Tag Archives: Racism

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow

A Song Below Water by Bethany C. Morrow book cover

Tavia is already at odds with the world, forced to keep her siren identity under wraps in a society that wants to keep her kind under lock and key. Never mind she’s also stuck in Portland, Oregon, a city with only a handful of black folk and even fewer of those with magical powers. At least she has her bestie Effie by her side as they tackle high school drama, family secrets, and unrequited crushes.

But everything changes in the aftermath of a siren murder trial that rocks the nation; the girls’ favorite Internet fashion icon reveals she’s also a siren, and the news rips through their community. Tensions escalate when Effie starts being haunted by demons from her past, and Tavia accidentally lets out her magical voice during a police stop. No secret seems safe anymore—soon Portland won’t be either.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racist microaggressions
  • Racial profiling
  • Misogyny & misogynoir
  • Parental abandonment
  • Child abuse
  • Anxiety & anxiety attacks
  • Self-harm
  • Suicide attempt recounted, on-page
  • Scars
  • Death of a mother by cancer recounted
  • Death of a child implied
  • Disappearance of a friend
  • Murde, off-page
  • Kidnapping & confinement
  • Police brutality & violence
  • Bullying
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Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi

Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi book cover

Zélie Adebola remembers when the soil of Orïsha hummed with magic. Burners ignited flames, Tiders beckoned waves, and Zélie’s Reaper mother summoned forth souls. But everything changed the night magic disappeared. Under the orders of a ruthless king, maji were killed, leaving Zélie without a mother and her people without hope. Now Zélie has one chance to bring back magic and strike against the monarchy. With the help of a rogue princess, Zélie must outwit and outrun the crown prince, who is hell-bent on… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Slavery
  • Attempted rape
  • Threats of rape
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Self-harm
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Death of a friend
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • War themes
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You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

You Should See Me in a Crown by Leah Johnson

Liz Lighty has always believed she’s too black, too poor, too awkward to shine in her small, rich, prom-obsessed midwestern town. But it’s okay — Liz has a plan that will get her out of Campbell, Indiana, forever: attend the uber-elite Pennington College, play in their world-famous orchestra, and become a doctor.

But when the financial aid she was counting on unexpectedly falls through, Liz’s plans come crashing down . . . until she’s reminded of her school’s scholarship for prom king and queen. There’s nothing Liz wants to do less than endure a gauntlet of social media trolls, catty competitors, and humiliating public events,.. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Classism
  • Racism
  • Queermisia, specifically lesbomisia & transmisia
  • Public outing
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Emesis
  • Hospital visits due to medical emergency
  • Chronic illness (sickle cell anemia)
  • Death of a mother recounted
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Alex + Ada by Jonathan Luna and Sarah Vaughn

Alex + Ada, Vols. 1-3 by Jonathan Luna & Sarah Vaughn

From JONATHAN LUNA (GIRLS, THE SWORD, ULTRA, Spider-Woman: Origin) and SARAH VAUGHN (Sparkshooter) comes ALEX + ADA, a sci-fi drama set in the near future. The last thing in the world Alex wanted was an X5, the latest in realistic androids. But after Ada is dropped into his life, he discovers she is more than just a robot.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Volume #1

  • Sexual harassment
  • Scalpels & needles
  • Death of a friend mentioned
  • Mass murder mentioned

Volume #2

  • Discrimination
  • Amputation & prosthetic limbs discussed
  • Mass murder mentioned
  • Ex-soldier secondary character

Volume #3

  • Discrimination & hate crimes
  • Dysphoria discussed
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood depiction & minor physical injuries
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother
  • Murder
  • Mass murder mentioned
  • Physical assault
  • Hanging
  • Explosion
  • Gun violence
  • Imprisonment
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Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

Empress of a Thousand Skies by Rhoda Belleza

The only surviving heir to an ancient Kalusian dynasty, Rhee has spent her life training to destroy the people who killed her family. Now, on the eve of her coronation, the time has finally come for Rhee to claim her throne – and her revenge.

Alyosha is a Wraetan who has risen above his war refugee origins to find fame as the dashing star of a DroneVision show. Despite his popularity, Aly struggles with anti-Wraetan prejudices and the pressure of being perfect in the public eye.

Their paths collide with one brutal act of violence: Rhee is attacked, barely escaping with her life. Aly is blamed for her presumed murder… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableist language
  • Racism & racial slurs, including internment camps
  • Blood depiction (chp 3)
  • Unethical human medical experimentation (chp 16)
  • Needles (chp 6 & 8)
  • Consensual and non-consensual drugging (chp 6, 7 & 22)
  • Death of mother, father & sister recounted
  • Death of a mother (on-page, chp 25)
  • Death of a friend (chp 14)
  • Explosions recounted & on-page (chp 1 & 15)
  • Murder & attempted murder (chp 1, 3)
  • Strangulation (chp 1)
  • Knife violence (chp 3)
  • Police brutality & violence (chp 15)
  • Torture (chap 7)
  • Mind control discussed
  • Imprisonment (chp 17)
  • Poisoning (chp 25)
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All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M Johnson

All Boys Aren’t Blue by George M. Johnson

In a series of personal essays, prominent journalist and LGBTQIA+ activist George M. Johnson explores his childhood, adolescence, and college years in New Jersey and Virginia. From the memories of getting his teeth kicked out by bullies at age five, to flea marketing with his loving grandmother, to his first sexual relationships, this young-adult memoir weaves together the trials and triumphs faced by Black queer boys.

