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.

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Vengeful by V.E. Schwab

Magneto and Professor X. Superman and Lex Luthor. Victor Vale and Eli Ever. Sydney and Serena Clarke. Great partnerships, now soured on the vine. But Marcella Riggins needs no one. Flush from her brush with death, she’s finally gained the control she’s always sought—and will use her newfound power to bring the city of Merit to its knees. She’ll do whatever it takes, collecting her own sidekicks, and leveraging the two most infamous EOs, Victor Vale and Eli Ever, against each other. With Marcella’s rise, new enmities create opportunity–and the stage of Merit City will once again be set for a final, terrible reckoning.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted sexual assault
  • Child abuse
  • Suicide
  • Alcoholism, alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Drug abuse
  • Vivisection
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Graphic torture
  • Fire
  • Drowning

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

A Gathering of Shadows by V.E. Schwab

It has been four months since a mysterious obsidian stone fell into Kell’s possession. Four months since his path crossed with Delilah Bard. Four months since Prince Rhy was wounded, and since the nefarious Dane twins of White London fell, and four months since the stone was cast with Holland’s dying body through the rift–back into Black London.

Now, restless after having given up his smuggling habit, Kell is visited by dreams of ominous magical events, waking only to think of Lila, who disappeared from the docks as she always meant to do. As Red London finalizes preparations for the Element Games–an extravagant international competition of magic meant to entertain and keep healthy the ties between neighbouring countries–a certain pirate ship draws closer, carrying old friends back into port… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Self-harm
  • Torture

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black.

Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, travelling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see.

Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequences, which Kell is now seeing firsthand… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slavery
  • Attempted rape
  • Attempted prostitution of a child, recounted
  • Parental abuse discussed
  • Self mutilation for use in magic
  • Torture

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

Years ago, when House of Leaves was first being passed around, it was nothing more than a badly bundled heap of paper, parts of which would occasionally surface on the Internet. No one could have anticipated the small but devoted following this terrifying story would soon command. Starting with an odd assortment of marginalized youth—musicians, tattoo artists, programmers, strippers, environmentalists, and adrenaline junkies—the book eventually made its way into the hands of older generations, who not only found themselves in those strangely arranged pages but also discovered a way back into the lives of their estranged children.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Incest
  • Sexual abuse
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Adultery
  • Depersonalisation & derealisation
  • Alcoholism
  • Schizophrenia
  • Agoraphobia
  • Claustrophobia
  • Panic attacks
  • Hallucinations & delusions
  • Suicide
  • Drug use
  • Hospitalisation
  • Hypothermia
  • Loss of limb
  • Death of a sibling
  • Death of an uncle
  • Death of a child
  • Murder
  • Grief depiction
  • Gun violence
  • Stalking
  • Graphic death of a dog

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

A Tale for the Time Being by Ruth Ozeki

In Tokyo, sixteen-year-old Nao has decided there’s only one escape from her aching loneliness and her classmates’ bullying, but before she ends it all, Nao plans to document the life of her great-grandmother, a Buddhist nun who’s lived more than a century. A diary is Nao’s only solace—and will touch lives in a ways she can scarcely imagine.

Across the Pacific, we meet Ruth, a novelist living on a remote island who discovers a collection of artifacts washed ashore in a Hello Kitty lunchbox—possibly debris from the devastating 2011 tsunami. As the mystery of its contents unfolds, Ruth is pulled into the past, into Nao’s drama and her unknown fate, and forward into her own future. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault
  • Family death, due to natural causes
  • Suicide & attempted suicide
  • Bullying

Reaper by A Zavarelli 

Reaper by A. Zavarelli

He’s dark and mysterious. Quiet and lethal. An Irish mobster. Pure sin wrapped up in a beautiful package. But there’s also something off about him. He doesn’t feel anything. He shows no emotions. Sometimes I question his humanity. He hasn’t spoken to me in two years. Not a single word. But we share a secret, he and I. And if it ever comes out, I have no doubt in my mind… He won’t have a problem killing me too.

Ronan: I’ve slain for her. I’ll do it again. When it comes to Sasha, there isn’t a line I won’t cross. I watch her. She doesn’t know it. She thinks I hate her. Sometimes, I think I might too.
But I’m always there, lurking in the shadows. Craving her. Trying to keep the beast within at bay. I’ll keep her safe. I’ll slaughter anyone who tries to hurt her. The only thing I can’t do… is protect her from myself.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse recounted
  • Sexual assault recounted
  • Unplanned pregnancy
  • Murder
  • Gun violence

Crow by A Zavarelli 

Crow by A. Zavarelli

I had a plan. Get in, get my information, and get out. Easy, right? Turns out, infiltrating the Irish mafia isn’t exactly what I thought it would be. I just wanted a soldier. Someone I could flirt with to get me in the door.

That’s when Lachlan Crow noticed me. Problem was, he wasn’t a soldier. No, he was next in line for the throne of the Irish underworld. And he was determined to hate me from the outset. My sob story about needing a job? Yeah, he wasn’t buying that either. Too bad for him, I won’t let anyone get in the way of my mission.

Who cares if we have some kind of crazy chemistry? He’s the worst kind of wrong- and I would never in a million years be with a guy like him. Because they took her from me, and I’m going to make them pay. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Human trafficking
  • Rape & attempted rape, on-page
  • Sex work
  • Cheating recounted
  • Death of a parent from cancer recounted
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Blackmail
  • Organised crime

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

Lord of Light by Roger Zelazny

His followers called him Mahasamatman and said he was a god. He preferred to drop the Maha- and the -atman, however, and called himself Sam. He never claimed to be a god, but then he never claimed not to be a god.

A holy war rages across the heavens and mankind’s fate hangs in the balance.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Deadnaming
  • Sexual assault

How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C Pam Zhang 

How Much of These Hills Is Gold by C. Pam Zhang

Ba dies in the night; Ma is already gone. Newly orphaned children of immigrants, Lucy and Sam are suddenly alone in a land that refutes their existence. Fleeing the threats of their western mining town, they set off to bury their father in the only way that will set them free from their past. Along the way, they encounter giant buffalo bones, tiger paw prints, and the spectres of a ravaged landscape as well as family secrets, sibling rivalry, and glimpses of a different kind of future.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexism
  • Racism
  • Sexual assault
  • Animal death
  • Animal cruelty

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult 

Salem Falls by Jodi Picoult

Jack buries his past, content to become the mysterious stranger who has appeared out of the blue. Addie, desperate for answers, must look into her heart — and into Jack’s lies and shadowy secrets — for evidence that will condemn or redeem the man she has come to love.

When Jack St. Bride arrives by chance in the sleepy New England town of Salem Falls, he decides to reinvent himself. Tall, blond, and handsome, Jack was once a beloved teacher and soccer coach at a girls’ prep school — until a student’s crush sparked a powder keg of accusation and robbed him of his reputation. Now, working for minimum wage washing dishes for Addie Peabody at the Do-Or-Diner, Jack buries his past, content to become the mysterious stranger who has appeared out of the blue… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia
  • Ableism (r slur)
  • Slut-shaming
  • Rape & attempted rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Self-harm