Tag Archives: Racism

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

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

When the Lights Come On by Katia Rose

When the Lights Come On by Katia Rose

Paige Rivera doesn’t intend to end up among the twice-fooled. It’s been six years since Youssef Salah let her down, and not even the shock of his reappearance is enough to make her consider letting him do it again. She learned a lot from that first fall: how to pick herself up, brush herself off, and push away anyone with the ability to knock her off her feet. He’s no longer the teenage boy she knew, but Youssef still possess the powers of a gravitational force, so Paige employs her failsafe strategy: head down, eyes on the prize. The prize in this case is her burgeoning career…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Familial estrangement
  • Emotional child abuse
  • Drugging

The Spite House by Johnny Compton

The Spite House by Johnny Compton

Eric Ross is on the run from a mysterious past with his two daughters in tow. Having left his wife, his house, his whole life behind in Maryland, he’s desperate for money–it’s not easy to find safe work when you can’t provide references, you can’t stay in one place for long, and you’re paranoid that your past is creeping back up on you. When he comes across the strange ad for the Masson House in Degener, Texas, Eric thinks they may have finally caught a lucky break. The Masson property, notorious for being one of the most haunted places in Texas, needs a caretaker of sorts. The… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Child neglect
  • Suicide
  • Cancer mentioned
  • Death of a child
  • Lynching mentioned
  • Drowning
  • Arson

Six Goodbyes We Never Said by Candace Ganger

Six Goodbyes We Never Said by Candace Ganger

Naima Rodriguez doesn’t want your patronizing sympathy as she grieves her father, her hero—a fallen Marine. She’ll hate you forever if you ask her to open up and remember him “as he was,” though that’s all her loving family wants her to do in order to manage her complex OCD and GAD. She’d rather everyone back the-eff off while she separates her Lucky Charms marshmallows into six, always six, Ziploc bags, while she avoids friends and people and living the life her father so desperately wanted for her. Dew respectfully requests a little more time to process the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Racism
  • Fatmisia
  • Depression
  • Social anxiety
  • Panic attacks, on-page
  • Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
  • Intrusive thoughts
  • Attempted suicide recounted
  • Suicidal ideation recounted
  • Death during childbirth mentioned
  • Anaphylaxis mentioned
  • Hospitalisation recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother & father
  • Car accident recounted

Names for the Dawn by CL Beaumont

Names for the Dawn by C.L. Beaumont

Seasoned Park Ranger Will Avery has found his home in the Denali wilderness, cherishing his solitary routines for the decade leading up to 1991. The trade-off that no one knows of his identity as a transgender man feels worth it for the comforting assurance he finds in the towering glaciers. Until Will discovers an unexpected passenger in his truck—the visiting wolf biologist everyone in the Park is ecstatic to meet—Nikhil Rajawat. Nikhil doesn’t return his new colleagues’ fervour. He’s dreamt of Denali for one reason: the pinnacle of his research, and it isn’t anyone’s business that this is the last year he’ll get to chase the wolves. He… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Homomisia discussed
  • Transmisia recounted*
  • Familial estrangement & disownment*
  • Physical child abuse recounted*
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Insomnia
  • Nightmare
  • Parent with alcoholism recounted
  • Recovery from substance addiction including an off-page relapse
  • Suicidal ideation recounted
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Pregnancy & childbirth mentioned (sc)
  • Weight loss mentioned
  • Gender dysphoria & body dysmorphia
  • Scars from top surgery mentioned
  • Gun violence*
  • Bullying
  • Animal death, including a wolf cub & death of a pet dog

*Context : When the protagonist came out to his father, his father shot a gun at the barn near him. He has wondered for years if it was intentional or an accident. As a child, the protagonist’s mother physically abused him and burnt him with cigarettes.

Rosewood by Sayantani DasGupta

Rosewood: A Midsummer Meet Cute by Sayantani DasGupta

Eila Das is used to following her head, rather than her heart. When she meets Rahul at Rosewood, a summer camp where campers are being scouted for the hit Bridgerton-like TV show, she experiences…feelings. Between the drama of the show and the drama of the camp, Eila will have to keep her wits about her to make it through the summer. But when she has to choose between her head and her heart, what will she do?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism mentioned*

*Context : The protagonist’s drama teacher doesn’t believe in colour-blind casting, so they only cast white students in leading roles.


Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega

Frizzy by Claribel A. Ortega and illustrated by Rose Bousamra

Marlene loves three things: books, her cool Tía Ruby and hanging out with her best friend Camila. But according to her mother, Paola, the only thing she needs to focus on is school and “growing up.” That means straightening her hair every weekend so she could have “presentable, good hair”. But Marlene hates being in the salon and doesn’t understand why her curls are not considered pretty by those around her. With a few hiccups, a dash of embarrassment, and the much-needed help of Camila and Tia Ruby—she slowly starts a journey to learn to appreciate and proudly wear her curly hair.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Racism & colourism
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent mentioned
  • Bullying

The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and Joanna Cacao

The Tryout by Christina Soontornvat and illustrated by Joanna Cacao

When cheerleading tryouts are announced, Christina and her best friend, Megan, literally jump at the chance to join the squad. As two of the only kids of color in the school, they have always yearned to fit in-and the middle school cheerleaders are popular and accepted by everyone. But will the girls survive the terrifying tryouts, with their whole grade watching? And will their friendship withstand the pressures of competition?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Bullying

The Bosun by Harlow Layne

The Bosun by Harlow Layne

Fresh off her divorce, Stella needed to get far away from her lying ex-husband, the pitying looks and hometown gossip. With the help of her best friend, they embark on an epic girl’s trip. Let the “Get Stella’s groove back,” plan begin. Breathtaking waters of Spain, check. Chartered yacht, check. Steamy ex-Marine, check. One forbidden night under the stars leaves Stella wanting what she shouldn’t… The Bosun.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Cheating recounted
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Death of a friend
  • Fire

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Black Water Sister by Zen Cho

Jessamyn Teoh is closeted, broke and moving back to Malaysia, a country she left when she was a toddler. So when Jess starts hearing voices, she chalks it up to stress. But there’s only one voice in her head, and it claims to be the ghost of her estranged grandmother, Ah Ma. In life Ah Ma was a spirit medium, the avatar of a mysterious deity called the Black Water Sister. Now she’s determined to settle a score against a gang boss who has offended the god–and she’s decided Jess is going to help her do it. Drawn into a world... Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Homomisia
  • Misogyny
  • Racism
  • Coming out themes
  • Graphic attempted rape, on-page
  • Sexual assault recounted
  • Domestic abuse
  • Physical child abuse
  • Cheating recounted
  • Cancer & remission discussed
  • Blood depiction
  • Death of a grandmother, off-page
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Gang violence
  • Gun & knife violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Loss of autonomy (possession, theme)
  • Poverty themes

Not Your Sidekick by CB Lee

Not Your Sidekick by C.B. Lee

Welcome to Andover, where superpowers are common, but internships are complicated. Just ask high school nobody, Jessica Tran. Despite her heroic lineage, Jess is resigned to a life without superpowers and is merely looking to beef-up her college applications when she stumbles upon the perfect (paid!) internship—only it turns out to be for the town’s most heinous supervillain. On the upside, she gets to work with her longtime secret crush, Abby, who Jess thinks may have a secret of her own. Then there’s the budding attraction to her fellow intern, the mysterious “M,” who... Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Bimisia
  • Transmisia
  • Coming out recounted
  • Drugging
  • Forced breeding program, implied
  • Physical injury & scars
  • Nonconsensual medical experimentation
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Disappearance of parents
  • Bullying