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.

The Prince & the Apocalypse by Kara McDowell

Wren Wheeler has flown five thousand miles across the ocean to discover she’s the worst kind of traveler: the kind who just wants to go home. Her senior-year trip to London was supposed to be life-changing, but by the last day, Wren’s perfectly-planned itinerary is in tatters. There’s only one item left to check off: breakfast at The World’s End restaurant. The one thing she can still get right.

The restaurant is closed for renovations—of course—but there’s a boy there, too. A very cute boy with a posh British accent… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Depression

Yours Truly by Abby Jimenez

Dr. Briana Ortiz’s life is seriously flatlining. Her divorce is just about finalized, her brother’s running out of time to find a kidney donor, and that promotion she wants? Oh, that’s probably going to the new man-doctor who’s already registering eighty-friggin’-seven on Briana’s “pain in my ass” scale. But just when all systems are set to hate, Dr. Jacob Maddox completely flips the game . . . by sending Briana a letter.

And it’s a really good letter. Like the kind that proves that Jacob isn’t actually Satan… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Parental abandonment
  • Infidelity*
  • Divorce recounted
  • Miscarriage recounted
  • Emesis
  • Sibling with end-stage renal failure and autoimmune disease
  • Anxiety & panic attacks, on-page
  • Depression

*Context: The female protagonist’s ex-husband cheated on her with her friends.

All the Dangerous Things by Stacy Willingham

One year ago, Isabelle Drake’s life changed forever: her toddler son, Mason, was taken out of his crib in the middle of the night while she and her husband were asleep in the next room. With little evidence and few leads for the police to chase, the case quickly went cold. However, Isabelle cannot rest until Mason is returned to her—literally.

Except for the occasional catnap or small blackout where she loses track of time, she hasn’t slept in a year… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Postpartum psychosis & depression
  • Suicide
  • Miscarriage
  • Death of a child
  • Kidnapping

Flowerheart by Catherine Bakewell

Clara’s magic has always been wild. But it’s never been dangerous. Then a simple touch causes poisonous flowers to bloom in her father’s chest.

The only way to heal him is to cast an extremely difficult spell that requires perfect control. And the only person willing to help is her former best friend, Xavier, who’s grown from a sweet, shy child into someone distant and mysterious… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Drug abuse (fantastical substance)
  • Anxiety
  • Emesis
  • Body horror

Yolk by Mary H.K. Choi

Jayne Baek is barely getting by. She shuffles through fashion school, saddled with a deadbeat boyfriend, clout-chasing friends, and a wretched eating disorder that she’s not fully ready to confront. But that’s New York City, right? At least she isn’t in Texas anymore, and is finally living in a city that feels right for her.

On the other hand, her sister June is dazzlingly rich with a high-flying finance job and a massive apartment. Unlike Jayne, June has never struggled a day in her life. Until she’s diagnosed with uterine cancer… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Disordered weight & body thoughts
  • Eating disorder
  • Miscarriage
  • Cancer

String Follow by Simon Jacobs

Something strange is happening to the teens in Adena, Ohio.

A mysterious force is seeking vulnerabilities to exploit, friendships to hijack, untapped rage to harness toward its own ends. Who will serve it best? Claire is abrasive and aimless, embarrassed by her privilege. Weak-willed David entertains fantasies of cultish orgies, while Tyler covertly takes up residence in his basement. Greg wages war on the voices in his head, while his sister Beth quietly, furiously unravels… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Schizophrenia & psychosis
  • Attempted suicide
  • Drug use
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • School shooting
  • Car accident
  • Fire

Deep in Providence by Riss M. Neilson

For best friends Miliani, Inez, Natalie and Jasmine, Providence, Rhode Island has a magic of its own. From the bodegas and late-night food trucks on Broad Street to The Hill that watches over the city, every corner of Providence glows with memories of them practicing spells, mixing up potions and doing séances with the help of the magic Miliani’s Filipino grandfather taught her.

But when Jasmine is killed by a drunk driver, the world they have always known is left haunted… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Religious bigotry & trauma
  • Sexual harassment
  • Child abandonment
  • Anxiety
  • Parent with substance addiction
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Overdose
  • Pregnancy
  • Abortion
  • Forced institutionalisation mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Car accident, off-page
  • Deportation mentioned

Passion or Penalty by Leah Brunner

Ever sent your brother’s best friend a video expressing your undying love for him? While hopped up on pain meds? No? Just me then? Once I knew this girl who sent a video of herself to her brother’s best friend… while she was hopped up on pain meds. And he didn’t reciprocate her feelings. Sounds like a hilarious story, right? WRONG. This really happened… to ME, Melanie Taylor. That was five years ago, so I’m over it—over him. At least, I thought I was… until West got traded to the D.C. Eagles and moved to the same city as me! Oh yeah, did I forget to mention my brother’s best friend is Weston Kershaw? An incredibly talented… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Anxiety and panic attacks, on-page
  • Mentions of being trapped under ice and nearly drowning as a child

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

The Serpent and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

The adopted human daughter of the Nightborn vampire king, Oraya carved her place in a world designed to kill her. Her only chance to become something more than prey is entering the Kejari: a legendary tournament held by the goddess of death herself. But winning won’t be easy amongst the most vicious warriors from all three vampire houses. To survive, Oraya is forced to make an alliance with a mysterious rival. Everything about Raihn is dangerous. He is a ruthless vampire, an efficient killer, an enemy to her father’s… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault recounted
  • Anxiety attacks
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Blood, gore and injury depiction including dead bodies
  • Death of a wife and child recounted
  • Building collapse
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Whipping
  • Explosions & fire
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Animal attack
  • Animal hunting & death