Amari and the Night Brothers by BB Alston

Amari and the Night Brothers by B.B. Alston

When Quinton Peters mysteriously goes missing, his little sister, 13-year-old Amari, can’t understand why it’s not a bigger deal. Why isn’t his story all over the news?

Then Amari discovers a ticking briefcase in her brother’s old closet, meant for her eyes only. There was far more to Quinton, it seems, than she ever knew. He’s left her a nomination for a summer tryout at the secretive Bureau of Supernatural Affairs. Amari is certain the answer to finding out what happened to him lies somewhere inside, if only she can get her head around the idea of mermaids, dwarves, yetis and magicians all being real things, something she has to instantly confront when she is given a weredragon as a roommate… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racist microaggressions*
  • Hospital
  • Comas
  • Disappearance & presumed death of a brother (theme)
  • Home invasion, off-page
  • Bullying & cyberbullying
  • Poverty themes

*Note : The protagonist learns her ancestors were enslaved in chapter 23.

Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

The Year of the Witching by Alexis Henderson

The daughter of a union with an outsider that cast her once-proud family into disgrace, Immanuelle does her best to worship the Father, follow Holy Protocol and lead a life of submission, devotion and absolute conformity, like all the women in the settlement.

But a chance mishap lures her into the forbidden Darkwood that surrounds Bethel – a place where the first prophet once pursued and killed four powerful witches. Their spirits are still walking there, and they bestow a gift on Immanuelle: the diary of her dead mother, who Immanuelle is shocked to learn once sought sanctuary in the wood.

Fascinated by secrets in the diary, Immanuelle finds herself struggling to understand how her mother could have consorted with the witches. But when she begins to learn grim truths about the Church and its history, she realises the true threat to Bethel is its own darkness. And if Bethel is to change, it must begin with her . . .

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & colourism
  • Misogyny
  • Slut-shaming
  • Ableist language
  • Persecution for witchcraft
  • Physical, verbal & emotional child abuse
  • Sexual assault
  • Rape & statutory rape recounted
  • Paedophilia & child molestation recounted
  • Forced nonconsensual marriage*
  • Exile & ex-communication
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Suicide recounted
  • Self-harm & self-inflicted injuries
  • Pregnancy & child pregnancy (secondary character)
  • Death from childbirth (two on-page scenes), and mentions of miscarriage & stillbirth
  • Graphic blood depiction & menstruation discussed
  • Plague (multiple)
  • Seizures & stroke (side character)
  • Nonconsensual branding
  • Emesis
  • Death of a mother & father recounted
  • Death of a son recounted
  • Death of a best friend (on-page)
  • Strangulation
  • Drowning
  • Being burned alive
  • Earthquake
  • Imprisonment & captivity
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Animal death & sacrifice

Note: This book portrays a cult which uses its beliefs to justify abuse, torture, misogyny, racism & paedophilia, including the marriage, rape (‘bedding’) & impregnation of multiple children (not graphic or on-page, but mentioned & discussed by secondary characters).

Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

Cinderella is Dead by Kalynn Bayron

It’s 200 years since Cinderella found her prince, but the fairytale is over. Sophia knows the story though, off by heart. Because every girl has to recite it daily, from when she’s tiny until the night she’s sent to the royal ball for choosing. And every girl knows that she has only one chance. For the lives of those not chosen by a man at the ball are forfeit. But Sophia doesn’t want to be chosen – she’s in love with her best friend, Erin, and hates the idea of being traded like cattle. And when Sophia’s night at the ball goes horribly wrong, she must run for her life. Alone and terrified, she finds herself hiding in Cinderella’s tomb. And there… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny (central theme)
  • Racism & queerphobia (specifically lesbophobia & homophobia)
  • Nonconsensual and coerced marriage of teenage girls to adult men (theme), including ‘corrective’ marriage & nonconsensual polygamy
  • Sexual harassment & sexual assault (on-page)
  • Physical & financial domestic abuse (on-page & off-page)
  • Child abuse
  • Implied suicide
  • Food deprivation mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • Explosion & fire
  • Imprisonment
  • Animal death & animal attack

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli & Aisha Saeed

Yes No Maybe So by Becky Albertalli and Aisha Saeed book cover

Jamie Goldberg is cool with volunteering for his local state senate candidate—as long as he’s behind the scenes. When it comes to speaking to strangers (or, let’s face it, speaking at all to almost anyone), Jamie’s a choke artist. There’s no way he’d ever knock on doors to ask people for their votes…until he meets Maya. Maya Rehman’s having the worst Ramadan ever. Her best friend is too busy to hang out, her summer trip is canceled, and now her parents are separating. Why her mother thinks the solution to her problems is political canvassing—with some awkward dude she… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Racism, islamophobia & antisemitism
  • Hate crimes (off-page)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis recounted
  • Death of a grandfather recounted
  • Cyberharassment

Context : A secondary character takes pictures of the protagonists almost kissing and posts them online without their consent. This is discussed in-depth.

The Impossible Contract by KA Doore

The Impossible Contract by K.A. Doore

Thana has a huge reputation to live up to as daughter of the Serpent, who rules over Ghadid’s secret clan of assassins. Opportunity to prove herself arrives when Thana accepts her first contract on Heru, a dangerous foreign diplomat with the ability to bind a person’s soul under his control.

She may be in over her head, especially when Heru is targeted by a rival sorcerer who sends hordes of the undead to attack them both. When Heru flees, Thana has no choice than to pursue him across the sands to the Empire that intends to capture Ghadid inside its iron grip… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Slavery
  • Colonialism themes
  • Sex work shaming & slurs
  • Self-injury for blood magic
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction, including dead bodies
  • Physical injuries & illness
  • Emesis
  • Nonconsensual branding
  • Murder & attempted murder (theme)
  • Poisoning
  • Knife violence
  • Graphic strangulation & garrotting
  • Severe dehydration depiction & water scarcity
  • Graphic fire & result loss of property
  • Animal murder discussed & animal death
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

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.

GoodreadsThe 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
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

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.

GoodreadsThe 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
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

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.

GoodreadsThe 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
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

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.

GoodreadsThe 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
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

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.

GoodreadsThe 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)
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com