Tag Archives: Substance Addiction

Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness

Over the Top by Jonathan Van Ness

Before he stole our hearts as the grooming and self-care expert on Netflix’s hit show Queer Eye, Jonathan was growing up in a small Midwestern town that didn’t understand why he was so…over the top. From choreographed carpet figure skating routines to the unavoidable fact that he was Just. So. Gay., Jonathan was an easy target and endured years of judgement, ridicule and trauma—yet none of it crushed his uniquely effervescent spirit.

Over the Top uncovers the pain and passion it took to end up becoming the model of self-love and acceptance that Jonathan is today. In this revelatory, raw, and rambunctious memoir, Jonathan shares never-before-told secrets and reveals sides of himself that the public has never seen. JVN fans may think they know the man behind the stiletto heels, the crop tops, and the iconic sayings, but there’s much more to him than meets the Queer Eye.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Child sexual abuse
  • Cheating
  • Drug use
  • Substance addiction
  • Sex addiction
  • Disordered eating
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Cancer
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandparent
  • Death of a step-parent
  • Bullying
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Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 6 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

After a dramatic time jump, Hazel begins the most exciting adventure of her life: kindergarten. Meanwhile, her starcrossed family learns hard lessons of their own.

Collecting: Saga 31-36

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language (r word)
  • Homomisia & homomisic slurs
  • Transmisia
  • Outing
  • Misgendering
  • Rape mentioned
  • Forced sex work mentioned
  • Child abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Hallucinations
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Recreational drug use
  • Overdose mentioned
  • Pregnancy
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injuries, including serious injury of a loved one
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a sister
  • Death of a girlfriend
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Explosion
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • Blackmail
  • Imprisonment
  • War & military violence (theme)
  • Animal death
  • Hunting
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Saga, Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 5 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

Multiple storylines collide in this cosmos-spanning new volume. While Gwendolyn and Lying Cat risk everything to find a cure for The Will, Marko makes an uneasy alliance with Prince Robot IV to find their missing children, who are trapped on a strange world with terrifying new enemies.

Collecting: Saga 25-30

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Grey-area cheating
  • Substance addiction
  • Hallucinations mentioned
  • Drug abuse & recreational drug use
  • Overdose
  • Abortion mentioned
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Physical injuries
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Kidnapping & captivity
  • Fire
  • Plane crash
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes & military violence (theme)
  • Animal death
  • Animal torture recounted
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Saga, Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 4 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

Saga is the sweeping tale of one young family fighting to find their place in the universe. As they visit a strange new world and encounter even more adversaries, baby Hazel finally becomes a toddler, while her star-crossed parents Marko and Alana struggle to stay on their feet.

Collecting: Saga 19-24

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Dubious consent scenario*
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Grey-area cheating
  • Substance addiction
  • Hallucinations mentioned
  • Drug abuse & recreational drug use
  • Graphic childbirth
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a son
  • Death of a mother & wife
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • War themes & military violence (theme)
  • Animal death

*Note: Sex scene with a protagonist under the influence of recreational drugs.

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Saga, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and Fiona Staples

Saga, Vol. 3 by Brian K. Vaughan and illustrated Fiona Staples

Searching for their literary hero, new parents Marko and Alana travel to a cosmic lighthouse on the planet Quietus, while the couple’s multiple pursuers finally close in on their targets.

Collecting: Saga 13-18.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Ableism & ableist language
  • Racism
  • Misogyny
  • Dubious consent scenario*
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Grey-area cheating
  • Substance addiction
  • Hallucinations mentioned
  • Drug abuse & recreational drug use
  • Graphic childbirth
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a son
  • Death of a mother & wife
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Kidnapping
  • Fire
  • War themes & military violence (theme)
  • Animal death

*Note: Sex scene with a protagonist under the influence of recreational drugs.

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Survive the Night by Danielle Vega

Survive the Night by Danielle Vega

Julie lies dead and disemboweled in a dank, black subway tunnel, red-eyed rats nibbling at her fingers. Her friends think she’s just off with some guy—no one could hear her getting torn apart over the sound of pulsing music.
 
In a tunnel nearby, Casey regrets coming to Survive the Night, the all-night underground rave in the New York City subway. Her best friend Shana talked her into it, even though Casey just got out of rehab. Alone and lost in the dark, creepy tunnels, Casey doesn’t think Survive the Night could get any worse . . . until she comes across Julie’s body, and the party turns deadly.
 
