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

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 and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence
  • Self-harm
  • Serious physical injury, burns & body horror
  • Death of a parent & grandparent
  • Torture recounted
  • Animal injury

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.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

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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Ashes and Grave by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven

Ashes and Grave by Aiden Bates and Jill Haven

I don’t normally deal with nasty ghosts, but when Nix needs help, I’m the only one qualified. His dragons are under attack, and it’s up to me to stop it. But Nix isn’t making it easy. He seems determined to hate me because I’m a necromancer, and he wants nothing to do with the attraction smoldering between us.

This specter isn’t a random haunting, and its connected to both Nix and me. We’re going to have to work together to defeat it, but if Nix finds out how I’m connected, any trust I’ve built with him will go up in smoke.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Patricide
  • Torture mentioned
  • Loss of autonomy (possession)
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Girl, Serpent, Thorn by Melissa Bashardoust

There was and there was not, as all stories begin, a princess cursed to be poisonous to the touch. But for Soraya, who has lived her life hidden away, apart from her family, safe only in her gardens, it’s not just a story. As the day of her twin brother’s wedding approaches, Soraya must decide if she’s willing to step outside of the shadows for the first time. Below in the dungeon is a demon who holds knowledge that she craves, the answer to her freedom. And above is a young man who isn’t afraid of her, whose eyes linger not with fear, but with an understanding of who she is beneath the poison.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Drugging
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Death of a father mentioned
  • Murder
  • Torture mentioned
  • Poisoning
  • Kidnapping
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes

Slightly Love by Mary Balogh

Slightly Love by Mary Balogh

Anne Jewell is a teacher at Miss Martin’s School for Girls, a genteel academy in Regency England. Now she must confront the disturbing tragedy that gave her a beautiful son but locked her heart away for forever. 

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Disfigurmisia
  • Rape recounted
  • Pregnancy from rape
  • Phantom limb pain
  • Torture recounted
  • War mentioned
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Windfall by Shawna Barnett

Windfall by Shawna Barnett

Captain Liana Foley knows a thing or two about fights. She fights the King’s Navy. She fights to balance power in oppressive Vioria. She fights for respect as a female, bisexual, pirate captain. But she’s losing her biggest fight: to escape her secret past as a lost Princess.

With a mysterious letter and a stranger threatening to expose her, Liana is blackmailed into attending a royal ball and protecting her counterpart, sheltered Princess Rhian. The pretenses are suspicious enough, but Liana takes the risk in hopes to finally unveil the magic plot that killed her parents and forced her into hiding… Read more.

GoodreadsThe Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings:

  • Attempted rape
  • Domestic abuse
  • Torture
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