Tag Archives: War Themes & Military Violence

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of war themes & military violence, including political coups, battle scenes, and other related topics.

See also Genocide, Rebellion, revolution & mutiny, Military service & deployment, Conscription, Chemical gassing & warfare, and Police brutality & violence.

The Falconer by Elizabeth May

In Edinburgh, a secret war rages between humans and fae, and the magic in Aileana Kameron’s blood is all that keeps the most lethal monsters imprisoned beneath the city. But when the creatures she once pursued now hunt her, Aileana has no choice but to ally with Kiaran MacKay – the beautiful fae assassin with his own agenda. The chemistry between them is as incendiary as the battles raging through the streets. And as the body count climbs, Aileana faces a choice: how much is she willing to sacrifice to save her city? Her friends? Herself? Because the fae won’t stop until… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Period-typical misogyny & classism
  • Parental neglect
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & gore depiction
  • Near-fatal bout of pneumonia recounted
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted (detailed)
  • Death of a wife
  • Murder & physical assault
  • Sword violence & stabbing
  • Loss of autonomy (compulsion magic)
  • Battle scenes

Saved by a SEAL by Cat Johnson

Zane Alexander was born with a silver spoon in his mouth, but the rebellious bad boy traded it, along with his share of the family fortune, for a Navy SEAL trident and freedom from his controlling father. Ten years later, Zane’s teammates are depending on him to secure the startup capital they need to open their security company and he’s gambling on his skills at covert operations to get it. For a million dollars he’ll fake interest in Missy Greenwood, the Senator’s daughter his father wants him to date in exchange… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Kidnapping
  • War themes
  • Terrorism

Salt by Helen Frost

Anikwa and James, twelve years old in 1812, spend their days fishing, trapping, and exploring together in the forests of the Indiana Territory. To Anikwa and his family, members of the Miami tribe, this land has been home for centuries. As traders, James’s family has ties to the Miami community as well as to the American soldiers in the fort. Now tensions are rising—the British and American armies prepare to meet at Fort Wayne for a crucial battle, and Native Americans from surrounding tribes gather in Kekionga to protect… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Starvation
  • Fire
  • Siege of Fort Wayne & 1812 War
  • Animal death

Sacrifice by K.M. Shea

Rakel, once feared and exiled for possessing magic, is now hailed a hero. Leading resistance forces against the Chosen—an army of magic users that invaded her homeland—she is granted everything she has longed for: acceptance, a home, and the love of her friends. But the battle for her country has just begun. The Chosen’s powerful leader, Tenebris Malus, has come north to aid his army. His troops pillage the villages and cities they cannot hold, and Rakel’s brother—the King—refuses to rule. Most troubling of all, Rakel—who has…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abusive relationship
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Poverty
  • War themes

Zeus: King of the Gods by George O’Connor

Here’s Where It All Starts: the beginning of everything – the world, the gods, and even humanity. Mighty Kronos, the most terrifying of all the Titans, reigns as the unchallenged tyrant of the cosmos…until his son, the god Zeus, stands up and takes on his own father in a battle intense enough to shatter the universe! Who will emerge triumphant?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infanticide & patricide
  • Imprisonment
  • War themes & battle scenes

Change of Plans by Dylan Newton

When disaster strikes and chef Bryce Weatherford is given guardianship of her three young nieces, her life goes from cooking with fire…to controlling a dumpster fire. Five‑year‑old Addison refuses to remove her fairy wings, eight‑year‑old Cecily won’t bathe, and tween June is majoring in belligerence. With all this chaos, Bryce jettisons hope for a life outside of managing her family and her new job. It’s been years since Ryker Matthews had his below‑the‑knee amputation, yet the phantom pain for his lost limb and Marine career haunts him. To cope, he focuses on his vehicle… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Military Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Leg amputation due to IED explosion sustained during military service (protagonist)
  • Parent with dementia
  • Emesis
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a brother & sister-in-law in a car accident

Alchemised by SenLinYu

Once a promising alchemist, Helena Marino is now a prisoner—of war and of her own mind. Her Resistance friends and allies have been brutally murdered, her abilities suppressed, and the world she knew destroyed. In the aftermath of a long war, Paladia’s new ruling class of corrupt guild families and depraved necromancers, whose vile undead creatures helped bring about their victory, holds Helena captive. According to Resistance records, she was a healer of little importance within their ranks. But Helena has inexplicable memory loss of the months leading up to her capture… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic misogyny
  • Rape & sexual assault (protagonist)*
  • Intimate partner violence
  • Emotional child abuse
  • Infidelity
  • Forced marriage
  • Anxiety & panic attacks
  • Amnesia & memory loss, including non-consensual memory alteration
  • Nightmares
  • Suicidal ideation & self-harm
  • Alcohol consumption (on-page) & mentions of smoking
  • Forced pregnancy & childbirth*
  • Miscarriage & abortion mentioned
  • Blood & injury depiction, including eye trauma/ loss of eye, seizures, broken bones, emesis, traumatic brain injury, weight loss & gain due to malnutrition, disembowelment & amputation
  • Medical procedures, human experimentation. needles & surgery, including forced sterilization of a child
  • Cannibalism mentioned (secondary characters)
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Physical assault
  • Attempted kidnapping
  • Arson & bombing
  • Imprisonment & captivity
  • Torture, including sensory deprivation and solitary confinement
  • War themes including war crimes & eugenics
  • Animal death & cruelty (experimentation)
  • Poverty

* Context: The female protagonist is raped by the male protagonist as part of a breeding program. The male protagonist cheats on his wife, who he was forced to marry and is also cheating on him, with the female protagonist.

Age of Deception by Patricia Vanasse

Agreeing to accompany her father’s people back to their homeworld, Kira Forrest prepares for the fight of her life. She’s agreed to undertake the Trial of the Broken, a rite of passage every member of her father’s House must pass. It offers a path to independence and freedom that is too tempting to deny. Not everyone welcomes this lost daughter of Roake. There are those who fear what her presence might bring to light. Betrayal stalks the halls of Kira’s birthplace—its roots embedded deep in the events that claimed her parent’s lives and set her on her current path… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abuse mentioned
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD)
  • Suicidal ideation
  • Drugging
  • Blood and gore depiction, including dead bodies
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of parent mentioned
  • Torture
  • Murder & attempted murder
  • Knife violence
  • War themes and military violence

Affiliations, Aliens, and Other Profitable Pursuits by Lyn Gala

A desire for status has brought Ondry and Liam to a human world to trade, but dealing with humans has brought up all the old pain in Liam’s heart. Even though Ondry would do anything to protect his beloved palteia, he doesn’t know how to protect Liam from himself. Worse, Ondry isn’t sure how to shield Liam from the shifting politics on the Rownt ship where the Calti Grandmothers are nothing like the ones they left behind on the planet.With everything in their lives changing, Ondry and Liam have only each other… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Rape (off-page) & child sexual abuse recounted
  • Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) & trauma
  • Death of a parent (off-page)
  • War themes
  • Animal attack (off-page)

Absolution by Alice McDermott

In Saigon in 1963, two young American wives form a wary alliance. Tricia is a starry-eyed newlywed, married to a rising oil engineer “on loan” to US Navy Intelligence. Charlene is a practiced corporate spouse and mother of three, a talented hostess and determined altruist, on a mission to relieve the “wretchedness” she sees all around her. When Tricia miscarries, Charlene sweeps her into a cabal of well-dressed do-gooder American wives. Armed with baskets filled with candy and toys, they descend on hospitals, orphanages, and a leper colony on the coast, determined to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Infertility & miscarriages
  • Vietnam War