Tag Archives: Mental Illness

Taming Seraphine by Gigi Styx

They captured me, broke me. Molded me into their perfect weapon. They made me murder and seduce strangers. Until a hitman killed my captors and set me free. Leroi: I rescued a girl from a basement thinking she was innocent, but I brought home a serial killer whose darkness borders on insanity. Now, I need to tame her murderous instincts before I become her next victim. Seraphine is reckless, unstable, and likely to get us both destroyed. Every instinct says I should end her, but she’s too captivating to resist.Each day, she draws me deeper into her web, her allure stripping my self-control. But I’m harboring secrets treach… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape, sexual assault & dubious consent (‘dubcon’)
  • Paedophilia & child sexual abuse
  • Child abandonment
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Cannibalism
  • Gential mutilation (castration) & dismemberment
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Knife play
  • Electrocution
  • Organised crime
  • Car accident
  • Kidnapping
  • Human & organ trafficking

Breaking Rosalind by Gigi Styx

I wove a deadly web, but it became my trap. Rosalind: I’m a cold-blooded killer, a femme fatale with a long list of victims. My latest target being Cesare Montesano. I must kill him and his brothers to protect my innocent young daughter. He catches me in the middle of the mission, but I’m not scared. I might be his prisoner yet I’m not without weapons. And I will use every trick in the book to disarm him and escape. Cesare: She tried to inject me with a poisonous syringe. Now, she’s my captive with a head full of secrets. Secrets that threaten my brother’s lives and rob our family’s power. She’s a betrayer, just like all the others, but I won’t… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Workplace sexual harassment
  • Child abuse & grooming recounted
  • Stockholm Syndrome & dubious consent (‘dubcon’)
  • Self-harm (cutting)
  • Drugging
  • Forced pregnancy & teen pregnancy recounted
  • Body modification, scars & branding, including tracker insertion
  • Genital mutilation (castration, stitching)
  • Dismemberment & evisceration
  • Murder & mass murder
  • Murder of a mother & father
  • Graphic torture, Russian roulette & sensory deprivation
  • Kidnapping
  • Blackmail
  • Animal cruelty recounted

Context : Depiction of BDSM & kink, including bondage, temperature play, pet play, breath play, candle play, gun play, hebephilia, knife play, and medical play

Snaring Emberly by Gigi Styx

Revenge was supposed to be simple, but love had other plans Emberly: When an abusive ex corners me in a nightclub, I cling to the first man I see for protection. Little do I know he’s a mafia Don, fresh out of prison and eager for a one-night stand. One night extends into two, then three. I’m beginning to suspect I can’t leave. But every time I raise questions, he answers with offers impossible to resist. Sometimes, it’s hard to tell if I’m just paranoid or a pawn in a much larger game. Roman: When a man gets jailed for a crime he didn’t commit, the first thing he wants after leaving death row is vengeance. The bastard who framed me… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Domestic violence mentioned
  • Elder abuse
  • Forced marriage
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & panic attacks
  • Attempted suicide, immolation & threats of suicide bombing
  • Drugging
  • Forced pregnancy due to birth control tampering
  • Male genital mutilation
  • Dismemberment, desecration of a corpse, and cremation of living people
  • Murder
  • Torture (waterboarding)
  • Organised crime (mafia)
  • Kidnapping & imprisonment

Context : Depiction of BDSM & kink, including voyeurism, exhibitionism, and mentions of urophilia

I Will Mend You by Gigi Styx

My worst nightmare finally stepped out of the mirror. And the only man who can save me is a ghost. I’m trapped in a forgotten nightmare with the monster I most fear. The key to my freedom lies behind a wall of memories. Xero’s specter invades my mind, whispering both vengeance and salvation. He insists he’s real, yet I can’t trust my shattered psyche. But as my tormentors draw close, I must rely on the phantom I betrayed for protection—and for revenge. She’s ensnared by darkness, and only I can set her free. To save her, I must become the vengeful spirit she fears. Amethyst’s mind is a maze of terror and confusion. Freeing… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child & organ trafficking
  • Elder abuse
  • Victim-blaming
  • Rape, dubious consent (‘dubcon’), sexual harassment, & attempted sexual assault
  • Paedophilia, grooming, & child sexual abuse
  • Underage sex work mentioned (secondary character)
  • Gang rape (secondary character)
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Hallucinations & memory loss
  • Immolation
  • Abortion (forced) recounted
  • Medical misconduct (medication tampering)
  • Forced feeding
  • Cannibalism & dismemberment
  • Genital mutilation (castration)
  • Murder & murder of a child/infant
  • Graphic torture (on-page)
  • Car accident
  • Poisoning
  • Arson
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Imprisonment
  • Stalking & blackmail
  • Bullying & online harassment

