Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

Golden Boy by Abigail Tarttelin

The Walker family is good at keeping secrets from the world. They are even better at keeping them from each other. Max Walker is a golden boy, with a secret that the world may not be ready for. This novel is a riveting tale of a family in crisis, a fascinating exploration of identity, and a coming-of-age story like no other.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Graphic rape (chp. 3)
  • Graphic attempted suicide
  • Panic attacks
  • Drug & alcohol abuse
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Abortion
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Saga, Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 8 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

After the traumatic events of the War for Phang, Hazel, her parents, and their surviving companions embark on a life-changing adventure at the westernmost edge of the universe.

CollectingSaga 43-48.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Transmisia
  • Misogyny
  • Rape
  • Paedophilia mentioned & implied child sexual abuse
  • Physical child abuse
  • Suicidal ideation mentioned
  • Abortion discussed & abortion procedures (on-page)
  • Miscarriage & pregnancy-related medical trauma (theme)
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Hospital
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a wife
  • Death of a friend
  • Graphic murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Hanging
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • War & military violence (theme)
  • Death of a pet dog
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Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

After a dramatic time jump, Hazel begins the most exciting adventure of her life: kindergarten. Meanwhile, her starcrossed family learns hard lessons of their own.

CollectingSaga 31-36

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language (r word)
  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Transmisia
  • Outing
  • Misgendering
  • Rape mentioned
  • Forced sex work mentioned
  • Child abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Hallucinations
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Recreational drug use
  • Overdose mentioned
  • Pregnancy
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injuries, including serious injury of a loved one
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister
  • Death of a girlfriend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • Blackmail
  • Imprisonment
  • War & military violence (theme)
  • Animal death
  • Hunting
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Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Uprooted by Naomi Novik

Agnieszka loves her valley home, her quiet village, the forests and the bright shining river. But the corrupted wood stands on the border, full of malevolent power, and its shadow lies over her life.

Her people rely on the cold, ambitious wizard, known only as the Dragon, to keep the wood’s powers at bay. But he demands a terrible price for his help: one young woman must be handed over to serve him for ten years, a fate almost as terrible as being lost to the wood.

The next choosing is fast approaching, and Agnieszka is afraid. She knows – everyone knows – that the Dragon will take beautiful, graceful, brave Kasia, her dearest friend in the world. There is no way to save her. But no one can predict how or why the Dragon chooses a girl and when he comes, it is not Kasia he will take with him…

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Attempted rape (on-page, detailed)
  • Cheating recounted
  • Adult-minor relationship*
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Body horror
  • Minor physical injuries (burns)
  • Death of a brother
  • Death of a mother & father mentioned
  • Murder
  • Knife violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • War themes & military violence
  • Graphic animal death
  • Animal attack

*Note: The main romance is between a seventeen-year-old girl and an immortal 100-(plus)-year-old man.

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Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis

Not a Drop to Drink by Mindy McGinnis book cover

Lynn knows every threat to her pond: drought, a snowless winter, coyotes, and, most importantly, people looking for a drink. She makes sure anyone who comes near the pond leaves thirsty, or doesn’t leave at all.

Confident in her own abilities, Lynn has no use for the world beyond the nearby fields and forest. Having a life means dedicating it to survival, and the constant work of gathering wood and water. Having a pond requires the fortitude to protect it, something…. Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism
  • Rape & attempted rape recounted
  • Forced sex work, off-page
  • Child abuse
  • Intimate partner violence recounted
  • Suicide, on-page
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Pregnancy & childbirth, on-page
  • Stillbirth, on-page
  • Blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies
  • Graphic physical injuries & illness, including cholera, seizures, and fever
  • Field surgery
  • Syringes and needles
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father
  • Death of a brother
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping & hostage situation
  • Blackmail
  • Fire
  • Drought
  • Death from starvation & dehydration
  • Death from exposure
  • Military deployment recounted
  • Animal death & death of a pet, on-page
  • Animal cruelty
  • Hunting & animal dead bodies
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From Here to You by Jamie McGuire

