Racism – Page 104 – Trigger Warning Database

The Book Ninja by Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus

The Book Ninja by Ali Berg & Michelle Kalus

Sometimes love means having to broaden your literary horizons.

Frankie Rose is desperate for love. Or a relationship. Or just a date with a semi-normal person will do. It’s not that she hasn’t tried. She’s the queen of online dating. But enough is enough. Inspired by her job at The Little Brunswick Street Bookshop, Frankie decides to take fate into her own hands and embarks on the ultimate love experiment.

Her plan? Plant her favourite books on trains inscribed with her contact details in a bid to lure the sophisticated, charming and well-read man of her dreams. Enter Sunny, and one spontaneous kiss later, Frankie begins to fall for him. But there’s just one problem – Frankie is strictly a classics kind of gal, and Sunny is really into Young Adult. Like really.

A quirky and uplifting love letter to books, friendship and soulmates.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Cheating
Death of a loved one
Car accident (recounted)

Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

Starry Eyes by Jenn Bennett

Ever since last year’s homecoming dance, best friends-turned-best enemies Zorie and Lennon have made an art of avoiding each other. It doesn’t hurt that their families are the modern-day Californian version of the Montagues and Capulets. But when a group camping trip goes south, Zorie and Lennon find themselves stranded in the wilderness. Alone. Together. What could go wrong?

With no one but each other for company, Zorie and Lennon have no choice but to hash out their issues via witty jabs and insults as they try to make their way to safety. But fighting each other while also fighting off the forces of nature makes getting out of the woods in one piece less and less likely.

And as the two travel deeper into Northern California’s rugged backcountry, secrets and hidden feelings surface. But can Zorie and Lennon’s rekindled connection survive out in the real world? Or was it just a result of the fresh forest air and the magic of the twinkling stars?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableist language
Lesbomisia
Racism
Islamophobia
Cheating
Anxiety attacks (on-page)
Depression mentioned
Suicide of a parent
Blood depiction & physical injury
Chronic illness (main character, specifically hives)
Hospitalisation mentioned
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a father & mother recounted
Physical assault
Plane crash mentioned
Animal attacks, specifically snake and bear attacks

A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood

A Snowfall of Silver by Laura Wood

A snow-dusted love story.

In the Autumn of 1931, eighteen-year-old Freya Trevelyan runs away from her home in Cornwall to follow her dream of becoming an actress. When she is invited to join a theatrical company about to head out on tour, Freya thinks the path to success is clear, and, amidst all the glamour and bustle of stage life, she finds – for the first time – a place to belong. But can reality ever live up to her expectations? What if her life – and falling in love – turn out to be nothing like she planned? An enchanting coming of age romance about following your dreams – even when they aren’t quite what you expected.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism & racist language, specifically ‘exotic’
Misogyny & sexism (including mansplaining)
Victim blaming & slut-shaming
Queermisia
Verbal abuse
Toxic relationship
Sexual assault (non-consensual kissing)
Sexual harassment
Anxiety
Bipolar Disorder
Depressive episode
Alcohol consumption
Smoking
Graphic emesis (on-page)
Blizzard

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

The Gilded Ones by Namina Forna

Sixteen-year-old Deka lives in fear and anticipation of the blood ceremony that will determine whether she will become a member of her village. Already different from everyone else because of her unnatural intuition, Deka prays for red blood so she can finally feel like she belongs.

But on the day of the ceremony, her blood runs gold, the color of impurity–and Deka knows she will face a consequence worse than death.

Then a mysterious woman comes to her with a choice: stay in the village and submit to her fate, or leave to fight for the emperor in an army of girls just like her. They are called alaki–near-immortals with rare gifts. And they are the only ones who can stop the empire’s greatest threat.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Homomisia
Misogyny
Rape and rape of a child mentioned*
Self-harm (cutting) for ritual
Blood & gore depiction, and physical injuries
Graphic murder (on-page)
Torture

*Discussed in more detail on-page roughly around pages 277-278 in the UK edition.

