Self-Harm – Page 52 – Trigger Warning Database

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

The Turn of the Key by Ruth Ware

When she stumbles across the advert, she’s looking for something else completely. But it seems like too good an opportunity to miss: a live-in nanny position, with a staggeringly generous salary. And when Rowan arrives at Heatherbrae House, she is smitten by the luxurious ‘smart’ home fitted out with all modern conveniences, by the beautiful Scottish Highlands, and by this picture-perfect family.

What she doesn’t know is that she’s stepping into a nightmare – one that will end with a child dead and her in a cell awaiting trial for murder.

She knows she’s made mistakes. But, she maintains, she’s not guilty – at least not of murder. Which means someone else is.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexual harassment
Dubious consent scenario*
Physical, emotional & verbal child abuse
Child neglect
Cheating
Panic attack (on-page)
Suicide & self-harm mentioned
Alcohol consumption
Blood depiction and physical injuries
Death of a child
Death of a sister
Murder
Poisoning (on- & off-page)
Death from a fall
Drowning mentioned
Incarceration

*Note: A fade-to-black sex scene where the protagonist is under the influence of alcohol.

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Pretties by Scott Westerfeld

Tally’s Pretty. And everything’s changed. The new, Pretty Tally is totally happy right where she is. She doesn’t think she needs any kind of cure at all. When someone from her Ugly life shows up with a message, Tally has a hard time listening. Did she really promise to give all this up? Is she bound by a promise she made when she was a different person? If there is anything left of the old Tally, how will she fight her way out to keep her word and help her friends?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableist slurs (r slur)
Self-harm
Disordered eating

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Uglies by Scott Westerfeld

Tally is about to turn sixteen, and she can’t wait. In just a few weeks she’ll have the operation that will turn her from a repellent ugly into a stunning pretty. And as a pretty, she’ll be catapulted into a high-tech paradise where her only job is to have fun.

But Tally’s new friend Shay isn’t sure she wants to become a pretty. When Shay runs away, Tally learns about a whole new side of the pretty world—and it isn’t very pretty. The authorities offer Tally a choice: find her friend and turn her in, or never turn pretty at all. Tally’s choice will change her world forever….

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Fatmisia & body shaming
Self harm
Recreational drug use
Hospitalisation
Needles

Toffee by Sarah Crossan

Toffee by Sarah Crossan

Also known as Being Toffee.

One is trying to forget. The other is trying to remember.

After running away from an abusive home, Allison finds herself taking shelter in a shed behind an abandoned house. But the house isn’t empty after all; an elderly woman named Marla, who suffers from dementia, lives there. And rather than turn her away, Marla welcomes her – she mistakes Allison for an old friend from her past named Toffee.

Allison is used to hiding who she really is, and trying to be what other people want her to be, so she decides to play along. But as their bond grows, and Allison discovers how much Marla needs a real companion, Allison begins to waver. They both deserve a home, a safe place, and a family – but at what cost?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Sexism
Slut shaming
Sexual harassment
Physical, verbal & emotional child abuse (theme)
Domestic violence and physical & emotional abuse
Elder abuse
Cheating mentioned
Depersonalisation
Suicidal ideation
Self-harm
Alcohol consumption
Recreational drug use (smoking)
Death from childbirth & traumatic childbirth mentioned
Dementia (theme)
Minor blood depiction & physical injuries, including burns
Emesis
Hospital
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother & wife recounted
Homelessness
Animal death
Death of a pet dog mentioned
Animal attack mentioned

The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

The Light Between Worlds by Laura E. Weymouth

Five years ago, Evelyn and Philippa Hapwell cowered from air strikes in a London bomb shelter. But that night took a turn when the sisters were transported to another realm called the Woodlands. In a forest kingdom populated by creatures out of myth and legend, they found temporary refuge. When they finally returned to London, nothing had changed at all—nothing, except themselves.

Now, Ev spends her days sneaking into the woods outside her boarding schools. Overcome with longing, she is desperate to return no matter what it takes. Philippa, on the other hand, is determined to find a place in this world. She shields herself behind a flawless exterior and countless friends, and moves to America to escape the memory of what was.

