Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Descendant of the Crane by Joan He

Tyrants cut out hearts. Rulers sacrifice their own.

Princess Hesina of Yan has always been eager to shirk the responsibilities of the crown, but when her beloved father is murdered, she’s thrust into power, suddenly the queen of an unstable kingdom. Determined to find her father’s killer, Hesina does something desperate: she engages the aid of a soothsayer—a treasonous act, punishable by death… because in Yan, magic was outlawed centuries ago.

Using the information illicitly provided by the sooth, and uncertain if she can trust even her family, Hesina turns to Akira—a brilliant investigator who’s also a convicted criminal with secrets of his own. With the future of her kingdom at stake, can Hesina find justice for her father? Or will the cost be too high?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism
  • Slavery
  • Emotional parental abuse
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Self-harm
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a father
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Hanging
  • Fire
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Flawless by Sara Shepard

Flawless by Sara Shepard book cover

Spencer stole her sister’s boyfriend. Aria is brokenhearted over her English teacher. Emily likes her new friend Maya . . . as much more than a friend. And Hanna’s obsession with looking flawless is literally making her sick. But the most horrible secret of all is something so scandalous it could destroy their perfect little lives. And someone named “A” is threatening to do just that. At first they thought A was Alison, their friend who vanished three years ago . . . but then Alison turned up dead. So could A be Melissa, Spencer’s ultra-competitive sister? Or Maya, who wants… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Fatphobia & body shaming
  • Ableism, racism & misogyny
  • Lesbophobia & outing mentioned
  • Sexual assault/attempted rape & incestuous child sexual abuse
  • Eating disorder (bulimia), including discussions of bingeing &purging
  • Panic attack
  • Suicide & self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption & recreational drug use
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Fire
  • Blackmail & stalking (theme)
  • Car accident mentioned
  • Bullying

Miss You Hate You Love You Bye by Abby Sher

Miss You Hate You Love You Bye by Abby Sher

Miss You Love You Hate You Bye by Abby Sher book cover

Zoe and Hank (short for Hannah) have been inseparable since they met in elementary school. The leader of the pack, Zoe is effortlessly popular while Hank hides comfortably in her shadow. But when Zoe’s parents unexpectedly divorce, Zoe’s perfect facade starts cracking little by little. Sinking under the weight of her broken family, Zoe develops an eating disorder. Now she must rely on Hank for help.

Hank struggles to help Zoe; after all, she is used to agreeing, not leading. How can she help her best friend get better before it’s too late?

Written partially in letters from Zoe and mostly in narrative from Hank’s perspective, Miss You Love You Hate You Bye is a poignant and eye-opening novel about friendship, mental health, and learning to put yourself first.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Eating disorders, specifically anorexia and bulimia
  • Self-harm, specifically cutting
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The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen

The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen

The Infinite Noise by Lauren Shippen book cover

Caleb Michaels is a sixteen-year-old champion running back. Other than that his life is pretty normal. But when Caleb starts experiencing mood swings that are out of the ordinary for even a teenager, his life moves beyond “typical.”

Caleb is an Atypical, an individual with enhanced abilities. Which sounds pretty cool except Caleb’s ability is extreme empathy—he feels the emotions of everyone around him. Being an empath in high school would be hard enough, but Caleb’s life becomes even more complicated when he keeps getting pulled into the emotional orbit of one of his classmates, Adam. Adam’s feelings are big and all-consuming, but they fit together with Caleb’s feelings in a way that he can’t quite understand.

Caleb’s therapist, Dr. Bright, encourages Caleb to explore this connection by befriending Adam. As he and Adam grow closer, Caleb learns more about his ability, himself, his therapist—who seems to know a lot more than she lets on—and just how dangerous being an Atypical can be.

“What if the X-Men, instead of becoming superheroes, decided to spend some time in therapy?”

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism
  • Fatmisia
  • Misogyny
  • Queermisia
  • Aromisic language
  • Depression and depressive episodes
  • Self-harm recounted, off-page
  • Medical experimentation mentioned
  • Bullying
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Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington

Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington

*Also titled One Past Midnight

Between the Lives by Jessica Shirvington book coverx

Sabine isn’t like anyone else. For as long as she can remember, she’s had two lives. Every twenty-four hours she “shifts,” living each day twice. In one life, Sabine has everything: popular friends, perfect grades, expensive clothes, and the guy everyone wants. In the other, Sabine’s family struggles financially, and her friends are considered rebels. But then she meets Ethan. He’s gorgeous and challenging, and he makes her feel like she’s never felt before.