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

The Sun Is Also a Star by Nicola Yoon

Natasha: I’m a girl who believes in science and facts. Not fate. Not destiny. Or dreams that will never come true. I’m definitely not the kind of girl who meets a cute boy on a crowded New York City street and falls in love with him. Not when my family is twelve hours away from being deported to Jamaica. Falling in love with him won’t be my story.

Daniel: I’ve always been the good son, the good student, living up to my parents’ high expectations. Never the poet. Or the dreamer. But when I see her, I forget about all that. Something about Natasha makes me think that fate has something much more extraordinary in store—for both of us.

The Universe: Every moment in our lives has brought us to this single moment. A million futures lie before us. Which one will come true?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism
Misogyny
Cheating
Suicidal ideation
Deportation (theme)

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

Beartown by Fredrik Backman

People say Beartown is finished. A tiny community nestled deep in the forest, it is slowly losing ground to the ever encroaching trees. But down by the lake stands an old ice rink, built generations ago by the working men who founded this town. And in that ice rink is the reason people in Beartown believe tomorrow will be better than today. Their junior ice hockey team is about to compete in the national semi-finals, and they actually have a shot at winning. All the hopes and dreams of this place now rest on the shoulders of a handful of teenage boys.

Being responsible for the hopes of an entire town is a heavy burden, and the semi-final match is the catalyst for a violent act that will leave a young girl traumatized and a town in turmoil. Accusations are made and, like ripples on a pond, they travel through all of Beartown, leaving no resident unaffected.

Beartown explores the hopes that bring a small community together, the secrets that tear it apart, and the courage it takes for an individual to go against the grain. In this story of a small forest town, Fredrik Backman has found the entire world.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Homomisia
Racism
Misogyny
Rape
Suicide and self-harm
Gun violence

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood

Offred is a Handmaid in the Republic of Gilead. She may leave the home of the Commander and his wife once a day to walk to food markets whose signs are now pictures instead of words because women are no longer allowed to read. She must lie on her back once a month and pray that the Commander makes her pregnant, because in an age of declining births, Offred and the other Handmaids are valued only if their ovaries are viable. Offred can remember the years before, when she lived and made love with her husband, Luke; when she played with and protected her daughter; when she had a job, money of her own, and access to knowledge. But all of that is gone now . . .

Funny, unexpected, horrifying, and altogether convincing, The Handmaid’s Tale is at once scathing satire, dire warning, and tour de force.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Queermisia
Misogyny (central theme)
Slavery
Racism and anti-semitism
Rape, sexual assault and non-consensual polygamy
Domestic abuse
Depression and suicide
Forced pregnancy and miscarriage
Death of a child
Murder

Between Us by Clare Atkins

Between Us by Clare Atkins

Anahita is passionate, curious and determined. She is also an Iranian asylum seeker who is only allowed out of detention to attend school. On weekdays, during school hours, she can be a ‘regular Australian girl’.

Jono needs the distraction of an infatuation. In the past year his mum has walked out, he’s been dumped and his sister has moved away. Lost and depressed, Jono feels as if he’s been left behind with his Vietnamese single father, Kenny.

Kenny is struggling to work out the rules in his new job; he recently started work as a guard at the Wickham Point Detention Centre. He tells Anahita to look out for Jono at school, but quickly comes to regret this, spiraling into suspicion and mistrust. Who is this girl, really? What is her story? Is she a genuine refugee or a queue jumper? As Jono and Anahita grow closer, Kenny starts snooping behind the scenes…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racial slurs
Self-harm
Drug and alcohol abuse
Physical assault
Confinement

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

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Dread Nation by Justina Ireland

Jane McKeene was born two days before the dead began to walk the battlefields of Gettysburg & Chancellorsville—derailing the War and changing America forever. In this new nation, safety for all depends on the work of a few, and laws require certain children attend combat schools to learn to put down the dead. But there are also opportunities—and Jane is studying to become an Attendant, trained in both weaponry and etiquette to protect the well-to-do. It’s a chance for a better life.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Racism (theme), colourism & racial slurs
Sexism
Slavery
Child abuse recounted
Sexual assault
Forced use of medication
Blood & gore depiction
Death of a friend
Torture
Gun violence
War themes & military violence