Tag Archives: Murder & Attempted Murder

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of murder and attempted murder.

See also Genocide and mass murder, and War themes & military violence.

The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates

The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates

Keira is ready for her life to return to normal. Though, to be fair, normal is a tall ask when your ability to see ghosts has landed you the job of groundskeeper in a small town’s cemetery. When Keira receives an invitation to dinner at Dane Crispin’s crumbling ancestral estate, she knows she can’t refuse. The last living descendant of the Crispin family is reclusive. Keira only met him once…on the night he tried to kill her. The mansion is steeped in history that is equal parts complicated and bloody. Keira senses the presence of restless spirits the moment she steps through its door. And Dane, waiting for her inside, wants to ask for her help.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Familial estrangement mentioned
  • Amnesia
  • Parent with a chronically, and possibly terminally, ill parent (sc)
  • Blood and physical injuries, on-page
  • Needles
  • Arson and damage to property discussed
  • Murder including murder by stabbing and knife violence, on-page
  • Gun violence

Ravenfall by Kalyn Josephson

Ravenfall by Kalyn Josephson

Thirteen-year-old Annabella Ballinkay has never been normal, even by her psychic family’s standards. Every generation uses their abilities to help run the Ravenfall Inn, a sprawling, magical B&B at the crossroads of the human world and the Otherworld. But it’s hard to contribute when your only power is foreseeing death. So when fourteen-year-old Colin Pierce arrives at Ravenfall searching for his missing older brother and the supernatural creature who killed their parents, Anna jumps at the chance to help. But the mysteries tied to Colin go much deeper than either of.… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Absent parent
  • Near-miscarriage mentioned
  • Blood and injury depiction
  • Murder of a mother and father (seen through visions, protagonist discovered his dead parents’ bodies)
  • Death of a mother in a hospital mentioned
  • Torture mentioned
  • Physical assault
  • Disappearance of a sibling
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Animal death including the on-page death of a pet cat (resurrected)

Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff

Maresi by Maria Turtschaninoff

Maresi came to the Red Abbey when she was thirteen, in the Hunger Winter. Before then, she had only heard rumours of its existence in secret folk tales. In a world where girls aren’t allowed to learn or do as they please, an island inhabited solely by women sounded like a fantasy. But now Maresi is here, and she knows it is real. She is safe. Then one day Jai tangled fair hair, clothes stiff with dirt, scars on her back arrives on a ship. She has fled to the island to escape terrible danger and unimaginable cruelty. And the men who hurt her will stop at nothing to find her. Now the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Murder

Human Acts by Han Kang

Human Acts by Han Kang

In the midst of a violent student uprising in South Korea, a young boy named Dong-ho is shockingly killed. The story of this tragic episode unfolds as the victims and the bereaved encounter suppression, denial, and the echoing agony of the massacre. From Dong-ho’s best friend who meets his own fateful end; to an editor struggling against censorship; to a prisoner and a factory worker, each suffering from traumatic memories; and to Dong-ho’s own grief-stricken mother; and through their collective heartbreak and acts of hope is the tale of a brutalized people in search of a voice.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Suicide
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Torture

The Reaper by RuNyx

The Reaper by RuNyx

Tristan ‘The Predator’ Caine had been unprepared for Morana Vitalio. After spending his entire life with a vow he broke on a rainy night, he finds himself torn in a battle between his painful past and an uncertain future. The only thing he knows? Her life still belongs to him. For Morana, the line between enemies and allies has blurred. Everything she once held dear to her has disintegrated and the unknown gapes at her, leaving her with both her freedom and life on the line in enemy territory. The only thing she knows? His life has always belonged to her. With twenty years of… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking
  • Rape recounted
  • Panic attack
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a parent, on- & off-page
  • Death of a sibling mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder, including the murder of children
  • Torture mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • Kidnapping mentioned

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

Say You Swear by Meagan Brandy

Say You Swear by Meagan Brandy

For years, I’ve dreamt of what college life could bring and while some things changed, there was always one constant. It didn’t matter how wild I allowed my imagination to run, it always led me to the same place in the end. It led me to him. My future was clear, and he was it. Until suddenly … he wasn’t. Now I’m a shell of who I was, on a path too blurry to follow, and I see no way out. No way up. They say first loves last forever. That’s exactly what I’m afraid of.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Amnesia & memory loss
  • Miscarriage
  • Car accident

The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe

The Dark One by Nikki St. Crowe

It wasn’t until Pan and Neverland that I finally felt alive. But things are not all full of magic and sunlight on the island. There’s something darker and more sinister haunting the forest. And worse, the fae queen and Captain Hook are ready to fight for control of Neverland and they will stop at nothing to get what they want. Including using the one thing Pan never thought he wanted or needed — me. I’m a descendant of the Darling family and now I belong to him and the Lost Boys. War is brewing — can the Never King get his shadow back and assume his rightful throne? And if he does, where will I fit or will Neverland be in jeopardy?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Slut-shaming
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Scars
  • Death of a grandmother mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Strangulation
  • Physical assault