Beauty in the Breakdown by Tegan Anderson

Beauty in the Breakdown by Tegan Anderson

Beauty in the Breakdown by Tegan Anderson book cover

Family. Money. Run. Three things that Josh Ray and Clara Roberts have their entire life based around. It’s an endless loop of get away from family, get money and get running. After a few months of what feels like stability, Josh and Clara have to start the cycle all over again until everything finally comes to an end. There was something beautiful in the way that things broke down. ‘Beauty in the Breakdown’ represents the importance of trust and self-discovery in an unstable lifestyle through the eyes of Josh Ray, someone who believes that there is always something beautiful in a breakdown.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Alcoholism, anxiety & depression
  • Suicide & self-harm discussed
  • Needles
  • Murder (on-page)

A Hidden Hope by Laura Ambrose

A Hidden Hope by Lauren Ambrose

A Hidden Hope by Laura Ambrose book cover

Natalie and El used to be writing critique partners, sharing their work chapter by chapter. Falling in love off-page was like the next part of the story. But after a huge falling out, three years have passed in bitter silence.

When they both appear at a science fiction convention in London, Natalie, a struggling writer, wants nothing to do with El, the hot debut novelist who sold her book at auction under a male pseudonym. But over the weekend, ignoring each other–and their attraction–proves impossible, not least because they have several panels together. Can El hope to atone for the mistakes of their past, and is Natalie willing to let hope fly?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Suicide by self-sacrifice (on-page)
  • Grief depiction and death of a parent
  • Bullying
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

MEG by Steve Alten

MEG by Steve Alten

MEG by Steve Alten book cover

On a top-secret dive into the Pacific Ocean’s deepest canyon, Jonas Taylor found himself face-to-face with the largest and most ferocious predator in the history of the animal kingdom. The sole survivor of the mission, Taylor is haunted by what he’s sure he saw but still can’t prove exists – Carcharodon megalodon, the massive mother of the great white shark. The average prehistoric Meg weighs in at twenty tons and could tear apart a Tyrannosaurus rex in seconds. Taylor spends years theorizing, lecturing, and writing about the possibility that Meg still feeds at the deepest levels of the sea. But it takes an old friend in need to get him to return to the water, and a hotshot female submarine pilot to dare him back into a high-tech miniature sub. Diving deeper than he ever has before, Taylor will face terror like he’s never imagined. MEG is about to surface. When she does, nothing and no one is going to be safe, and Jonas must face his greatest fear once again.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Cheating
  • Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD)
  • Suicide
  • Blood and gore depiction
  • Death of a loved one
  • Explosions
  • Drowning
  • Graphic animal death
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

The Ballad of Ami Miles by Kristy Dallas Alley

The Ballad of Ami Miles by Kristy Dallas Alley

The Ballad of Ami Miles by Kristy Dallas  Alley book cover

Raised in isolation at Heavenly Shepherd, her family’s trailer-dealership-turned-survival compound, Ami Miles knows that she was lucky to be born into a place of safety after the old world ended and the chaos began. But when her grandfather arranges a marriage to a cold-eyed stranger, she realizes that her “destiny” as one of the few females capable of still bearing children isn’t something she’s ready to face.

With the help of one of her aunts, she flees the only life she’s ever known, and sets off on a quest to find her long-lost mother (and hopefully a mate of her own choosing). But as she journeys, Ami discovers many new things about the world… and about herself.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Racism (mentioned) and homomisia
  • Abandonment
  • Depression
  • Suicide
  • Stillbirth/s and death during childbirth
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hall by Katie Alender

The Dead Girls of Hysteria Hill by Katie Alender book cover

Delia’s new house isn’t just a house. Long ago, it was the Piven Institute for the Care and Correction of Troubled Females—an insane asylum nicknamed “Hysteria Hall.” However, many of the inmates were not insane, just defiant and strong willed. Kind of like Delia herself. But the house still wants to keep “troubled” girls locked away. So, in the most horrifying way, Delia gets trapped. And that’s when she learns that the house is also haunted.

Ghost girls wander the halls in their old-fashioned nightgowns. A handsome ghost boy named Theo roams the grounds. Delia finds that all the spirits are unsettled and full of dark secrets. The house, as well, harbors shocking truths within its walls—truths that only Delia can uncover, and that may set her free. But she’ll need to act quickly, before the house’s power overtakes everything she loves.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Suicide mentioned
  • Self-harm mentioned
  • Blood depiction
  • Murder
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

Rayne & Delilah’s Midnite Matinee by Jeff Zentner

Every Friday night, best friends Delia and Josie become Rayne Ravenscroft and Delilah Darkwood, hosts of the campy creature feature show Midnite Matinee on the local cable station TV Six.

