PTSD & Trauma – Page 31 – Trigger Warning Database

He Must Like You by Danielle Younge-Ullman

He Must Like You by Danielle Younge-Ullman

Libby’s having a rough senior year. Her older brother absconded with his college money and is bartending on a Greek island. Her dad just told her she’s got to pay for college herself, and he’s evicting her when she graduates so he can Airbnb her room. A drunken hook-up with her coworker Kyle has left her upset and confused. So when Perry Ackerman, serial harasser and the most handsy customer at The Goat where she waitresses, pushes her over the edge, she can hardly be blamed for dumping a pitcher of sangria on his head.

Unfortunately, Perry is a local industry hero, the restaurant’s most important customer, and Libby’s mom’s boss. Now Libby has to navigate the fallout of her outburst, find an apartment, and deal with her increasing rage at the guys who’ve screwed up her life–and her increasing crush on the one guy who truly gets her. As timely as it is timeless, He Must Like You is a story about consent, rage, and revenge, and the potential we all have to be better people.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Victim-blaming
Rape and sexual assault
Workplace sexual harassment
Depression & PTSD
Cyberbullying

MEG by Steve Alten

MEG by Steve Alten

On a top-secret dive into the Pacific Ocean’s deepest canyon, Jonas Taylor found himself face-to-face with the largest and most ferocious predator in the history of the animal kingdom. The sole survivor of the mission, Taylor is haunted by what he’s sure he saw but still can’t prove exists – Carcharodon megalodon, the massive mother of the great white shark. The average prehistoric Meg weighs in at twenty tons and could tear apart a Tyrannosaurus rex in seconds. Taylor spends years theorizing, lecturing, and writing about the possibility that Meg still feeds at the deepest levels of the sea. But it takes an old friend in need to get him to return to the water, and a hotshot female submarine pilot to dare him back into a high-tech miniature sub. Diving deeper than he ever has before, Taylor will face terror like he’s never imagined. MEG is about to surface. When she does, nothing and no one is going to be safe, and Jonas must face his greatest fear once again.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Cheating
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Suicide
Blood and gore depiction
Death of a loved one
Explosions
Drowning
Graphic animal death

Arctic Heat by Annabeth Albert

Arctic Heat by Annabeth Albert

Owen Han has a fresh lease on life—he’s kicked cancer’s ass and is roaring through his bucket list. The former investment banker hopes to find his next challenge in Alaska, volunteering alongside park rangers and fulfilling his childhood dreams of snowy winters and rustic life. Of course, those dreams did tend to feature big strapping mountain men in vivid detail…

Ranger Quilleran Ramsey would like to be anywhere other than dealing with newbie volunteers. And really, the only thing he needs less than a green volunteer “partner” is the flirty attentions of a buff city boy who doesn’t look ready to last a week, let alone an Alaskan winter. They’re all wrong for each other, even if Quill’s traitorous body enjoys the flirting more than it should… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableism
Homomisia
Acemisia
Child abuse
Verbal, psychological & emotional abuse
Abusive relationship (recounted)
Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Cancer
Hospital
Medical procedures
Physical injury
Avalanche

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Undead Girl Gang by Lil Anderson book cover

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There’s not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley’s favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body-shaming
Racism
Sexism
Cheating
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
Depression
Suicide
Blood and gore depiction
Dead bodies
Physical injuries
Grief depiction
Death of a friend
Death of a sister
Death of a child
Death of a girlfriend
Murder
Gun violence
Knife violence & stabbing
Hanging
Drowning
Fire
Home invasion
Animal death and animal sacrifice
Bullying

Swing by Kwame Alexander and Mary Rand Hess

Swing by Kwame Alexander & Mary Rand Hess

Things usually do not go as planned for seventeen-year-old Noah. He and his best friend Walt (aka Swing) have been cut from the high school baseball team for the third year in a row, and it looks like Noah’s love interest since third grade, Sam, will never take it past the “best friend” zone. Noah would love to retire his bat and accept the status quo, but Walt has big plans for them both, which include making the best baseball comeback ever, getting the girl, and finally finding cool.

To go from lovelorn to ladies’ men, Walt introduces Noah to a relationship guru—his Dairy Queen-employed cousin, Floyd—and the always informative Woohoo Woman Podcast. Noah is reluctant, but decides fate may be… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
Gun violence

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

It is 1939. Nazi Germany. The country is holding its breath. Death has never been busier, and will be busier still.

