After by Amy Efaw

An infant left in the trash to die. A teenage mother who never knew she was pregnant . . . Before That Morning, these were the words most often used to describe straight-A student and star soccer player Devon: responsible, hardworking, mature. But all that changes when the police find Devon home sick from school as they investigate the case of an abandoned baby. Soon the connection is made—Devon has just given birth; the baby in the trash is hers. After That Morning, there’s only one way to define attempted murderer.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child neglect
  • PTSD & trauma
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Childbirth mentioned
  • Incarceration in a juvenile detention center
  • Attempted infanticide by abandonment

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

The Undertaking of Hart and Mercy by Megan Bannen

Hart is a marshal, tasked with patrolling the strange and magical wilds of Tanria. It’s an unforgiving job, and Hart’s got nothing but time to ponder his loneliness.

Mercy never has a moment to herself. She’s been single-handedly keeping Birdsall & Son Undertakers afloat in defiance of sullen jerks like Hart, who seems to have a gift for showing up right when her patience is thinnest… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Pregnancy & childbirth mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Physical injuries including gunshot wounds
  • Emesis
  • Heart attack recounted*
  • Dead bodies
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father recounted
  • Death of a mother from cancer recounted
  • Death of a grandparent from a stroke
  • Attempted murder
  • Animal death recounted & discussed (dog)

*Context: Female protagonist’s father had a heart attack within the past year.

Sacred Sins by C. D. Reiss

You know what they say about family.
Blood is thicker than water.
The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.
A house divided cannot stand.

Margie is the keeper of her family’s secrets.
Six sisters and one brother.
Billions in assets.
Generations of malfeasance… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Drug use & smoking
  • Gambling
  • Unplanned pregnancy

The Spirit Bares Its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

London, 1883. The Veil between the living and dead has thinned. Violet-eyed mediums commune with spirits under the watchful eye of the Royal Speaker Society, and sixteen-year-old Silas Bell would rather rip out his violet eyes than become an obedient Speaker wife. According to Mother, he’ll be married by the end of the year. It doesn’t matter that he’s needed a decade of tutors to hide his autism; that he practices surgery on slaughtered pigs; that he is a boy, not the girl the world insists on seeing. After a failed attempted tgo escape an arranged marriage, SIlas is diagnosed… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Homomisia & transmisia
  • Misgendering & deadnaming
  • Misogyny & sexism
  • Conversion therapy
  • Sexual assault of a child, on-page
  • Dissociation
  • Forced institutionalisation
  • Involuntary pregnancy
  • Graphic self-abortion
  • Miscarriage discussed
  • Graphic body horror & eye trauma
  • Graphic medical procedures & experimentation
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a mother and father
  • Physical assault

Out on a Limb by Hannah Bonam-Young

Winnifred “Win” McNulty has always been wildly independent. Not one to be coddled for her limb difference, Win has spent most of her life trying to prove that she can do it all on her own. And, with some minor adjustments, she’s done just fine. That is until she has a one-night stand with the incredibly charming Bo, a perfect stranger. And that one night changes everything. While Bo is surprisingly elated to step up to the plate, Win finds herself unsure of whether she can handle this new challenge on her own or if she’ll need a helping hand… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Depression
  • Suicidal ideation recounted
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Amputation & loss of limb (leg)
  • Cancer (remission)
  • Death of a parent from suicide recounted, off-page

Soul of a Witch by Harley Laroux

Everly: I am the servant of a merciless God. I am the daughter of Its preacher. All my life, my power has been controlled by others. They raised me to be meek and stifled my magic. But no more. A brutal murder led me to discover a mysterious house full of magic – and the ancient, powerful demon within. He says my power can change the world, that I can kill the evil creature I once worshipped. But at what cost? Callum: For two thousand years, I’ve been alone. Slaughtering fallen Gods as I searched for the witch that haunted my dreams, begging for my help. Now that I’ve found.. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abuse
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Pregnancy & miscarriage discussed
  • Death of a parent from suicide mentioned
  • Blood & knife play
  • Body horror
  • Murder
  • Imprisonment
  • Torture

Bite Me by Robyn Bachar

When an out-of-control spell triggers the zombie apocalypse, Lizzy Addams is left in the ruins of Chicago with only the unhinged commentary—and endless erotic appetites—of her inner demon for company. Her blood supply dwindling, Lizzy must find survivors to feed from, or die trying. Officer Angela Kinney was on duty when hungry corpses overwhelmed the city. Angie’s group of survivors look to her for leadership, but nothing prepared her for a beautiful monster who offers safety in exchange for blood. Sean MacMillan never expected to see Lizzy again after she rejected his attempts to lure her back to the vampire… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slur
  • Rape recounted & off-page
  • Child sexual abuse by a stepfather resulting in pregnancy mentioned (secondary character)
  • Sex work mentioned
  • Emotional sibling abuse
  • Blood & gore depiction including body horror and blood-drinking
  • Physical injury & scar
  • Death of a mother from childbirth recounted
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Stalking

Troubles in Paradise by Elin Hilderbrand

After uprooting her life in the States, Irene Steele has just settled in at the villa on St. John where her husband Russ had been living a double life. But a visit from the FBI shakes her foundations, and Irene once again learns just how little she knew about the man she loved. With help from their friends, Irene and her sons set up their lives while evidence mounts that the helicopter crash that killed Russ may not have been an accident. Meanwhile, the island watches this drama unfold — including the driver of a Jeep with tinted windows who seems to be shadowing the Steele family… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infidelity
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Death of a spouse mentioned
  • Helicopter accident

Lady Tan’s Circle of Women by Lisa See

From a young age, Yunxian learns about women’s illnesses, many of which relate to childbearing, alongside a young midwife-in-training, Meiling. The two girls find fast friendship and a mutual purpose—despite the prohibition that a doctor should never touch blood while a midwife comes in frequent contact with it—and they vow to be forever friends, sharing in each other’s joys and struggles. No mud, no lotus, they tell themselves: from adversity beauty can bloom.

But when Yunxian is sent into an arranged marriage, her mother-in-law forbids her… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Pregnancy
  • Childbirth
  • Miscarriage
  • Infertility
  • Foot binding
  • Death of a mother
  • Grief depiction