.

Sixteen-year-old Mary Shelley Black watches as desperate mourners flock to séances and spirit photographers for comfort, but she herself has never believed in ghosts. During her bleakest moment, however, she’s forced to rethink her entire way of looking at life and death, for her first love—a boy who died in battle—returns in spirit form. But what does he want from her?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Suicide mentioned
Pandemic (Spanish Influenza)
Gore depiction
Hospitalisation
Death of a parent recounted
Murder & attempted murder
Poisoning
Mind control (possession)
War themes

Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf

Find Me Their Bones by Sara Wolf

In order to protect Prince Lucien d’Malvane’s heart, Zera had to betray him. Now, he hates the sight of her. Trapped in Cavanos as a prisoner of the king, she awaits the inevitable moment her witch severs their magical connection and finally ends her life. But fate isn’t ready to give her up just yet.

With freedom coming from the most unlikely of sources, Zera is given a second chance at life as a Heartless. But it comes with a terrible price. As the king mobilizes his army to march against the witches, Zera must tame an elusive and deadly valkerax trapped in the tunnels underneath the city if she wants to regain her humanity.

Winning over a bloodthirsty valkerax? Hard. Winning back her friends before war breaks out? A little harder. But a Heartless winning back Prince Lucien’s heart? The hardest thing she’s ever done.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Classism
Persecution for witchcraft (theme)
Child abuse recounted
Nightmares
Self-harm (on-page)
Self-sacrifice discussed
Alcohol consumption
Nonconsensual drugging
Graphic blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies
Cannibalism mentioned
Emesis
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father recounted
Death of a grandfather mentioned
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Knife violence & stabbing
Poisoning
Fire
Loss of autonomy (mind control)
Imprisonment
War themes (central theme)
Animal cruelty & torture
Animal injury, blood & body parts
Animal attack
Hunting mentioned

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf

Bring Me Their Hearts by Sara Wolf

Zera is a Heartless – the immortal, unageing soldier of a witch. Bound to the witch Nightsinger ever since she saved her from the bandits who murdered her family, Zera longs for freedom. With her heart in a jar under Nightsinger’s control, she serves the witch unquestioningly. Until Nightsinger asks Zera for a Prince’s heart in exchange for her own.

Crown Prince Lucien d’Malvane hates the royal court as much as it loves him – every tutor too afraid to correct him and every girl jockeying for a place at his side. No one can challenge him – until the arrival of Lady Zera. She’s inelegant, smart-mouthed, & out for his blood.

So begins a game of cat and mouse between a girl with nothing to lose and a boy who has it all. Winner takes the loser’s heart. Literally.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Classism
Persecution for witchcraft (theme)
Fatmisia & body shaming
Child abuse
Arranged marriage
Alcohol consumption
Alcohol abuse & alcoholism recounted
Graphic blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies
Cannibalism
Emesis
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a sister
Death of a mother & father
Death of a child mentioned
Murder & attempted murder
Torture
Knife violence & stabbing
Explosions
Fire
Kidnapping
Loss of autonomy (mind control)
Death from a fall mentioned
War themes (central theme)
Animal death and dead bodies
Death by animal attack mentioned
Bullying
Poverty themes

Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

Girls with Sharp Sticks by Suzanne Young

The Girls of Innovations Academy are beautiful and well-behaved—it says so on their report cards. Under the watchful gaze of their Guardians, the all-girl boarding school offers an array of studies and activities, from “Growing a Beautiful and Prosperous Garden” to “Art Appreciation” and “Interior Design.” The girls learn to be the best society has to offer. Absent is the difficult math coursework, or the unnecessary sciences or current events. They are obedient young ladies, free from arrogance or defiance. Until Mena starts to realize that their carefully controlled existence may not be quite as it appears.

As Mena and her friends begin to uncover the dark secrets of what’s actually happening there—and who they really are—the girls of Innovations will find out what they are truly capable of. Because some of the prettiest flowers have the sharpest thorns.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Slut shaming
Victim blaming
Body shaming
Emotional abuse & gaslighting
Rape culture (theme)
Sexual assault, on- & off-page
Sexual harassment
Rape of a minor, implied
PTSD & trauma
Nightmares & flashbacks
Dieting & food-shaming
Drugging
Alchol consumption
Infertility mentioned
Blood & gore depiction
Body horror
Physical injuries
Dead bodies
Consensual & non-consensual medical treatment
Human medical experimentation
Graphic needles
Murder & attempted murder
Graphic torture
Knife violence
Strangulation
Physical assault
Loss of autonomy (memory & mind manipulation)
Disappearance of a friend

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

The Cruel Prince by Holly Black

Jude was seven when her parents were murdered and she and her two sisters were stolen away to live in the treacherous High Court of Faerie. Ten years later, Jude wants nothing more than to belong there, despite her mortality. But many of the fey despise humans. Especially Prince Cardan, the youngest and wickedest son of the High King. To win a place at the Court, she must defy him–and face the consequences. As Jude becomes more deeply embroiled in palace intrigues and deceptions, she discovers her own capacity for trickery and bloodshed. But as betrayal threatens… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Body shaming
Slut-shaming
Slavery
Physical & psychological child abuse
Cheating
Disownment
Nightmares mentioned
Suicide, on-page
Coerced self-harm
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Drug use & drugging
Self-harm (mithridatism)
Death of a pregnant character mentioned*
Blood and gore depiction, including dead bodies & emesis
Graphic physical injuries
Decapitation & dismemberment mentioned
Grief & loss depiction
Death of mother and father, on-page
Death of friend
Death of a sister & brother
Death by a fall mentioned
Drowning
Murder and attempted murder
Knife and sword violence & stabbing
Strangulation
Torture
Kidnapping & captivity
Loss of autonomy (glamour magic)
War themes discussed
Bullying

*Context: The father of an unborn child poisons his pregnant consort in an attempt to murder her and the unborn child.

The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan

The Burning Bridge by John Flanagan

Bracing for a final clash with the evil warlord Morgarath, the Rangers rally the kingdom’s allies, and Will is chosen, along with his friend Horace, as special envoys to nearby Celtica. But the simple mission soon takes an unsettling turn – the Celticans have disappeared, their town abandoned. The scheming hand of Morgarath, it seems, has been far from idle. He has found a way to bring his legions over the once impassible eastern mountains and is planning to ambush the king’s army in a rout. Now with help many miles away, Will and Horace are the only ones standing in the way of the dark lord’s plans.They have shown great skill and courage in their training, but how will they fare in the face of true evil?

With bigger battles and higher stakes, John Flanagan’s epic adventure charges ahead with this rousing follow-up to The Ruins of Gorlan.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Disappearance of a loved one
Fire and arson
Grief and loss depiction
Hostage situation and kidnapping
Slavery
Knife violence
Mind control and possession
Physical injuries and wounds, murder and attempted murder
War and military themes