Tag Archives: Physical Assault

Tourist Season by Brynne Weaver

Welcome to Cape Carnage! Visit Once, Stay Forever. Cape Carnage is a seaside town of colourful houses, quirky shops, and an unusually high body count. But with tourists comes trouble, and Harper Starling won’t let anyone ruin her picture-perfect home. A skilled gardener with killer instincts, Harper protects her sanctuary at any cost—especially for her aging mentor with a fading memory. Troublesome tourists don’t check out of Carnage. They compost beneath Harper’s award-winning flowerbeds. But Nolan Rhodes isn’t your average tourist. Devilishly handsome… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault recounted (secondary character), including mentions of image-based sexual abuse and attempted paedophilia
  • Nonconsensual voyeurism of protagonist by secondary character
  • Self-harm (secondary character)
  • Panic attack, nightmares, and survivor’s guilt
  • Alzheimer’s Disease (secondary character)
  • Alcohol consumption & drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction including emesis, decapitation, body parts, and dead bodies
  • Physical injury, including scars, burns, and previous rehabilitation after severe injuries sustained in a car accident (protagonist)
  • Needles (piercing)
  • Death of a brother in a hit-and-run car accident recounted
  • Death of a mother & father in a car accident
  • Murder of a boyfriend recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder (theme)
  • Torture recounted, including food deprivation
  • Physical assault
  • Near-drowning incident
  • Kidnapping & captivity recounted
  • Golf cart and go-cart accidents (secondary characters)
  • Stalking & home invasion
  • Animal injury & death (horse)

The Inquisitor’s Tale: Or, The Three Magical Children and Their Holy Dog by Adam Gidwitz

On a dark night, travelers from across France cross paths at an inn and begin to tell stories of three children. Their adventures take them on a chase through France: they are taken captive by knights, sit alongside a king, and save the land from a farting dragon. On the run to escape prejudice and persecution and save precious and holy texts from being burned, their quest drives them forward to a final showdown at Mont Saint-Michel, where all will come to question if these children can perform the miracles of… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical antisemitism & misogyny, including the destruction & arson of a Jewish village by Christians, and a woman burned at the stake

Lu by Jason Reynolds

Lu by Jason Reynolds

Lu was born to be co-captain of the Defenders. Well, actually, he was born albino, but that’s got nothing to do with being a track star. Lu has swagger, plus the talent to back it up, and with all that—not to mention the gold chains and diamond earrings—no one’s gonna outshine him. Lu knows he can lead Ghost, Patina, Sunny, and the team to victory at the championships, but it might not be as easy as it seems. Suddenly, there are hurdles in Lu’s way—literally and not-so-literally—and Lu needs to figure out, fast, what winning the gold really means.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Substance addiction mentioned
  • Parental pregnancy mentioned
  • Death of an overdose mentioned
  • Physical assault
  • Bullying mentioned including ableist name-calling

Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales: Spider-Man by Jason Reynolds

Miles Morales is just your average teenager. Dinner every Sunday with his parents, chilling out playing old-school video games with his best friend, Ganke, crushing on brainy, beautiful poet Alicia. He’s even got a scholarship spot at the prestigious Brooklyn Visions Academy. Oh yeah, and he’s Spider Man. But lately, Miles’s spidey-sense has been on the fritz. When a misunderstanding leads to his suspension from school, Miles begins to question his abilities. After all, his dad and uncle were Brooklyn jack-boys with criminal records. Maybe kids like Miles aren’t meant to be superheroes. Maybe Miles should take his… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Physical injury (broken nose & wrist)
  • Death from a spearing mentioned
  • Death from an uncle from accidental suicide (gun accident)
  • Physical assault (fistfights)

