The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

The Poppy War R. F. Kuang

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Classism
  • Racism & colourism
  • Gang rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Forced marriage
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Sterilization
  • Medical experimentation
  • Dead bodies
  • Decapitation and dismemberment
  • Graphic murder & mass murder
  • Torture
  • Explosions
  • Knife violence
  • Physical assault
  • Captivity & confinement
  • War themes & military violence
  • Fire
  • Flooding
  • Bullying
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The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

The Great Alone by Kristin Hannah

Ernt Allbright, a former POW, comes home from the Vietnam war a changed and volatile man. When he loses yet another job, he makes an impulsive decision: he will move his family north, to Alaska, where they will live off the grid in America’s last true frontier.

Thirteen-year-old Leni, a girl coming of age in a tumultuous time, caught in the riptide of her parents’ passionate, stormy relationship, dares to hope that a new land will lead to a better future for her family. She is desperate for a place to belong. Her mother, Cora, will do anything and go anywhere for the man she loves, even if it means following him into the unknown… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Domestic abuse (theme)
  • Child abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Cancer
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Vietnam War
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Realm Breaker by Victoria Aveyard

A strange darkness grows in Allward. Even Corayne an-Amarat can feel it, tucked away in her small town at the edge of the sea. She soon discovers the truth: She is the last of an ancient lineage—and the last hope to save the world from destruction. But she won’t be alone. Even as darkness falls, she is joined by a band of unlikely companions: A squire, forced to choose between home and honor. An immortal, avenging a broken promise. An assassin, exiled and bloodthirsty. An ancient sorceress, whose riddles hide an eerie foresight. A forger with a secret past. A bounty hunter with a score to settle. Together they stand against a vicious… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Minor self-injury for blood mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Mentions of drugging via poisonous gas
  • War themes & fantasy violence with knife & sword
  • Animal death

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

Ancestral Night by Elizabeth Bear

Haimey Dz thinks she knows what she wants. She thinks she knows who she is. She is wrong.

A routine salvage mission uncovers evidence of a terrible crime and relics of powerful ancient technology. Haimey and her small crew run afoul of pirates at the outer limits of the Milky Way, and find themselves on the run and in possession of universe-changing information.

When authorities prove corrupt, Haimey realizes that she is the only one who can protect her galaxy-spanning civilization from the implications of this ancient technology—and the revolutionaries who want to use it for terror and war… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Abusive relationship recounted
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder & trauma

The Quiet You Carry by Nikki Barthelmess

Victoria Parker knew her dad’s behavior toward her was a little unusual, but she convinced herself everything was fine—until she found herself locked out of the house at 3:00 a.m., surrounded by flashing police lights. Now, dumped into a crowded, chaotic foster home, Victoria has to tiptoe around her domineering foster mother, get through senior year at a new school, and somehow salvage her college dreams . . . all while keeping her past hidden. But some secrets won’t stay buried—especially when unwanted memories make Victoria freeze up at random moments and… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Incestuous sexual assault (father-daughter), and subsequent foster care experiences
  • Attempted suicide by drinking bleach & self-harm
  • Eating disorder, trauma & nightmares

The Lovely and the Lost by Jennifer Lynn Barnes

Kira Bennett’s earliest memories are of living alone and wild in the woods. She has no idea how long she was on her own or what she had to do to survive, but she remembers the moment that Cady Bennett and one of her search-and-rescue dogs found her perfectly. Adopted into the Bennett family, Kira still struggles with human interaction years later, but she excels at the family business: search-and-rescue. Along with Cady’s son, Jude, and their neighbor, Free, Kira works alongside Cady to train the world’s most elite search-and-rescue dogs. Someday, all three… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Physical child abuse in the past, implied
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & night terrors
  • Minor physical injuries depiction
  • Disappearance of a child & friend (theme)
  • Kidnapping (a teenaged secondary character is charged with kidnapping for removing his sister from an abusive home)
  • Death of a pet dog from old age & mentions of animal cruelty & hunting

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

The Silence of the Girls by Pat Barker

The ancient city of Troy has withstood a decade under siege of the powerful Greek army, which continues to wage bloody war over a stolen woman—Helen. In the Greek camp, another woman—Briseis—watches and waits for the war’s outcome. She was queen of one of Troy’s neighboring kingdoms, until Achilles, Greece’s greatest warrior, sacked her city and murdered her husband and brothers. Briseis becomes Achilles’s concubine, a prize of battle, and must adjust quickly in order to survive a radically different life, as one of the many conquered women who serve the Greek army.

When Agamemnon, the brutal political leader of the Greek forces, demands Briseis for himself, she finds herself caught between the two most powerful of the Greeks… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Victim blaming
  • Slavery
  • Graphic rape
  • Paedophilia
  • Cheating
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Suicide
  • Self harm
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a baby
  • Graphic murder
  • War themes & battle scenes
  • Animal death
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Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey

Love Her or Lose Her by Tessa Bailey

Rosie and Dominic Vega are the perfect couple: high school sweethearts, best friends, madly in love. Well, they used to be, anyway. Now, Rosie’s lucky to get a caveman grunt from the ex-soldier every time she walks in the door. Dom is faithful and a great provider, but the man she fell in love with 10 years ago is nowhere to be found. When her girlfriends encourage Rosie to demand more out of life and pursue her dream of opening a restaurant, she decides to demand more out of love, too. Three words: marriage boot camp.

Never in a million years did Rosie believe her stoic, too-manly-to emote husband would actually agree to relationship rehab with a weed-smoking hippie. Dom talking about feelings? Sitting on pillows? Communing with nature? Learning love languages? Nope… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent mentioned
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Runaway Girl by Tessa Bailey

Runaway Girl by Tessa Bailey

It’s Naomi Clemons’s big day. Her dream wedding. And she’s outta here.

One moment. A chance meeting of gazes through the church window pane with someone familiar who radiates intrigue. Independence. It’s the final push Naomi needs to realize…she’s boring. A blonde, cookie cutter, well mannered trophy wife-to-be. How can she expect to lead a fulfilling married life when she’s never lived?

Special Forces diver Jason Bristow needs a beauty pageant coach. Not for himself—although the tattooed bruiser could definitely use some charm. For his little sister who he has returned to St. Augustine, Florida to raise. When a beautiful southern debutante lands on his doorstep… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Depression
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Grief & loss depiction
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The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King

The Lore of Prometheus by Graham Austin-King

John Carver has three rules: Don’t drink in the daytime, don’t gamble when the luck has gone, and don’t talk to the dead people who come to visit.

It has been almost five years since the incident in Kabul. Since the magic stirred within him and the stories began. Fleeing the army, running from the whispers, the guilt, and the fear he was losing his mind, Carver fell into addiction, dragging himself through life one day at a time.

Desperation has pulled him back to Afghanistan, back to the heat, the dust, and the truth he worked so hard to avoid. But there are others, obsessed with power and forbidden magics… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Drugging
  • Hallucinations
  • Medical experimentation
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Gun violence
  • Torture
  • Immolation
  • Kidnapping
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