Tag Archives: Military Violence & War Themes

This page lists books which contain trigger warnings under the umbrella of war & military themes, including themes of rebellion and revolution, political coups, military violence & battle scenes, regicide, conscription, military service, and other related topics.

Grenade by Alan Gratz

Grenade by Alan Gratz

It’s 1945, and the world is in the grip of war. Hideki lives on the island of Okinawa, near Japan. When WWII crashes onto his shores, Hideki is drafted into the Blood and Iron Student Corps to fight for the Japanese army. He is handed a grenade and a set of instructions: Don’t come back until you’ve killed an American soldier. Ray, a young American Marine, has just landed on Okinawa. He doesn’t know what to expect — or if he’ll make it out alive. He just knows that the enemy is everywhere. Hideki and Ray each fight their way across the island, surviving heart-pounding ambushes… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Suicide
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Explosions
  • Gun violence
  • War World Two & military violence (theme)
  • Colonialism

Rescue by Jennifer Nielsen

Rescue by Jennifer A. Nielsen

Six hundred and fifty-seven days ago, Meg Kenyon’s father left their home in France to fight for the Allies in World War II, and that was the last time Meg saw him. Recently, she heard he was being held prisoner by the Nazis, a terrible sentence from which Meg fears he’ll never return. All she has left of him are the codes he placed in a jar for her to decipher, an affectionate game the two of them shared. But the codes are running low, and soon there’ll be nothing left of Papa for Meg to hold on to at all. Suddenly, an impossible chance to save her father falls into Meg’s lap. After following… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Antisemitism & Nazism
  • Blood depiction
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • Avalanche
  • World War Two

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

Private Peaceful by Michael Morpurgo

But the clock is ticking, and every moment Tommo spends remembering how things used to be, means another moment closer to something which will change his life forever. But the clock is ticking, and every moment Tommo spends remembering how things used to be, means another moment closer to something which will change his life forever.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consimption
  • Smoking mentioned
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Gun violence
  • Whipping
  • Military deployment in World War One (theme)
  • Animal death (dog)

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

The Diamond Eye by Kate Quinn

In 1937 in the snowbound city of Kyiv, wry and bookish history student Mila Pavlichenko organizes her life around her library job and her young son–but Hitler’s invasion of Ukraine and Russia sends her on a different path. Given a rifle and sent to join the fight, Mila must forge herself from studious girl to deadly sniper–a lethal hunter of Nazis known as Lady Death. When news of her three hundredth kill makes her a national heroine, Mila finds herself torn from the bloody battlefields of the eastern front and sent to America on a goodwill tour. Still reeling from war…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Colonialism
  • Antisemitism
  • Racism
  • Sexism
  • Slut-shaming
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • World War Two (theme)

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

The Library of the Unwritten by A.J. Hackwith

Many years ago, Claire was named Head Librarian of the Unwritten Wing– a neutral space in Hell where all the stories unfinished by their authors reside. Her job consists mainly of repairing and organizing books, but also of keeping an eye on restless stories that risk materializing as characters and escaping the library. When a Hero escapes from his book and goes in search of his author, Claire must track and capture him with the help of former muse and current assistant Brevity and nervous demon courier Leto. But what… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Panic attack, on-page
  • Self-sacrifice, on-page
  • Suicide of a friend mentioned
  • Suicide by overdose recounted
  • Suicidal ideation, on-page & mentioned
  • Minor self-injury for blood magic
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Fire
  • Drowning, on-page (two scenes)
  • Battle scenes

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson

They did the impossible – deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years. Now Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire. They did the impossible – deposing the godlike being whose brutal rule had lasted a thousand years. Now Vin, the street urchin who has grown into the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and Elend Venture, the idealistic young nobleman who loves her, must build a healthy new society in the ashes of an empire… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Slavery
  • Rape
  • Hallucinations
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm
  • Forced pregnancy
  • Eugenics
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Body horror
  • Murder
  • Knife violence
  • War themes
  • Animal cruelty

The Shadowglass by Rin Chupeco

The Shadowglass by Rin Chupeco

Tea is a bone witch with the dark magic needed to raise the dead. She has used this magic to breathe life into those she has loved and lost…and those who would join her army against the deceitful royals. But Tea’s quest to conjure a shadowglass—to achieve immortality for the one person she loves most in the world—threatens to consume her heart. Tea’s black heartsglass only grows darker with each new betrayal. And when she is left with new blood on her hands, Tea must answer to a power greater than the elder asha or even her conscience…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misgendering
  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Body horror
  • Murder
  • War themes

The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

The Heart Forger by Rin Chupeco

No one knows death like Tea. A bone witch who can resurrect the dead, she has the power to take life…and return it. And she is done with her self-imposed exile. Her heart is set on vengeance, and she now possesses all she needs to command the mighty daeva. With the help of these terrifying beasts, she can finally enact revenge against the royals who wronged her–and took the life of her one true love. But there are those who would use Tea’s dark power for their own nefarious ends. Because you can’t kill someone who can never die… War is brewing among the kingdoms, and when dark magic is at play, no one is safe.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Transmisia
  • Sexism
  • Child abuse
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies and body horror
  • Death of a brother discussed
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Imprisonment
  • Exile
  • War themes

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

The Bone Witch by Rin Chupeco

When Tea accidentally resurrects her brother from the dead, she learns she is different from the other witches in her family. Her gift for necromancy means that she’s a bone witch, a title that makes her feared and ostracized by her community. But Tea finds solace and guidance with an older, wiser bone witch, who takes Tea and her brother to another land for training. In her new home, Tea puts all her energy into becoming an asha-one who can wield elemental magic. But dark forces are approaching quickly, and in the face of danger, Tea will have to overcome her obstacles and make a choice.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Death of a brother
  • War themes
  • Bullying

Their Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe

Their Vicious Darling by Nikki St. Crowe

The Dark One has finally accepted me…just in time for everything to change. Because Vane’s brother, The Crocodile, has just arrived on Neverland soil and he’s not alone. He’s brought with him members of the royal Darkland family and they want Vane’s Death Shadow back at any cost. Of course, Peter Pan, Vane, Kas and Bash, they’re all familiar with war. But war isn’t easy when love is on the line. I know those vicious Lost Boys would do anything to protect me. But what if I’m not the one that needs saving? As power shifts on the island and shadows are claimed, all five of us have to let go of who we were, if we have any chance of becoming who we are destined to be.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexism
  • Slut-shaming
  • Threats of rape
  • Parental infidelity mentioned
  • Physical child abuse recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking mentioned
  • Drugging recounted
  • Cannibalism and blood-drinking
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Battle scene
  • Death of a pet recounted (wolf)