Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Identical by Ellen Hopkins

Kaeleigh and Raeanne are identical down to the dimple. As daughters of a district-court judge father and a politician mother, they are an all-American family—on the surface. Behind the facade each sister has her own dark secret, and that’s where their differences begin.

For Kaeleigh, she’s the misplaced focus of Daddy’s love, intended for a mother whose presence on the campaign trail means absence at home. All that Raeanne sees is Daddy playing a game of favorites—and she is losing. If she has to lose, she will do it on her own terms, so she chooses drugs, alcohol, and sex.

Secrets like the ones the twins are harboring are not meant to be kept—from each other or anyone else. Pretty soon it’s obvious that neither sister can handle it alone, and one sister must step up to save the other, but the question is—who?

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Graphic paedophilia & child sexual abuse (on-page)
  • Incest
  • Rape & sexual assault (on-page)
  • Forced modelling for child pornorgraphy recounted
  • Cheating
  • Physical child abuse
  • Self-harm
  • Depression
  • Alcoholism
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Recreational drug use & abuse
  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Car accident
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Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Impulse by Ellen Hopkins

Three lives, three different paths to the same destination: Aspen Springs, a psychiatric hospital for those who have attempted the ultimate act—suicide.

Vanessa is beautiful and smart, but her secrets keep her answering the call of the blade. Tony, after suffering a painful childhood, can only find peace through pills. And Conner, outwardly, has the perfect life. But dig a little deeper and find a boy who is in constant battle with his parents, his life, himself.

In one instant each of these young people decided enough was enough. Now they have a second chance, and just maybe, with each other’s help, they can find their way to a better life—but only if they’re strong and can fight the demons that brought them here in the first place.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism
  • Queermisia
  • Sexual, emotional & physical abuse
  • Teacher-student relationship mentioned
  • Depression
  • Bipolar Disorder
  • Substance addiction
  • Suicide & attempted suicide (theme)
  • Self-harm
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Psychiatric 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.

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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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How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby

How to Become a Planet by Nicole Melleby

For Pluto, summer has always started with a trip to the planetarium. It’s the launch to her favorite season, which also includes visits to the boardwalk arcade, working in her mom’s pizzeria, and her best friend Meredith’s birthday party. But this summer, none of that feels possible.

A month before the end of the school year, Pluto’s frightened mom broke down Pluto’s bedroom door. What came next were doctor’s appointments, a diagnosis of depression, and a big black hole that still sits on Pluto’s chest, making it too hard to do anything.

Pluto can’t explain to her mom why she can’t do the things she used to love.. Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Depression
  • Panic attacks
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

The Jasmine Throne by Tasha Suri

Imprisoned by her dictator brother, Malini spends her days in isolation in the Hirana: an ancient temple that was once the source of the powerful, magical deathless waters — but is now little more than a decaying ruin.

Priya is a maidservant, one among several who make the treacherous journey to the top of the Hirana every night to clean Malini’s chambers. She is happy to be an anonymous drudge, so long as it keeps anyone from guessing the dangerous secret she hides.

But when Malini accidentally bears witness to Priya’s true nature, their destinies become irrevocably tangled. One is a vengeful princess seeking to depose her brother from his throne. The other is a priestess seeking to find her family. Together, they will change the fate of an empire.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia & internalised homomisia
  • Self-immolation & self-mutilation
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Forced drug use
  • Addiction & withdrawl
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Body horror
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Execution by immolation
  • Torture
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The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

The Midnight Star by Marie Lu

Adelina Amouteru is done suffering. She’s turned her back on those who have betrayed her and achieved the ultimate revenge: victory. Her reign as the White Wolf has been a triumphant one, but with each conquest her cruelty only grows. The darkness within her has begun to spiral out of control, threatening to destroy all she’s gained. When a new danger appears, Adelina’s forced to revisit old wounds, putting not only herself at risk, but every Elite. In order to preserve her empire, Adelina and her Roses must join the Daggers on a perilous quest—though this uneasy alliance may prove to be the real danger.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sex work recounted
  • Graphic auditory & visual hallucinations, on-page
  • Nightmares
  • Suicide & attempted suicide, on-page
  • Intentional self-starvation mentioned
  • Self-injury, on-page
  • Physical injuries including burns & scars
  • Death of a friend recounted
  • Death of a lover recounted
  • Death of a sister, on-page
  • Death of a father from a fever illness, off-page)
  • Multiple graphic scenes of murder & attempted murder, on-page
  • Mass murder mentioned
  • Regicide mentioned
  • Knife & sword violence
  • Explosions
  • Fire including attempted murder by being burnt at the stake
  • Imprisonment
  • Forced conscription
  • War themes including battle scenes & naval warfare
  • Animal death & dead bodies
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The Young Elites by Marie Lu

The Young Elites by Marie Lu

Adelina Amouteru is a survivor of the blood fever. Most of the infected perished, while many of the children who survived were left with strange markings. Adelina’s black hair turned silver, her lashes went pale, and now she has only a jagged scar where her left eye once was. Her cruel father believes she is a malfetto, an abomination. But some of the fever’s survivors are rumored to possess more than just scars—they are believed to have mysterious and powerful gifts, and though their identities remain secret, they have come to be called the Young Elites.

Teren Santoro works for the king. As Leader of the Inquisition Axis, it is his job to seek out the Young Elites, to destroy them before they destroy the nation… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Plague recounted
  • Physical injuries, including eyeball trauma & loss of vision
  • Sex work
  • Self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death of a father
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Fire
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Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore

Batman: The Killing Joke by Alan Moore and illustrated by Brian Bolland

For the first time the Joker’s origin is revealed in this tale of insanity and human perseverance. Looking to prove that any man can be pushed past his breaking point and go mad, the Joker attempts to drive Commissioner Gordon insane.

After shooting and permanently paralyzing his daughter Barbara (a.k.a. Batgirl), the Joker kidnaps the commissioner and attacks his mind in hopes of breaking the man.

But refusing to give up, Gordon maintains his sanity with the help of Batman in an effort to beset the madman.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Sexual assault
  • Paralysis
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
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The Casual Vacancy by JK Rowling

The Casual Vacancy by J.K. Rowling

When Barry Fairbrother dies in his early forties, the town of Pagford is left in shock.

Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war.

Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils … Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body shaming
  • Racism
  • Rape
  • Paedophilia & incest mentioned
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic abuse
  • Graphic suicide
  • Self-harm
  • Recreational drug use
  • Bullying
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An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

An Emotion of Great Delight by Tahereh Mafi

It’s 2003, the US officially declared war on Iraq and the American political world evolved. Hate crimes are on the rise, and the Muslim community is harassed and targeted more than ever. Shadi, who wears hijab, keeps her head down. She’s too busy drowning in her own troubles to find the time to deal with bigots.

Shadi is named for joy, but she’s haunted by sorrow. Her brother is dead, her father is dying, her mother is falling apart, and her best friend has mysteriously dropped out of her life. And then, of course, there’s the small matter of her heart—it’s broken. Shadi tries soldiering through, each day retreating farther and farther inside herself until finally, one day, everything changes. She explodes.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Islamophobia
  • Domestic violence & abuse
  • Attempted suicide
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm
  • Panic Disorder & panic attacks
  • Drug use
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