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.

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

How High We Go in the Dark by Sequoia Nagamatsu

Beginning in 2030, a grieving archeologist arrives in the Arctic Circle to continue the work of his recently deceased daughter at the Batagaika crater, where researchers are studying long-buried secrets now revealed in melting permafrost, including the perfectly preserved remains of a girl who appears to have died of an ancient virus. Once unleashed, the Arctic Plague will reshape life on earth for generations to come, quickly traversing the globe, forcing humanity to devise a myriad of moving and inventive ways to embrace possibility in the face of tragedy. In a theme park designed for terminally ill children… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Suicide
  • COVID-19 pandemic
  • Cancer & terminal illness
  • Hospitalisation
  • Blood & injury depiction
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a child
  • Gun violence mentioned
  • Animal death & cruelty
  • Animal experimentation

Sunkissed by Kasie West

Sunkissed by Kasie West

Avery has always used music as an escape. But after her best friend betrays her, even her perfectly curated playlists can’t help her forget what happened. To make matters worse, her parents have dragged her and her social-media-obsessed sister to a remote family camp for two months of “fun.” Just when Avery is ready to give up on the summer altogether, she meets Brooks—mysterious, frustratingly charming Brooks—who just happens to be on staff—which means he’s off-limits. What starts as a disaster turns into something else. As the outside world falls away, Avery embarks on a journey of self-discovery. And when Brook… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Terminal illness
  • Parent in care following a stroke
  • Emesis

The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates

The Twisted Dead by Darcy Coates

Keira is ready for her life to return to normal. Though, to be fair, normal is a tall ask when your ability to see ghosts has landed you the job of groundskeeper in a small town’s cemetery. When Keira receives an invitation to dinner at Dane Crispin’s crumbling ancestral estate, she knows she can’t refuse. The last living descendant of the Crispin family is reclusive. Keira only met him once…on the night he tried to kill her. The mansion is steeped in history that is equal parts complicated and bloody. Keira senses the presence of restless spirits the moment she steps through its door. And Dane, waiting for her inside, wants to ask for her help.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Familial estrangement mentioned
  • Amnesia
  • Parent with a chronically, and possibly terminally, ill parent (sc)
  • Blood and physical injuries, on-page
  • Needles
  • Arson and damage to property discussed
  • Murder including murder by stabbing and knife violence, on-page
  • Gun violence

Faking with Benefits by Lily Gold

Faking with Benefits by Lily Gold

My name is Layla Thompson, and I am undateable. Seriously. I’m twenty-eight and I’ve never had a boyfriend. And with my thirties rapidly approaching, I’m starting to lose patience. Lucky for me, I have three overprotective best friends who are all too eager to help hone my dating skills. There’s Zack, the huge rugby player with the cheeky grin and rippling biceps. Josh, the boy next door with the sculpted jaw and calculating stare. And Luke, the silver-haired divorcee who also happens to be my old professor. After a bad date leaves me crying on their shoulders, the three… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexual harassment
  • Divorce mentioned
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a partner from terminal illness recounted
  • Bullying recounted
  • Cyberbullying & online harassment

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 and Content Warnings

  • Ableism (r slur)
  • Fatphobia & body-shaming
  • Child physical, verbal and emotional abuse including gaslighting
  • Grooming and sexually predatory behaviour toward a minor discussed
  • Parent with Hoarding Disorder
  • 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
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com

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
Support Us at Ko-Fi at ko-fi.com