Terminal Illness – Trigger Warning Database

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

I’m Glad My Mom Died by Jennette McCurdy

Jennette McCurdy was six years old when she had her first acting audition. Her mother’s dream was for her only daughter to become a star, and Jennette would do anything to make her mother happy. So she went along with what Mom called “calorie restriction,” eating little and weighing herself five times a day. She endured extensive at-home makeovers while Mom chided, “Your eyelashes are invisible, okay? You think Dakota Fanning doesn’t tint hers?” She was even showered by Mom until age sixteen while sharing her diaries… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism (r slur)
Fatmisia & body-shaming
Child physical, verbal and emotional abuse including gaslighting
Grooming and sexually predatory behaviour toward a minor discussed
Hoarding
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
Eating disorder (bulimia)
Graphic disordered eating including food restriction, bingeing, purging and over-exercising (theme)
Alcohol consumption
Emesis
Death of a mother from terminal breast cancer

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

Woman on Fire by Lisa Barr

After talking her way into a job with Dan Mansfield, the leading investigative reporter in Chicago, rising young journalist Jules Roth is given an unusual–and very secret–assignment. Dan needs her to locate a painting stolen by the Nazis more than 75 years earlier: legendary Expressionist artist Ernst Engel’s most famous work, Woman on Fire. World-renowned shoe designer Ellis Baum wants this portrait of a beautiful, mysterious woman for deeply personal reasons, and has enlisted Dan’s help to find it. But Jules doesn’t have much time; the famous designer is dying… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Antisemitism
Statutory rape recounted
Alcoholism
Suicide recounted
Drug overdose recounted
Terminal cancer
Murder
Hostage situation
World War Two & the Holocaust

The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales by Eric LaRocca

The Strange Thing We Become and Other Dark Tales by Eric LaRocca

Eight stories of literary dark fiction from a master storyteller. Exploring the shadow side of love, these are tales of grief, obsession, control. Intricate examinations of trauma and tragedy in raw, poetic prose. In these narratives, a woman imagines horrific scenarios whilst caring for her infant niece; on-line posts chronicle a cancer diagnosis; a couple in the park with their small child encounter a stranger with horrific consequences; a toxic relationship reaches a terrifying resolution…

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Abusive relationship
Elder abuse
Incest
Cheating
Miscarriage
Cancer & terminal illness
Death of a parent
Death of a spouse
Murder
Kidnapping
Torture

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore

The Rearranged Life of Oona Lockhart by Margarita Montimore

Brooklyn, 1982. Oona Lockhart is about to celebrate her 19th birthday and ring in the New Year. But at the stroke of midnight, she is torn from her friends and boyfriend, finding herself in her fifty-one-year-old body, thirty-two years into the future. Greeted by a friendly stranger, Oona learns that on every birthday she will enter a different year of her adult life at random. Still a young woman on the inside, but ever-changing on the outside, who will she be next year? Wealthy philanthropist? Nineties Club Kid? World traveller? Wife to a man she’s never met? While Oona gets glimpses… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Homomisia
Transmisia
Fatmisia
Slut-shaming
Cheating
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Drug abuse
Terminal illness

You Have a Match by Emma Lord

You Have a Match by Emma Lord

When Abby signs up for a DNA service, it’s mainly to give her friend and secret love interest, Leo, a nudge. After all, she knows who she is already: Avid photographer. Injury-prone tree climber. Best friend to Leo and Connie … although ever since the B.E.I. (Big Embarrassing Incident) with Leo, things have been awkward on that front. But she didn’t know she’s a younger sister. When the DNA service reveals Abby has a secret sister, shimmery-haired Instagram star Savannah Tully, it’s hard to believe they’re from the same planet, never mind the same parent… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parental abandonment mentioned
Alcohol consumption mentioned
Anxiety
Physical injury & illness, including pneumonia & broken bones
Parent hospitalised for a serious, perceived terminal heart condition recounted
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a grandfather recounted

The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones

The Hearts We Sold by Emily Lloyd-Jones

When Dee Moreno makes a deal with a demon—her heart in exchange for an escape from a disastrous home life—she finds the trade may have been more than she bargained for. And becoming “heartless” is only the beginning. What lies ahead is a nightmare far bigger, far more monstrous than anything she could have ever imagined. When Dee Moreno makes a deal with a demon—her heart in exchange for an escape from a disastrous home life—she finds the trade may have been more than she bargained for. And becoming “heartless” is only the beginning. What lies ahead is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Ableism & ableist language
Emotional child abuse
Depression
Anxiety
Parent with alcoholism
Alcohol consumption & abuse
Amputation mentioned
Grief & loss depiction
Death of a boyfriend
Terminal illness

The Mother Road by Meghan Quinn

The Mother Road by Meghan Quinn

Never in a million years would I have pictured myself as an axe-wielding, dragon lady, chopping up multi-coloured flannel shirts into my very own plaid mulch. But here I am, chopping away my frustrations. It all started when my brother, Paul, convinced me to go on one last family road trip across the Mother Road with him and my dad.. Just like old times, right? Wrong. What Paul fails to mention is his best man, Porter, will be joining us, who just so happens to be my childhood crush and the man who broke my heart four years ago. What is supposed to be a fun, family bonding experience across Route 66 turns into… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Grief & loss depiction
Death of a mother from cancer recounted

Kiss and Don’t Tell by Meghan Quinn

Kiss and Don’t Tell by Meghan Quinn

Five hockey players, a cabin in the woods . . . and little old me, Winnie Berlin. Sounds like the start of a fantasy, right? But it’s not. It’s my reality. It all started when I got lost in the middle of the Canadian Rockies. A wicked thunderstorm sent my car mud sliding into a ditch and for a girl whose survival skills involve finding the nearest Starbucks, I was in deep trouble. Forced to abandon my car in search of help, I stumbled upon a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Soaking wet, irritated, and in desperate need of a hot shower, I knocked on the door for help only to be greeted by five… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Death of a parent from cancer mentioned

The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn

The Highland Fling by Meghan Quinn

Freshly fired from her third job in a row, Bonnie St. James has lost her way. So when she and her best friend stumble upon a “help wanted” post to run a coffee shop in the Scottish Highlands, they apply on a whim. Who knows? Maybe travelling to a new place is just what she needs to figure out her next move. When the friends arrive in the tiny idyllic town of Corsekelly, they instantly fall for the gorgeous Highland landscape and friendly townspeople. But Bonnie finds a less-than-warm welcome in Rowan MacGregor, the rugged local handyman. Busy wrestling his own demons, Rowan’s in no mood to deal with the quirky American… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Parent with terminal cancer

The Girl Beyond the Gate by Becca Day

The Girl Beyond the Gate by Becca Day

Jodie Madison can’t think of a better place for a fresh start than the exclusive, gated community of The Grove. But from the moment she passes through the wrought iron gates, she starts to suspect she’s made a mistake. Despite her vow to keep apart from the other residents, Jodie can’t help but feel drawn to her unnerving neighbour Norah Williams and terminally ill daughter, Lacey. Jodie knows she should stay away, but something draws her in. When a murder shocks The Grove, Jodie vows to do everything in her power to save Lacey from her mother. But as more secrets emerge from Norah’s shadowy past, Jodie is face… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

Child with cystic fibrosis