Desperate for help, Casey and her friends find themselves running through the putrid subway system, searching for a way out. But every manhole is sealed shut, and every noise echoes eerily in the dark, reminding them they’re not alone.
They’re being hunted.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Cheating
  • Addiction recovery mentioned
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Drug abuse
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It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

It’s Kind of a Funny Story by Ned Vizzini

Ambitious New York City teenager Craig Gilner is determined to succeed at life – which means getting into the right high school to get into the right job. But once Craig aces his way into Manhattan’s Executive Pre-Professional High School, the pressure becomes unbearable. He stops eating and sleeping until, one night, he nearly kills himself.

Craig’s suicidal episode gets him checked into a mental hospital, where his new neighbors include a sex addict, a girl who has scarred her own face with scissors, and the self-elected President Armelio. There, Craig is finally able to confront the sources of his anxiety.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sex addiction
  • Depression
  • Attempted suicide
  • Self-harm
  • Psychiatric hospitalisation
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To Love and to Loathe by Martha Waters

To Love & to Loathe by Martha Waters

The widowed Diana, Lady Templeton and Jeremy, Marquess of Willingham are infamous among English high society as much for their sharp-tongued bickering as their flirtation. One evening, an argument at a ball turns into a serious wager: Jeremy will marry within the year or Diana will forfeit one hundred pounds. So shortly after, just before a fortnight-long house party at Elderwild, Jeremy’s country estate, Diana is shocked when Jeremy appears at her home with a very different kind of proposition.

After his latest mistress unfavorably criticized his skills in the bedroom, Jeremy is looking for reassurance, so he has gone to the only woman he trusts to be totally truthful. He suggests that they embark on a brief affair while at the house party—Jeremy can receive an honest critique of his bedroom skills and widowed Diana can use the gossip to signal to other gentlemen that she is interested in taking a lover.

Diana thinks taking him up on his counter-proposal can only help her win her wager. With her in the bedroom and Jeremy’s marriage-minded grandmother, the formidable Dowager Marchioness of Willingham, helping to find suitable matches among the eligible ladies at Elderwild, Diana is confident her victory is assured. But while they’re focused on winning wagers, they stand to lose their own hearts.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Cheating mentioned
  • Gambling addiction mentioned
  • Death of a sibling recounted
  • Death of a husband recounted
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Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi

Freshwater by Akwaeke Emezi book cover

Ada begins her life in the south of Nigeria as a troubled baby and a source of deep concern to her family. Her parents, Saul and Saachi, successfully prayed her into existence, but as she grows into a volatile and splintered child, it becomes clear that something went terribly awry. When Ada comes of age and moves to America for college, the group of selves within her grows in power and agency. A traumatic assault leads to a crystallization of her alternate selves: Asụghara and Saint Vincent. As Ada fades into the background of her own mind and these selves–now protective, now hedonistic–move into control, Ada’s life spirals in a dark and dangerous direction.

Narrated by the various selves within Ada and based in the author’s realities, Freshwater dazzles with ferocious energy and serpentine grace, heralding the arrival of a fierce new literary voice.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Rape
  • Sexual abuse
  • Eating disorder/s
  • Suicide
  • Self-harm
  • Substance abuse
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Firekeeper’s Daughter by Angeline Boulley

Firekeeper's Daughter by Angeline Boulley book cover

As a biracial, unenrolled tribal member and the product of a scandal, eighteen-year-old Daunis Fontaine has never quite fit in, both in her hometown and on the nearby Ojibwe reservation. Daunis dreams of studying medicine, but when her family is struck by tragedy, she puts her future on hold to care for her fragile mother. The only bright spot is meeting Jamie, the charming new recruit on her brother Levi’s hockey team. After Daunis witnesses a shocking murder that thrusts her into a criminal investigation, she agrees to go undercover. But the deceptions—and dea… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism, misogyny & fatphobia
  • Racism & racial slurs
  • Sexual harassment
  • Rape of a minor & sexual assault (on-page)
  • Cheating recounted
  • Child abuse & neglect mentioned
  • Substance addiction discussed
  • Nightmares
  • Suicide by gunshot to the head (on-page)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use & abuse (theme) with mentions of overdose
  • Teen pregnancy recounted
  • Grandparent recovering from a stroke
  • Physical injuries, including nerve damage & chronic shoulder injury
  • Hospitalisation for internalised bleeding & liver damage with mentions of surgery
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of an uncle & father
  • Murder of a friend & teenager by gun violence (on-page)
  • Car accident (on- & off-page)
  • Bullying