But when Evelyn goes missing, Philippa must confront the depth of her sister’s despair and the painful truths they’ve been running from. As the weeks unfold, Philippa wonders if Ev truly did find a way home, or if the weight of their worlds pulled her under.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Disordered eating
PTSD
Depression
Suicidal ideation
Self-harm
Emesis
War themes

Content warnings available on Laura E. Weymouth’s website.

A Treason of Thorns by Laura E. Weymouth

A Treason of Thorns by Laura E. Weymouth

Violet Sterling has spent the last seven years in exile, longing to return to Burleigh House. One of the six great houses of England, Burleigh’s magic always kept the countryside well. And as a child, this magic kept Violet happy, draping her in flowers while she slept, fashioning secret hiding places for her, and lighting fires on the coldest nights to keep her warm.

Everything shattered, though, when her father committed high treason trying to free Burleigh from the king’s oppressive control. He was killed, and Vi was forced into hiding.

When she’s given a chance to go back, she discovers Burleigh has run wild with grief. Vines and briars are crumbling the walls. Magic that once enriched the surrounding countryside has turned dark and deadly, twisting lush blooms into thorns, poisoning livestock and destroying crops. Burleigh’s very soul is crying out in pain.

Vi would do anything to help, and soon she finds herself walking the same deadly path as her father all those years before. Vi must decide how far she’s willing to go to save her house—before her house destroys everything she’s ever known.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Parental abandonment
Emotional & physical abuse (non-graphic)
Gaslighting
Anxiety
Self-harm
Mild body horror
Death of a parent

Content warnings available on Laura E. Weymouth’s website.

The Lessons by Naomi Alderman

The Lessons by Naomi Alderman

Hidden away in an Oxford back street is a crumbling Georgian mansion, unknown to any but the few who possess a key to its unassuming front gate. Its owner is the mercurial, charismatic Mark Winters, whose rackety trust-fund upbringing has left him as troubled and unpredictable as he is wildly promiscuous. Mark gathers around him an impressionable group of students: glamorous Emmanuella, who always has a new boyfriend in tow; Franny and Simon, best friends and occasional lovers; musician Jess, whose calm exterior hides passionate depths. And James, already damaged by Oxford and looking for a group to belong to. For a time they live in a charmed world of learning and parties and love affairs. But university is no grounding for adult life, and when, years later, tragedy strikes they are entirely unprepared. Universal in its themes of ambition, desire and betrayal, this spellbinding novel reflects the truth that the lessons life teaches often come too late.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Ableist tropes, specifically the demonising of mental illness
Queermisic tropes, specifically “cheating bisexuals”
Domestic abuse
Cheating
Mental health
Suicidal ideation
Self-harm

Deadline by Stephanie Ahn

Deadline by Stephanie Ahn

Disgraced witch Harrietta Lee has made a lot of mistakes in her life; there’s a reason she’s got a sizable burn scar slapped across the side of her neck and a formal letter of excommunication from the international underground magical community. But who has time to dwell on the past when you’re trying to make rent in New York? Things are mostly clean and simple, until her next odd job is brought to her by a representative of a powerful corporate family—a family she once had close personal ties to. As she unwillingly digs through six years’ worth of personal baggage, she’s also got to contend with an inhuman admirer shadowing her in the street.
But hey, maybe it’ll be worth it for the beautiful women she gets to kiss…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Self-harm
Gore depiction
Death of an infant

Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin

Foul is Fair by Hannah Capin

Elle and her friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Elle’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Elle as their next target.

They picked the wrong girl.

Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St. Andrew’s. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She’ll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school’s hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Misogyny
Transmisia
Rape
Sexual assault
Abusive relationship
Substance abuse
Suicide
Self-harm
Gore depiction
Murder
Bullying

The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown

The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown

Sydney’s dad is the only psychiatrist for miles around their small Ohio town.

He is also unexpectedly dead.

Is Sydney crazy, or is it kind of weird that her dad-a guy whose entire job revolved around other peoples’ secrets-crashed alone, with no explanation?

And why is June Copeland, homecoming queen and the town’s golden child, at his funeral?

As the two girls grow closer in the wake of the accident, it’s clear that not everyone is happy about their new friendship.

But what is picture perfect June still hiding? And does Sydney even want to know?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

Queermisia
Forced coming out
Sexual abuse, off-page
Domestic abuse, emotional and physical
Verbal abuse
Suicide
Self-harm
Bullying, central theme