All Sabine really wants is the chance to live only one life. But when this finally becomes possible, is she willing to risk everything – including losing the one person who might actually believe her – to make it happen?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableiest language
  • Self-harm
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Overdose
  • Psychiatric hospital
  • Forced hospitalisation
  • Emesis
  • Cancer
  • Death of a loved one
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Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Firstlife by Gena Showalter

Firstlife by Gena Showalter book cover

Tenley “Ten” Lockwood has spent the past thirteen months locked inside the Prynne Asylum. She’s earned her rep as the craziest of crazies, but that doesn’t stop the torture. Ten can leave, but only if she allows her parents to choose where she’ll live—after she dies.

There is an eternal truth most of the world has come to accept: Firstlife is merely a dress rehearsal, and real life begins after death.

In the Everlife, two realms are in power: Troika and Myriad, longtime enemies and deadly rivals. Both will do anything to recruit Ten, including sending their top Laborers to lure her to their side. Soon, Ten finds herself on the run, caught in a wild tug-of-war between the boy she’s falling for and the realm she wants to support. Who will she choose? Can she stay alive long enough to make a decision?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Attempted rape
  • Psychological abuse
  • Child abuse
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Self-harm
  • Blood depiction
  • Torture
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The Outrage by William Hussey

The Outrage by William Hussey

Welcome to England, where the Protectorate enforces the Public Good. Here, there are rules for everything – what to eat, what to wear, what to do, what to say, what to read, what to think, who to obey, who to hate, who to love. Your safety is assured, so long as you follow the rules.

Gabriel is a natural born rule-breaker. And his biggest crime of all? Being gay.

Gabriel knows his sexuality must be kept secret from all but his closest friends, not only to protect himself, but to protect his boyfriend. Because Eric isn’t just the boy who has stolen Gabriel’s heart. He’s the son of the chief inspector at Degenerate Investigations ­­­- the man who poses the single biggest threat to Gabriel’s life.

And the Protectorate are experts at exposing secrets.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism
  • Racism
  • Homomisia & homomisic language
  • Self-harm
  • Suicide mentioned
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Neverland by Margot McGovern

Neverland by Margot McGovern book cover

When she was twelve, Kit Learmonth watched her parents drown in a storm as their boat sailed over the Tranter Sink Hole. Now seventeen, Kit doesn’t remember the incident, and she doesn’t want to. In fact, her only clear memories from before her parents’ death are of the fantastical stories of pirates and mermaids that she and her dad invented about the small island where she grew up, a place she calls Neverland. Following Kit’s parents’ deaths, her uncle and guardian, Doc, transformed the island into a boarding… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Eating disorder
  • Suicide discussed
  • Self-harm
  • Psychiatric hospitalisation (setting)
  • Death of a mother & father by drowning in a boating accident recounted

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life – which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sex addiction
  • Depression
  • Attempted suicide
  • Self-harm
  • Psychiatric hospitalisation
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The Color Purple by Alice Walker

The Color Purple by Alice Walker

Celie is a poor black woman whose letters tell the story of 20 years of her life, beginning at age 14 when she is being abused and raped by her father and attempting to protect her sister from the same fate, and continuing over the course of her marriage to Mister, a brutal man who terrorizes her. Celie eventually learns that her abusive husband has been keeping her sister’s letters from her and the rage she feels, combined with an example of love and independence provided by her close friend Shug, pushes her finally toward an awakening of her creative and loving self.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Cultural appropriation, specifically Native American culture
  • Domestic violence
  • Physical, verbal & emotional abuse, including gaslighting
  • Rape, statutory rape & rape of a child
  • Incest (father-daughter)
  • Pregnancy, result of rape & incest
  • Forced estrangement
  • Cheating
  • Self-harm
  • Disordered eating (bingeing)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Female genital mutilation mentioned
  • Emesis
  • Lynching recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence mentioned
  • Death of a mother
  • Death of an infant