Kings of B’more by R Eric Thomas

Kings of B’more by R. Eric Thomas

With junior year starting in the fall, Harrison feels like he’s on the precipice of, well, everything. Standardized testing, college, and the terrifying unknowns and looming pressures of adulthood after that–it’s like the future wants to eat him alive. Which is why Harrison is grateful that he and his best friend Linus will face these things together. But at the end of a shift at their summer job, Linus invites Harrison to their special spot overlooking the city to deliver devastating news: he’s moving out of state at the end of the week. To keep from completely losing it–and partially inspired by a cheesy movie-night pick… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Abandonment
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Suicidal ideation
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Smoke Gets in Your Eyes and Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

Smoke Gets in Your Eyes & Other Lessons from the Crematory by Caitlin Doughty

Most people want to avoid thinking about death, but Caitlin Doughty—a twenty-something with a degree in medieval history and a flair for the macabre—took a job at a crematory, turning morbid curiosity into her life’s work. Thrown into a profession of gallows humor and vivid characters (both living and very dead), Caitlin learned to navigate the secretive culture of those who care for the deceased.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Fatmisia
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Attempted suicide
  • Death of a child
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The New Girl by Jesse Sutanto

The New Girl by Jesse Q. Sutanto

Lia Setiawan has never really fit in. When she wins a full ride to the prestigious Draycott Academy on a track scholarship, she’s determined to make it work even though she’s never felt more out of place. But on her first day there she witnesses a girl being forcefully carried away by campus security. Her new schoolmates and teachers seem unfazed, but it leaves her unsure of what she’s gotten herself into. As she uncovers the secrets of Draycott, complete with a corrupt teacher, a golden boy who isn’t what he seems, and a blackmailer determined to get her thrown out, she’s not sure if she can trust anyone–especially when the threats against her take a deadly turn.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Classism
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Overdose
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Eye trauma
  • Strangulation
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The Kindest Lieby Nancy Johnson

The Kindest Lie by Nancy Johnson

It’s 2008, and the inauguration of President Barack Obama ushers in a new kind of hope. In Chicago, Ruth Tuttle, an Ivy-League educated Black engineer, is married to a kind and successful man. He’s eager to start a family, but Ruth is uncertain. She has never gotten over the baby she gave birth to—and was forced to leave behind—when she was a teenager. She had promised her family she’d never look back, but Ruth knows that to move forward, she must make peace with the past. Returning home, Ruth discovers the Indiana factory town of her youth is plagued by unemployment, racism, and despair. As she begins digging… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Drug abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Gang violence
  • Lynching
  • Police brutality
  • Poverty
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When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai

When Fox is a Thousand by Larissa Lai

When Fox is a Thousand is a lyrical, magical novel, rich with poetry and folklore and elements of the fairytale. Larissa Lai interweaves three narrative voices and their attendant cultures: an elusive fox growing toward wisdom and her 1000 birthday, the ninth-century Taoist poet/nun Yu Hsuan-Chi (a real person executed in China for murder), and the oddly named Artemis, a young Asian-American woman living in contemporary Vancouver.

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Rape
  • Incest
  • Parental abuse
  • Abusive relationships
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Code of Honor by Alan Gratz

Code of Honor by Alan Gratz

Kamran Smith has it all. He’s the star of the football team, dates the most popular girl, and can’t wait to enlist in the army like his big brother, Darius. Although Kamran’s mother is from Iran, Kamran has always felt 100% American. Accepted. And then everything implodes. Darius is accused of being a terrorist. Kamran refuses to believe it. But Darius has been filmed making threats against his country, hinting at an upcoming deadly attack. Suddenly, everyone in Kamran’s life turns against him and his family. Kamran knows it’s up to him to clear his brother’s name. In a race against time, Kamran must piece together a series of… Read more,

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Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Terrorism
  • Suicide bombings
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The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

The Silvered Serpents by Roshani Chokshi

Séverin and his team members might have successfully thwarted the Fallen House, but victory came at a terrible cost — one that still haunts all of them. Desperate to make amends, Séverin pursues a dangerous lead to find a long-lost artifact rumoured to grant its possessor the power of God. Their hunt lures them far from Paris, and into the icy heart of Russia where crystalline ice animals stalk forgotten mansions, broken goddesses carry deadly secrets, and a string of unsolved murders makes the crew question whether an ancient myth is a myth after all. As hidden… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical ableism, classism, misogyny, racism and antisemitism
  • Colonialism discussed
  • Sex work shaming
  • Attempted rape by coercion
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Self harm for magic
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Stillbirth & infertility mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother recounted
  • Death of a friend recounted
  • Murder
  • Poisoning
  • Psychological torture
  • Explosion
  • Vivisepulture (being buried alive) mentioned
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal death mentioned

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

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The Dream Hunter by Laura Kinsale

The Dream Hunter by Laura Kinsale

Desperate to find safety in England, Zenia, the descendent of the Queen of the Desert, dresses herself as a Bedouin boy. For protection, she agrees to guide Arden, the Lord of Winter, through the wilds of her dangerous desert homeland as he searches for a legendary Arabian mare. Consigned by her mother to live disguised, Zenia hasn’t the courage to admit her sex to Arden. Yet, as they cross a merciless desert, she comes to yearn for this fearless, untamable man to know the feminine heart beating beneath her Bedouin rags. Lord Winter’s loneliness and adventurous spirit have always driven him to the… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Antiziganism
  • Misogyny
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Childbirth
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a fiancé by drowning
  • Death of a mother
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Imprisonment
  • Animal attack (snake) mentioned

Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard

Bloodwitch by Susan Dennard

High in a snowy mountain range, a monastery that holds more than just faith clings to the side of a cliff. Below, thwarted by a lake, a bloodthirsty horde of raiders await the coming of winter and the frozen path to destroy the sanctuary and its secrets. The Bloodwitch Aeduan has teamed up with the Threadwitch Iseult and the magical girl Owl to stop the destruction. But to do so, he must confront his own father, and his past.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Nightmares
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Graphic physical injuries & illness
  • Emesis
  • Death of a baby, on-page
  • Death of a wife & daughter mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Mass murder & massacres, on-page
  • Torture mentioned
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Fire
  • Explosions, on-page
  • Decapitation
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
  • Kidnapping
  • Disappearance of a friend
  • Imprisonment mentioned
  • War & military violence (theme)

The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew

The Big Lie by Julie Mayhew

Jessika Keller is a good girl: she obeys her father, does her best to impress Herr Fisher at the Bund Deutscher Mädel meetings and is set to be a world champion ice skater. Her neighbour Clementine is not so submissive. Outspoken and radical, Clem is delectably dangerous and rebellious. And the regime has noticed. Jess cannot keep both her perfect life and her dearest friend. But which can she live without?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Antisemitism
  • Queermisia
  • Torture
  • Fire