I Will Break You by Gigi Styx

My prison pen pal got the electric chair. So how can he sext me from the grave? I see dead people, and not just the men I murdered. I’m in danger of being committed because I can’t tell what’s real from my hallucinations. Everyone thinks I’m crazy when the serial killer I jilted starts haunting my house. He assassinates any man who shows me interest, leaving their body parts under my pillow. During the day, his gaslighting destroys my peace of mind. But at night, he invades my nightmares and makes me crave the depravity. She ghosted me at the altar. Now, I’m aching for revenge. I want to break her, piece by delicious piece. Revel in her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Teacher-student relationship recounted
  • Victim-blaming
  • Paedophilia, grooming & child sexual abuse recounted
  • Rape & sexual assault
  • Gang rape mentioned (secondary character)
  • Underage sex work mentioned (secondary character)
  • Hallucinations & memory loss
  • Suicide
  • Abortion (forced) & miscarriage recounted
  • Medical misconduct (medication tampering)
  • Dismemberment and desecration of a corpse & grave
  • Genital mutilation (castration)
  • Torture
  • Strangulation
  • Car accident
  • Imprisonment
  • Cults
  • Stalking
  • Bullying, online harassment & doxxing

Context : Depiction of BDSM & kink, including erotophonophilia, sadism, phrogging, collaring, spanking, osteophilia, fear play, mask play, knife play, gun play, and mentions of coprophilia,

Poisoning Ivy by Carly Claire

The mountain was always my safe place… until it wasn’t. It was my refuge from the cold loneliness of the city, from my parent’s loveless marriage, from their anger and chaos. Even when they left me with my creepy uncle, I looked forward to summers at the cabin, especially after I met them. The reapers. Killian, Monty, and Theo. They were my friends, the secret I kept to make my life tolerable. And then one summer, their friendship turned into something sinister. Their hatred kept me alive, fed a part of me that needed it. I thought it turned into something more, but then… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Sex trafficking mentioned (off-page)
  • Child physical & sexual abuse and neglect (implied)
  • Rape & dubious consent (‘dubcon’), including forced voyeurism and gun play
  • Depression & suicidal ideation
  • Domestic abuse
  • Pregnancy discussed
  • Mutilation
  • Murder
  • Home invasion

Where He Left Me by Nicole Baart

College professors Sadie Sheridan and Felix Graham are on sabbatical at Hemlock House, located on a remote mountain homestead established years ago by Felix’s family. When Felix leaves on a work trip but doesn’t return, effectively stranding Sadie on the mountain, her world collapses. Alone at Hemlock House, frantic Sadie struggles to make sense of what her missing astronomer husband left behind. Forced to confront two mysterious trespassers just as a powerful storm bears down, Sadie and the strangers have no choice but to ride it out together. As conditions worsen and shocking secrets are revealed, Sadie must face… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Familial estrangement
  • Domestic abuse
  • Dementia
  • Death of a mother mentioned
  • Disspearance
  • Gun violence

The Three Lives of Cate Kay by Kate Fagan

Cate Kay knows how to craft a story. As the creator of a bestselling book trilogy that struck box office gold as a film series, she’s one of the most successful authors of her generation. The thing is, Cate Kay doesn’t really exist. She’s never attended author events or granted any interviews. Her real identity had been a closely guarded secret, until now. As a young adult, she and her best friend Amanda dreamed of escaping their difficult homes and moving to California to become movie stars. But the day before their grand adventure, a tragedy shattered their dreams and Cate has been on the run ever since, taking on different names and.… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Physical & verbal child abuse
  • Child abandonment & neglect
  • Infidelity
  • Alcoholism
  • Grief & loss depiction

The River Is Waiting by Wally Lamb

Corby Ledbetter is struggling. New fatherhood, the loss of his job, and a growing secret addiction have thrown his marriage to his beloved Emily into a tailspin. And that’s before he causes the tragedy that tears the family apart. Sentenced to prison, Corby struggles to survive life on the inside, where he bears witness to frightful acts of brutality but also experiences small acts of kindness and elemental kinship with a prison librarian who sees his light and some of his fellow offenders, including a tender-hearted cellmate and a troubled teen desperate for a role model. Buoyed… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape (sodomy)
  • Death of a child
  • Alcohol & substance addiction
  • Incarceration

The Emperor of Gladness by Ocean Vuong

One late summer evening in the post-industrial town of East Gladness, Connecticut, nineteen-year-old Hai stands on the edge of a bridge in pelting rain, ready to jump, when he hears someone shout across the river. The voice belongs to Grazina, an elderly widow succumbing to dementia, who convinces him to take another path. Bereft and out of options, he quickly becomes her caretaker. Over the course of the year, the unlikely pair develops a life-altering bond, one built on empathy, spiritual reckoning, and heartbreak, with the power to alter Hai’s relationship to himself, his family, and a community at the brink.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & racism
  • Substance addiction & drug abuse
  • Dementia discussed
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Animal abuse & death (on-page)