Tag Archives: Terminal Illness

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of terminal illness.

See also Physical illness & injury and Cancer.

The Duke Who Didn’t by Courtney Milan

Miss Chloe Fong has plans for her life, lists for her days, and absolutely no time for nonsense. Three years ago, she told her childhood sweetheart that he could talk to her once he planned to be serious. He disappeared that very night. Except now he’s back. Jeremy Wentworth, the Duke of Lansing, has returned to the tiny village he once visited with the hope of wooing Chloe. In his defense, it took him years of attempting to be serious to realize that the endeavor was incompatible with his personality. All he has to do is convince… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical racism & ableism
  • Parent with rheumatoid arthritis
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • Death of a father from typhus recounted
  • Death of relatives from cholera, pneumonia, & heart attack mentioned
  • Minor horseback incident, resulting in minor injury to the horse

If You Love Something by Jayce Ellis

As executive chef at one of the hottest restaurants in DC, DeShawn Franklin has almost everything he’s ever wanted. He’s well-known, his restaurant is Michelin starred and he can write his own ticket anywhere he wants. Until his grandmother calls him home and drops two 1) She has cancer and she’s not seeking treatment. 2) She’s willing half her estate to DeShawn’s ex-husband, Malik. Make that three bombshells. 3) That whole divorce thing? It didn’t quite go through. DeShawn and Malik are still married. And when DeShawn’s shady uncle contests Grandma… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Divorce discussed
  • Gambling addiction & gambling mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a grandmother from terminal cancer (off-page)

Fire Storm by Nancy Mehl

When FBI profiler Kaely Quinn’s mother is diagnosed with cancer, Kaely takes time off work to go to Dark Water, Nebraska, to help her brother care for their mother. Upon her arrival, she learns of a series of fires in the small town, attributed by the fire chief to misuse of space heaters in the frigid winter. But Kaely is skeptical, and a search for a pattern in the locations of the fires bolsters her suspicions. After yet another blaze devastates a local family, Kaely is certain a serial arsonist is on the loose. Calling upon her partner from St. Louis, Noah Hunter, and her brother’s firefighter neighbor who backs Kaely’s suspicions… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parent with cancer, including mentions of hospitalisation
  • Suicide mentioned (brief)
  • Gun violence
  • Fire & arson (theme), including murder by arson recounted, mentions of death in a fire, and hospitalisation for smoke inhalation/burns
  • Explosion (grain elevator) mentioned

The Cartoonists Club by Raina Telgemeier and Scott McCloud

Makayla is bursting with ideas but doesn’t know how to make them into a story. Howard loves to draw, but he struggles to come up with ideas and his dad thinks comics are a waste of time. Lynda constantly draws in her sketchbook but keeps focusing on what she feels are mistakes, and Art simply loves being creative and is excited to try something new. They come together to form The Cartoonists Club, where kids can learn about making comics and use their creativity and imagination for their own storytelling adventures!

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a parent from terminal illness

Out of the Woods by Hannah Bonam-Young

High school sweethearts Sarah and Caleb Linwood have always been a sure thing. For the past seventeen years, they have had each other’s backs through all of life’s ups and downs, achievements, losses, stages, and phases. But Sarah has begun to wonder… Who is she without her other half? When she decides to take on a project of her own, a fundraising gala in memoriam of her late mother, Sarah wants nothing more than to prove to herself—and to everyone else—that she doesn’t need Caleb’s help to succeed. She’s still her mother’s daughter, after all. Independent and capable. That is until the event fails and Caleb uninvitedly…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a parent from amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS)
  • Medical treatments & hospitalization
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use mentioned (marijuana)

The Trees Grew Because I Bled There: Collected Stories 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 and Content Warnings

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

Love at First by Kate Clayborn

Sixteen years ago, teenager Will Sterling saw – or rather, heard – the girl of his dreams. Now an unexpected inheritance has brought Will back to that same address, where he plans to offload his new property pronto and get back to his regular life. Bound by her loyalty to her adored grandmother, Nora Clarke won’t let Will’s plans ruin her quirky, close-knit building. With a little sabotage, she sets out to foil his renovation efforts. But as their feud heats up, so does the attraction between them. A star-crossed couple, a fateful meeting – maybe it’s the kind of story that can’t work out. Or maybe, it’s the perfect second chance…

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Hospitalisation for a broken leg & hand (secondary character)
  • Heart attack mentioned (secondary character)
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of an uncle recounted
  • Death of a grandmother recounted (theme)
  • Death of a father from a terminal illness recounted (protagonist)
  • Death of a mother from an aneurysm recounted (protagonist)

Here We Go Again by Alison Cochrun

A long time ago, Logan Maletis and Rosemary Hale used to be friends. They spent their childhood summers running through the woods, rebelling against their conservative small town, and dreaming of escaping. But then an incident the summer before high school turned them into bitter rivals. After graduation, they went ten years without speaking. Now in their thirties, Logan and Rosemary find they aren’t quite living the lives of adventure they imagined for themselves. Still in their small town and working as teachers at their alma mater, they’re both stuck in old patterns. Uptight Rosemary chooses security and stability over all else… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Lesbophobia
  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Alcoholism (protagonist) & mentions of parent with alcoholism
  • Panic attacks
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Terminal cancer discussed (secondary character)

The Last Chance Library by Freya Sampson

Lonely librarian June Jones has never left the sleepy English village where she grew up. Shy and reclusive, the thirty-year-old would rather spend her time buried in books than venture out into the world. But when her library is threatened with closure, June is forced to emerge from behind the shelves to save the heart of her community and the place that holds the dearest memories of her mother. Joining a band of eccentric yet dedicated locals in a campaign to keep the library, June opens herself up to other people for the first time since her mother died. It just so happens that her old school friend Alex Chen is back in town… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Death of a mother from cancer

Wild Love by Elsie Silver

Forbes may have labeled Ford Grant the World’s Hottest Billionaire, but all he cares about is escaping the press and opening a recording studio in gorgeous small town Rose Hill. Something that comes to a screeching halt when he ends up face-to-face with a young girl who claims he’s her biological father. Now, he spends his days balancing business with parenting a sullen twelve-year-old, all while trying desperately to keep his hands the hell off his best friend’s sister, Rosie Belmont. After living in the city, Rosie came blasting back into town like a storm. Beautiful, messy, and chaotic. And one wide-eyed, desperate plea for a job is all it takes… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual harassment
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a father from Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) mentioned