But with the end of senior year quickly approaching, the girls face tough decisions about their futures. Josie has been dreading graduation, as she tries to decide whether to leave for a big university and chase her dream career in mainstream TV. And Lawson, one of the show’s guest performers, a talented MMA fighter with weaknesses for pancakes, fantasy novels, and Josie, is making her tough decision even harder.

Scary movies are the last connection Delia has to her dad, who abandoned the family years ago. If Midnite Matinee becomes a hit, maybe he’ll want to be a part of her life again. As the tug-of-war between growing up and growing apart tests the bonds of their friendship, Josie and Delia start to realize that an uncertain future can be both monstrous…and momentous.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Parental abandonment
  • Depression
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Cancer mentioned
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo

A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asbedo

A Constellation of Roses by Miranda Asebedo book cover

Ever since her mother walked out, Trix McCabe has been determined to make it on her own. And with her near-magical gift for pulling valuables off unsuspecting strangers, Trix is confident she has what it takes to survive. Until she’s caught and given a choice: jail time, or go live with her long-lost family in the tiny town of Rocksaw, Kansas.

Trix doesn’t plan to stick around Rocksaw long, but there’s something special about her McCabe relatives that she is drawn to. Her aunt, Mia, bakes pies that seem to cure all ills. Her cousin, Ember, can tell a person’s deepest secret with the touch of a hand. And Trix’s great-aunt takes one look at Trix’s palm and tells her that if she doesn’t put down roots somewhere, she won’t have a future anywhere… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Addiction
  • Depression
  • Suicide
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Terminal illness mentioned, specifically cancer
  • Death of a parent
  • Death of a sibling
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Undead Girl Gang by Lily Anderson

Undead Girl Gang by Lil Anderson book cover

Mila Flores and her best friend Riley have always been inseparable. There’s not much excitement in their small town of Cross Creek, so Mila and Riley make their own fun, devoting most of their time to Riley’s favorite activity: amateur witchcraft.

So when Riley and two Fairmont Academy mean girls die under suspicious circumstances, Mila refuses to believe everyone’s explanation that her BFF was involved in a suicide pact. Instead, armed with a tube of lip gloss and an ancient grimoire, Mila does the unthinkable to uncover the truth: she brings the girls back to life… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fatmisia & body-shaming
  • Racism
  • Sexism
  • Cheating
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Depression
  • Suicide
  • Blood and gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Physical injuries
  • Grief depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a sister
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a girlfriend
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Knife violence & stabbing
  • Hanging
  • Drowning
  • Fire
  • Home invasion
  • Animal death and animal sacrifice
  • Bullying
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

Bridge of Clay by Markus Zusak

The breathtaking story of five brothers who bring each other up in a world run by their own rules. As the Dunbar boys love and fight and learn to reckon with the adult world, they discover the moving secret behind their father’s disappearance.

At the center of the Dunbar family is Clay, a boy who will build a bridge—for his family, for his past, for greatness, for his sins, for a miracle.

The question is, how far is Clay willing to go? And how much can he overcome?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Parental abandonment
  • Suicidal ideation, and assisted suicide (euthanasia) by asphyxiation by carbon monoxide poisoning
  • Terminal cancer
  • Death of a mother & wife
  • Death of a pet dog (off-page) recounted
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi

Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi

Girl Gone Viral by Arvin Ahmadi book cover

For seventeen-year-old Opal Hopper, code is magic. She builds entire worlds from scratch: Mars craters, shimmering lakes, any virtual experience her heart desires.

But she can’t code her dad back into her life. When he disappeared after her tenth birthday, leaving only a cryptic note, Opal tried desperately to find him. And when he never turned up, she enrolled at a boarding school for technical prodigies and tried to forget.

Until now. Because WAVE, the world’s biggest virtual reality platform, has announced a contest where the winner gets to meet its billionaire founder. The same billionaire who worked closely with Opal’s dad. The one she always believed might know where he went. The one who maybe even murdered him.

What begins as a small data hack to win the contest spirals out of control when Opal goes viral, digging her deeper into a hole of lies, hacks, and manipulation. How far will Opal go for the answers–or is it the attention–she’s wanted for years?

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Depression and alcoholism
  • Suicide
  • Alcohol abuse
  • Death of a parent
  • Bullying and cyberbullying
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com