Both a primer for teens eager to be allies as well as a reassuring testimony for young queer men of color, All Boys Aren’t Blue covers topics such as gender identity, toxic masculinity, brotherhood, family, structural marginalization, consent, and Black joy. Johnson’s emotionally frank style of writing will appeal directly to young adults.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism, racial slurs & anti-Blackness
  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Transmisia
  • Incestuous child molestation &and sexual assault, on-page
  • Trauma
  • Physical assault
  • Blood depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Hospital
  • Cancer

The Ten Thousand Doors of January

The Ten Thousand Doors of January by Alix E. Harrow

In a sprawling mansion filled with peculiar treasures, January Scaller is a curiosity herself. As the ward of the wealthy Mr. Locke, she feels little different from the artifacts that decorate the halls: carefully maintained, largely ignored, and utterly out of place.

Then she finds a strange book. A book that carries the scent of other worlds, and tells a tale of secret doors, of love, adventure and danger. Each page turn reveals impossible truths about the world and January discovers a story increasingly entwined with her own.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Misogyny
  • Child abuse
  • Parental abandonment
  • Self-injury
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Torture
  • Forced institutionalization & abuse by medical professionals
  • Animal cruelty & abuse (off-page)
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Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

Just Mercy by Bryan Stevenson

A powerful true story about the potential for mercy to redeem us, and a clarion call to fix our broken system of justice—from one of the most brilliant and influential lawyers of our time.

Bryan Stevenson was a young lawyer when he founded the Equal Justice Initiative, a legal practice dedicated to defending those most desperate and in need: the poor, the wrongly condemned, and women and children trapped in the farthest reaches of our criminal justice system. One of his first cases was that of Walter McMillian, a young man who was sentenced to die for a notorious murder he insisted he didn’t commit. The case drew Bryan into a tangle of conspiracy, political machination, and legal brinksmanship—and transformed his understanding of mercy and justice forever.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Ableism & ableist slurs (r slur)
  • Classism
  • Conversion therapy
  • Graphic domestic & parental abuse
  • Slavery and forced labour
  • Graphic rape & prison rape
  • Paedophilia & child sexual assault
  • Incest
  • Alcoholism & substance addiction
  • PTSD
  • Depression
  • Suicide & self-harm
  • Miscarriage & infertility themes
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Graphic physical injuries
  • Starvation
  • Nonconsensual psychiatric hospitalisation
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a sibling
  • Death of an infant
  • Police brutality & violence
  • Murder & executions, including the execution of a child
  • Death in police custody and in prison
  • Graphic animal abuse
  • Homelessness
  • Poverty themes
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Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

Twilight by Stephenie Meyer

If you choose to support this author or novel (financially or otherwise), please consider educating yourself about the Quileute tribe’s plight and support their mission.

About three things I was absolutely positive. First, Edward was a vampire. Second, there was a part of him—and I didn’t know how dominant that part might be—that thirsted for my blood. And third, I was unconditionally and irrevocably in love with him.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & anti-Native language
  • Attempted suicide mentioned
  • Blood depiction & blood-drinking
  • Hospitalisation for illness & injuries (broken bones, blood loss)
  • Mentions of the 1918 Spanish Flu pandemic
  • Death of a child recounted
  • Minor car accident
  • Attempted murder
  • Stalking & kidnapping

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Aromisic language and amatonormativity
  • Racism & anti-Native language
  • Misogyny
  • Attempted suicide mentioned
  • Blood depiction & blood drinking
  • Physical injuries
  • Hospital
  • Death of a child recounted
  • Kidnapping

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer

When Edward Cullen and Bella Swan met in Twilight, an iconic love story was born. But until now, fans have heard only Bella’s side of the story. This unforgettable tale as told through Edward’s eyes takes on a new and decidedly dark twist. Meeting Bella is both the most unnerving and intriguing event he has experienced in all his years as a vampire. As we learn more fascinating details about Edward’s past and the complexity of his inner thoughts, we understand why this is the defining struggle of his life. How can he justify following his heart if it means leading Bella into danger?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism & sexism
  • Racism & anti-Native language
  • Rape & paedophilia mentioned
  • Suicidal ideation and attempted suicide mentioned
  • Blood depiction & blood-drinking
  • Stalking
  • Murder
  • Animal death

If you choose to support this author, please consider educating yourself about the Quileute tribe’s plight and support their mission