Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

Red Sister by Mark Lawrence

At the Convent of Sweet Mercy, young girls are raised to be killers. In some few children the old bloods show, gifting rare talents that can be honed to deadly or mystic effect. But even the mistresses of sword and shadow don’t truly understand what they have purchased when Nona Grey is brought to their halls.

A bloodstained child of nine falsely accused of murder, guilty of worse, Nona is stolen from the shadow of the noose. It takes ten years to educate a Red Sister in the ways of blade and fist, but under Abbess Glass’s care there is much more to learn than the arts of death. Among her class Nona finds a new family—and new enemies.

Despite the security and isolation of the convent, Nona’s secret and violent past finds her out, drawing with it the tangled politics of a crumbling empire. Her arrival sparks old feuds to life, igniting vicious struggles within the church and even drawing the eye of the emperor himself.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Child abuse
  • Parental abandonment
  • Death
  • Torture
  • Graphic animal abuse
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The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

The Poppy War by R. F. Kuang

The Poppy War R. F. Kuang

When Rin aced the Keju—the Empire-wide test to find the most talented youth to learn at the Academies—it was a shock to everyone: to the test officials, who couldn’t believe a war orphan from Rooster Province could pass without cheating; to Rin’s guardians, who believed they’d finally be able to marry her off and further their criminal enterprise; and to Rin herself, who realized she was finally free of the servitude and despair that had made up her daily existence. That she got into Sinegard—the most elite military school in Nikan—was even more surprising. But… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Classism
  • Racism & colourism
  • Gang rape
  • Sexual assault
  • Forced marriage
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Sterilization
  • Medical experimentation
  • Dead bodies
  • Decapitation and dismemberment
  • Graphic murder & mass murder
  • Torture
  • Explosions
  • Knife violence
  • Physical assault
  • Captivity & confinement
  • War themes & military violence
  • Fire
  • Flooding
  • Bullying
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I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai

I Am Malala by Malala Yousafzai with Christina Lamb

When the Taliban took control of the Swat Valley in Pakistan, one girl spoke out. Malala Yousafzai refused to be silenced and fought for her right to an education.

On Tuesday, October 9, 2012, when she was fifteen, she almost paid the ultimate price. She was shot in the head at point-blank range while riding the bus home from school, and few expected her to survive.

Instead, Malala’s miraculous recovery has taken her on an extraordinary journey from a remote valley in northern Pakistan to the halls of the United Nations in New York. At sixteen, she has become a global symbol of peaceful protest and the youngest nominee ever for the Nobel Peace Prize.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Misogyny
  • Death of children
  • Torture
  • War themes
  • Animal death
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The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

In the quiet village of Carriveau, Vianne Mauriac says good-bye to her husband, Antoine, as he heads for the Front. She doesn’t believe that the Nazis will invade France…but invade they do, in droves of marching soldiers, in caravans of trucks and tanks, in planes that fill the skies and drop bombs upon the innocent. When a German captain requisitions Vianne’s home, she and her daughter must live with the enemy or lose everything. Without food or money or hope, as danger escalates all around them, she is forced to make one impossible choice after another to keep her family alive.

Vianne’s sister, Isabelle, is a rebellious eighteen-year-old, searching for purpose with all the reckless passion of youth. While thousands of Parisians… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • PhysicaAntisemitism
  • Rape
  • Pregnancy from rape
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Blood depiction
  • Serious physical injury of a sibling
  • Cancer
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Death of a child
  • Death of a friend
  • Death of a sibling
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Concentration camps
  • War themes
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A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

A Darker Shade of Magic by V. E. Schwab

Kell is one of the last Antari—magicians with a rare, coveted ability to travel between parallel Londons; Red, Grey, White, and, once upon a time, Black. Kell was raised in Arnes—Red London—and officially serves the Maresh Empire as an ambassador, travelling between the frequent bloody regime changes in White London and the court of George III in the dullest of Londons, the one without any magic left to see. Unofficially, Kell is a smuggler, servicing people willing to pay for even the smallest glimpses of a world they’ll never see. It’s a defiant hobby with dangerous consequen… Read more.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Slavery
  • Attempted rape
  • Self-harm for magic
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Torture
  • Knife violence
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The Haunting by Alex Bell

The Haunting by Alex Bell

Some curses grow stronger with time…People say that all Cornish inns are haunted, but the Waterwitch’s history is particularly chilling. Built from the salvaged timber of a cursed ship, the guest house’s dark secrets go further back than anyone can remember.

Emma is permanently confined to a wheelchair after an accident at the Waterwitch which took place when she was ten. Seven years later, she decides to return to the place where the awful event occurred. But the ancient inn still has its ghosts, and one particular spirit is more vengeful than ever…

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Domestic violence
  • Self harm
  • Body horror
  • Serious physical injury recounted
  • Burns
  • Death of a grandparent
  • Death of a parent
  • Torture recounted
  • Animal injury
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The Traitor’s Ruin by Erin Beaty

The Traitor’s Ruin by Erin Beaty

After proving her worth in book one as a deft spy and strategic matchmaker, Sage Fowler is now comfortably positioned in high society as the royal tutor. When she’s called upon to teach his majesty’s soldiers how to read and write, she jumps at the chance to serve her kingdom of Demora—and to be reunited with her fiancé, Captain Alex Quinn.

During a skirmish, Sage and Alex are separated. She watches him die before he can deliver important military intel—or so she thinks. She escapes from the enemy and makes an unlikely alliance with a mysterious soldier from a third nation. As Sage tries to rally their support against a common foe, the important political alliance is plagued by secrets and betrayal.

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Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Torture
  • Knife violence
  • Fire
  • Quicksand

The Traitor’s Kiss by Erin Beaty

The Traitor’s Kiss by Erin Beaty

With a sharp tongue and an unruly temper, Sage Fowler is not what they’d call a lady―which is perfectly fine with her. Deemed unfit for marriage, Sage is apprenticed to a matchmaker and tasked with wrangling other young ladies to be married off for political alliances. She spies on the girls―and on the soldiers escorting them.

As the girls’ military escort senses a political uprising, Sage is recruited by a handsome soldier to infiltrate the enemy ranks. The more she discovers as a spy, the less certain she becomes about whom to trust―and Sage becomes caught in a dangerous balancing act that will determine the fate of her kingdom.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Sexual assault, including nonconsensual kiss and unwanted touching
  • Domestic abuse mentioned
  • Suicide
  • Miscarriage mentioned
  • Torture mentioned
  • Poisoning
  • Knife violence

Sherlock Holmes: Year One by Scott Beatty

Sherlock Holmes: Year One by Scott Beatty

Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s dauntless detective returns in an all-new adventure exploring the sleuth’s untold origin! Join Dr. John Watson as he meets young Sherlock Holmes in a fateful encounter that will forever shape both men’s destinies! Mysteries and murders most foul abound as we discover clues that reveal just how Holmes became the world’s most famous detective.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Kidnapping

Ashes and Flame by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven

Ashes and Flame by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven

After uncovering a threat to dragons everywhere, my mission was simple – find the mage with the evil magic book, and bring him back home to Emberwood Weyr. There we could figure out what he knew… and what we could do about it.

Finding him was easy… but protecting him is hard.

The more I get to know Daniel, the more I realize that he’s another victim in all this – hunted, afraid, and so beaten down he can’t even recognize a helping hand when it’s offered. He tugs at my heartstrings even while his out of control magic threatens to burn the world down around us. Good thing I’m fireproof.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Fire
  • Homelessness
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