Tag Archives: Self-Harm

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of self-harm‎ and self-injury.

Fight Club by Chuck Palahnuik

Chuck Palahniuk showed himself to be his generation’s most visionary satirist in this, his first book. Fight Club’s estranged narrator leaves his lackluster job when he comes under the thrall of Tyler Durden, an enigmatic young man who holds secret after-hours boxing matches in the basement of bars. There, two men fight “as long as they have to.” This is a gloriously original work that exposes the darkness at the core of our modern world. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Dissociation
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Amputation
  • Body horror
  • Murder
  • Gun violence

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism, including slurs & cultural appropriation
  • Classism
  • Colourism
  • Misogyny & sexism
  • Islamophobia
  • Violent hate crime
  • Slavery, including child labour
  • Sexual assault
  • Suicide discussed
  • Self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Feet binding discussed
  • Plague
  • Death of mother
  • Grief depiction
  • Murder
  • Police brutality
  • Genocide
  • Gun violence
  • Torture
  • Physical assault
  • Colonization
  • War themes

Motherthing by Ainslie Hogarth

When Ralph and Abby Lamb move in with Ralph’s mother, Laura, Abby hopes it’s just what she and her mother-in-law need to finally connect. But Laura isn’t interested in bonding with her daughter-in-law. She’s venomous and cruel, especially to Abby, and life with her is hellish. When Laura takes her own life, her ghost haunts Abby and Ralph in very different ways: Ralph is plunged into depression, and Abby is terrorized by a force intent on destroying everything she loves. To make matters worse, Mrs. Bondy’s daughter is threatening to move Mrs. Bondy from the… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape discussed
  • Toxic relationships
  • Parental neglect
  • Emotional abuse
  • Borderline Personality Disorder
  • Hallucinations & delusions
  • Dissociation
  • Suicide
  • Self-harm
  • Miscarriage & pregnancy discussed
  • Cannibalism
  • Graphic grief & loss depiction
  • Death of mother
  • Murder

The Nightmare Man by J.H. Markert

Blackwood mansion looms, surrounded by nightmare pines, atop the hill over the small town of New Haven. Ben Bookman, bestselling novelist and heir to the Blackwood estate, spent a weekend at the ancestral home to finish writing his latest horror novel, The Scarecrow. Now, on the eve of the book’s release, the terrible story within begins to unfold in real life. Detective Mills arrives at the scene of a gruesome murder: a family butchered and bundled inside cocoons stitched from corn husks, and hung from the rafters of a barn, eerily mirroring the opening of Bookman’s latest novel. When another family is killed in… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Self-harm, specifically cutting
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Drug use & abuse
  • Blood depiction
  • Murder
  • Disappearance of children
  • Animal cruelty

We Are Young by Cat Clarke

We Are Young by Cat Clarke

On the same night, Evan’s mother marries local radio DJ ‘Breakfast Tim’, Evan’s brand-new step-brother Lewis is found unconscious and terribly injured, the only survivor of a horrific car crash. A media furore erupts, with the finger of blame pointed firmly at stoner, loner Lewis. Everyone else seems to think the crash was drug-related, but Evan isn’t buying it. With the help of her journalist father, Harry, she decides to find out what really happened that night. As Evan delves deeper into the lives of the three teenagers who died in the crash, she uncovers some disturbing truths and a secret that threatens to tear her family and the … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Depression
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Eating disorder mentioned
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Self-harm

Entangled by Cat Clarke

Entangled by Cat Clarke

Seventeen-year-old Grace wakes up in a white room, with table, pens and paper – and no clue how she got there. As Grace starts writing, pouring her tangled life onto the page, she is forced to remember everything she’s tried to forget: falling hopelessly in love with Nat, and the unravelling of her friendship with her best mate Sal. But there’s something missing. As hard as she’s trying to remember, is there something she just can’t see? Grace must face the most important question of all. Why is she here?

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm (cutting)
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Abortion
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a father from suicide

Wild Savage Stars by Kristina Pérez

Wild Savage Stars by Kristina Pérez

Branwen has a secret powerful enough to destroy two kingdoms. Her ancient magic led to a terrible betrayal by both her best friend, the princess Essy, and her first love, Tristan. Now this same magic is changing Branwen. Adrift in a rival court, Branwen must hide the truth from the enemy king by protecting the lovers who broke her heart―and finds herself considering a darker path. Not everyone wants the alliance with Branwen’s kingdom to succeed―peace is balanced on a knife’s edge, and her only chance may be to embrace the darkness within…

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Self-harm (cutting)
  • Miscarriage
  • Murder
  • Knife & sword violence
  • Poisoning

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Pérez

Sweet Black Waves by Kristina Pérez

Two proud kingdoms stand on opposite shores, with only a bloody history between them. As best friend and lady-in-waiting to the princess, Branwen is guided by two principles: devotion to her homeland and hatred for the raiders who killed her parents. When she unknowingly saves the life of her enemy, he awakens her ancient healing magic and opens her heart. Branwen begins to dream of peace, but the princess she serves is not so easily convinced. Fighting for what’s right, even as her powers grow beyond her control, will set Branwen against both her best friend and the only man she’s ever loved.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Self-harm (cutting)

Filthy Gods by Michelle Hercules

Filthy Gods by Michelle Hercules

Finn Novak is one of the filthy gods who rule this town and wreaks havoc wherever he goes. He’s above everything, even the law. I never thought I’d be thrust into his world of depraved privilege until tragedy strikes, and I’m forced to attend Maverick Prep, his domain. I vow to keep hating him but quickly become trapped by his web of twisted mind games. I yearn for his barbed words as much as I hunger for his touch. Getting close to Finn means unveiling secrets that should stay hidden. But like bodies buried in shallow graves, skeletons never remain in the closet… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape mentioned
  • Suicide
  • Self-harm
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder

There Are No Saints by Sophie Lark

There Are No Saints by Sophie Lark

I loathe Alastor Shaw. The city of San Francisco thinks we’re rival artists. In truth, we’re predators battling for hunting ground. We never chased the same prey. Until the night we both laid eyes on Mara Eldritch. Shaw wants to use her as a pawn in his twisted game. I’m fixated on her for a different reason… She makes me feel things I never thought I could feel. Want things I never wanted. Only she can make me lose control. I don’t know if I should protect her at all cost or destroy her before she ruins me. Mara knows I’m no saint. But she has no idea she’s dancing with the devil…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Stalking