The Family Game by Catherine Steadman

The Rules: 1. Listen carefully. 2. Do your research. 3. Trust no one. 4. Run for your life. Harriet Reed, a novelist on the brink of literary stardom, is newly engaged to Edward Holbeck, the heir of an extremely powerful family. And even though Edward has long tried to severe ties with them, news of the couple’s marital bliss has the Holbecks inching back into their lives. As Harriet is drawn into their lavish world, the family seems perfectly welcoming. So when Edward’s father, Robert, hands Harriet a tape of a book he’s been working on, she is desperate to listen. But as she… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Death of a parent

Falling by T.J. Newman

You just boarded a flight to New York. There are one hundred and forty-three other passengers onboard. What you don’t know is that thirty minutes before the flight your pilot’s family was kidnapped. For his family to live, everyone on your plane must die. The only way the family will survive is if the pilot follows his orders and crashes the plane. Enjoy the flight.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide & self-harm
  • Gun violence
  • Kidnapping
  • Biological weapons

The Fall of Iris Henley by Jennifer Graham

All it takes to ruin someone’s life is the stroke of a key. Just ask Iris Henley. Her life is destroyed when someone posts an anonymous message on her high school’s subreddit thread: “Iris Henley is a killer. I’ve been too scared to come forward until now, but I saw her murder Rocky and Lynette last summer.” Just like that, Iris loses everything. Her reputation. Her friends. Her hope of getting into college on scholarship. Even, possibly, her freedom, once the police start to investigate. After all, she’s the perfect suspect: Rocky was her boyfriend, and Lynette was her ex-best friend—and… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Toxic friendship
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption & drug abuse
  • Murder
  • Kidnapping mentioned
  • Bullying & cyberbullying
  • Stalking mentioned

Facing the Dawn by Cynthia Ruchti

Mara Jacobs does her best to hold everything together, despite three detention-prone kids, an unrewarding job, never-ending chores, and a husband thousands of miles away. After a shocking loss, she must lean on those around her to find her way to healing and renewed faith.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Physical child abuse
  • Substance addiction recovery
  • Suicide by overdose and by gun violence
  • Teen pregnancy mentioned

Saving Ruby King by Catherine Adel West

When Ruby King’s mother is found murdered in their home in Chicago’s South Side, the police dismiss it as another act of violence in a black neighbourhood. But for Ruby, it means she’ll be living alone with her violent father. The only person who understands the gravity of her situation is Ruby’s best friend, Layla. Their closeness is tested when Layla’s father, the pastor of their church, demands that Layla stay away. But what are his true motives? And what is the price for turning a blind eye? In a relentless quest to save… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic abuse
  • Incest
  • Attempted suicide recounted

Samurai 8: The Tale of Hachimaru, Vol. 3: Kotsuga & Ryu by Masashi Kishimoto and Akira Okubo

A futuristic tale of samurai adventure from the creator of Naruto! Becoming a samurai seems like an impossible dream for Hachimaru, a boy who can’t even survive without the help of his father. But when a samurai cat appears before him, his whole life changes! A legendary manga creator and a rising star come together to bring you this science fiction samurai epic!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide & self-harm
  • Body horror

The Salt in Our Blood by Ava Morgyn

Ten years ago, Cat’s volatile mother, Mary, left her at her grandmother’s house with nothing but a deck of tarot cards. Now seventeen, Cat is determined to make her life as different from Mary’s as possible. When Cat’s grandmother dies, she’s forced to move to New Orleans with her mother. There, she discovers a picture of Mary holding a baby that’s not her, leading her to unravel a dark family history and challenge her belief that Mary’s mental health issues are the root of all their problems. But as Cat explores the reasons for her mother’s breakdown, she fears she is experiencing… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape & sexual assault of a minor
  • Attempted suicide
  • Alcoholism
  • Bipolar Disorder & depression
  • Death of a grandmother

The Safe Place by Anna Downes

Emily Proudman has been offered the chance of a lifetime – leave her messy London life, move to a beautiful estate in France and help her boss’s wife take care of their daughter. It seems like the perfect opportunity to start again. But once there, Emily soon starts to suspect that her charismatic new employers aren’t telling her the whole truth. That there are even dangerous secrets hidden beneath the glamorous facade. Why have the family been moved to this isolated house so far from home? Why does her boss’s daughter refuse to speak or be touched?… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Foster care experiences mentioned
  • Child abuse, including one slap scene, faking a child’s chronic illness, and forcing them to live in isolation (etc.)
  • Discussions of childhood trauma and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (c-PTSD)
  • Parent with dementia
  • Panic attacks
  • Self-harm (on-page)
  • Suicide by jumping (on-page)
  • Alcohol consumption & abuse and implied drug abuse
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a daughter recounted
  • Minor blood & injury depiction and emesis
  • Attempted murder by gun violence
  • Kidnapping and captivity of a child
  • Stalking
  • Financial difficulties discussed

A Safe Girl to Love: Stories by Casey Plett

Eleven unique short stories that stretch from a rural Canadian Mennonite town to a hipster gay bar in Brooklyn, featuring young trans women stumbling through loss, sex, harassment, and love. These stories, shiny with whiskey and prairie sunsets, rattling subways and neglected cats, show growing up as a trans girl can be charming, funny, frustrating, or sad, but never will it be predictable.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia & transphobia
  • Sexual assault
  • Depression
  • Attempted suicide recounted & self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption, drug use & smoking

The Sacrifice of Darkness by Roxane Gay and Tracy Lynne Oliver with Rebecca Kirby and James Fenner

A tragic event forever bathes the world in darkness. Follow a woman and a man’s powerful journey through this new landscape as they discover love, family and the true light in a world seemingly robbed of any. As they challenge the world’s notions of identity, guilt and survival, they find that no matter the darkness, there remain sources of hope that can pierce the veil.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Suicide
  • Familial estrangement