Tag Archives: Police Brutality & Violence

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of police brutality, and police violence; as well as police discrimination, abuse of power, and racial profiling.

Wings of Ebony by J. Elle

“Make a way out of no way” is just the way of life for Rue. But when her mother is shot dead on her doorstep, life for her and her younger sister changes forever. Rue’s taken from her neighborhood by the father she never knew, forced to leave her little sister behind, and whisked away to Ghizon—a hidden island of magic wielders. Rue is the only half-god, half-human there, where leaders protect their magical powers at all costs and thrive on human suffering. Miserable and desperate to see her sister on the anniversary of their mother’s death, Rue breaks Ghizon’s sacred Do… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Hate crime
  • Physical child abuse
  • Blood & gore depiction and emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Police brutality

Roar of the Lambs by Jamison Shea

Sixteen-year-old Winnie Bray is a liar. As the resident psychic at an oddities shop, Winnie truly can see the future. But her customers only want reassurance, and Winnie only wants their money. Favorable fortunes are a fast track to funding her way out of Buffalo, New York for good, after all. But all of that changes when a vision sends her stalking in the remains her family home that burned down in a fire 10 years ago. Among the ash and rubble, Winnie finds a box made of bone, untouched by flames and…whispering. At the touch of her finger, the box shows her a vision of death, chaos… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny, classism & racism
  • Misgendering
  • Suicide
  • Police brutality
  • Knife violence
  • Transphobic bullying mentioned

Bad in the Blood by Matteo L. Cerilli

In the city of Puck’s Port, where motorized vehicles fill the streets and new technological marvels abound, something rotten is lurking under the surface. A violent murder at the docks seems to point to a fey killer, igniting a powder keg of distrust between the city’s humans and its fey inhabitants — folks who wield wonderful but often uncontrollable magical power. Gristle Senan Maxim Junior finds himself caught in the middle. Forced into the reluctant role of private investigator, like his late father, he’s working to solve the mystery of this fiery murder… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Psychiatric hospisalition, including unethical electroshock therapy
  • Police brutality

Barefoot Dreams of Petra Luna by Alda P. Dobbs

It is 1913, and twelve-year-old Petra Luna’s mama has died while the Revolution rages in Mexico. Before her papa is dragged away by soldiers, Petra vows to him that she will care for the family she has left―her abuelita, little sister Amelia, and baby brother Luisito―until they can be reunited. They flee north through the unforgiving desert as their town burns, searching for safe harbour in a world that offers none. Each night when Petra closes her eyes, she holds her dreams close, especially her long-held desire to learn to read. Abuelita calls these barefoot dreams… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism
  • Anti-Indigenous racism
  • Starvation & water scarcity
  • Death of a mother from childbirth recounted
  • Police & military violence including forced conscription and burning of a village

Death Note, Vol. 8: Target by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Light–working as Kira, the newest member of the NPA intelligence bureau, and L–has nearly succeeded in creating his ideal world. But the years of uncontested victory have made him complacent, and he is unprepared for a new attack close to home. With his younger sister Sayu kidnapped and the NPA’s Death Note demanded as ransom, Light must travel across the world and confront two new adversaries, each with a very different agenda. Will Light’s quick wits be a match for this new challenge, or will he be forced to choose between Kira’s ambitions and his own family’s lives?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Heart attack
  • Murder (on- & off-page)
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Illegal & unethical surveillance and invasions of privacy by law enforcement

Death Note, Vol. 4: Love by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

With two Kiras on the loose, L asks Light to join the task force and pose as the real Kira in order to catch the copycat. L still suspects Light and figures that this is the perfect excuse to get closer to his quarry. Light agrees to the plan in order to have free access to the task force resources. But when Light manages to contact the new Kira, he discovers that his rival is anything but as expected. Will Light escape from love unscathed?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Heart attack
  • Murder & torture, including non-consensual sensory deprivation
  • Illegal & unethical surveillance and invasions of privacy by law enforcement

Death Note, Vol. 3: Hard Run by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Light is chafing under L’s extreme surveillance, but even 64 microphones and cameras hidden in his room aren’t enough to stop Light. He steps up the game, but before the battle of wits can really begin, a family emergency distracts him. But even though Light isn’t using the Death Note right now, someone else is! Who’s the new “Kira” in town?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Heart attack
  • Hospitalisation
  • Murder & mass murder
  • Hostage situation
  • Blackmail
  • Illegal & unethical surveillance and invasions of privacy by law enforcement

Death Note, Vol. 2: Confluence by Tsugumi Ohba and Takeshi Obata

Light thinks he’s put an end to his troubles with the FBI—by using the Death Note to kill off the FBI agents working the case in Japan! But one of the agents has a fiancée who used to work in the Bureau, and now she’s uncovered information that could lead to Light’s capture. To make matters worse, L has emerged from the shadows to work directly with the task force headed by Light’s father. With people pursuing him from every direction, will Light get caught in the conflux?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Heart attack
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a fiance recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder (on- & off-page)
  • Gun violence recounted
  • Bus-jacking recounted
  • Illegal & unethical surveillance and invasions of privacy by law enforcement

Redemption Point by Candice Fox

When former police detective Ted Conkaffey was wrongly accused of abducting Claire Bingley, he hoped the Queensland rainforest town of Crimson Lake would be a good place to disappear. But nowhere is safe from Claire’s devastated father. Dale Bingley has a brutal revenge plan all worked out – and if Ted doesn’t help find the real abductor, he’ll be its first casualty. Meanwhile, in a dark roadside hovel called the Barking Frog Inn, the bodies of two young bartenders lie on the beer-sodden floor. It’s Detective Inspector Pip Sweeney’s first homicide investigation – c… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia, grooming & child sexual abuse recounted
  • Rape recounted
  • Cheating
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Police corruption mentioned
  • Wrongful incarceration
  • Animal cruelty

The Night War by Kimberly Brubaker Bradley

It’s 1942. German Nazis occupy much of France. And twelve-year-old Miriam, who is Jewish, is not safe. With help and quick thinking, Miri is saved from the roundup that takes her entire Jewish neighborhood. She escapes Paris, landing in a small French village, where the spires of the famous Chateau de Chenonceau rise high into the sky, its bridge across the River Cher like a promise, a fairy tale. But Miri’s life is no fairy tale. Her parents are gone – maybe alive, maybe not. Taken in at the boarding school near the chateau, pretending to be Catholic to escape Nazi capture, Miri is called upon… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical antisemitism & Nazism (theme), including physical beatings and setting houses on fire as a hate crime
  • Infidelity mentioned
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a husband discussed
  • Police brutality & violence (on-page)
  • World War II (theme) with mentions of concentration camps
  • St. Bartholomew’s Day Massacre discussed