Tag Archives: Sexual Assault

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of sexual assault. It is also used as an umbrella tag for any form of sexual violence.

See also Rape, Paedophilia & CSA, and Sex work.

The WitchSlayer by Opal Reyne

When Amalia’s cat brought home a strange flying lizard during a terrible storm, she had no idea that it was a Dragon. Or that he would save her from burning at the stake, only to imprison her in his lair when she saw his human face. Now she is stuck in this cave with a moody, hot-tempered, and arrogant warrior – one who has killed her kind by the dozens. She expected to feel trapped, but he somehow makes her feel unbelievably… safe. Rurik’s only goal is to kill the Dark Witch, Strolguil the Vast. He never expected to find himself in a White Witch’s home in need of healing, or that… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Persecution for witchraft including burning at the stake, drowning and falling off a cliff
  • Sexual assault, on-page

Book of a Thousand Days by Shannon Hale

Imprisoned in a remote tower after Lady Saren refuses to marry the man her father has chosen, the maid and the lady have almost nothing in common. But the loyalty that grows between the two, the man they love in different ways for different reasons, and the lies they tell because of and in spite of each other, combine to evoke the deepest bonds, transcend the loneliest landscapes, and erupt in a conclusion so romantic, so clever, and so right that no reader will be left dry-eyed.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Death of a parent
  • Forced confinement & isolation
  • Animal death

Gone Tonight by Sarah Pekkanen

Catherine Sterling thinks she knows her mother. Ruth Sterling is quiet, hardworking, and lives for her daughter. All her life, it’s been just the two of them against the world. But now, Catherine is ready to spread her wings, move from home, and begin a new career. And Ruth Sterling will do anything to prevent that from happening. Ruth Sterling thinks she knows her daughter. Catherine would never rebel, would never question anything about her mother’s past or background. But when Ruth’s desperate quest to keep her daughter by her side begins to reveal… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racial slur
  • Sexual assault of a minor
  • Parental abandonment
  • Child abuse
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Alcoholism
  • Unplanned teen pregnancy
  • Terminal illness
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder

The Night Olivia Fell by Christina McDonald

It’s every parent’s worst nightmare. Abi Knight is startled awake in the middle of the night to a ringing phone and devastating news – her teenage daughter, Olivia, has been in a terrible accident. Abi is told that Olivia slipped and fell from a bridge into the icy water below, and now she lies silent, dependent on life support. But then Abi sees the angry bruises around Olivia’s wrists and learns that her sensible daughter is in fact three months pregnant . . . Would you believe it if they told you it was an accident?

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault of a minor
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Death from a fall
  • Daughter on life support

*Context : The protagonist’s pregnant teenage daughter fell off a bridge after being assaulted. She is on life support until she is able to deliver the baby or the baby dies.

Horseman by Christina Henry

Everyone in Sleepy Hollow knows about the Horseman, but no one really believes in him. Not even Ben Van Brunt’s grandfather, Brom Bones, who was there when it was said the Horseman chased the upstart Crane out of town. Brom says that’s just legend, the village gossips talking. Twenty years after those storied events, the village is a quiet place. Fourteen-year-old Ben loves to play “Sleepy Hollow boys,” reenacting the events Brom once lived through. But then Ben and a friend stumble across the headless body of a child in the woods near the village, and the sinister discovery makes Ben question everything the adult… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transmisia & misgendering
  • Attempted rape
  • Domestic abuse mentioned
  • Kidnapping

With Love in Sight by Christina Britton

An aging spinster at 26, all Imogen Duncan sees ahead of her is a life of servitude to her overbearing mother. Her London Season has passed and her desperate shyness and reserved demeanour has destroyed any chance for a match. As her younger sister Mariah begins her own Season and must choose between many suitors, Imogen believes her chances for excitement are well and truly past. But a case of mistaken identity and an unintended kiss brings an excitement into her life that she never dreamed of. Burying the guilt he suffers from his brother’s death a decade ago beneath a life of debauchery, Caleb Masters, Marquess of… Read more,

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault (unwanted kiss)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother recounted

At the Edge of the Universe by Shaun David Hutchinson

Tommy and Ozzie have been best friends since the second grade, and boyfriends since eighth. They spent countless days dreaming of escaping their small town—and then Tommy vanished. More accurately, he ceased to exist, erased from the minds and memories of everyone who knew him. Everyone except Ozzie. Ozzie doesn’t know how to navigate life without Tommy, and soon he suspects that something else is going on: that the universe is shrinking. When Ozzie is paired up with the reclusive and secretive Calvin for a physics project, it’s hard for him to deny the feelings developing between them, even if he still loves… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Child abuse
  • Statutory rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Self-harm
  • Depression
  • Explosion
  • Plane crash

We Are the Ants by Shaun David Hutchinson

Henry Denton has spent years being periodically abducted by aliens. Then the aliens give him an ultimatum: The world will end in 144 days, and all Henry has to do to stop it is push a big red button. Only he isn’t sure he wants to. After all, life hasn’t been great for Henry. His mom is a struggling waitress held together by a thin layer of cigarette smoke. His brother is a jobless dropout who just knocked someone up. His grandmother is slowly losing herself to Alzheimer’s. And Henry is still dealing with the grief of his boyfriend’s suicide last year…. Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homomisia & slurs
  • Outing
  • Sexual assault & attempted rape
  • Alcoholism
  • Grandparent with Alzheimer’s Disease
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Smoking mentioned
  • Miscarriage
  • Nonconsensual medical procedures and experimentation
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a boyfriend from suicide recounted
  • Bullying & cyberbullying

The Road Trip by Beth O’Leary

Addie and her sister are about to embark on an epic road trip to a friend’s wedding in the north of Scotland. The playlist is all planned and the snacks are packed. But, not long after setting off, a car slams into the back of theirs. The driver is none other than Addie’s ex, Dylan, who she’s avoided since their traumatic break-up two years earlier. Dylan and his best mate are heading to the wedding too, and they’ve totalled their car, so Addie has no choice but to offer them a ride. The car is soon jam-packed full of luggage and secrets, and with three hundred miles ahead of them… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexual assault
  • Emotional parental abuse
  • Depression
  • Alcohol & drug abuse
  • Minor physical injury (sprained wrist)
  • Emesis
  • Car accident
  • Stalking

The Confidence of Wildflowers by Micalea Smeltzer

My future is a big ‘what if’ at the moment and I’m fine with that. For the most part. When Thayer Holmes moves in next door, the grumpy landscaper both fascinates and amuses me. When he asks me to nanny his kid, it’s a great way to make some extra money. It’s impossible not to fall in love with Thayer and his adorable son. There’s a big problem though. I’m eighteen. He’s thirty-one. Falling for someone almost fifteen years older than me wasn’t part of my plans, but sometimes things happen when you least expect them.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault of a child mentioned
  • Cheating
  • Child abuse recounted
  • Anxiety, panic attacks & night terrors
  • Emesis
  • Death of a parent from cancer recounted
  • Death of a child