Between Us by Clare Atkins

Between Us by Clare Atkins

Between Us by Clare Atkins book cover

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
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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
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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
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Counterpoint by Anna Zabo

Counterpoint by Anna Zabo

Twisted Wishes lead guitarist Dominic “Domino” Bradley is an animal onstage. But behind his tight leather pants and skull-crusher boots lies a different man entirely, one who needs his stage persona not only to perform, but to have the anonymity he craves. A self-imposed exile makes it impossible to get close to anyone outside the band, so he’s forced to get his sexual fix through a few hot nights with a stranger.

When computer programmer Adrian Doran meets Dominic, he’s drawn to the other man’s quiet voice and shy smile. But after a few dirty, demanding nights exploring Dominic’s need to be dominated, Adrian wants more than a casual distraction. He has no idea he’s fallen for Domino Grinder—the outlandish, larger-than-life rock god.

Dominic is reluctant to trust Adrian with his true identity. But when the truth is revealed prematurely, Dominic is forced to reevaluate both his need for Adrian and everything he believes about himself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Workplace homomisia & racism
  • Anxiety & panic attacks (on-page)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Bullying mentioned
  • Doxxing
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Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao

Blood Heir by Amélie Wen Zhao

In the Cyrilian Empire, Affinites are reviled. Their varied gifts to control the world around them are deemed unnatural–even dangerous. And Anastacya Mikhailov, the crown princess, is one of the most terrifying Affinites.

Ana’s ability to control blood has long been kept secret, but when her father, the emperor, is murdered, she is the only suspect. Now, to save her own life, Ana must find her father’s killer. But the Cyrilia beyond the palace walls is one where corruption rules and a greater conspiracy is at work–one that threatens the very balance of Ana’s world.

There is only one person corrupt enough to help Ana get to the conspiracy’s core: Ramson Quicktongue. Ramson is a cunning crime lord with sinister plans–though he might have met his match in Ana. Because in this story, the princess might be the most dangerous player of all.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & colourism
  • Human trafficking and indentured servitude
  • Child emotional & physical abuse
  • Parental abandonment
  • Attempted suicide
  • Terminal illness
  • Blood depiction
  • Murder
  • Torture, including water torture
  • Whipping
  • Royal coup
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Roam by C. H. Armstrong

Roam by C. H. Armstrong

Roam by C. H. Armstrong book cover

Seventeen year-old Abby Lunde and her family are living on the streets. They had a normal life back in Omaha, but thanks to her mother’s awful mistake, they had to leave what little they had behind for a new start in Rochester. Abby tries to be an average teenager—fitting into school, buoyed by dreams of a boyfriend, college, and a career in music. But Minnesota winters are unforgiving, and so are many teenagers.

Her stepdad promises to put a roof over their heads, but times are tough for everyone and Abby is doing everything she can to keep her shameful secret from her new friends. The divide between rich and poor in high school is painfully obvious, and the stress of never knowing where they’re sleeping or where they’ll find their next meal is taking its toll on the whole family.

As secrets are exposed and the hope for a home fades, Abby knows she must trust those around her to help. But will her friends let her down the same way they did back home, or will they rise to the challenge to help them find a normal life?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racial slurs and slut-shaming
  • Alcoholism
  • Drug abuse (implied)
  • Bullying
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Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don’t Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout

Don't Look Back by Jennifer L. Armentrout book cover

Samantha is a stranger in her own life. Until the night she disappeared with her best friend, Cassie, everyone said Sam had it all – popularity, wealth, and a dream boyfriend.

Sam has resurfaced, but she has no recollection of who she was or what happened to her that night. As she tries to piece together her life from before, she realizes it’s one she no longer wants any part of. The old Sam took “mean girl” to a whole new level, and it’s clear she and Cassie were more like best enemies. Sam is pretty sure that losing her memories is like winning the lottery. She’s getting a second chance at being a better daughter, sister, and friend, and she’s falling hard for Carson Ortiz, a boy who has always looked out for her-even if the old Sam treated him like trash.

But Cassie is still missing, and the truth about what happened to her that night isn’t just buried deep inside of Sam’s memory – someone else knows, someone who wants to make sure Sam stays quiet. All Sam wants is the truth, and if she can unlock her clouded memories of that fateful night, she can finally move on. But what if not remembering is the only thing keeping Sam alive?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia and body shaming, ableism, racism and homomisia
  • Amnesia and hallucinations
  • Death and loss
  • Disappearance of a loved one
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Stranger by Zoe Archer

Stranger by Zoe Archer

Stranger by Zoe Archer book cover

Looking For Trouble
Gemma Murphy has a nose for a story—even if the boys in Chicago’s newsrooms would rather focus on her chest. So when she runs into a handsome man of mystery discussing how to save the world from fancy-pants Brit conspirators, she’s sensing a scoop. Especially when he mentions there’s magic involved. Of course, getting him on the record would be easier if he hadn’t caught her eavesdropping.

Lighting His Fuse
Catullus Graves knows what it’s like to be shut out: his ancestors were slaves. And he’s a genius inventor with appropriately eccentric habits, so even people who love him find him a little odd. But after meeting a certain redheaded scribbler, he’s thinking of other types of science. Inconvenient, given that he needs to focus on preventing the end of the world as we know it. But with Gemma’s insatiable curiosity sparking Catullus’ inventive impulses, they might set off something explosive anyway.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism and misogyny
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Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews

Magic Bites by Ilona Andrews book cover

The world has suffered a magic apocalypse. We pushed the technological progress too far, and now magic returned with a vengeance. It comes in waves, without warning, and vanishes as suddenly as it appears. When magic is up, planes drop out of the sky, cars stall, electricity dies. When magic is down, guns work and spells fail.

Atlanta would be a nice place to live, if it weren’t for magic… One moment magic dominates, and cars stall and guns fail. The next, technology takes over and the defensive spells no longer protect your house from monsters. Here skyscrapers topple under onslaught of magic; werebears and werehyenas prowl through the ruined streets; and the Masters of the Dead, necromancers driven by their thirst of knowledge and wealth, pilot blood-crazed vampires with their minds. In this world lives Kate Daniels. Kate likes her sword a little too much and has a hard time controlling her mouth. The magic in her blood makes her a target, and she spent most of her life hiding in plain sight. But when Kate’s guardian is murdered, she must choose to do nothing and remain safe or to pursue his preternatural killer. Hiding is easy, but the right choice is rarely easy…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racist language
  • Rape, sexual assault and bestiality (mentioned)
  • Abuse
  • Blood and gore depiction
  • Murder
  • Stalking
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Herding Cats by Sarah Anderson

Herding Cats by Sarah Anderson

Herding Cats by Sarah Anderson book cover

Sixteen-year-old Alison has been sectioned in a mental institute for teens, having murdered the most perfect and popular girl at school. But the case is a mystery: no body has been found, and Alison’s condition is proving difficult to diagnose. Alison herself can’t explain what happened: one minute she was fighting with Tori — the next she disintegrated. Into nothing. But that’s impossible. Right?

When Alison meets Dr Faraday, a visiting psychologist, she feels an instant connection. More, he believes her story. But there’s more to Faraday than Alison can possibly imagine … and the answers he will give her are … extraordinary …

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexism and racism (mentioned)
  • Anxiety and panic attacks
  • Online harassment/cyberbullying
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