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.

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Furthermore by Tahereh Mafi

Born as blank as canvas in a world brimming with colour and magic, Alice’s pale skin and milk-white hair mark her as an outcast. Because, for the people of Ferenwood, colour and magic are one and the same. And since the disappearance of her beloved father, Alice is more determined than ever to prove herself and her own magical abilities.

To do so she’ll have to travel into the myth … Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Parental abuse
  • Parental abandonment
  • Death from childbirth mentioned
  • Minor blood & gore depiction
  • Amputation
  • Cannibalism
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control & powers of manipulation)
  • Imprisonment
  • Disappearance of a parent
  • War themes mentioned
  • Bullying
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Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

Fracture Me by Tahereh Mafi

As Omega Point prepares to launch an all-out assault on The Reestablishment soldiers stationed in Sector 45, Adam’s focus couldn’t be further from the upcoming battle. He’s reeling from his breakup with Juliette, scared for his best friend’s life, and as concerned as ever for his brother James’s safety. And just as Adam begins to wonder if this life is really for him, the alarms sound. It’s time for war.

On the battlefield, it seems like the odds are… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Kidnapping
  • War themes
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Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

Cilka’s Journey by Heather Morris

Cilka Klein is 18 years old when Auschwitz-Birkenau is liberated by Soviet soldiers. But Cilka is one of the many women who is sentenced to a labour camp on charges of having helped the Nazis–with no consideration of the circumstances Cilka and women like her found themselves in as they struggled to survive. Once at the Vorkuta gulag in Sibera, where she is to serve her 15-year sentence, Cilka uses her wits, charm, and beauty to survive. 

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape
  • Paedophilia & sexual assault
  • Childbirth
  • Starvation
  • Physical illness
  • Torture
  • Word War Two (theme)
  • Concentration camps
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The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Stephen King

The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Stephen King

In April 1942, Lale Sokolov, a Slovakian Jew, is forcibly transported to the concentration camps at Auschwitz-Birkenau. When his captors discover that he speaks several languages, he is put to work as a Tätowierer (the German word for tattooist), tasked with permanently marking his fellow prisoners.

Imprisoned for over two and a half years, Lale witnesses horrific atrocities and barbarism—but also incredible acts of bravery and compassion. Risking his own… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Antiziganism
  • Antisemitism
  • Nazism
  • Rape
  • Genital mutilation
  • Gun violence
  • Chemical gassing (gas chambers)
  • World War Two & the Holocaust (theme)
  • Concentration camps (theme)
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The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron

The Light in Hidden Places by Sharon Cameron

One knock at the door, and Stefania has a choice to make…

It is 1943, and for four years, sixteen-year-old Stefania has been working for the Diamant family in their grocery store in Przemsyl, Poland, singing her way into their lives and hearts. She has even made a promise to one of their sons, Izio — a betrothal they must keep secret since she is Catholic and the Diamants are Jewish… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Antisemitism
  • Death of a child
  • Gun violence
  • Labour camps mentioned
  • World War Two & the Holocaust
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We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

We Need New Names by NoViolet Bulawayo

Darling is only ten years old, yet she must navigate a fragile and violent world. In Zimbabwe, Darling and her friends steal guavas, try to get the baby out of young Chipo’s belly, and grasp at memories of Before. Before their homes were destroyed by paramilitary policemen. Before the school closed before the fathers left for dangerous jobs abroad.

But Darling has a chance to escape: she has an aunt in America. She travels to this new land… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Child abuse
  • Rape
  • Abortion
  • Physical assault
  • Animal death
  • Animal cruelty
  • War themes
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The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

The Blacktongue Thief by Christopher Buehlman

Kinch Na Shannack owes the Takers Guild a small fortune for his education as a thief, which includes (but is not limited to) lock-picking, knife-fighting, wall-scaling, fall-breaking, lie-weaving, trap-making, plus a few small magics. His debt has driven him to lie in wait by the old forest road, planning to rob the next traveller that crosses his path. But today, Kinch Na Shannack has picked the wrong mark.

Galva is a knight, a survivor of the brutal goblin wars, and handmaiden of the goddess of death. She is… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Rape, implied
  • Child abuse
  • Cannibalism
  • Dismemberment
  • Torture
  • Imprisonment
  • Blackmail
  • War themes
  • Animal death, including attempted drowning of a pet
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The Splinter King by Mike Brooks

The Splinter King by Mike Brooks

Darel, dragon knight and the new leader of Black Keep, must travel to the palace of the God-King to beg for the lives of his people. But in the capital of Narida, Marin and his warrior husband will be drawn into a palace coup, and Princess Tila will resort to murder to keep her hold on power.

In the far reaches of the kingdom an heir in exile is hunted by assassins, rumours of a rival God-King abound, and daemonic forces from across the seas draw ever nearer… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Slavery
  • Execution mentioned
  • War themes
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The Black Coast by Mike Brooks

The Black Coast by Mike Brooks

When the citizens of Black Keep see ships on the horizon, terror takes them, for they know who is coming: for generations, Black Keep has been raided by the fearsome clanspeople of Iwernia. Saddling their war dragons, the Naridans rush to defend their home only to discover that the clanspeople have not come to pillage at all. Driven from their own homeland by the rise of a daemonic despot who prophesies the end of the world, they have come in search of a new home. Meanwhile, the wider continent of Narida is lurching toward war… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Transmisia
  • Homomisia
  • Misogyny
  • War themes
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The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman 

The Infinity Courts by Akemi Dawn Bowman

Eighteen-year-old Nami Miyamoto is certain her life is just beginning. She has a great family, just graduated high school, and is on her way to a party where her entire class is waiting for her—including, most importantly, the boy she’s been in love with for years. The only problem? She’s murdered before she gets there.

When Nami wakes up, she learns she’s in a place called Infinity, where human consciousness goes when physical bodies die. She quickly discovers that… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger & Content Warnings

  • Forced servitude
  • Alcohol consumption mentioned
  • Physical injuries
  • Murder
  • Torture
  • Gun violence
  • Battle violence
  • Loss of autonomy (mind control & manipulation)
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