Tag Archives: Mental Illness

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of mental illness.

See also Anxiety, Panic attacks, Suicide, Self-harm, Phobias, Alzheimer’s Disease, and Addiction.

Into the Sunken City by Dinesh Thiru

In the slowly sinking city of Coconino, Arizona, the days are long, the money is tight, and the rain never stops. For Jin Haldar, this life is nothing new—ever since her father died in a diving accident, she’s barely made ends meet for her and her younger sister, Thara. Enter Bhili: a drifter who offers Jin and Thara the score of a lifetime—a massive stash of gold hidden in the sunken ruins of Las Vegas. Jin knows it’s too dangerous. She stopped diving after her father’s accident. But when her sister decides to go, Jin’s left with only one choice: to go with her. A ragtag crew is assembled—including Jin’s annoyingly hot ex-boyfriend. From there… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Panic attacks
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Drowning
  • Gun violence

How to End a Love Story by Yulin Kuang

Helen Zhang hasn’t seen Grant Shepard once in the thirteen years since the tragic accident that bound their lives together forever. Now a bestselling author, Helen pours everything into her career. She’s even scored a coveted spot in the writers’ room of the TV adaptation of her popular young adult novels, and if she can hide her imposter syndrome and overcome her writer’s block, surely the rest of her life will fall into place too. LA is the fresh start she needs. After all, no one knows her there. Except… Grant has done everything in his power to move on from the past, including building a life across the country. And while the panic… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Trauma & panic attacks
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sibling from suicide

Can’t Hurt Me by David Goggins

For David Goggins, childhood was a nightmare — poverty, prejudice, and physical abuse colored his days and haunted his nights. But through self-discipline, mental toughness, and hard work, Goggins transformed himself from a depressed, overweight young man with no future into a U.S. Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes. The only man in history to complete elite training as a Navy SEAL, Army Ranger, and Air Force Tactical Air Controller, he went on to set records in numerous endurance events, inspiring Outside magazine to name him “The Fittest (Real) Man in America.”

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Child abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Military enlistment & deployment (theme)

At First Spite by Olivia Dade

When Athena Greydon’s fiancé ends their engagement, she has no choice but to move into the Spite House she recklessly bought him as a wedding gift. This is a problem, for several reasons: The house, originally built as a brick middle finger to the neighbours, is only ten feet wide. Her ex’s home is attached to hers. And Dr. Matthew Vine the Freaking Third (aka the uptight, judgmental jerk who convinced his younger brother to leave her) is living on the other side, only a four-foot alley away. If she has to see Matthew every time she looks out the windows, she might as… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment & neglect recounted
  • Depression & depressive episode, on-page
  • Anxiety
  • Death of an infant sibling recounted, on-page

The Catch by Amy Lea

In a last-ditch effort to rescue her brand from the brink of irrelevance, Boston fashion influencer Melanie Karlsen finds herself in a rural fishing village on the east coast of Canada. The only thing scarier than nature itself? The burly and bearded bed-and-breakfast owner and fisherman, Evan Whaler—who single-handedly disproves the theory that Canadians are “nice.” After a boating accident lands Evan unconscious in the hospital, Mel is mistaken for his fiancée by his welcoming yet quirky family, who are embroiled in a long-standing feud over the B&B. In a bold attempt to mend family fences, Mel agrees to fake… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Near-drowning incident (on-page)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father, brother & cousin mentioned
  • Hospitalisation for a head injury sustained during a boating accident

Meet the Benedettos by Katie Cotugno

Every family is complicated, and the Benedettos are no exception. A few years after a reality show skyrocketed them to pop culture fame, the five twenty-something sisters are living together in their parent’s crumbling McMansion, almost broke and teetering toward rock bottom. Their fortunes brighten when Charlie Bingley, the dashing star of Captain Fantastic, moves into the neighbourhood with Will Darcy, his best friend from Juilliard, in tow. Charlie immediately falls for warm and lovely June, the oldest Benedetto sister. While the Benedetto’s flighty matriarch, Cinta, brashly encourages the potential match, there… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexual assault
  • Revenge pornography
  • Anorexia & disordered eating
  • Night terrors
  • Suicide
  • Overdose

Top Ten by Katie Cotugno

 Ryan McCullough and Gabby Hart are the unlikeliest of best friends. Prickly, anxious Gabby would rather do literally anything than go to a party. Ultra-popular Ryan is a hockey star who can get any girl he wants—and frequently does. But somehow their relationship just works; from dorky Monopoly nights to rowdy house parties to the top ten lists they make about everything under the sun. Now, on the night of high school graduation, everything is suddenly changing—in their lives, and in their relationship. As they try to figure out what they mean to each other and where to go from here, they make a final top ten this time, counting down the top ten moments of their friendship.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Social Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Internalised ableism
  • Emotional abuse & gaslighting
  • Emesis
  • Hospitalisation for concussion

The Burning God by R.F. Kuang

After saving her nation of Nikan from foreign invaders and battling the evil Empress Su Daji in a brutal civil war, Fang Runin was betrayed by allies and left for dead. Despite her losses, Rin hasn’t given up on those for whom she has sacrificed so much—the people of the southern provinces and especially Tikany, the village that is her home. Returning to her roots, Rin meets difficult challenges—and unexpected opportunities. While her new allies in the Southern Coalition leadership are sly and untrustworthy, Rin quickly realizes that the real power in Nikan lies… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism, sexism & colourism
  • Slavery
  • Sex-trafficking & slavery mentioned
  • Rape & sexual assault
  • Trauma, intrusive thoughts & panic attacks
  • Self-harm
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & drug abuse
  • Graphic blood, gore & injury depiction including dead bodies, amputation (off-page), mentions of medical experimentation, decapitation, cannibalism, emesis, and genital mutilation (castration)
  • Famine & starvation
  • Murder & mass death
  • Torture
  • Sword violence
  • Poisoning
  • Bombings
  • Animal abuse & death
  • Graphic war themes & battle scenes and colonialism (theme)

The Narrow Road Between Desires by Patrick Rothfuss

Bast knows how to bargain. The give-and-take of a negotiation is as familiar to him as the in-and-out of breathing; to watch him trade is to watch an artist at work. But even a master’s brush can slip. When he accepts a gift, taking something for nothing, Bast’s whole world is knocked askew, for he knows how to bargain—but not how to owe. From dawn to midnight over the course of a single day, follow the Kingkiller Chronicle’s most charming fae as he schemes and sneaks, dancing into trouble and back out again with uncanny grace.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse & domestic abuse, off-page
  • Alcoholism discussed
  • Self-harm for magic
  • Blood depiction

The Writing Retreat by Julia Bartz

Five attendees are selected for a month-long writing retreat at the remote estate of Roza Vallo, the controversial high priestess of feminist horror. Alex, a struggling writer, is thrilled. Upon arrival, they discover they must complete an entire novel from scratch, and the best one will receive a seven-figure publishing deal. Alex’s long-extinguished dream now seems within reach. But then the women begin to die. Trapped, terrified yet still desperately writing, it is clear there is more than a publishing deal at stake at Blackbriar Estate. Alex must confront her own demons – and finish her novel – to save herself.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Nazism mentioned
  • Homomisia mentioned
  • Child abuse & neglect recounted
  • Domestic abuse recounted
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Drugging
  • Gun violence
  • Bullying mentioned