The Kindest Lieby Nancy Johnson

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

It’s 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He’s eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to—and was forced to leave behind—when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she’d never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past. Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. As she begins digging… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Drug abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Gang violence
  • Lynching
  • Police brutality
  • Poverty
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Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda

Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster by Andrea Mosqueda

Growing up in Texas’s Rio Grande Valley, Maggie Gonzalez has always been a little messy, but she’s okay with that. After all, she has a great family, a goofy group of friends, a rocky romantic history, and dreams of being a music photographer. Tasked with picking an escort for her little sister’s quinceañera, Maggie has to face the truth: that her feelings about her friends—and her future—aren’t as simple as she’d once believed. As Maggie’s search for the perfect escort continues, she’s forced to confront new (and old) feelings for three of her friends: Amanda, her best friend and first-ever crush; Matthew, her ex-boyfriend twice… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Bimisia & internalised bimisia
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use & smoking
  • Pregnancy (sc)
  • Death of a parent by police shooting, off-page
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All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

All My Rage by Sabaa Tahir

Lahore, Pakistan. Then. Misbah is a dreamer and storyteller, newly married to Toufiq in an arranged match. After their young life is shaken by tragedy, they come to the United States and open the Cloud’s Rest Inn Motel, hoping for a new start. Juniper, California. Now. Salahudin and Noor are more than best friends; they are family. Growing up as outcasts in the small desert town of Juniper, California, they understand each other the way no one else does. Until The Fight, which destroys their bond with the swift fury of a star exploding. Now, Sal scrambles to run the family motel as his mother Misbah’s… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Islamomisia
  • Sexual assault of a child
  • Physical child abuse
  • Panic attacks
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use & abuse, including a non-fatal overdose
  • Substance addiction
  • Alcoholism
  • Death of a parent
  • Police brutality
  • Bullying
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Seven Mercies by L. R. Lam and Elizabeth

After an ambush leaves the Novantae resistance in tatters, the survivors scatter across the galaxy. Wanted by two great empires, the bounty on any rebel’s head is enough to make a captor filthy rich. And the seven devils? Biggest score of them all. To avoid attacks, the crew of Zelus scavenge for supplies on long-abandoned Tholosian outposts. Not long after the remnants of the rebellion settle briefly on Fortuna, Ariadne gets a message with unimaginable consequences: the Oracle has gone rogue. In a planned coup against the Empire’s new ruler, the AI has developed a way of mass programming citizens into mindless drone… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Dysphoria
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Panic attacks
  • Suicide & suicidal ideation
  • Chronic illness
  • Murder
  • Genocide
  • Torture
  • Police brutality
  • Gun violence
  • Explosion
  • War & colonialisation
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Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder

Tikka Chance on Me by Suleikha Snyder

He’s the bad-boy biker. She’s the good girl working in her family’s Indian restaurant. On the surface, nothing about Trucker Carrigan and Pinky Grover’s instant, incendiary, attraction makes sense. But when they peel away the layers and the assumptions–and their clothes–everything falls into place. The need. The want. The light. The laughter. They have more in common than they ever could’ve guessed. Is it enough? They won’t know until they take a chance on each other–and on love.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use mentioned
  • Parent in breast cancer remission mentioned
  • Police raid
  • Gang violence

The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan

The Kingmaker by Kennedy Ryan

Raised to rule, bred to lead and weaned on a diet of ruthless ambition. In a world of haves and have nots, my family has it all, and I want nothing to do with it. My path takes me far from home and paints me as the black sheep. At odds with my father, I’m determined to build my own empire. I have rules, but Lennix Hunter is the exception to every one of them. From the moment we meet, something sparks between us. But my family stole from hers and my father is the man she hates most. I lied to have her, and would do anything to keep her. Though she tries to hate me, too, the inexorable pull between us will not be denied.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Rape & sexual assault mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Police brutality & violence
  • Hostage situation
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Root Magic by Eden Royce

Root Magic by Eden Royce

It’s 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won’t stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn eleven—and their uncle, Doc, tells them he’s going train them in footwork. Jez and Jay have always been fascinated by the African American folk magic that has been the legacy of her family for generations—especially the curious potions and powders Doc and Gran would make… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Racism
  • Hate crime
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a grandparent
  • Police brutality
  • Animal death
  • Animal cruelty
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The Red Palace by June Hur

The Red Palace by June Hur

Joseon (Korea), 1758. There are few options available to illegitimate daughters in the capital city, but through hard work and study, eighteen-year-old Hyeon has earned a position as a palace nurse. All she wants is to keep her head down, do a good job, and perhaps finally win her estranged father’s approval. But Hyeon is suddenly thrust into the dark and dangerous world of court politics when someone murders four women in a single night, and the prime suspect is Hyeon’s closest friend and mentor. Determined to prove her beloved teacher’s innocence, Hyeon launches her… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Blood & gore depiction including corpses
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Police brutality
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We Light Up the Sky by Lilliam Rivera

We Light Up the Sky by Lilliam Rivera

Pedro, Luna, and Rafa may attend Fairfax High School together in Los Angeles, but they run in separate spheres. Pedro is often told that he’s “too much” and seeks refuge from his home life in a local drag bar. Luna is pretending to go along with the popular crowd but is still grieving the unexpected passing of her beloved cousin Tasha. Then there’s Rafa, the quiet new kid who is hiding the fact that his family is homeless. But Pedro, Luna, and Rafa find themselves thrown together when an extraterrestrial visitor lands in their city… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Recreational drug use & alcohol mentioned
  • Body horror
  • Police brutality & violence
  • Physical assault
  • Bullying
  • Animal attack
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Ain’t Never Not Been Black by Javon Johnson

Ain’t Never Not Been Black by Javon Johnson

Engaging with themes of masculinity, racism, love, and joy, Johnson is at once critical and creative. His spoken word performance transfers effortlessly to the page, with poems that will encompass you. This is a book about blackness and survival, and how in American these are inseparable. In a world of individualism, who can you hold close? In a world of danger, what makes you feel safe? From a poem written in the form of a syllabus, to another about the time his grandmother literally saved his life, Johnson’s creative expression is constantly enacting the feminist mantra, “the personal is political.”

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slur
  • Cancer
  • Murder
  • Police brutality & violence
  • Gun violence
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