Trauma

The depictions here vary widely. Some are on-page, some are in the past, etc. The list here means they strongly inform the story and/or main character in one way or another.

This page is not intended to serve as trigger warnings (nor are these comments on the works), but rather to help those actively seeking fiction about specific traumatic experiences.

^=MC is affected by but not the direct victim of the traumatic experience, e.g. rape or deportation

Ableism

  • Before I Let Go by Marieke Nijkamp (YA)
  • Just By Looking at Him by Ryan O’Connell
  • Nine of Swords, Reversed by Xan West

Accident

Addiction/Alcoholism of a Parent

AIDS-Related Trauma

Ailing Parent

Aphobia

Biphobia

  • Imogen, Obviously by Becky Albertalli
  • Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales
  • Hani and Ishu’s Guide to Fake Dating by Adiba Jaigirdar
  • Follow Your Arrow by Jessica Verdi

Blackmail

YA

  • Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé
  • Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
  • Full Disclosure by Camryn Garrett
  • Perfect on Paper by Sophie Gonzales
  • Meet Cute Diary by Emery Lee

Breakup (Friendship)

  • Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min (also romantic)
  • It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland
  • Over You by Amy Reed
  • We Used to Be Friends by Amy Spalding

Breakup (Romantic)

  • Beating Heart Baby by Lio Min (also friendship)
  • It Goes Like This by Miel Moreland
  • She Drives Me Crazy by Kelly Quindlen

Bullying

MG

  • Obie is Man Enough by Schuyler Bailar

YA

  • The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
  • Jerkbait by Mia Siegert

Cancer

  • The Celebrants by Steven Rowley

Child Abuse (Physical)

  • The Dangerous Art of Blending In by Angelo Surmelis (YA)
  • What Night Brings by Carla Trujillo

Conversion Therapy

CSA

YA

  • Pet by Akwaeke Emezi
  • The Fever King by Victoria Lee
  • Scars by Cheryl Rainfield (TW: self-harm depicted on cover)
  • Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin
  • Somebody Told Me by Mia Siegert
  • Sadie by Courtney Summers

Adult

  • Edinburgh by Alexander Chee
  • Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Death in the Family

See also: Partner Death

MG

  • King and the Dragonflies by Kacen Callender (Brother)
  • The Whispers by Greg Howard (Mother)
  • Too Bright to See by Kyle Lukoff (Uncle)

YA

  • Bruised by Tanya Boteju (Mother)
  • Summer Bird Blue by Akemi Dawn Bowman (Sister)
  • The Truth About Keeping Secrets by Savannah Brown (Father)
  • The Ghosts We Keep by Mason Deaver (Brother)
  • The Great American Whatever by Tim Federle (Sister)
  • The Confusion of Laurel Graham by Adrienne Kisner (Grandmother)
  • The Honeys by Ryan La Sala (Sister)
  • 37 Things by Kekla Magoon (Father)
  • Blood Sport by Tash McAdam (Sister)
  • By Any Means Necessary by Cam Montgomery (Uncle)
  • Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro (Father)
  • Sadie by Courtney Summers (Sister)
  • I Felt a Funeral, In My Brain by Will Walton (Grandfather)

Adult

  • Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett (Father)
  • The Guncle by Steven Rowley (SIL)

Death of a Friend

  • *Darkhearts by James L. Sutter

Death of a Partner

  • The Meaning of Birds by Jaye Robin Brown (YA)
  • A Single Man by Christopher Isherwood
  • A Lesson in Vengeance by Victoria Lee (YA)
  • History is All You Left Me by Adam Silvera (YA)
  • Who I Was With Her by Nita Tyndall (YA)

Death of a Pet

  • “The Purr-cle of Life” by Alex Gino in This is Our Rainbow

Divorce (Parents)

Domestic Abuse/Partner Violence

Dysphoria

  • Birthday by Meredith Russo
  • Somebody Told Me by Mia Siegert

Fatphobia

  • I’ll Be the One by Lyla Lee
  • And They Lived… by Steven Salvatore
  • Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Homelessness

  • *The Art of Congressional Love by Sierra Elmore (YA)

Homophobia

MG

  • Alan Cole is Not Afraid by Eric Bell

YA

  • Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
  • Flamer by Mike Curato
  • The Sky Blues by Robbie Couch
  • Forget Me Not by Alyson Derrick
  • If You Could Be Mine by Sara Farizan
  • *Time Out by Sean Hayes, Todd Milliner, and Carlyn Greenwald
  • The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar

Adult

Immigration-Related Trauma

  • Indivisible by Daniel Aleman (Parent’s deportation) (YA)
  • *Kween by Vichet Chum (Parent’s deportation) (YA)
  • We Set the Dark on Fire by Tehlor Kay Mejia (YA)
  • Ander and Santi Were Here by Jonny Garza Villa (YA)
  • The Fitful Sleep of Immigrants by Orlando Ortega-Medina
  • The Grief Keeper by Alexandra Villasante (YA)

