Tag Archives: Racism

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of racism.

See also White supremacy, Islamophobia, Antisemitism, and Antiziganism.

Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden

Anything But Fine by Tobias Madden

Luca is ready to audition for the Australian Ballet School. All it takes to crush his dreams is one missed step . . . and a broken foot. Jordan is the gorgeous rowing star and school captain of Luca’s new school. Everyone says he’s straight – but Luca’s not so sure . . . As their unlikely bond grows stronger, Luca starts to wonder: who is he without ballet? And is he setting himself up for another heartbreak?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Outing
  • Racism
  • Islamomisia
  • Hate crimes
  • Toxic friendships
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Bullying

Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Xeni by Rebekah Weatherspoon

She just wanted to claim her inheritance. What she got was a husband… Xeni Everly-Wilkins has ten days to clean out her recently departed aunt’s massive colonial in Upstate New York. With the feud between her mom and her sisters still raging even in death, she knows this will be no easy task, but when the will is read Xeni quickly discovers the decades-old drama between the former R&B singers is just the tip of the iceberg. The Secrets, lies, and a crap ton of cash spilled on her lawyer’s conference room table all come with terms and conditions. Xeni must marry before she can claim the estate that will set her up for life and her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Bimisia
  • Racist microaggressions
  • Emotional parental abuse
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Abortion recounted
  • Miscarriage recounted
  • Hospital
  • Heart attack
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a family member

If the Boot Fits by Rebekah Weatherspoon

If the Boot Fits by Rebekah Weatherspoon

Working as the personal assistant to one of Hollywood’s cruellest divas has left Amanda Queen more determined than ever to sell her screenplay and gain her independence. In the meantime, she’ll settle for a temporary escape. When her employer is felled by the flu on Hollywood’s biggest night of the year, Amanda gets her glam on, struts out the door, and parties with the glitterati. But she never expects to come face to face—and closer than close—with one of the hottest stars in the game. Following up his first Oscar win with a steamy after-hours romp with an enigmatic woman seems like the perfect way for actor Sam… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & white supremacy
  • Workplace harassment
  • Weight loss & disordered eating mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption

A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon

A Cowboy to Remember by Rebekah Weatherspoon

With a headline spot on a hit morning show and truly mouth-watering culinary skills, chef Evie Buchanan is perched on the edge of stardom. But at an industry party, a fall lands Evie in the hospital—with no memory of who she is. Scrambling to help, Evie’s assistant contacts the only “family” Evie has left, close friends who run the luxury dude ranch in California where Evie grew up. Evie has no recollection of them—until former rodeo champion Zach Pleasant walks into her hospital room, and she realizes his handsome face has been haunting her dreams. Zach hasn’t seen Evie in years, not since their families conducted a… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Fatmisia
  • Amnesia
  • Panic attack
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Traumatic brain injury
  • Hospital
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother from a heart attack
  • Death of a parent in a car accident
  • Physical assault

The Sweetness of Waterby Nathan Harris

The Sweetness of Waterby Nathan Harris

In the waning days of the Civil War, brothers Prentiss and Landry—freed by the Emancipation Proclamation—seek refuge on the homestead of George Walker and his wife, Isabelle. The Walkers, wracked by the loss of their only son to the war, hire the brothers to work their farm, hoping through an unexpected friendship to stanch their grief. Prentiss and Landry, meanwhile, plan to save money for the journey north and a chance to reunite with their mother, who was sold away when they were boys. Parallel to their story runs a forbidden romance between two Confederate soldiers. The… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Racism

Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill

Love from Scratch by Kaitlyn Hill

This summer, Reese Camden is trading sweet tea and Southern hospitality for cold brew and crisp coastal air. She’s landed her dream marketing internship at Friends of Flavor, a wildly popular cooking channel in Seattle. The only problem? Benny Beneventi, the relentlessly charming, backwards-baseball-cap-wearing culinary intern–and her main competition for the fall job. Reese’s plan to keep work a No Feelings Zone crumbles like a day-old muffin when she and Benny are thrown together for a video shoot that goes viral, making them the internet’s newest ship. Audiences are… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Slut -shaming
  • Homomisia mentioned
  • Sexual harassment
  • Cyberbullying & online harassment

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus

The Shape of Water by Guillermo del Toro and Daniel Kraus

It is 1962, and Elisa Esposito—mute her whole life, orphaned as a child—is struggling with her humdrum existence as a janitor working the graveyard shift at Baltimore’s Occam Aerospace Research Center. Were it not for Zelda, a protective coworker, and Giles, her loving neighbour, she doesn’t know how she’d make it through the day.. hen, one fateful night, she sees something she was never meant to see, the Center’s most sensitive asset ever: an amphibious man, captured in the Amazon, to be studied for Cold War advancements. The creature is terrifying … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Homomisia & slurs
  • Racism & n slur
  • Blood & injury depiction including loss of limb
  • Torture
  • Animal death

Through the Storm by Beverly Jenkins

Through the Storm by Beverly Jenkins

Sable, a slave on the run to escape the cruel man she’s been sold to is forced to betray the charming Union officer Raimond LeVeq, who had romanced her and championed her. Brought together again by fate and an arranged marriage, she must try and win the trust of LeVeq–the man she truly loves.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Slavery
  • Child abuse
  • Arson
  • Kidnapping
  • Drowning mentioned

And The Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando

And The Stars Were Burning Brightly by Danielle Jawando

When fifteen-year-old Nathan discovers that his older brother Al has taken his own life, his whole world is torn apart. Al was special. Al was talented. Al was full of passion and light…so why did he do it? Convinced that his brother was in trouble, Nathan begins to retrace his footsteps. And along the way, he meets Megan. Al’s former classmate, who burns with the same fire and hope, who is determined to keep Al’s memory alive. But when Nathan learns the horrifying truth behind his brother’s suicide, one question remains – how do you survive, when you’re growing up in the age of social media?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Depression
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother from suicide
  • Bullying & cyberbullying (theme)
  • Catfishing

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

Shutter by Ramona Emerson

Rita Todacheene is a forensic photographer working for the Albuquerque police force. Her excellent photography skills have cracked many cases—she is almost supernaturally good at capturing details. In fact, Rita has been hiding a secret: she sees the ghosts of crime victims who point her toward the clues that other investigators overlook. As a lone portal back to the living for traumatized spirits, Rita is terrorized by nagging ghosts who won’t let her sleep and who sabotage her personal life. Her taboo and psychologically harrowing ability was.… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Drug use
  • Pregnancy
  • Murder