Tag Archives: Torture

The Stolen Heir by Holly Black

Eight years have passed since the Battle of the Serpent. But in the icy north, Lady Nore of the Court of Teeth has reclaimed the Ice Needle Citadel. There, she is using an ancient relic to create monsters of stick and snow who will do her bidding and exact her revenge.

Suren, child queen of the Court of Teeth, and the one person with power over her mother, fled to the human world. There, she lives feral in the woods. Lonely, and still haunted by the merciless torments she endured in the Court of Teeth, she bides her time by releasing mortals from foolish bargains… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse recounted
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Drugging
  • Death during childbirth
  • Emesis
  • Blood & Gore depiction
  • Captivity
  • Kidnapping
  • Murder
  • Torture

The Adventures of Amina Al-Sirafi by Shannon Chakraborty

Amina al-Sirafi should be content. After a storied and scandalous career as one of the Indian Ocean’s most notorious pirates, she’s survived backstabbing rogues, vengeful merchant princes, several husbands, and one actual demon to retire peacefully with her family to a life of piety, motherhood, and absolutely nothing that hints of the supernatural.

But when she’s tracked down by the obscenely wealthy mother of a former crewman, she’s offered a job no bandit could refuse… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transmisia
  • Slavery
  • Rape threatened
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Loss of autonomy, by possession
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Knife violence
  • Torture
  • Poisoning
  • Fire
  • Genocide mentioned
  • Fantastical animal attack

Babel: An Arcane History by R.F. Kuang

1828. Robin Swift, orphaned by cholera in Canton, is brought to London by the mysterious Professor Lovell. There, he trains for years in Latin, Ancient Greek, and Chinese, all in preparation for the day he’ll enroll in Oxford University’s prestigious Royal Institute of Translation—also known as Babel. The tower and its students are the world’s center for translation and, more importantly, magic.

For Robin, Oxford is a utopia dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge. But knowledge obeys power… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism, including slurs & cultural appropriation
  • Classism
  • Colourism
  • Misogyny & sexism
  • Islamophobia
  • Violent hate crime
  • Slavery, including child labour
  • Sexual assault
  • Suicide discussed
  • Self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Drug use
  • Blood depiction
  • Emesis
  • Feet binding discussed
  • Plague
  • Death of mother
  • Grief depiction
  • Murder
  • Police brutality
  • Genocide
  • Gun violence
  • Torture
  • Physical assault
  • Colonization
  • War themes

The Merciless Ones by Namina Forna

It’s been six months since Deka freed the goddesses in the ancient kingdom of Otera and discovered who she really is… but war is waging across the kingdom, and the real battle has only just begun. For there is a dark force growing in Otera—a merciless power that Deka and her army must stop. Yet hidden secrets threaten to destroy everything Deka has known. And with her own gifts changing, Deka must discover if she holds the key to saving Otera… or if she might be its greatest threat.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Sex work-shaming
  • Parental abuse mentioned
  • Panic attacks
  • Body horror & gore depiction including dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Grief depiction
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a father
  • Torture
  • Immolation (burning alive) & fire mentioned
  • Hanging mentioned
  • Drowning mentioned
  • Death from falling discussed
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control)

Raven Stratagem by Yoon Ha Lee

When the hexarchate’s gifted young captain Kel Cheris summoned the ghost of the long-dead General Shuos Jedao to help her put down a rebellion, she didn’t reckon on his breaking free of centuries of imprisonment – and possessing her. Even worse, the enemy Hafn are invading, and Jedao takes over General Kel Khiruev’s fleet, which was tasked with stopping them. Only one of Khiruev’s subordinates, Lieutenant Colonel Kel Brezan, seems to be able to resist the influence of the brilliant but psychotic Jedao. Jedao claims to be interested in defending the hexarchate, but can Khiruev or Brezan trust him? For that… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape recounted
  • Incest (sibling)
  • Memory loss
  • Suicide
  • Mass shooting
  • Torture
  • Genocide

The Killing Lessons by Saul Black

The Killing Lessons by Saul Black

When the two strangers turn up at Rowena Cooper’s isolated Colorado farmhouse, she knows instantly that it’s the end of everything. For the two haunted and driven men, on the other hand, it’s just another stop on a long and bloody journey. And they still have many miles to go, and victims to sacrifice, before their work is done. For San Francisco homicide detective Valerie Hart, their trail of victims–women abducted, tortured and left with a seemingly random series of objects inside them–has brought her from obsession to the edge of physical and psychological… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming
  • Sexism
  • Rape
  • Child abuse
  • Alcoholism
  • Miscarriage
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping
  • Stalking

Jagged by Lauren Dane

Jagged by Lauren Dane

Vicktor Orlov took one look at the wary gaze and slow-to-trust personality of the deliciously sexy and fascinating Rachel Dolan and knew he wanted more than just a casual friendship. But as a natural protector, he also knew bossiness and overprotective maneuvering would push her away rather than draw her close. He’ll use every tool in his easygoing arsenal to convince her to take a chance on them. Rachel’s flourishing new career as a tattoo artist has brought color back into a life previously damaged by a series of bad choices and violence. She knows she… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Ableism
  • Victim blaming
  • Child sexual abuse recounted
  • Child abuse & neglect
  • Post Traumatic Stress Disorder
  • Suicide mentioned
  • Stalking
  • Deportation
  • Torture recounted
  • Kidnapping recounted

The Family Tree by Steph Mullin and Nicole Mabry

The Family Tree by Steph Mullin & Nicole Mabry

The DNA results are back. And there’s a serial killer in her family tree. Liz Catalano is shocked when an ancestry kit reveals she’s adopted. But she could never have imagined connecting with her unknown family would plunge her into an FBI investigation of a notorious serial killer. The Tri-State Killer has been abducting pairs of women for forty years, leaving no clues behind – only bodies. Can Liz figure out who the killer in her new family is? And can she save his newest victims before it’s too late?

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Drug abuse
  • Drugging
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping

Rise Up from the Embers by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Rise Up from the Embers by Sara Raasch and Kristen Simmons

Two gods are dead. The Mother Goddess has returned. War is rising. Fleeing war-ravaged Deimos, Ash and Madoc sail across the ocean to their only possible allies: the water and plant gods. But when Anathrasa attacks on the way, Ash leaps to the defense—by using a power she didn’t know she had. When Madoc made the fire and earth gods mortal, he inadvertently transferred their magic to Ash. Now, if Ash can get energeias from the other four gods, she would be powerful enough to end Anathrasa once and for all. But not all the gods want the Mother Goddess defeated. To stop…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Adult-minor relationship*
  • Murder
  • Torture mentioned

*Context : A relationship between a teenager and a god that’s implied to be hundreds of years old.

Dreamsnake by Vonda McIntyre

Dreamsnake by Vonda N. McIntyre

On an Earth scarred by nuclear war, Snake harnesses the power of venom to cure illnesses and vaccinate against disease. The healer can even ease patients into death with the power of her dreamsnake. But she is not respected and trusted by all, and when she tries to help a sick nomad child, the frightened clan kills her dreamsnake. Ashamed of being misjudged and grieving the loss of her dreamsnake, Snake has one choice to maintain her livelihood: she must travel to the city, which jealously guards its knowledge. And before she faces the prejudices and arrogance…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Grap

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Paedophilia
  • Child abuse
  • Substance addiction
  • Medical procedures
  • Torture
  • Animal cruelty