The Wolves Are Waiting by Natasha Friend

Before the night of the Frat Fair, 15-year-old Nora Melchionda’s life could have been a Gen-Z John Hughes movie. She had a kind-of boyfriend, a spot on the field hockey team, good grades, and a circle of close friends. Of course there were bumps in the road: she and her lifelong BFF Cam were growing apart and her mother was trying to clone her into wearing sensible khakis instead of showy short skirts. But none of that mattered, because Nora always had her dad, Rhett Melchionda, on her side. Rhett was not only Nora’s hero, but as the Athletic Director of Faber… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexism & slut-shaming
  • Date rape & sexual assault (protagonist, on-page & mentioned)

Work for It by Talia Hibbert

In this village, I’m an outcast: Griffin Everett, the scowling giant who prefers plants to people. Then I meet Keynes, a stranger from the city who’s everything I’m not: sharp-tongued, sophisticated, beautiful. Free. For a few precious moments in a dark alleyway, he’s also mine, hot and sweet under the stars… until he crushes me like dirt beneath his designer boot. When the prettiest man I’ve ever hated shows up at my job the next day, I’m not sure if I want to strangle him or drag him into bed. Actually—I think I want both… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Disownment by homophobic parnets
  • Forced outing mentioned
  • Image-based sexual assault
  • Depression & anxiety (protagonist)
  • Death of a parent from suicide mentioned
  • Murder
  • Blackmail

Young World by Soman Chainani

This year, best friends Sophie and Agatha are about to discover where all the lost children go: the fabled School for Good & Evil, where ordinary boys and girls are trained to be fairy tale heroes and villains. As the most beautiful girl in Gavaldon, Sophie has dreamed of being kidnapped into an enchanted world her whole life. With her pink dresses, glass slippers, and devotion to good deeds, she knows she’ll earn top marks at the School for Good and graduate a storybook princess. Meanwhile Agatha, with her shapeless black frocks, wicked pet cat, and dislike of nearly everyone, seems a natural fit for the School for Evil… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Adult-minor relationship and sexual assault of a minor by a teacher (17-year-old protagonist kissed by their 27-year-old teacher)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Smoking & drug dealing mentioned
  • Murder & attempted murder by explosion and gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Animal attack (polar bear)

Worse Guy by Ruby Dixon

Crulden the Ruiner is the most dangerous gladiator in the galaxy. I’m his clone – equally ugly, equally dangerous, and just as feared. I’m also being held captive, since no one trusts a creature like me to be let loose. A curvy, determined human named Bee doesn’t think I’m a creature, though. In fact, she thinks I just need a guide. She’s got half the males on this planet eating out of her hand, and she’s confident she can do the same with me. The managing little female has no idea what she’s in for. I’m not some fool to be led around by my tail. But… the champion in me… Read more.

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Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sex slavery & sexual assault
  • Self-harm
  • Torture
  • Captivity recounted (on-page)

We Are All Guilty Here by Karin Slaughter

Welcome to North Falls-a small town where everyone knows everyone. Or so they think. Until the night of the fireworks. When two teenage girls vanish, and the town ignites. For Officer Emmy Clifton, it’s personal. She turned away when her best friend’s daughter needed help-and now she must bring her home. But as Emmy combs through the puzzle the girls left behind, she realizes she never really knew them. Nobody did. Every teenage girl has secrets. But who would kill for them? And what else is the town hiding?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia, grooming & rape of a minor
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping

The Winter of the Witch by Katherine Arden

Now Moscow has been struck by disaster. Its people are searching for answers—and for someone to blame. Vasya finds herself alone, beset on all sides. The Grand Prince is in a rage, choosing allies that will lead him on a path to war and ruin. A wicked demon returns, stronger than ever and determined to spread chaos. Caught at the center of the conflict is Vasya, who finds the fate of two worlds resting on her shoulders. Her destiny uncertain, Vasya will uncover surprising truths about herself and her history as she desperately tries to save Russia, Morozko, and the magical world she treasures. But she may not be able to save them all.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical misogyny
  • Sexual assault & threats of rape
  • Death during childbirth mentioned
  • Torture
  • Graphic animal death (pet horse)
  • War themes

The Good House by Tananarive Due

Angela hoped her grandmother’s famous “healing magic” could save her failing marriage while she and her family lived in the old house the summer of 2001. Instead, an unexpected tragedy ripped Angela’s family apart. Two years later, Angela is moving past her grief and is finally ready to revisit the rural house she loved so much as a child. But back in Sacajawea, she discovers she hasn’t been the only one to suffer a shocking loss. Since she left, there have been more senseless tragedies, and Angela wonders whether they are related somehow. Could the events be… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Sexual assault
  • Suicide
  • Emesis

Blood Slaves by Markus Redmond

In the Province of Carolina, 1710, freedom seems unattainable for Willie, for his beloved Gertie, and for their unborn child. They live, suffer, and toil under their brutal master, James “Big Jim” Barrow, whose grand plantation was built by the blood, sweat, and tears of the enslaved. To flee this hell on earth is be hunted and killed. Until one strange night Willie is offered a dark hope by Rafazi, an enigmatic slave with an irresistible and blood-chilling path to liberation. Hailing from the Kingdom of Ghana, Rafazi is the lone survivor of the Ramanga, an African vampire trive render… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic slavery & racism (on-page)
  • Rape & sexual assault (on-page)

A Beautiful Poison by Lydia Kang

Just beyond the Gilded Age, in the mist-covered streets of New York, the deadly Spanish influenza ripples through the city. But with so many victims in her close circle, young socialite Allene questions if the flu is really to blame. All appear to have been poisoned—and every death was accompanied by a mysterious note. Desperate for answers and dreading her own engagement to a wealthy gentleman, Allene returns to her passion for scientific discovery and recruits her long-lost friends, Jasper and Birdie, for help. The investigation brings her closer to Jasper… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Paedophilia, grooming & child sexual abuse
  • Murder

Beautiful by Amy Reed

When Cassie moves from the tiny town where she has always lived to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. This is Cassie’s chance to stop being invisible and become the kind of girl who’s worth noticing. Stepping into her new identity turns out to be easier than Cassie could have ever imagined… one moment, one choice, changes everything. Cassie’s new existence both thrills and terrifies her. Swept into a world of illicit parties and social landmines, she sheds her virginity, embraces the numbness she feels from the drugs, and.. Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape of a child & incest (father-daughter)
  • Emotional & physical parental abuse and sibling abuse
  • Parent with alcoholism
  • Death of a father by suicide from hanging
  • Alcohol consumption & recreational drug use
  • Physical assault