Imprisonment/Incarceration

  • Sugar Run by Mesha Maren
  • At the End of Everything by Marieke Nijkamp (YA)

Islamophobia

  • How it All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi (YA)
  • The Loophole by Naz Kutub (YA)

Kidnapping/Hostage

  • Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage
  • The Girls I’ve Been by Tess Sharpe

Misogyny

  • Home Field Advantage by Dahlia Adler
  • Like Other Girls by Britta Lundin
  • I’m the Girl by Courtney Summers

Murder of Loved One

YA

  • All the Things We Do in the Dark by Saundra Mitchell
  • Even if We Break by Marieke Nijkamp
  • You’re Next by Kylie Schachte
  • Far From You by Tess Sharpe
  • Sadie by Courtney Summers

Natural Disaster

YA

  • Sink or Swim by Tash McAdam (storm)
  • Ramona Blue by Julie Murphy (Katrina aftermath)
  • Switchback by Danika Stone (snowstorm)

Outing

YA

  • Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda by Becky Albertalli
  • The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar
  • Chasing Pacquiao by Rod Pulido

Adult

  • Red, White & Royal Blue by Casey McQuiston

Parental Abandonment

Parental Neglect

Parental Rejection

These books are by and large about protagonists who were kicked out of their homes as teens and/or are estranged from their parents as adults. They all contain emotional abuse from parents.

YA

  • Brooklyn, Burning by Steve Brezenoff
  • I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
  • The Witch King by H.E. Edgmon
  • Fifteen Hundred Miles From the Sun by Jonny Garza Villa
  • Keeping You a Secret by Julie Anne Peters
  • And They Lived… by Steven Salvatore
  • The (Un)popular Vote by Jasper Sanchez

Adult

Police Brutality

  • Anger is a Gift by Mark Oshiro

Racism

  • Ace of Spades by Faridah Àbíké-Íyímídé (YA)
  • How it All Blew Up by Arvin Ahmadi (YA)
  • The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass (YA)
  • The Henna Wars by Adiba Jaigirdar (YA)
  • All This Could Be Different by Sarah Thankam Matthews
  • By Any Means Necessary by Cam Montgomery
  • My Government Means to Kill Me by Rasheed Newson
  • Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Religious Trauma

YA

Adult

Sexual Assault/Rape

See also: CSA

YA, Female Victim

  • Girl Made of Stars by Ashley Herring Blake
  • Dear Medusa by Olivia Cole
  • Off the Record by Camryn Garrett
  • The Mirror Season by Anna-Marie McLemore
  • Trouble Girls by Julia Lynn Rubin
  • I’m the Girl by Courtney Summers

YA, Male Victim

YA, Nonbinary Victim

Adult, Female Victim

  • *Old Enough by Haley Jakobsen

Adult, Male Victim

  • Off Campus by AJ Cousins
  • The Last Sun by K.D. Edwards
  • Yes, Daddy by Jonathan Parks-Ramage

School Shooting

  • The Taking of Jake Livingston by Ryan Douglass
  • That’s Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger
  • This is Where it Ends by Marieke Nijkamp

Suicidal Ideation

  • Everyone in this Room Will Someday Be Dead by Emily Austin
  • Death By Society by Sierra Elmore (YA)
  • The Bridge by Bill Konigsberg (YA)
  • Avi Cantor Has Six Months to Live by Sacha Lamb (YA)
  • The Immeasurable Depth of You by Maria Ingrande Mora (YA)
  • *If Tomorrow Doesn’t Come by Jen St. Jude
  • Treasure by Rebekah Weatherspoon (past attempt)

Suicide of a Loved One

YA

  • The Last True Poets of the Sea by Julia Drake (attempt)
  • Girls Like Girls by Hayley Kiyoko
  • Jerkbait by Mia Siegert (attempt)
  • More Happy Than Not by Adam Silvera

Adult

  • Mostly Dead Things by Kristen Arnett
  • Some Hell by Patrick Nathan

Toxic Parenting

  • How to Make a Wish by Ashley Herring Blake
  • Milk Fed by Melissa Broder
  • Honey Girl by Morgan Rogers
  • And They Lived… by Steven Salvatore
  • Real Life by Brandon Taylor

Toxic Romance

  • In at the Deep End by Kate Davies

Transphobia

MG

YA

  • I Wish You All the Best by Mason Deaver
  • Symptoms of Being Human by Jeff Garvin
  • If I Was Your Girl by Meredith Russo
  • Birthday by Meredith Russo
  • Can’t Take that Away by Steven Salvatore
  • All Kinds of Other by James Sie
  • *The Spirit Bares its Teeth by Andrew Joseph White

Adult

  • Long Macchiatos and Monsters by Alison Evans

Unwanted Pregnancy

War and its Aftermath

  • This Rebel Heart by Katherine Locke (YA)
  • In Memoriam by Alice Winn

Queering up your shelf, one rec at a time!

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