Tag Archives: Mental Illness

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams 

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

Ealing after losing his beloved wife. He shops every Wednesday, goes to Temple, and worries about his granddaughter, Priya, who hides in her room reading while he spends his evenings watching nature documentaries. Aleisha is a bright but anxious teenager working at the local library for the summer when she discovers a crumpled-up piece of paper in the back of To Kill a Mockingbird. It’s a list of novels that she’s never heard of before. Intrigued, and a little bored with her slow job at the checkout desk, she impulsively decides to read every book on the list.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Depression
  • Suicide

The Color Project by Sierra Abrams

The Color Project by Sierra Abrams

Bernice Aurora Wescott has one thing she doesn’t want anyone to know: her name. That is, until Bee meets Levi, the local golden boy who runs a charity organization called The Color Project. Levi is not at all shy about attempting to guess Bee’s real name. But while Levi is everything she never knew she needed, giving up her name would feel like a stamp on forever. And that terrifies her.

When unexpected news of an illness in the family drains Bee’s summer of everything bright, she is pushed to the breaking point. Losing herself in The Color Project—a world of weddings, funerals, cancer patients, and hopeful families that the charity funds—is no longer enough. Bee must hold up the weight of her family, but to do that, she needs Levi.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Anxiety
  • Car accident

Equilibrium by Joel Abernathy

Equilibrium by Joel Abernathy

Transforming before the harvest moon was once my biggest concern, but if the Family has their way, none of us will survive that long. Fighting back means resolving the war within, but with my memories intact, I’m no closer to choosing between the twins than I was.

Domination… Deceit… Decadence. They’re all just part of life at the Lodge. Life as the hybrid Prince.

Time is running out, and my divided soul is the only thing standing between the pack I love and the cosmic battle that’s coming to an end, once and for all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Incest
  • Claustrophobia
  • Self-harm
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Medical treatment
  • Torture
  • Knifeplay
  • Car accident

Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsay Zrull 

Goth Girl, Queen of the Universe by Lindsay S. Zrull

Jess was claimed by the state when her bio mom’s mental illness made her unstable. While their relationship is far from traditional, blood ties are hard to break. There’s only one problem: Jess can’t reunite with her mom in New York City without a bunch of paperwork and she worries her social worker will never approve the trip. That’s when she remembers Oscar’s cosplay group, which is aiming for that big convention in New York . . .

So, Jess joins Oscar’s team—with every intention of using them to get to her mom. But her plan gets complicated when she discovers that, actually, cosplay is pretty great, and so is having friends. And Oscar, who Jess thought was just a shy nerd, can be as gallant and charming as the heroes he pretends to be. As the big convention draws near, Jess will have to decide whether or not chasing a dream of “family” is worth risking the family she’s built for herself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Schizophrenia
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attacks, on-page
  • Foster care system
  • Bullying

Bleed by Joel Abernathy

Bleed by Joel Abernathy

Vengeance. My purpose, carved deeper into my soul than their names carved in my flesh.

Dominic. The man who took everything from me, my own personal devil in shifting flesh. Ursache. My pack. The high-born family of wolves I’ve sworn my life to protect, even if my dying breath is pledged to another.

Mason… My everything. Friend, confidant, enemy, lover. Most dangerous of all, he would become the reason I lived if I let him. He is the one thing I won’t allow Dominic to take from me. Love is not a luxury I can afford, but the sweetness of revenge has nothing on the taste of him…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misgendering
  • Sexual assault, implied
  • Depression
  • Consensual knife & blood play
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping

Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh

Finding Junie Kim by Ellen Oh

Junie Kim just wants to fit in. So she keeps her head down and tries not to draw attention to herself. But when racist graffiti appears at her middle school, Junie must decide between staying silent or speaking out.

Then Junie’s history teacher assigns a project and Junie decides to interview her grandparents, learning about their unbelievable experiences as kids during the Korean War. Junie comes to admire her grandma’s fierce determination to overcome impossible odds, and her grandpa’s unwavering compassion during wartime. And as racism becomes more pervasive at school, Junie taps into the strength of her ancestors and finds the courage to do what is right.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Depression
  • Suicide
  • War themes
  • Bullying

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

Three Women by Lisa Taddeo

All Lina wanted was to be desired. How did she end up in a marriage with two children and a husband who wouldn’t touch her?

All Maggie wanted was to be understood. How did she end up in a relationship with her teacher and then in court, a hated pariah in her small town?

All Sloane wanted was to be admired. How did she end up a sexual object of men, including her husband, who liked to watch her have sex with other men and women?

Three Women is a record of unmet needs, unspoken thoughts, disappointments, hopes and unrelenting obsessions.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia
  • Slut-shaming
  • Rape
  • Statutory rape
  • Eating disorder (anorexia)
  • Suicide mentioned

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

The Last Boyfriend by Nora Roberts

Owen is the organizer of the Montgomery clan, running the family’s construction business with an iron fist – and an even less flexible spreadsheet. And though his brothers give him grief for his compulsive list making, the Inn BoonsBoro is about to open right on schedule. The only thing Owen didn’t plan for was Avery MacTavish….

Avery’s popular pizza place is right across the street from the inn, giving her a first-hand look at its amazing renovation — and a newfound appreciation for Owen. Since he was her first boyfriend when they were kids, Owen has never been far from Avery’s thoughts. But the attraction she’s feeling for him now is far from innocent… Read more.

.Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Infidelity discussed
  • Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
  • Abortion
  • Grief & loss depiction

Force of Nature by Jane Harper 

Force of Nature by Jane Harper

The hike through the rugged Giralang Ranges is meant to take the office colleagues out of their air-conditioned comfort zone and encourage teamwork and resilience. At least, that’s what the corporate retreat website advertises.

Federal Police investigator Aaron Falk has a keen interest in the whereabouts of the missing hiker, Alice Russell. Because Alice knew secrets, about the company she worked for and the people she worked with.

The four returning women tell Falk a tale of fear, violence and fractured trust during their days in the remote Australian bushland. And as Falk delves into the disappearance of Alice, he begins to suspect some dangers ran far deeper than anyone knew.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Cheating, on-page
  • Revenge pornography of a minor discussed
  • Alcohol consumption, on-page
  • Alcoholism & substance addiction discussed
  • Drug use & abuse recounted
  • Graphic smoking, on-page
  • Eating disorder and disordered food & weight thoughts, on-page
  • Abortion & miscarriage mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction, including a fractured wrist, head wounds, burn scars, and hospitalisation for an infected snakebite
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Murder
  • Animal attack (snake)
  • Bullying

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

I Am Pilgrim by Terry Hayes

A young woman murdered in a run-down Manhattan hotel. A father publicly beheaded in the blistering sun of Saudi Arabia. A man’s eyes stolen from his living body as he leaves a secret Syrian research laboratory. Smouldering human remains on a mountainside in the Hindu Kush.

A plot to commit an appalling crime against humanity. One thread that binds them all. One man to take the journey.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Torture
  • Terrorism