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.

The Boy I Love by William Hussey

At just 19, Stephen has already survived a year at the front. Now he is returning to the trenches to lead a platoon, despite his wounds. Broken-hearted from the loss of his first love, Stephen wonders what he’s fighting for. Then he meets Private Danny McCormick, a smart, talented young recruit. From their first meeting, there’s something undeniable between them, something forbidden by both society and the army. Determined to protect Danny, Stephen must face down the prejudices and ignorance of his superiors as well as the onslaught of German shells and sniper fire. As the summer of 1916 ticks down to one big push on the Somme, can Stephen and Danny stay together?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical homophobia including incarceration for being gay
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Gun violence
  • Explosions
  • War themes

Last Twilight in Paris by Pam Jenoff

London, 1953. Louise is still adjusting to her postwar role as a housewife when she discovers a necklace in a box at a secondhand shop. The box is marked with the name of a department store in Paris, and she is certain she has seen the necklace before when she worked with the Red Cross in Nazi-occupied Europe —and that it holds the key to the mysterious death of her friend Franny during the war. Following the trail of clues to Paris, Louise seeks help from her former boss Ian, with whom she shares a romantic history. The necklace leads them to discover the dark history of Lévitan—a once-glamorous department store that… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Chronic illness (protagonist)
  • Imprisonment
  • World War Two (theme)

The Tapestry of Time by Kate Heartfield

The Tapestry of Time by Kate Heartfield

Love, heroism and the supernatural collide in the midst of war. There’s a tradition in the Sharp family that some possess the Second Sight. But is it superstition, or true psychic power? Kit Sharp is in Paris, where she is involved in a love affair with the stunning Evelyn Larsen, and working as an archivist, having inherited her historian father’s fascination with the Bayeux Tapestry. He believes that parts of the tapestry were made before 1066, and that it was a tool for prediction, not a simple record of events. The Nazis are also obsessed with the convinced that not… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder & torture
  • Imprisonment
  • The Holocaust & World War Two mentioned including Nazism

The Chatelaine by Kate Heartfield

The Chatelaine by Kate Heartfield

Hell is empty and all the devils are here. The Chatelaine has come. The year is 1328 and Hell has overrun Bruges. Demons stalk the streets and revenants swarm the walls. The city’s men have fallen and only widows remain. But Hell should fear them. Margriet de Vos killed her first soldier when she was eleven. She has buried six children and will fight for the daughter left to her. Their only wealth is gone, taken into the inferno. And she will not be stolen from. The Devil be damned. Together with a man-at-arms with unfinished business, a widow and her forgehammer and a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical ableism, antisemitism, misogyny & misgendering
  • Sexual assault mentioned
  • Body horror
  • Famine & plague
  • War themes
  • Poverty

Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield

Alice Payne Rides by Kate Heartfield

After abducting Arthur of Brittany from his own time in 1203, thereby creating the mystery that partly prompted the visit in the first place, Alice and her team discover that they have inadvertently brought the smallpox virus back to 1780 with them. Searching for a future vaccine, Prudence finds that the various factions in the future time war intend to use the crisis to their own advantage. Can the team prevent an international pandemic across time, and put history back on its tracks? At least until the next battle in the time war…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical misogyny & lesbophobia
  • Sexual harassment (unwanted touching)
  • Childbirth mentioned
  • Plague (smallpox)
  • Death of a sister
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping & imprisonment
  • War themes & a battle scene

Claimed by Elle Kennedy

After a devastating war decimated most of the world, Hudson Lane has only known the oppressive life under her own father’s tyranny. She finally escapes, branding herself an outlaw and hunted by the Enforcers. Her best chance at survival is Connor Mackenzie, an aggressively sensual fugitive who opens her eyes to the wicked possibilities of a world without rules. As the leader of a band of outlaw fighters, Connor can’t resist the beautiful stranger who asks for his protection. Despite his reservations, he agrees to introduce her to a whole new way of life. But when Connor discover… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Murder
  • Gun & knife violence
  • War themes recounted

Max in the House of Spies by Adam Gidwitz

Max Bretzfeld doesn’t want to move to London. Leaving home is hard and Max is alone for the first time in his life. But not for long. Max is surprised to discover that he’s been joined by two unexpected traveling companions, one on each shoulder, a kobold and a dybbuk named Berg and Stein. Germany is becoming more and more dangerous for Jewish families, but Max is determined to find a way back home, and back to his parents. He has a plan to return to Berlin. It merely involves accomplishing the impossible – becoming a British spy.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Eugenics discussed
  • Period-typical Nazism, racial slurs & antisemitism
  • Suicide discussed
  • Alcohol consumption & smoking mentioned
  • Physical assault of a child by a teacher (protagonist)
  • World War Two (theme) including depiction of the Holocaust, Kristallnacht, the Kindertransport & the Blitz
  • Bullying

Wandfasted by Laurie Forest

Twenty years before Elloren Gardner enrolled at the illustrious Verpax University, Erthia was rent asunder during the devastating Realm War. When Tessla Harrow is driven from her home by the fighting, she discovers a depth of power she never knew she had…and an irresistible draw towards Vale Gardner, the son of the most powerful mage her people have ever known – the Black Witch.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & misogyny
  • Sexual assault
  • Forced marriage
  • Bullying
  • War themes

The Iron Flower by Laurie Forest

Elloren Gardner and her friends were only seeking to right a few wrongs, but their actions have propelled them straight into the ranks of the realm-wide Resistance against Gardnerian encroachment. As the Resistance struggles against the harsh rulings of High Priest Marcus Vogel and the Mage Council, Elloren begins to realize that none of the people she cares about will be safe if Gardneria seizes control of the Western Realm. With tensions heating up in Verpacia, more and more Gardnerian soldiers continue to descend upon the university…led by none other than Lukas Grey, now commander of the…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Genocide & battle scenes

The Dryad Storm by Laurie Forest

Black Witch of prophecy Elloren Gardner Grey has unleashed her powers and embraced her legacy as a Dryad and guardian of the Forest. But the losses—of life, of love—have been almost too great to withstand as the Shadow continues to devour the world. With only a tattered shred of hope remaining, the Bearers of the Wand of Myth must battle their way back to each other to mount a final stand. But Elloren and her allies are not only facing Mage Vogel’s advancing forces—the armies of the Eastern Realm will stop at nothing to see the Black Witch struck down. With Elloren’s…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Substance addiction recovery
  • Blood & injury depiction including broken bones and the mutilation of an ear
  • Death of a husband recounted
  • Murder by stabbing & decapitation of a sexual assault perpetrator
  • War themes & battle scenes including soldiers being burned or frozen to death and stabbed with magical ice shards
  • Animal death, cruelty & injury
  • Animal attack including a character being crushed by a dragon
  • Forest fires