Tag Archives: Slavery & Indentured Servitude

Glint by Raven Kennedy

For ten years, I’ve lived in a gilded cage inside King Midas’s golden castle. But one night changed everything. Now I’m here, a prisoner of Fourth Kingdom’s army, and I’m not sure if I’m going to make it out of this in one piece. They’re marching to battle, and I’m the bargaining chip that will either douse the fire or spark a war. At the heart of my fear, my worry, there’s him—Commander Rip. Known for his brutality on the battlefield, his viciousness is unsurpassed. But I know the truth about what he is. Fae. The… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Human trafficking & slavery
  • Misogyny
  • Child abuse & neglect mentioned
  • Rape & sexual assault mentioned
  • Murder

Rebellion 1776 by Laurie Halse Anderson

In the spring of 1776, thirteen-year-old Elsbeth Culpepper wakes to the sound of cannons. It’s the Siege of Boston, the Patriots’ massive drive to push the Loyalists out that turns the city into a chaotic war zone. Elsbeth’s father—her only living relative—has gone missing, leaving her alone and adrift in a broken town while desperately seeking employment to avoid the orphanage. Just when things couldn’t feel worse, the smallpox epidemic sweeps across Boston. Now, Bostonians must fight for their lives against an invisible enemy in addition to the visible one… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & smoking mentioned (secondary characters)
  • Hospital scene with multiple injured & ill secondary characters
  • Knife violence (protagonist is threatened with a knife & cut on their throat)
  • Siege (theme) including cannon fire, building collapse & explosions

Junie by Erin Crosby Eckstine

Sixteen years old and enslaved since she was born, Junie has spent her life on Bellereine Plantation in Alabama, cooking and cleaning alongside her family, and tending to the white master’s daughter, Violet. Her daydreams are filled with poetry and faraway worlds, while she spends her nights secretly roaming through the forest, consumed with grief over the sudden death of her older sister, Minnie. When wealthy guests arrive from New Orleans, hinting at marriage for Violet and upending Junie’s life, she commits a desperate act—one that rouses Minnie’s spirit from the grave,… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & racial slurs (on-page)
  • Slavery of a child on a plantation (protagonist, on-page)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister

Beasts of Ruin by Ayana Gray

Koffi has saved her city and the boy she loves, but at a terrible price. Now a servant to the cunning god of death, she must use her newfound power to further his continental conquest, or risk the safety of her home and loved ones. As she reluctantly learns to survive amidst unexpected friends and foes, she will also have to choose between the life—and love—she once had, or the one she could have, if she truly embraces her dangerous gifts. Cast out from the only home he’s ever known, Ekon is forced to strike new and unconventional alliances to find and rescue Koffi before it… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Indentured servitude mentioned
  • Caning mentioned
  • Fire
  • Animal attacks (fantastical)

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

Two rival conquerors have divided the Peninsula of the Palm. As the provinces in the peninsula were falling one by one, the sorcerer Brandin made a fateful decision, sending his beloved son to capture the last one. But when that son is killed on the battlefield, Brandin, blinded by grief, avenges his death by ruthlessly vanquishing the resistance and then cursing the people of this province with a dark sorcery–so that the very name of their home cannot be spoken or remembered. Years after that devastation, a handful of… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Slavery
  • Rape & incest
  • Genocide

The Eye of the Bedlam Bride by Matt Dinniman

It is bedlam on the eighth floor. As management reels from the unexpected conclusion of the seventh level, the surviving crawlers stumble onto the eighth and find themselves scattered. It’s a map based on Earth’s final days before the collapse, where ethereal, intangible ghosts of humanity go about their lives, oblivious of the impending doom. Living amongst these ghosts are monsters based in Earth lore. “Legendary” creatures tied to the geographical location they inhabit. Each team of crawlers is given a task: find and capture six of these beasts. The captured monsters will be turned into cards. Cards that can be summoned into… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse recounted
  • Self-sacrifice & suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption, smoking & drug use
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & mass death
  • Gun violence
  • Explosions & fire
  • Animal death (turkeys)

The Butcher’s Masquerade by Matt Dinniman

A lush jungle teeming with danger. Savage dinosaurs seeking blood. A fallen princess intent on vengeance. A mysterious, end-of-floor celebration for the top crawlers, dubbed “The Butcher’s Masquerade.” The sixth floor. The Hunting Grounds. As the remaining crawlers battle for their lives, a new, terrible threat looms. Outside tourists are finally allowed to enter the game, and they are here and ready to hunt. Among them is Vrah, a famed and veteran hunter, intent on collecting the biggest trophy of her career. But their prey is far from harmless, and this season they are fighting back.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse recounted
  • Alcohol consumption, smoking & drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction and emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & mass death
  • Explosions & fire
  • Car accident recounted
  • Animal death (dog)

The Gate of the Feral Gods by Matt Dinniman

A floating fortress occupied by warrior gnomes. A castle made of sand. A derelict submarine guarded by malfunctioning machines. A haunted crypt surrounded by lethal traps. It was supposed to be easy. One bubble. Four castles. Fifteen days. Capture each one, and the stairwell is unlocked. Here’s the thing. It’s never easy. Carl and his team can’t go it alone. Not this time. They must rely on the help of the low-level, I-can’t-believe-these-idiots-are-still-alive crawlers trapped in the bubble with them. But can they be trusted? Welcome, Crawler. Welcome to the fifth floor of the dungeon…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse recounted
  • Infidelity by an ex-partner mentioned (protagonist)
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Pregnancy mentioned
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Murder & mass death
  • Explosions & fire
  • Animal death

The Dungeon Anarchist’s Cookbook by Matt Dinniman

The top ten list is populated. The sponsorship program is open. The difficulty is ramping up. The first three floors were nothing compared to what Carl and Donut now face. The Iron Tangle. An impossibly-complicated subway system built out of the world’s subterranean railway systems, all combined and then tied together into a knot. Up is down. Down is up. Close is far. The cars are filled with monsters, the railway stations are less than safe, and the exit is always just a few stops away. But there is hope. For the first time, the crawlers are all working together. The loot is better than ever. And the secret to unraveling it all may be hidden… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Parental abandonment & child abuse recounted
  • Self-sacrifice & mentions of suicide
  • Infidelity by an ex-partner mentioned (protagonist)
  • Alcohol consumption, drug use & mention of addiction and withdrawal
  • Blood & gore depiction and emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Murder & mass death
  • Torture

Carl’s Doomsday Scenario by Matt Dinniman

The ratings and views are off the chart. The fans just can’t get enough. The dungeon gets more dangerous each day. But in a grinder designed to chew up and spit out crawlers by the millions, Carl and Princess Donut need to work harder than ever just to survive. They call it the Over City. A sprawling, once-thriving metropolis devastated by a mysterious calamity. But these streets are far from abandoned. An undead circus trawls the ruins. Murdered prostitutes rain from the sky. An ancient spell is finally ready to reveal its dark purpose. Carl still has no pants. They call it Dungeon Crawler World. For Carl and Donut, it’s anything… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Violence against women & sex workers
  • Self-injury for blood
  • Alcohol consumption & drugging
  • Emesis
  • Murder & mass death
  • Explosions & fire
  • Animal abuse (lizard)