From Here to You by Jamie McGuire

From Here to You by Jamie McGuire book cover

As Darby Dixon sits in a tiny Texas church bathroom on her wedding day holding a positive pregnancy test, she realizes that of all the bad decisions she’s made in her life, marrying her abusive fiancé would be the worst. She’s never been able to stand up for herself, but she’ll sure as hell stand up for her baby. With just the cash she has on hand, she runs to get a bus ticket to the farthest place she can afford. Between her sheer grit and pageant-queen smile, she lands a job as a front desk clerk at the Colorado Springs Hotel. It’s not a glamorous life, but she and her baby are all that matters… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Abusive relationship recounted
  • Pregnancy
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Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire

Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire book cover

Twin sisters Jack and Jill were seventeen when they found their way home and were packed off to Eleanor West’s Home for Wayward Children.

This is the story of what happened first…

Jacqueline was her mother’s perfect daughter—polite and quiet, always dressed as a princess. If her mother was sometimes a little strict, it’s because crafting the perfect daughter takes discipline.

Jillian was her father’s perfect daughter—adventurous, thrill-seeking, and a bit of a tom-boy. He really would have preferred a son, but you work with what you’ve got.

They were five when they learned that grown-ups can’t be trusted.

They were twelve when they walked down the impossible staircase and discovered that the pretense of love can never be enough to prepare you a life filled with magic in a land filled with mad scientists and death and choices.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia
  • Death of queer characters/ “bury your gays” trope
  • Forced gender roles, central theme
  • Parental neglect
  • Mysophobia
  • Pregnancy discussed
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Vampirism & blood drinking
  • Dead bodies
  • Death of a girlfriend, on-page
  • Murder
  • Lightning & storms mentioned
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The Empress of Salt and Fortune by Nghi Vo

The Empress of Salt & Fortune by Nghi Vo

A young royal from the far north is sent south for a political marriage. Alone and sometimes reviled, she has only her servants on her side. This evocative debut chronicles her rise to power through the eyes of her handmaiden, at once feminist high fantasy and a thrilling indictment of monarchy.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Body shaming
  • Misogyny
  • Parental abandonment
  • Arranged marriage
  • Suicide discussed
  • Pregnancy & childbirth mentioned
  • Nonconsensual & consensual adoption
  • Emesis mentioned
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a partner & wife mentioned
  • Murder
  • Exile
  • War themes, including rebellion & a political coup

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to Mister, a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister’s letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Cultural appropriation, specifically Native American culture
  • Domestic violence
  • Physical, verbal & emotional abuse, including gaslighting
  • Rape, statutory rape & rape of a child
  • Incest (father-daughter)
  • Pregnancy, result of rape & incest
  • Forced estrangement
  • Cheating
  • Self-harm
  • Disordered eating (bingeing)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Female genital mutilation mentioned
  • Emesis
  • Lynching recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence mentioned
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of an infant

Lover Awakened by JR Ward

Lover Awakened by J.R. Ward

A former blood slave, the vampire Zsadist still bears the scars from a past filled with suffering and humiliation. Renowned for his unquenchable fury and sinister deeds, he is a savage feared by humans and vampires alike. Anger is his only companion, and terror is his only passion—until he rescues a beautiful aristocrat from the evil Lessening Society.

Bella is instantly entranced by the seething power Zsadist possesses. But even as their desire for one another begins to overtake them both, Zsadist’s thirst for vengeance against Bella’s tormentors drives him to the brink of madness. Now, Bella must help her lover overcome the wounds of his tortured past, and find a future with her… 

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Slavery & sex slavery
  • Rape
  • Domestic violence recounted
  • Nonconsensual drugging
  • Pregnancy
  • Blood depiction, including blood-drinking
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Torture
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Whipping
  • Bullying
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