Tag Archives: Loss of Autonomy

One Dark Window by Rachel Gillig

Elspeth needs a monster. The monster might be her. Elspeth Spindle needs more than luck to stay safe in the eerie, mist-locked kingdom of Blunder—she needs a monster. She calls him the Nightmare, an ancient, mercurial spirit trapped in her head. He protects her. He keeps her secrets. But nothing comes for free, especially magic. When Elspeth meets a mysterious highwayman on the forest road, her life takes a drastic turn. Thrust into a world of shadow and deception, she joins a dangerous quest to cure Blunder from the dark magic infecting it. And the highwayman? He just so happens to be the King’s nephew, Captain… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment & child neglect
  • Self-harm for magic mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Whipping
  • Loss of autonomy (possession/mind control)

Masters of Death by Olivie Blake

Viola Marek is a struggling real estate agent, and a vampire. But her biggest problem currently is that the house she needs to sell is haunted. The ghost haunting the house has been murdered, and until he can solve the mystery of how he died, he refuses to move on. Fox D’Mora is a medium, and though is also most-definitely a shameless fraud, he isn’t entirely without his uses—seeing as he’s actually the godson of Death. When Viola seeks out Fox to help her with her ghost-infested mansion, he becomes inextricably involved in a quest that neither he nor Vi expects (or wants). But with the help of an unruly poltergeist, a demonic personal trainer, a sharp-voiced angel, a love-strick… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Body horror
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)

Zhara by S. Jae-Jones

Magic is forbidden throughout the Morning Realms. Magicians are called abomination, and blamed for the plague of monsters that razed the land twenty years before.

Jin Zhara already had enough to worry about—appease her stepmother’s cruel whims, looking after her blind younger sister, and keeping her own magical gifts under control—without having to deal with rumors of monsters re-emerging in the marsh. But when a chance encounter with… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Homomisia
  • Transmisia & misgendering
  • Child abuse
  • Body horror
  • Emesis
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)

Delicious Monsters by Liselle Sambury

Daisy sees dead people—something impossible to forget in bustling, ghost-packed Toronto. She usually manages to deal with her unwanted ability, but she’s completely unprepared to be dumped by her boyfriend. So when her mother inherits a secluded mansion in northern Ontario where she spent her childhood summers, Daisy jumps at the chance to escape. But the house is nothing like Daisy expects, and she begins to realize that her experience with the supernatural might be no match for her mother’s secrets, nor what lurks within these walls… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism mentioned
  • Fatmisia & body shaming discussed
  • Sexual assault of a child recounted
  • Grooming
  • Physical child abuse & neglect recounted including confinement, off-page
  • Suicide mentioned, off-page
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Teen pregnancy mentioned
  • Body horror
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Animal attack (birds)
  • Animal death (goat), off-page

Unseelie by Ivelisse Housman

Twin sisters, both on the run, but different as day and night. One, a professional rogue, searches for a fabled treasure; the other, a changeling, searches for the truth behind her origins, trying to find a place to fit in with the realm of fae who made her and the humans who shun her.  Iselia “Seelie” Graygrove looks just like her twin, Isolde… but as an autistic changeling trying to navigate her unpredictable magic, Seelie finds it more difficult to fit in with the humans around her. When Seelie and Isolde are caught up in a heist gone wrong and make some unexpected allies… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & fantastical eugenics
  • Child abuse recounted (secondary character)
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Death of parents recounted
  • Murder
  • Knife violence
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Loss of autonomy (magical compulsion)
  • Fire
  • Bullying

Revenant Gun by Yoon Ha Lee

When Shuos Jedao wakes up for the first time, several things go wrong. His few memories tell him that he’s a seventeen-year-old cadet–but his body belongs to a man decades older.  Hexarch Nirai Kujen orders Jedao to reconquer the fractured hexarchate on his behalf even though Jedao has no memory of ever being a soldier, let alone a general.  Surely a knack for video games doesn’t qualify you to take charge of an army? Soon Jedao learns the situation is even worse.  The Kel soldiers under his command may be compelled to obey him, but they hate him thanks to a mass… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Dubious consent scenarios
  • Memory loss
  • Suicide
  • Body horror
  • Death of a child
  • Torture
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control)
  • War themes

Dragon Pearl by Yoon Ha Lee

Thirteen-year-old Min comes from a long line of fox spirits. But you’d never know it by looking at her. To keep the family safe, Min’s mother insists that none of them use any fox-magic, such as Charm or shape-shifting. They must appear human at all times. Min feels hemmed in by the household rules and resents the endless chores, the cousins who crowd her, and the aunties who judge her. She would like nothing more than to escape Jinju, her neglected, dust-ridden, and impoverished planet. She’s counting the days until she can follow her older brother, Jun, into the Space Forces and see more of the Thousand Worlds… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Familial estrangement
  • Loss of autonomy (magical coercion)

Ninefox Gambit by Yoon Ha Lee

Captain Kel Cheris of the hexarchate is disgraced for using unconventional methods in a battle against heretics. Kel Command gives her the opportunity to redeem herself by retaking the Fortress of Scattered Needles, a star fortress that has recently been captured by heretics. Cheris’s career isn’t the only thing at stake. If the fortress falls, the hexarchate itself might be next. Cheris’s best hope is to ally with the undead tactician Shuos Jedao. The good news is that Jedao has never lost a battle, and he may be the only one who can figure out how to successfully besiege the fort… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape & sexual assault, on-page & discussed
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Graphic animal death
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Dismemberment
  • Loss of autonomy (possession & mental manipulation/control)
  • Murder & mass murder, on-page, discussed in-detail
  • Torture mentioned
  • Gun violence, on-page
  • Knife violence
  • Explosions & bombings, on-page
  • War & rebellion (central theme)
  • Battle scenes & military violence, on-page

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 injuries & illness
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Emesis
  • Seizures
  • Chronic illness
  • Death of a father from medical complications due to chronic alcoholism recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Infanticide
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault
  • Knife, arrow and axe violence
  • Imprisonment
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control & invasion)
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Naval warfare
  • Regicide
  • Animal abuse (wolf)
  • Animal death mentioned, including the death of a pet dog.

From Bad to Cursed by Lana Harper

Wild child Isidora Avramov is a thrill chaser, adept demon summoner, and—despite the whole sexy-evil-sorceress vibe—also a cuddly animal lover. When she’s not designing costumes and new storylines for the Arcane Emporium’s haunted house, Issa’s nursing a secret, conflicted dream of ditching her family’s witchy business to become an indie fashion designer in her own right. But when someone starts sabotaging the celebrations leading up to this year’s Beltane festival with dark, dangerous magic, a member of the rival Thorn family gets badly hurt—throwing immediate suspicion on the Avramovs. To clear the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Anxiety & panic attacks, on-page
  • Self-harm for ritual
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)