Tag Archives: Physical Injuries & Illness

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of physical illness and medical conditions and physical injuries, including burns, wounds, fractures, and scars.

A Talent for Murder by Peter Swanson

Martha Ratliff conceded long ago that she’d likely spend her life alone. She was fine with it, happy with her solo existence, stimulated by her job as an archival librarian, constantly surrounded by thought-provoking ideas and the books she loved. But then she met Alan, a charming and sweet-natured divorcee with a job that took him on the road for half the year. When he asked her to marry him, she said yes, even though he still felt a little bit like a stranger. A year in and the marriage was good, except for that strange blood streak on the back of one of his shirts he’d worn to a conf… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Stroke mentioned
  • Kidnapping & stalking

The Last Love Note by Emma Grey

Kate is a bit of a mess. Two years after losing her young husband Cameron, she’s grieving, solo parenting, working like mad at her university fundraising job, always dropping the ball—and yet clinging to her sense of humor. Lurching from one comedic crisis to the next, she also navigates an overbearing mom and a Tinder-obsessed best friend who’s determined to matchmake Kate with her hot new neighbor. When an in-flight problem leaves Kate and her boss, Hugh, stranded for a weekend on the east coast of Australia, she finally has a chance, away from her son, to really… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Miscarriage
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a husband from early-onset Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Death of a partner from cancer mentioned
  • Car accident

The First State of Being by Erin Entrada Kelly

When twelve-year-old Michael Rosario meets a mysterious boy from the future, his life is changed forever. It’s August 1999. For twelve-year-old Michael Rosario, life at Fox Run Apartments in Red Knot, Delaware, is as ordinary as ever—except for the looming Y2K crisis and his overwhelming crush on his fifteen-year-old babysitter, Gibby. But when a disoriented teenage boy named Ridge appears out of nowhere, Michael discovers there is more to life than stockpiling supplies and pining over Gibby. It turns out that Ridge is carefree, confident, and cold, things… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hospitalisation for illness
  • Financial difficulties
  • Bullying

A Risk on Forever by N.S. Perkins

When Matthias Phillips imagined the new caretaker for his mother with ALS, the last thing he had in mind was a gorgeous twenty-something who didn’t look like she had a day of experience in the field. However, his mother has always been stubborn, and despite his objections, she’s insistent: it’s Adelaide Samson she wants him to hire. After losing her job, Adelaide needs a new gig to continue supporting her family, even if that means working for overprotective and rude Matthias. Once she earns his trust, though, she gets to see a whole other side of him—a funny, sweet… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parent with depression
  • Chronic illness (Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS))
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted (on-page)

Under Wildwood by Colin Meloy

Ever since Prue McKeel returned home from the Impassable Wilderness after rescuing her brother from the malevolent Dowager Governess, life has been pretty dull. School holds no interest for her, and her new science teacher keeps getting on her case about her dismal test scores and daydreaming in class. Her mind is constantly returning to the verdant groves and sky-tall trees of Wildwood, where her friend Curtis still remains as a bandit-in-training. But all is not well in that world. Dark assassins with mysterious… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child labor
  • Mentions of mutilation of children including loss of hands and vision

Finding Her Edge by Jennifer Iacopelli

Adriana Russo is figure skating royalty, born to gold-medalist parents and an equally talented sister. Adriana’s dream? To conquer the Junior World Championships and uphold the family legacy. But when the family’s legendary skating rink faces financial ruin, everything she’s worked for is at risk. Training with her new partner, Brayden, sparks an let the world believe their on-ice chemistry isn’t only for show. The fake-dating gains traction, and Adriana realizes maybe she actually is falling for Brayden. But then her past crashes into her present and changes everything… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Hospitalisation for sports injury
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent discussed

Audrey Under the Big Top by Jessica Gunderson

12-year-old Audrey wants nothing more than to be a performer & aerialist, but that feels far from reality in 1944 Connecticut. So when she learns the Ringling Brothers and Barnum & Bailey Circus is coming to town, Audrey is determined to be there under the big top. It’s her only chance to see the Flying Wallendas, a world-renowned highwire act, perform. Audrey convinces her mother to let her take her 6-year-old twin sisters with her to the show. But disaster strikes when a fire breaks out under the big top. Can Audrey escape–and find her siblings–before the tent comes crashing down?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hartford Circus Fire, including death from burning & burns (on-page)

Anya Flees the Fallout by Erin Falligant

In 1941, thirteen-year-old Alice’s days are filled with swimming in the Hawaiian sea, going to school, and helping watch her younger siblings. But on December 7, everything changes when she experiences an act of war, the bombing of Pearl Harbor. As the United States enters World War II, Alice’s father is sent to a Japanese internment camp, leaving Alice and the rest of her family struggling to adjust to life without him.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Chernobyl tragedy (theme), including death from radiation poisoning
  • Mentions of abandoning pets during evacuations, which may be ‘put down’ (shot) by soldiers later

The War That Saved My Life by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

Ten-year-old Ada has never left her one-room apartment. Her mother is too humiliated by Ada’s twisted foot to let her outside. So when her little brother Jamie is shipped out of London to escape the war, Ada doesn’t waste a minute—she sneaks out to join him. So begins a new adventure of Ada, and for Susan Smith, the woman who is forced to take the two kids in. As Ada teaches herself to ride a pony, learns to read, and watches for German spies, she begins to trust Susan—and Susan begins to love Ada and Jamie. But in the end, will their bond be enough to hold… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Minor slut-shaming
  • Physical child abuse & neglect, including starvation, captivity, and forcing a child to write righthanded by tying up their left arm (on-page)
  • Protagonist with clubfoot
  • World War II (theme), including plane crashes and bombings (on-page)

Sarah Journeys West by Nikki Shannon Smith

n the midst of the California Gold Rush, twelve-year-old Sarah and her family are living in the North as free Black people. Seeking a better life, Sarah’s parents decide they will venture west on the Oregon Trail. On the trail, Sarah and her family face all kinds of hardship, including racism, extreme weather, difficult terrain, and disease. But the journey will be worth it if they can find fortune in California. Will Sarah and her family endure the trail and make a new life out west?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & slavery
  • Cholera epidemic