Tag Archives: Slavery & Indentured Servitude

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of slavery and indentured servitude.

See also Racism.

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

The Theft of Sunlight by Intisar Khanani

Children have been disappearing from across Menaiya for longer than Amraeya ni Ansarim can remember. When her friend’s sister is snatched, Rae knows she can’t look away any longer – even if that means seeking answers from the royal court, where her country upbringing and clubfoot will only invite ridicule. Yet the court holds its share of surprises. There she discovers an ally in the foreign princess, who recruits her as an attendant. Armed with the princess’s support, Rae seeks answers in the dark city streets, finding unexpected help in a rough-around-the-edges street thief with secrets of his own. But treachery… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Ableism
  • Human trafficking, off-page
  • Sexual assault
  • Physical & emotional child abuse
  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Kidnapping

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Magic Lessons by Alice Hoffman

Where does the story of the Owens bloodline begin? With Maria Owens, in the 1600s, when she’s abandoned in a snowy field in rural England as a baby. Under the care of Hannah Owens, Maria learns about the “Nameless Arts.” Hannah recognizes that Maria has a gift and she teaches the girl all she knows. It is here that she learns her first important lesson: Always love someone who will love you back. When Maria is abandoned by the man who has declared his love for her, she follows him to Salem, Massachusetts. Here she invokes the curse that will haunt her famil… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Victim blaming
  • Child abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Animal death
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Root Magic by Eden Royce

Root Magic by Eden Royce

It’s 1963, and things are changing for Jezebel Turner. Her beloved grandmother has just passed away. The local police deputy won’t stop harassing her family. With school integration arriving in South Carolina, Jez and her twin brother, Jay, are about to begin the school year with a bunch of new kids. But the biggest change comes when Jez and Jay turn eleven—and their uncle, Doc, tells them he’s going train them in footwork. Jez and Jay have always been fascinated by the African American folk magic that has been the legacy of her family for generations—especially the curious potions and powders Doc and Gran would make… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Racism
  • Hate crime
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a grandparent
  • Police brutality
  • Animal death
  • Animal cruelty
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Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven

Phoenix Unbound by Grace Draven

Every year, each village is required to send a young woman to the Empire’s capital – her fate: to be burned alive for the entertainment of the masses. For the last five years, one small village’s tithe has been the same woman. Gilene’s sacrifice protects all the other young women of her village, and her secret to staying alive lies in the magic only she possesses. But this year is different. Azarion, the Empire’s most famous gladiator, has somehow seen through her illusion and is set on blackmailing Gilene into using her abilities to help him escape his life of slavery. And unknown to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Rape & attempted rape, on-page
  • Self-harm
  • Infertility
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Fire & immolation
  • War themes
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Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Ash Princess by Laura Sebastian

Theodosia was six when her country was invaded and her mother, the Fire Queen, was murdered before her eyes. On that day, the Kaiser took Theodosia’s family, her land, and her name. Theo was crowned Ash Princess–a title of shame to bear in her new life as a prisoner. For ten years Theo has been a captive in her own palace. She’s endured the relentless abuse and ridicule of the Kaiser and his court. She is powerless, surviving in her new world only by burying the girl she was deep inside. Then, one night, the Kaiser forces her to do the unthinkable. With blood on her… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Racism
  • Rape mentioned
  • Sexual harassment
  • Medical experimentation
  • Death of a parent
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Torture
  • Poisoning
  • Whipping
  • Physical assault
  • Animal death
  • War & rebellion

Night Shift by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Lisa Shearin, and Milla Vane

Night Shift by Nalini Singh, Ilona Andrews, Lisa Shearin, and Milla Vane

New York Times bestselling author Nalini Singh delivers a smouldering story with Secrets at Midnight, as the scent of Bastien Smith’s elusive lover ignites a possessiveness in him that’s as feral as it is ecstatic. And now that he’s found his mate, he’ll do anything to keep her. In #1 New York Times bestselling author Ilona Andrews’ novella, Magic Steals, when people start going missing, shapeshifting tigress Dali Harimau and jaguar shifter Jim Shrapshire must uncover the truth about the mysterious creatures responsible. From Milla Vane—a warrior princess must tame. The Beast of .. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Secrets at Midnight:

  • Foster care
  • Pregnancy mentioned (sc)
  • Death of both parents in a house fire

Magic Steals:

  • Racism recounted
  • Disappearance

The Beast of Blackmoor:

  • Slavery & sex slavery recounted
  • Rape of a child recounted
  • Rape by a prison guard, on-page
  • Facial & body scars

The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz

The Bourbon Thief by Tiffany Reisz

When Cooper McQueen wakes up from a night with a beautiful stranger, it’s to discover he’s been robbed. The only item stolen—a million-dollar bottle of bourbon. The thief, a mysterious woman named Paris, claims the bottle is rightfully hers. After all, the label itself says it’s property of the Maddox family who owned and operated Red Thread Bourbon distillery since the last days of the Civil War until the company went out of business for reasons no one knows… No one except Paris. In the small hours of a Louisville morning, Paris unspools the lurid tale of Tamara Maddox, heiress to the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Rape & attempted rape
  • Incest
  • Slavery

Dark Shores by Danielle Jensen

Dark Shores by Danielle L. Jensen

In a world divided by meddlesome gods and treacherous oceans, only the Maarin possess the knowledge to cross the Endless Seas. But they have one mandate: East must never meet West. Teriana is the second mate of the Quincense and heir to the Maarin Triumvirate. Her people are born of the seas and the keepers of its secrets, but when her closest friend is forced into an unwanted betrothal, Teriana breaks her people’s mandate so her friend might escape—a choice with devastating consequences. Marcus is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Dismemberment
  • Murder
  • Hanging
  • Torture
  • Shipwreck
  • War themes

Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye

Seven for a Secret by Lyndsay Faye

Timothy and Valentine Wilde must once again delve into the darkest underbelly of old New York. When the beautiful and terrified Mrs Lucy Adams stumbles into the Tombs, headquarters of New York’s newly formed police force, it’s the beginning of a dense, thorny maze of crime for copper star Timothy Wilde. He’s hardened to the injustices of life in the unforgiving city he’s grown up in, but that doesn’t mean he accepts them. With immigrants flooding into the docks every day, each community is both adapting and fighting for its place in the new world, and there are many who… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Slavery
  • Suicide & self-harm
  • Burn scars mentioned
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire mentioned

Fire and Blood by George RR Martin

Fire and Blood by George R.R. Martin

Centuries before A Game of Thrones, an even greater game began, one that set the skies alight with dragon flame and saw the Seven Kingdoms turned to ash. So began the Targaryens’ bloody rule, with fire and blood. Setting brother against brother, mother against daughter, and dragon against dragon. Chronicled by a learned maester of the Citadel, this thrilling and bloody history of Westeros tells the story of where the battle for the Iron Throne began…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Rape & gang rape
  • Paedophilia & child sexual assault
  • Domestic violence
  • Alcoholism
  • Drug abuse
  • Suicide
  • Self harm
  • Infertility
  • Miscarriage
  • Infanticide
  • Lynching
  • Torture
  • Immolation
  • Kidnapping
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