Tag Archives: Abandonment

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of abandonment, including spousal and parental abandonment.

Fake Skating by Lynn Painter

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From play dates on the playground to sneaking into movie theatres, Dani and Alec were inseparable as kids. Until Dani moved away. Years later, Dani is back in Minnesota, and exited to reconnect with the nerdy and comforting Alec. But teenage Alec is NOTHING like the boy she remembers. He’s the hockey STAR in a town where hockey players are worshipped as gods—and he loves it. When one thing leads to another and Dani and Alec find themselves thrown together and playing the role of boyfriend and girlfriend, “complicated” becomes an understatement. In this Minnesota… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment
  • Parental divorce mentioned
  • Anxiety attack (on-page)
  • Alcohol consumption & drug use
  • Hospitalisation for sports injury
  • Physical assault
  • Car accident recounted
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The Fake Out by Stephanie Archer

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The best way to get back at my horrible ex? Fake date Rory Miller–my ex’s rival, the top scorer in pro hockey, and the arrogant, flirtatious hockey player I tutored in high school. Faking it is fun and addictive, though, and beneath the bad boy swagger, Rory’s sweet, funny, and protective. He teaches me to skate and spends way too much money on me. He sleeps in my bed and convinces me to break my just-one-time hookup rule. He kisses me like it’s real. And now I wonder if Rory was ever faking it to begin with.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Emotional child abuse (off-page)
  • Parental abandonment & divorce recounted
  • Cheating recounted (ex-partner)
  • Parent with body dysmorphia & mention of her disordered eating
  • Alcohol consumption
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The Fae Keeper by H.E. Edgmon

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Two weeks after the door to Faery closed once more, Asalin is still in turmoil. Emyr and Wyatt are hunting Derek and Clarke themselves after having abolished the corrupt Guard, and are trying to convince the other kingdoms to follow their lead. But when they uncover the hidden truth about the witches’ real place in fae society, it becomes clear the problems run much deeper than anyone knew. And this may be more than the two of them can fix. As Wyatt struggles to learn control of his magic and balance his own needs with the needs of a kingdom, he must finally decide on the… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Transphobia & dysphoria
  • Rape by coercion (off-page)
  • Parental abandonment
  • Panic attacks (on-page)
  • Dissociation
  • Blood & gore depiction and cannibalism
  • Murder
  • Graphic infanticide
  • Car accident
  • Fire
  • Animal death
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Savage Lover by Sophie Lark

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Two people who believe they’re unworthy of love… until they meet each other. Camille Rivera is drowning. Her father’s sick, her brother’s in deep with a dirty cop, and her mechanic shop is failing. Nero Gallo is the neighbourhood psychopath. As vicious as he is gorgeous, Camille has watched him burn through every girl in a ten-mile radius, breaking hearts and never, ever getting attached. Which is why she can’t believe it when Nero saves her from a seriously sticky situation. They’ve lived next to each other all their lives — is it… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Death of a mother
  • Organised crime
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Saint Juniper’s Folly by Alex Crespo

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For Jaime, returning to the tiny Vermont town of Saint Juniper means returning to a past he’s spent eight years trying to forget. After shuttling between foster homes, he hopes he can make something out of this fresh start. But every gossip in town already knows his business, and with reminders of his past everywhere, he seeks out solitude into the nearby woods, called Saint Juniper’s Folly, and does not return. For Theo, Saint Juniper means being stuck. He knows there’s more out there, but he’s scared to go find it. His senior year is going to be like all the rest, dull and claus… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Racism
  • Parental abandonment recounted
  • Foster care system experiences
  • Hospitalisation
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted
  • House fire
  • Animal death
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Saint Iggy by K.L. Going

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When Iggy Corso gets kicked out of high school, there’s no one for him to tell. His mother has gone off, his father is stoned on the couch, and the phone’s been disconnected, so even the social worker can’t get through. Leaving his public housing behind, Iggy ventures into the world to make something of his life. It’s not easy when you’re sixteen, have no skills, and your only friend is mixed up with the dealer who got your mom hooked. But Iggy is . . . Iggy, and he has the kind of wisdom that lets him see what no one else can.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment & neglect
  • Infidelity
  • Parent with substance addiction
  • Alcohol consumption and recreational drug use & abuse
  • Murder
  • Gun violence
  • Police brutality
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The Space Between Here and Now by Sarah Suk

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Seventeen-year-old Aimee Roh has Sensory Time Warp Syndrome, a rare condition that causes her to time travel to a moment in her life when she smells something linked to that memory. Her dad is convinced she’ll simply grow out of it if she tries hard enough, but Aimee’s fear of vanishing at random has kept her from living a normal life. When Aimee disappears for nine hours into a memory of her estranged mom–a moment Aimee has never remembered before–she becomes distraught. Not only was this her longest…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Parental abandonment (theme)
  • Pregnancy & abortion
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Stay with My Heart by Tashie Bhuiyan

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Liana Sarkar lives and breathes music, hoping to follow in the footsteps of her A&R coordinator father. Maybe if she succeeds, he’ll finally give her the time of day instead of drowning himself in work to distract from the grief of her mother’s passing. When Liana accidentally sabotages an up-and-coming local band, Third Eye, she makes it her mission to steer them towards success—without them discovering her role in their setback. But as she gets closer to Third Eye, especially their enigmatic leader Skyler Moon, it becomes harder to hide the truth. With both her heart and… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Child abandonment & neglect
  • Anxiety & depression (protagonist)
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Death of a mother recounted
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Some Kind of Famous by Ava Wilder

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It’s been a decade since Merritt Valentine’s peak as a celebrated singer-songwriter… and her subsequent career-ending mental breakdown. Since then, she’s abandoned the glitz of Los Angeles to move in with her sister, Olivia, in the sleepy Colorado ski town of Crested Peak, hoping to heal her lingering emotional wounds of the spotlight. Life in Crested Peak would be uncomplicated if not for Merritt’s inconvenient crush on the local contractor and handyman, Nikolaos Petrakis. Niko is disarmingly handsome and too kind-hearted to ever be right for the complex and prickly… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slut-shaming & mentions of homophobia (secondary characters)
  • Minor fatphobia & mention of weight gain
  • Parental abandonment & familial estrangement
  • Statutory rape recounted (protagonist was 14-years-old and her sibling’s brother was ~roughly~ 19-years-old)
  • Workplace sexual harassment of a teen mentioned
  • Divorce & infidelity recounted (the protagonist’s ex-husband cheated on her, and she cheated in previous relationships)
  • Panic attacks recounted
  • Dissociation, Borderline Personality Disorder & Complex PTSD (protqagonist)
  • Protagonist in recovery for substance and alcohol addictions after an attempted suicide by overdose in the past, including on-page & recounted drug use & abuse and alcohol consumption & abuse
  • Unplanned teen pregnancy recounted & mentions of a pregnant secondary character
  • Emesis
  • Death of a father mentioned
  • Animal death mentioned (pet cat)
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Alaskan Christmas Redemption by Belle Calhoune

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Returning to Owl Creek after years away, Braden North’s determined to help his best friend, Piper Miller, save her failing diner. But as they work to revitalize her business, Braden’s convinced he must hide the truth about a tragedy from their past…or risk losing Piper for good. If he can find the courage, might telling her everything make this Christmas a time for healing and forgiveness?

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Abandonment
  • Grief & loss depiction
  • Heart attack mentioned
  • Death of a parent recounted
  • Kidnapping mentioned
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