Self-Harm – Trigger Warning Database

Japanese Gothic by Kylie Lee Baker

October, 2026: Lee Turner doesn’t remember how or why he killed his college roommate. The details are blurred and bloody. All he knows is he has to flee New York and go to the one place that might offer refuge—his father’s new home in Japan, a house hidden by sword ferns and wild ginger. But something is terribly wrong with the house: no animals will come near it, the bedroom window isn’t always a window, and a woman with a sword appears in the yard when night falls. October, 1877: Sen is a young samurai in exile, hiding from the imperial soldiers in a house… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Human trafficking mentioned
Self-harm
Drug use
Murder
Torture
Bullying mentioned

A Grim and Sunken Vow by Ashley Shuttleworth

The die is cast. The era of Spring is over. Riadne’s bloody coup on the Summer Solstice changed Arlo’s life forever. In one fell swoop and a fool’s bargain, she lost both her family and free will to the newly crowned High Queen. Now, with Arlo forced to use her powers as Luck’s Hollow Star to help summon the rest of the seven deadly sins, Riadne stands closer than ever to achieving her dark goals. And Arlo isn’t the only one trapped in a frightening new role. Her ex-Fury girlfriend, Nausicaä, is determined to do whatever it takes to stay by Arlo’s side, even if that means becoming… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Child trafficking
Child abuse & neglect
Depression
Suicide recounted (off-page) & suicidal ideation mentioned
Self-harm
Blood & gore depiction
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a sister, mother & father
Murder & torture
Arson

This Is Where We Die by Cindy R.X. He

Sadie, Will, Isla, Anthony, Emily, and Charlie are survivors. They were the six (out of eight) to return from a ski holiday turned nightmare two years ago. Although… nobody knows exactly what happened; the details hushed up via the wealth and connections of Sadie’s rich parents. When an exclusive private island with a mansion for rent goes viral on social media, their graduating class persuades Sadie to rent it for the weekend. The six arrive first by helicopter and wait for the rest of their classmates to join them by boat the next day. But nobody ever comes…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Toxic friendships
Self-harm
Alcoholism
Drug use
Miscarriage
Blood depiction, cannibalism & emesis
Murder

The Transition by Logan-Ashley Kisner

Hunter’s life is at a turning point: After years of fighting his father for it, he’s gotten top surgery. He’s finally starting to feel comfortable in his own skin . . . only to be attacked by a strange creature in his backyard. The encounter should kill him, but his best friend Gabe intervenes, and Hunter is able to walk away from the incident with his life—and new body—mostly intact. Still, something isn’t right. First, his wounds are healing quickly—too quickly. Then there are the feverish nightmares, the sudden return of his period, and his teeth . . . they’re falling out of his head… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Transphobia, including deadnaming & hate crimes
Self-harm & discussions of suicide
Panic attacks (on-page)
Blood & gore depiction and needles
Graphic animal death (birds, coyote)

Hollow by Taylor Grothe

After a meltdown in her school cafeteria prompts an unwanted autism diagnosis, Cassie Davis moves back to her hometown in upstate New York, where her mom hopes the familiarity will allow Cassie to feel normal again. Cassie’s never truly felt normal anywhere, but she does crave the ease she used to have with her old friends. Problem is that her friends aren’t so eager to welcome her back into the fold. They extend an olive branch by inviting her on their backpacking trip to Hollow Ridge, in the upper reaches of the Adirondacks. But when a fight breaks out their first… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Anxiety & trichotillomania (protagonist)

Strange Familiars by Keshe Chow

Gwendolynne Chan just needs to get through her final year. At Seamere College of Magical Veterinary Sciences, she spends her days using her powers to heal companion animals while her nights are spent studying for exams. As the top student in the magical familiars stream, she is on track to be awarded Dux of the entire school – as long as the pretentious twat Harrisford Briggs doesn’t beat her to it. Harrisford Briggs was born into privilege. His father, the Chief Financial Officer of Magecorp, a major global distributor of magic, expects him to come top of the year. Harrisford… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Racism & classism
Self-harm
Animal death

Tear Me Apart by J.T. Ellison

Competitive skier Mindy Wright is a superstar in the making until a spectacular downhill crash threatens not just her racing career but her life. During surgery, doctors discover she’s suffering from a severe form of leukemia, and a stem cell transplant is her only hope. But when her parents are tested, a frightening truth emerges. Mindy is not their daughter. Who knows the answers? The race to save Mindy’s life means unraveling years of lies. Was she accidentally switched at birth or is there something more sinister at play? The search for the truth will tear a family apart… and someone is going to deadly extremes to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Self-harm & suicide
Miscarriage
Physical injury sustained during a skiing accident
Cancer (leukemia, protagonist)

Ashes of Gold by J. Elle

Rue has no memory of how she ended up locked in a basement prison without her magic or her allies. But she’s a girl from the East Row. And girls from the East Row don’t give up. Girls from the East Row pick themselves back up when they fall. Girls from the East Row break themselves out. But reuniting with her friends is only half the battle. When she finds them again, Rue makes a vow: she will find a way to return the magic that the Chancellor has stolen from her father’s people. Yet even on Yiyo Peak, Rue is a misfit—with half a foot back in Houston and half a heart… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Self-harm for ritual
Blood depiction
Poisoning
Torture
Battle scenes with physical assault & stabbings

Shadows of Perl by J. Elle

Quell Marionne’s explosive final Rite of Induction to House Marionne sent shockwaves through the magical world, unearthing long buried secrets and her own deadly power. But she paid a steep price: her family and her love. Fleeing Chateau Soleil for House of Perl, for once Quell is celebrated instead of shunned. She has finally found somewhere to belong. But secrets lurk in every House, and Quell’s quest to find her mom threatens to lead her deeper into the shadows. Assassin Jordan Wexton, second-in command of the Dragun brotherhood, must protect the source of… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Suicide for magic (stabbing oneself in the heart during a ritual)
Amputation mentioned (secondary character)

A Restless Truth by Freya Marske

Maud Blyth has always longed for adventure. She expected plenty of it when she volunteered to serve as an old lady’s companion on an ocean liner, in order to help her beloved older brother unravel a magical conspiracy that began generations ago. What she didn’t expect was for the old lady in question to turn up dead on the first day of the voyage. Now she has to deal with a dead body, a disrespectful parrot, and the lovely, dangerously outrageous Violet Debenham, who’s also returning home to England. Violet is everything that Maud has been trained to distrust yet… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

Infidelity & spousal abandonment*
Attempted sexual assault
Emotional parental abuse recounted
Suicide mentioned (secondary character)
Alcohol consumption & drugging
Blood & gore depiction, including minor self-injury for blood, dead bodies & emesis
Death of parents in a car accident recounted
Murder & attempted murder
Kidnapping
Knife violence
Loss of autonomy (ghost possession)

Context : Violet is technically married to a man who abandoned her & stole her possessions; due to his disappearance, she is unable to dissolve their marriage and never reveals this to her love interest.