By her brother’s graveside, Liesel’s life is changed when she picks up a single object, partially hidden in the snow. It is The Gravedigger’s Handbook, left behind there by accident, and it is her first act of book thievery. So begins a love affair with books and words, as Liesel, with the help of her accordian-playing foster father, learns to read. Soon she is stealing books from Nazi book-burnings, the mayor’s wife’s library, wherever there are books to be found.

But these are dangerous times. When Liesel’s foster family hides a Jew in their basement, Liesel’s world is both opened up, and closed down.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism, including blackface, and antiziganism (g slur)
Anti-semitism and Nazism (theme)
Ableism & ableist language
Parental abandonment & verbal abuse
PTSD & nightmares
Recreational drug use (smoking)
Emesis
Starvation
Gore depiction (dead bodies)
Death of a brother
Death of a child
Death of a father & uncle mentioned
Murder
Explosions, including air raids, and fire
Death by exposure to the cold
War themes* and battle scenes
Poverty themes
Bullying

*Set during WWII and discussed the Holocaust.

All the Tides of Fate by Adalyn Grace

All the Tides of Fate by Adalyn Grace

Through blood and sacrifice, Amora Montara has conquered a rebellion and taken her rightful place as queen of Visidia. Now, with the islands in turmoil and the people questioning her authority, Amora cannot allow anyone to see her weaknesses.

No one can know about the curse in her bloodline. No one can know that she’s lost her magic. No one can know the truth about the boy who holds the missing half of her soul.

To save herself and Visidia, Amora embarks on a desperate quest for a mythical artifact that could fix everything―but it comes at a terrible cost. As she tries to balance her loyalty to her people, her crew, and the desires of her heart, Amora will soon discover that the power to rule might destroy her.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

PTSD & panic attacks
Alcohol consumption
Grief & loss depiction
Blood & gore depiction

The Project by Courtney Summers

The Project by Courtney Summers

Lo Denham is used to being on her own. After her parents died, Lo’s sister, Bea, joined The Unity Project, leaving Lo in the care of their great aunt. Thanks to its extensive charitable work and community outreach, The Unity Project has won the hearts and minds of most in the Upstate New York region, but Lo knows there’s more to the group than meets the eye. She’s spent the last six years of her life trying—and failing—to prove it.

When a man shows up at the magazine Lo works for claiming The Unity Project killed his son, Lo sees the perfect opportunity to expose the group and reunite with Bea once and for all. When her investigation puts her in the direct path of its leader, Lev Warren and as Lo delves deeper into The Project… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Abandonment
Disfigurmisia
Child abuse & neglect recounted
Emotional abuse & gaslighting
Cheating
Trauma & panic attacks
Nightmares
Hallucinations mentioned
Suicide by train, on-page
Suicidal ideation mentioned
Pregnancy & pregnancy complications, on-page
Traumatic premature childbirth, on-page
Blood depiction
Physical injuries including graphic burns, comas, broken bones and facial scars
Hospitalisation
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & father in a car accident, off-page
Death of a guardian mentioned
Death of a sister by drowning, off-page
Death of a mother in a fire mentioned
Death of a son discussed
Murder
Torture, on-page
Disappearance of a sibling
Car accident, on- & off-page
Blackmail mentioned
Cults (theme)
Homelessness mentioned
Mentions of stalking & harassment

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

Shout by Laurie Halse Anderson

Bestselling author Laurie Halse Anderson is known for the unflinching way she writes about, and advocates for, survivors of sexual assault. Now, inspired by her fans and enraged by how little in our culture has changed since her groundbreaking novel Speak was first published twenty years ago, she has written a poetry memoir that is as vulnerable as it is rallying, as timely as it is timeless. In free verse, Anderson shares reflections, rants, and calls to action woven between deeply personal stories from her life that she’s never written about before. Searing and soul-searching, this important memoir is a denouncement of our society’s failures and a love letter to all the people with the courage to say #metoo and #timesup, whether aloud, online, or only in their own hearts. SHOUT speaks truth to power in a loud, clear voice– and once you hear it, it is impossible to ignore.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatphobia & body shaming
Rape & sexual assault (theme)
Child & spousal abuse, including physical abuse & gaslighting
Military service-related PTSD
Alcohol & drug abuse

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

The Impossible Knife of Memory by Laurie Halse Anderson

For the past five years, Hayley Kincain and her father, Andy, have been on the road, never staying long in one place as he struggles to escape the demons that have tortured him since his return from Iraq. Now they are back in the town where he grew up so Hayley can attend school. Perhaps, for the first time, Hayley can have a normal life, put aside her own painful memories, even have a relationship with Finn, the hot guy who obviously likes her but is hiding secrets of his own.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

PTSD (theme)