Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

Fallout by Ellen Hopkins

Nineteen years after Kristina Snow met the monster—crank—her children are reeling from the consequences of her decisions. Instead of one big, happy family, they are a desperate tangle of scattered lives united by anger, doubt, and fear.

A predisposition to addiction and a sense of emptiness where a mother’s love should be leads all three down the road of their mother’s notorious legacy. Sex, drugs, alcohol, abuse—there is more of Kristina in her children than they would ever like to believe. But when the thread that ties them together brings them face-to-face, they’ll discover something powerful in each other and in themselves—the trust, the hope, the courage to begin to break the cycle.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Antiziganism (g slur)
    Misogyny
  • Slut shaming
  • Victim blaming
  • Physical & sexual child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Sexual assault & attempted rape
  • Substance addiction
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Recreational drug abuse
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Pregnancy from rape
  • Stalking
  • Car accident
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Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Tricks by Ellen Hopkins

Five teenagers from different parts of the country. Three girls. Two guys. Four straight. One gay. Some rich. Some poor. Some from great families. Some with no one at all. All living their lives as best they can, but all searching … for freedom, safety, community, family, love. What they don’t expect, though, is all that can happen when those powerful little words “I love you” are said for all the wrong reasons.

Five moving stories remain separate at first, then interweave to tell a larger, powerful story—a story about making choices, taking leaps of faith, falling down, and growing up. A story about kids figuring out what sex and love are all about, at all costs, while asking themselves, “Can I ever feel okay about myself?”

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Substance addiction
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Recreational drug abuse
  • Hospitalisation
  • Murder
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Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Crank by Ellen Hopkins

Crank chronicles the turbulent and often disturbing relationship between Kristina, and the “monster,” the highly addictive drug crystal meth, or “crank.” Kristina is introduced to the drug while visiting her largely absent and ne’er-do-well father. While under the influence of the monster, Kristina discovers her sexy alter-ego, Bree, Bree will do all the things good girl Kristina won’t, including attracting the attention of dangerous boys who can provide her with a steady flow of crank.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Parental abandonment & neglect
  • Rape & rape by coercion
  • Self-harm
  • Substance addiction (theme)
  • Recreational drug abuse
  • Blood depiction & blood-drinking
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Incarceration
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The Likeness by Tana French

The Likeness by Tana French

Still traumatised by her brush with a psychopath, Detective Cassie Maddox transfers out of the Murder squad and starts a relationship with fellow detective Sam O’Neill. When he calls her to the scene of his new case, she is shocked to find that the murdered girl is her double. What’s more, her ID shows she is Lexie Madison – the identity Cassie used, years ago, as an undercover detective. With no leads, no suspects and no clues to Lexie’s real identity, Cassie’s old boss spots the opportunity of a lifetime: send Cassie undercover in her place, to tempt the killer out of hiding to finish the job.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Child abuse
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
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In the Woods by Tana French

In the Woods by Tana French

As dusk approaches a small Dublin suburb in the summer of 1984, mothers begin to call their children home. But on this warm evening, three children do not return from the dark and silent woods. When the police arrive, they find only one of the children. He is gripping a tree trunk in terror, wearing blood-filled sneakers and unable to recall a single detail of the previous hours.

Twenty years later, the found boy, Rob Ryan, is a detective on the Dublin Murder Squad and keeps his past a secret. But when a 12-year-old girl is found murdered in the same woods, he and Detective Cassie Maddox (his partner and closest friend) find themselves investigating a case chillingly similar to the previous unsolved mystery. Now, with only snippets of long-buried memories to guide him, Ryan has the chance to uncover both the mystery of the case before him and that of his own shadowy past.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Child abuse
  • Death of a child
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The Summer Children by Dot Hutchinson

The Summer Children by Dot Hutchinson

When Agent Mercedes Ramirez finds an abused young boy on her porch, covered in blood and clutching a teddy bear, she has no idea that this is just the beginning. He tells her a chilling tale: an angel killed his parents and then brought him here so Mercedes could keep him safe.

His parents weren’t just murdered. It was a slaughter—a rage kill like no one on the Crimes Against Children team had seen before. But they’re going to see it again. An avenging angel is meting out savage justice, and she’s far from through… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia
  • Paedophilia
  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Domestic abuse
  • Recreational drug use
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
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The Roses of May by Dot Hutchinson

The Roses of May by Dot Hutchinson

Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden.

In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.

When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Paedophilia
  • Incest
  • Rape & sexual assault
  • Eating disorder
  • Suicide
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Emesis
  • Murder
  • Stalking
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The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson

The Butterfly Garden by Dot Hutchinson

Near an isolated mansion lies a beautiful garden.

In this garden grow luscious flowers, shady trees…and a collection of precious “butterflies”—young women who have been kidnapped and intricately tattooed to resemble their namesakes. Overseeing it all is the Gardener, a brutal, twisted man obsessed with capturing and preserving his lovely specimens.

When the garden is discovered, a survivor is brought in for questioning. FBI agents Victor Hanoverian and Brandon Eddison are tasked with piecing together one of the most stomach-churning cases of their careers.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Paedophilia
  • Rape
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Murder
  • Fire
  • Kidnapping & captivity
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Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

Salt to the Sea by Ruta Sepetys

War-torn Germany. Four young people. Four dark secrets.

They come from different lands but each of them is hunted, and haunted, by tragedy, lies … and war.

As thousands of refugees flock to the coast, desperate to escape the advancing Red Army, the paths of four young people converge. All are hoping to board the Wilhelm Gustloff, a ship that promises safety and freedom.

Yet not all promises can be kept.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Antisemitism
  • Rape mentioned
  • Death from childbirth
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a parent
  • Gun violence
  • Drowning
  • World War Two & the Holocaust
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As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner

As I Lay Dying is Faulkner’s harrowing account of the Bundren family’s odyssey across the Mississippi countryside to bury Addie, their wife and mother. Narrated in turn by each of the family members — including Addie herself — as well as others; the novel ranges in mood, from dark comedy to the deepest pathos.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Child sexual abuse
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