Tag Archives: Slavery & Indentured Servitude

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

See also Racism.

Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Set Fire to the Gods by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Ash is descended from a long line of gladiators, and she knows the brutal nature of war firsthand. But after her mother dies in an arena, she vows to avenge her by overthrowing her fire god, whose temper has stripped her country of its resources. Madoc grew up fighting on the streets to pay his family’s taxes. But he hides a dangerous secret: he doesn’t have the earth god’s powers like his opponents. His elemental gift is something else—something that hasn’t been seen in centuries. When an attempted revenge plot goes dangerously wrong, Ash inadvertently throws the fire and earth gods into a conflict that can… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Child homelessness recounted
  • Indentured servitude mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother, on-page
  • Death of a son mentioned
  • Kidnapping
  • Physical assault
  • Attempted regicide
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Murder & attempted murder

Witchsign by Den Patrick

Witchsign by Den Patrick

It has been seventy-five years since the dragons’ rule of fire and arcane magic over Vinkerveld was ended, and the Empire was born. Since, the tyrannical Synod has worked hard to banish all manifestations of the arcane across the lands. However, children are still born bearing the taint of the arcane, known to all as witchsign. So each year the Emperor sends out his Vigilants across the continent to detect the arcane in these children. Those found tainted are taken, and never seen again. Steiner has always suspected his sister Kjellrunn of bearing witchsign… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Persecution for witchcraft
  • Parental abandonment

Human Omega by Eileen Glass

Human Omega: Discovered on the Slave Planet by Eileen Glass

How does a bad day get worse, you ask? Well, how about being squished between two huge, naked dudes with their meaty schlongs hanging out and everything? It’s all a matter of opinion, but Carter’s day is going pretty badly. He’s an engineer captured by bug aliens, now depending on his large, muscled, naked cage mates for food and warmth. They seem sentient, so that’s good. But they’re also handsy. Which is… complicated. The military isn’t looking for him. Slaves taken by the bug race never come back. Yet, Carter is very much alive, and if he wants to stay that way, he’ll need to trust Pykh and Siel, two affectionate aliens with claws, teeth, and size.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Attempted rape
  • Cannibalism
  • Torture

Through the Storm by Beverly Jenkins

Through the Storm by Beverly Jenkins

Sable, a slave on the run to escape the cruel man she’s been sold to is forced to betray the charming Union officer Raimond LeVeq, who had romanced her and championed her. Brought together again by fate and an arranged marriage, she must try and win the trust of LeVeq–the man she truly loves.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Slavery
  • Child abuse
  • Arson
  • Kidnapping
  • Drowning mentioned

What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix by Tasha Suri

What Souls Are Made Of: A Wuthering Heights Remix by Tasha Suri

As the abandoned son of a Lascar—a sailor from India—Heathcliff has spent most of his young life maligned as an “outsider.” Now he’s been flung into an alien life in the Yorkshire moors, where he clings to his birth father’s language even though it makes the children of the house call him an animal, and the maids claim he speaks gibberish. Catherine is the younger child of the estate’s owner, a daughter with light skin and brown curls and a mother that nobody talks about. Her father is grooming her for a place in proper society, and that’s all that matters. Catherine knows she… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Slavery mentioned
  • Child abuse
  • Starvation
  • Illness-related weight loss mentioned
  • Death of a sister-in-law from childbirth mentioned
  • Death of a parent
  • Gun violence

The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

The Everlasting Rose by Dhonielle Clayton

With a price on her head, the evil Queen Sophia out for blood, and no idea who to trust, Camellia Beaureguard, the former favourite Belle, must race against time to find the ailing Princess Charlotte, who has disappeared without a trace. Sophia’s imperial forces will stop at nothing to keep Camille, her sister Edel, and her loyal guard, Rémy, from returning Charlotte to the palace and her rightful place as queen. With the help of an underground resistance movement called the Iron Ladies–a society that rejects beauty treatments entirely-and the backing of alternative… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Suicide
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping

To Target the Heart by Aldrea Alien

To Target the Heart by Aldrea Alien

How can he win with the odds stacked against him? Prince Hamish has no interest in fulfilling his duty of marrying. Not to a woman, at least. That doesn’t stop his mother, Queen Fiona, from presenting him with every eligible noblewoman that enters their castle. He’s certain it’ll be no different with the representative of the Udynea Empire. So when they do arrive, Hamish is relieved the imperial prince, Darshan, is not the woman everyone expected. Until the man kisses him and Hamish is confronted by the very emotion… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Homomisia
  • Slavery mentioned
  • Physical & psychological child abuse
  • Depression
  • Attempted suicide
  • Graphic attempted murder

To Poison a Prince by Aldrea Alien

To Poison a Prince by Aldrea Alien

Imperial Crown Prince Darshan knew his journey home wasn’t going to be the modest one he hoped for, especially not after eloping with Hamish, a former prince—and now exile—of Tirglas. When he thwarts a clumsy attempt on his husband’s life during a soirée hosted by his long-standing rival and half-sister, he figures the worst is behind them. Yet, the threat of death continues to shadow them across the empire. Someone is intent on making the rumours of his husband’s demise a reality, someone who can erase the memory of their very presence from people’s minds… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Homophobia mentioned
  • Physical & psychological child abuse mentioned
  • Depression mentioned
  • Attempted suicide mentioned
  • Graphic attempted murder
  • Poisoning

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

The Prey of Gods by Nicky Drayden

In South Africa, the future looks promising. Personal robots are making life easier for the working class. The government is harnessing renewable energy to provide infrastructure for the poor. And in the bustling coastal town of Port Elizabeth, the economy is booming thanks to the genetic engineering industry which has found a welcome home there. Yes–the days to come are looking very good for South Africans. That is, if they can survive the present challenges: A new hallucinogenic drug sweeping the country. An emerging AI… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slavery
  • Child abuse
  • Rape
  • Genital mutilation
  • Torture
  • Mass murder
  • Bombing
  • Animal hunting & poaching

Gutter Child by Jael Richardson

Gutter Child by Jael Richardson

Set in an imagined world in which the most vulnerable are forced to buy their freedom by working off their debt to society, Gutter Child uncovers a nation divided into the privileged Mainland and the policed Gutter. In this world, Elimina Dubois is one of only 100 babies taken from the Gutter and raised in the land of opportunity as part of a social experiment led by the Mainland government. But when her Mainland mother dies, Elimina finds herself all alone, a teenager forced into an unfamiliar life of servitude… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Indentured servitude
  • Rape
  • Forced sex work
  • Child abuse
  • Suicide
  • Teen pregnancy
  • Miscarriage
  • Murder of an infant
  • Police brutality