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

When I Was the Greatest by Jason Reynolds

A lot of the stuff that gives my neighbourhood a bad name, I don’t really mess with. The guns and drugs and all that, not really my thing. ,Nah, not his thing. Ali’s got enough going on, between school and boxing and helping out at home. His best friend Noodles, though. Now there’s a dude looking for trouble – and, somehow, it’s always Ali around to pick up the pieces. But, hey, a guy’s gotta look out for his boys, right? Besides, it’s all small potatoes; it’s not like anyone’s getting hurt. And then there’s Needles. Needles is Noodles’s brother. He’s got a syndrome, and gets these ticks and blurts out the wildest, craziest things. It’s cool, everyone… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Physical assault (fistfights)

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Ghost by Jason Reynolds

Running. That’s all that Ghost (real name Castle Cranshaw) has ever known. But never for a track team. Nope, his game has always been ball. But when Ghost impulsively challenges an elite sprinter to a race—and wins—the Olympic medalist track coach sees he has something: crazy natural talent. Thing is, Ghost has something else: a lot of anger, and a past that he is trying to outrun. Can Ghost harness his raw talent for speed and meld with the team, or will his past finally catch up to him?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence mentioned, including an scene where an drunk man shoots at his wife and child (who remain unharmed)
  • Alcohol consumption & drug & alcohol abuse mentioned (secondary adult characters)
  • Bullying & physical assault (fistfights)

Coach by Jason Reynolds

Coach by Jason Reynolds

Before Coach was the man who gave caring yet firm-handed guidance to Ghost, Lu, Patina, and Sunny on the Defenders track team, he was little Otie Brody, who was obsessed with Mr. 9.99 (a.k.a. Carl Lewis) and Marty McFly from Back to the Future. Like Mr. 9.99—and his own dad—Otie is a sprinter. Sprint free or die is practically his motto. Then his dad, who is always away on business trips, comes home with a pair of Jordans. JORDANS. Fine as fine can be. Otie puts them on and feels like he can leap to the moon…maybe even leap like Mr. 9.99 when he won the Olympic… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Minor blood depiction & injuries (bloodied nose, cuts)
  • Drug use & alcohol consumption mentioned (secondary characters)
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Bullying, including fistfights and intimidation tactics (threatening with clippers, throwing students into lockers)

Wish by Barbara O’Connor

Eleven-year-old Charlie Reese has been making the same secret wish every day since fourth grade. She even has a list of all the ways there are to make the wish, such as cutting off the pointed end of a slice of pie and wishing on it as she takes the last bite. But when she is sent to the Blue Ridge Mountains of North Carolina to live with family she barely knows, it seems unlikely that her wish will ever come true. That is until she meets Wishbone, a skinny stray dog who captures her heart, and Howard, a neighbor boy who proves surprising in lots of ways. Suddenly…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parent in jail (protagonist)
  • Bullying & minor fistfights (on-page)

Dream by Barbara O’Connor

Idalee Lovett is content with her life in small-town Colby, North Carolina, living in her family’s huge house with rooms for rent. But she has big dreams, just like her mama. While Mama is on tour for the summer with her cover band, Lovey Lovett and the Junkyard Dogs, Idalee decides to hone her craft as a songwriter—since her truest wish is to hear her country songs on the radio one day. When the local radio station announces a songwriting contest with the winning song being recorded by an up-and-coming singer, Idalee is determined to win. It would definitely be possible if only she could buy the shiny blue guitar in… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Amputation mentioned, including a secondary character who lost toes in an axe incident and a cousin who lost a finger in a fireworks incident
  • Parent in jail for assault (secondary character)
  • Fistfight mentioned

Cage of Ice and Echoes by Pam Godwin

Frankie and her ruthless protectors conquered unspeakable evil. But their fight to escape the hills of shivers and shadows is far from over. Stranded in Alaska, survival becomes paramount against starvation, hypothermia, and the dangerous predators lurking outside their isolated cabin. Sharing precious body heat with her viciously possessive men presents another challenge. She must navigate not only the brutal arctic tundra but also the intricacies of polyamorous love to ensure they make it out alive. Their only hope rests on a plane they can’t fly—unless they unlock the secrets hidden beneath its wings in a cage of ice and echoes.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia & child sexual abuse recounted (love interest)
  • Kidnapping & captivity recounted
  • Blizzard & food scarcity (on-page)