Tag Archives: Mental Illness

The Bright Years by Sarah Damoff

Ryan and Lillian Bright are deeply in love, recently married, and now parents to a baby girl, Georgette. But Lillian has a son she hasn’t told Ryan about, and Ryan has an alcohol addiction he hasn’t told Lillian about, so Georgette comes of age watching their marriage rise and fall. When a shocking blow scatters their fragile trio, Georgette tries to distance herself from reminders of her parents. Years later, Lillian’s son comes searching for his birth family, so Georgette must return to her roots, unearth her family’s history, and decide whether she can open up to love for them—or herself—while there’s still time.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Alcoholism
  • Miscarriage
  • Death of a parent

The Staircase in the Woods by Chuck Wendig

A group of friends investigates the mystery of a strange staircase in the woods. While on a camping trip, five high-schoolers bound by an oath to always protect one another discover something in the middle of the forest: a mysterious staircase to nowhere. One friend climbs up but does not come back down. Then the staircase disappears. Twenty years later it reappears, and the friends return to find the lost boy—and what lies beyond the staircase.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Anxiety & depression
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Self-harm & suicidal ideation
  • Drug use
  • Body horror
  • Emesis
  • Animal abuse

Love at First Fright by Nadia El-Fassi

Rosemary is a successful horror author with a secret: she can see ghosts. So when the set of her hit novel’s film adaptation turns out to be a haunted countryside manor, she’s unfazed. What she’s less prepared for is the maddeningly handsome, completely miscast actor playing her leading man. Ellis is a Hollywood heartthrob tired of his action-hero persona. Instead, he dreams of being a serious actor, and having free time to spend gardening with his dog. Landing the lead in a historical horror movie is his chance to start fresh… until he discovers the author tried to have him… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Internalised homophobia & biphobia
  • Anxiety
  • Alcohol consumption & mentions of smoking
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother from cancer recounted
  • Death of a pet dog recounted (off-page)
  • Blackmail

Pitcher Perfect by Tessa Bailey

Boston Bearcats rookie Robbie Corrigan is living the dream. He’s made it to the NHL, his best friend/teammate and fellow “orgasm donor” is his roomie—and the women of Boston love them both. Life is sweet. That is, until he meets Skylar Paige, division 1 softball pitcher, girl least likely to take anyone’s bull…and the one member of the opposite sex immune to his charms. Robbie might be dazzled by the badass pitcher, but Skylar pegs him as a filthy player and wants nothing to do with him. When he discovers she’s carrying a serious torch for her brother’s best… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Panic attack
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandparent recounted
  • Near-drowning incident

Finders Keepers by Sarah Adler

Last week, Nina Hunnicutt was a professor about to move into a gorgeous new apartment with her long-term boyfriend. Now, she’s single, unemployed, and living with her parents. Even more surprising is the fact that Quentin Bell, her childhood neighbor (and okay, fine, crush), is also back in town—and wants to resume the treasure hunt that ended their friendship almost two decades ago. Hoping the reward promised to whoever finds the rumored riches left behind by the town’s eccentric turn-of-the-century seltzer magnate will help her get her life back on… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental divorce recounted (off-page)
  • Infidelity recounted (protagonist’s ex-fiancé)
  • Anxiety & depression (protagonist)

The Six Murders of Daphne St Clair by MacKenzie Common

When Daphne confesses to killing a number of men throughout her lifetime, she chooses Ruth to produce the podcast reporting her story. Each episode charts Daphne’s humble beginnings from the Dust Bowl in Canada to her glittering life in 70s New York – and a string of murders in her wake. Daphne tells her story. Ruth listens. And edits it. The public are hooked. Is she a feminist icon taking revenge on bad men? Or just a ruthless criminal? Then, as the podcast finale approaches, it becomes clear that neither woman has been entirely honest with the other. Who has been controlling the narrative? After all, the truth doesn’t always make for the best story…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & misogyny
  • Rape
  • Domestic violence & child abuse
  • Alcoholism mentioned
  • Murder

Marble Hall Murders by Anthony Horowitz

Editor Susan Ryeland has left her Greek island, her hotel, and her Greek boyfriend Andreas in search of a new life back in England. Freelancing for Causton Books, she’s working on the manuscript of a novel, Pund’s Last Case, by a young author named Eliot Crace, a continuation of the popular Alan Conway series. Susan is surprised to learn that Eliot is the grandson of legendary children’s author Marian Crace, who died some fifteen years ago—murdered, Elliot insists, by poison. As Susan begins to read the manuscript’s opening chapters, the skeptical editor… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence mentioned
  • Alcoholism & substance addiction
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Terminal illness
  • Knife violence
  • Animal injury

The Blue by Lucy Clarke

Lana and her best friend Kitty leave home looking for freedom—and that’s exactly what they find when they are invited onto The Blue, a fifty-foot yacht making its way from the Philippines to New Zealand. The crew is made up of a group of young travellers bitten by wanderlust, and it doesn’t take long for Lana and Kitty’s dream of sea-bound romance to turn into reality. Both women fall under the hypnotic spell of The Blue, spending their days exploring remote islands and their rum-filled nights relaxing on deck… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Alcoholism
  • Suicide

The Hike by Lucy Clarke

Maggie, Liz, Helena & Joni. Old friends bound by history, adventures, old secrets. And now, bound by murder. They lace up their hiking boots for the adventure of a lifetime in the Norwegian wilderness: a place of towering mountains, glass-like lakes, log cabins and forests stolen from a fairytale. It’s the perfect place to lose yourself – until a broken body is found at the bottom of a ravine. Somewhere out there, someone knows exactly why a woman has died. And in this deep, dark wilderness, there’s a killer on the trail . . .

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Substance addiction & drug abuse
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Death of a parent
  • Landside
  • Animal hunting

Do Not Disturb by Claire Douglas

After what happened in London, Kirsty needs a fresh start with her family. And running a guesthouse in the Welsh mountains sounds idyllic. But then their first guest arrives. Selena is the last person Kirsty wants to see. It’s 17 years since she tore everything apart. Why has she chosen now to walk back into Kirsty’s life? Is Selena running from something too? Or is there an even darker reason for her visit?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Attempted suicide & mentions of depression
  • Chronic illness
  • Blackmail mentioned