Paralysis – Trigger Warning Database

The Princess of Thornwood Drive by Khalia Moreau

One year ago, a tragic car accident killed 22-year-old Laine’s parents and left her 18-year-old sister, Alyssa, paralyzed and nonverbal. Now—instead of studying animal nutrition or competing as one of the few equestrians of color—Laine is struggling with predatory banks, unscrupulous health care organizations, and rude customers at the coffee shop where she works. That’s why when Lake Forest Adult Day Center offers to take care of Alyssa, free of charge, Laine is relieved. Alyssa isn’t relieved, though. After all, in her mind, there was never a car accident. Instead, she and her parents—the king and queen of Mirendal—were attacked one year ago in the forest, her parents kidnapped… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Sexual assault of a disabled person
Anxiety & panic attack
Death of both parents in a car accident
Car accident resulting in traumatic mutism & paralysis

The Midnight Club by Christopher Pike

Rotterham Home was a hospice for young people—a place where teenagers with terminal illnesses went to die. Nobody who checked in ever checked out. It was a place of pain and sorrow, but also, remarkably, a place of humor and adventure. Every night at twelve, a group of young guys and girls at the hospice came together to tell stories. They called themselves the Midnight Club, and their stories could be true or false, inspiring or depressing, or somewhere in-between. One night, in the middle of a particularly scary story, the teenagers make a secret pact with each other, which says… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Suicide
Alcohol & drug abuse
Overdose
Cancer, AIDs & terminal illness
Amputation
Paralysis
Emesis
Death of a child
Mass shooting & gun violence

Sitting Pretty: The View from My Ordinary Resilient Disabled Body by Rebekah Taussig

Growing up as a paralyzed girl during the 90s and early 2000s, Rebekah Taussig only saw disability depicted as something monstrous (The Hunchback of Notre Dame), inspirational (Helen Keller), or angelic (Forrest Gump). None of this felt right; and as she got older, she longed for more stories that allowed disability to be complex and ordinary, uncomfortable and fine, painful and fulfilling.

Writing about the rhythms and textures of what it means to live in a body that doesn’t fit… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

Ableism & internalised ableism
Workplace discrimination
Alcohol consumption
Pregnancy & fertility discussed
Parent with chronic kidney disease
Paralysis
Childhood cancer

Pop Star by Eden Finley

Pop Star by Eden Finley

Harley. What happens when the most successful boy band on the planet breaks up? How about twenty thousand fans screaming my name. But the price of fame comes with an increased risk to my safety. I’ve been avoiding the dreaded B word for as long as I can, but after a close call with a rambunctious fan, I can’t do it anymore. It’s time to give in. I need to hire a full-time bodyguard. And when he shows up, he not only screams badass, he’s another B word I try to stay away from: boyfriend material. Brix. Protecting people is not what my company usually does, but the boss knows I need money, and the pop star is offering an… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia mentioned
Stroke mentioned
Paraplegia mentioned
Stalking

The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp

The Oracle Code by Marieke Nijkamp and illustrated by Manuel Preitano

After a gunshot leaves her paralyzed, Barbara Gordon enters the Arkham Center for Independence, where Gotham’s teens undergo physical and mental rehabilitation. Now using a wheelchair, Barbara must adapt to a new normal, but she cannot shake the feeling that something is dangerously amiss. Within these walls, strange sounds escape at night; patients go missing; and Barbara begins to put together pieces of what she believes to be a larger puzzle. But is this suspicion simply a result of her trauma? Fellow…Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Paralysis
Hospitalisation mentioned
Gun violence
House fire recounted

The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

The Year We Fell Down by Sarina Bowen

She expected to start Harkness College as a varsity ice hockey player. But a serious accident means that Corey Callahan will start school in a wheelchair instead.

Across the hall, in the other accessible dorm room, lives the too-delicious-to-be real Adam Hartley, another would-be hockey star with his leg broken in two places. He’s way out of Corey’s league. Also, he’s taken… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism
Misogyny
Child neglect
Substance addiction mentioned
Paralysis

A Place Without You by Jewel Ann

A Place Without You by Jewel E. Ann

Everything feels temporary when you’ve experienced tragedy—until Henna Lane meets Bodhi at a music festival. Young and spontaneous, they have a lust for seizing the moment, falling hard and fast. When Bodhi is forced to leave without a goodbye, Henna thinks she’ll never get over him. But then she meets Mr. Malone, her sexy, new guidance counselor.

They are reckless. They are forbidden. When their secret is discovered, Henna has to choose between finishing school—banned from seeing Mr. Malone… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Emotional cheating
Attempted suicide, off-page
Euthanasia, on-page
Drug use & abuse, on- & off-page
Paralysis (sc)
Parent with terminal cancer
Death of a friend
Death of a parent, on- & off-page

Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson

Dawnshard by Brandon Sanderson

When a ghost ship is discovered, its crew presumed dead after trying to reach the storm-shrouded island Akinah, Navani Kholin must send an expedition to make sure the island hasn’t fallen into enemy hands. Knights Radiant who fly too near find their Stormlight suddenly drained, so the voyage must be by sea.

Shipowner Rysn Ftori lost the use of her legs but gained the companionship of Chiri-Chiri, a Stormlight-ingesting winged larkin, a species once thought extinct. Now Rysn’s pet is ill, and any hope for Chiri-Chiri’s recovery can be found only at the ancestral home of the larkin: Akinah. With the help of Lopen, the formerly one-armed Windrunner, Rysn must accept Navani’s quest and sail into the perilous storm from which no one has returned alive. If the crew cannot uncover the secrets of the hidden island city before the wrath of its ancient guardians falls upon them, the fate of Roshar and the entire Cosmere hangs in the balance.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism discussed
Paraplegia

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Saint Anything by Sarah Dessen

Sydney has always felt invisible. She’s grown accustomed to her brother, Peyton, being the focus of the family’s attention and, lately, concern. Peyton is handsome and charismatic, but seems bent on self-destruction. Now, after a drunk-driving accident that paralysed a boy, Peyton’s serving some serious jail time, and Sydney is on her own, questioning her place in the family and the world.

Then she meets the Chatham family. Drawn into their warm, chaotic circle, Sydney experiences unquestioning acceptance for the first time… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual assault
Substance addiction mentioned
Recreational drug abuse
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Paralysis mentioned
Car accident recounted
Incarceration of a sibling

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J Maas

Tower of Dawn by Sarah J. Maas

Chaol Westfall and Nesryn Faliq have arrived in the shining city of Antica to forge an alliance with the Khagan of the Southern Continent, whose vast armies are Erilea’s last hope. But they have also come to Antica for another purpose: to seek healing at the famed Torre Cesme for the wounds Chaol received in Rifthold.

After enduring unspeakable horrors as a child, Yrene Towers has no desire to help the young lord from Adarlan, let alone heal him. Yet she has sworn an oath to assist those in need—and will honor it. But Lord Westfall carries shadows from his own past, and Yrene soon comes to realize they could engulf them both.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Child abuse recounted
Paralysis
Death of a sibling