Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Light From Uncommon Stars by Ryka Aoki

Shizuka Satomi made a deal with the devil: to escape damnation, she must entice seven other violin prodigies to trade their souls for success. She has already delivered six. When Katrina Nguyen, a young transgender runaway, catches Shizuka’s ear with her wild talent, Shizuka can almost feel the curse lifting. She’s found her final candidate.

But in a donut shop off a bustling highway in the San Gabriel Valley, Shizuka meets Lan Tran, retired starship captain, interstellar refugee, and mother of four. Shizuka doesn’t have time for crushes or coffee dates, what with her very soul on the line, but Lan’s kind smile and eyes like stars might just redefine a soul’s worth. And maybe something as small as a warm donut is powerful enough to break a curse as vast as the California coastline.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Transmisia
  • Deadnaming
  • Racism
  • Parental physical abuse
  • War themes
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Dark Room by Tom Becker

When Darla and her feckless dad, Hopper, move to Saffron Hills, Darla hopes it’ll be a new start for the both of them. But she stands no chance of fitting in with the image-obsessed in-crowd at her new school. Then one of her classmates is brutally killed when taking a photo of herself. A murder Darla herself predicted in a bloody vision. When more teens die in a similar fashion it appears that a serial killer is on the loose – the ‘Selfie Slayer’. Darla alone is convinced that the murderer might not be flesh and blood…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia
  • Faked suicide by hanging recounted
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder (serial killer)

*Context: When a young boy was caught murdering a young girls, his father helped him avoid charges & escape the country by faking his suicide; he had so-called ‘gender reassignment surgery’ so he could return and resume killing in ‘disguise’ (as a woman).

Machine by Elizabeth Bear

Machine by Elizabeth Bear

Meet Doctor Jens. She hasn’t had a decent cup of coffee in fifteen years. Her workday begins when she jumps out of perfectly good spaceships and continues with developing treatments for sick alien species she’s never seen before. She loves her life. Even without the coffee. But Dr. Jens is about to discover an astonishing mystery: two ships, one ancient and one new, locked in a deadly embrace. The crew is suffering from an unknown ailment and the shipmind is trapped in an inadequate body, much of her memory pared away. Unfortunately, Dr. Jens can’t resist a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism
  • Misogyny
  • Homomisia
  • Chronic pain

Titanic 2020 by Colin Bateman

‘Lucky’ Jimmy Armstrong stows away on the first voyage of the ‘new’ Titanic – and sails straight into the end of the world. As a plague destroys civilization Jimmy and his friend Claire, the daughter of the ship’s owner, record the downfall of civilization through the on-board newspaper, The Titanic Times and find themselves up to their necks in danger from mutineers and flesh eating dogs.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Plague (theme)
  • Murder

Wonders of the Invisible World by Christopher Barzak

Aidan Lockwood lives in a sleepy farming town, day after unremarkable day. But when Jarrod, his former best friend, suddenly moves back home, Aidan begins to see clearly for the first time—not only to feelings that go beyond mere friendship, but to a world that is haunted by the stories of his past. Visions from this invisible world come to him unbidden: a great-grandfather on the field of battle; his own father, stumbling upon an unspeakable tragedy; and a mysterious young boy, whose whispered words may be at the heart of the curse that holds Aidan… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & homophobia

The Good Girls by Claire Eliza Bartlett

The troublemaker. The overachiever. The cheer captain. The dead girl. Like every high school in America, Jefferson-Lorne High contains all of the above. After the shocking murder of senior Emma Baines, three of her classmates are at the top of the suspect list: Claude, the notorious partier; Avery, the head cheerleader; and Gwen, the would-be valedictorian. Everyone has a label, whether they like it or not–and Emma was always known as a good girl. But appearances are never what they seem. And the truth behind what really happened to Emma may just be lying in plain sight… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Biphobia & slut-shaming
  • Statutory rape & sexual assault, grooming & teacher-student relationship
  • Disordered food & weight thoughts
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Murder & gun violence

He’s Come Undone by Various

He’s Come Undone by Emma Barry, Olivia Dade, Adriana Herrera, Ruby Lang & Cat Sebastian

For him, control is everything…until it shatters, and now he’s come undone.

Appasionata by Emma Barry
Piano technician Brennan Connelly lives to control details: the tension on a piano string or the compression of hammer felt. But he’s never faced demands like those heaped on him by Kristy Kwong, the diva who’s haunted his dreams for two decades. Kristy’s got her own secrets–the debilitating stage fright that’s kept her from performing publicly for years to start–and this concert is the last chance to save her career. But can he locate her lost passion without losing his precious control? … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Sexism
  • Familial estrangement
  • Disownment
  • Domestic abuse
  • Anxiety
  • Panic attack, on-page
  • Depression
  • Parent with Early-Onset Dementia
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SoloPlay by Miranda Baker

SoloPlay by Miranda Baker

When librarian Alisa Mane’s boyfriend accuses her of being frigid, she sets out to prove him wrong the only way she knows how—with research. A visit to the local sex shop uncovers the sizzling sensuality locked beneath her cool reserve, and she eagerly accepts a job testing sex toys for SoloPlay Enterprises. Under the code name “Sologirl”, she begins exploring her body on her own terms.

Mark Winters needs his new line of DoublePlay toys to succeed, and there’s only one tester for the job—Sologirl. She fires his imagination with playfully erotic reviews and never fails to pick a winner. There’s only one problem—Sologirl refuses to test the DoublePlay toys for couples… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Bimisia
  • Cheating
  • Sexual harassment
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The Making of Dr. Truelove by Derrick Barnes

The Making of Dr. Truelove by Derrick Barnes

When St. Ivory Academy, a historically white wizarding Diego is a 16-year-old boy with a problem. When he breaks up with the girl he loves due to his insecurities, he is crushed. Will he ever win Roxy back? On the trusty advice of his best friend, Diego invents an alter ego known as Dr. Truelove, a sex and relationship e-columnist who knows how to treat the ladies.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Queermisia
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug use
  • Physical assault
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Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Sabrina & Corina: Stories by Kali Fajardo-Anstine

Kali Fajardo-Anstine’s magnetic story collection breathes life into her Latina characters of indigenous ancestry and the land they inhabit. Set against the remarkable backdrop of Denver, Colorado–a place that is as fierce as it is exquisite–these women navigate the land the way they navigate their lives: with caution, grace, and quiet force.

Sabrina & Corina is a moving narrative of unrelenting feminine power and an exploration of the universal experiences of abandonment, heritage, and an eternal sense of home.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic violence
  • Parental abandonment
  • Alcoholism
  • Drug abuse
  • Murder
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