Tag Archives: Mutilation

This page lists books that contain trigger warnings for the depiction of mutilation: an injury that causes permanent damage, detachment or disfigurement. This includes consensual acts (i.e., ritual scarification) and nonconsensual acts (i.e., branding).

For other injuries, see Branding and Needles.

My Soul to Keep by Tananarive Due

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When Jessica marries David, he is everything she wants in a family man: brilliant, attentive, ever youthful. Yet she still feels something about him is just out of reach. Soon, as people close to Jessica begin to meet violent, mysterious deaths, David makes an unimaginable confession: More than 400 years ago, he and other members of an Ethiopian sect traded their humanity so they would never die, a secret he must protect at any cost. Now, his immortal brethren have decided David must return and leave his family in Miami. Instead, David vows to invoke a forbidden ritual to… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Misogyny
  • Slavery & racial slurs
  • Infidelity
  • Emotional abuse & gaslighting
  • Elder abuse
  • Domestic violence
  • Self-mutilation
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Graphic murder, including filicide by drugging & asphixiation
  • Stalking
  • Animal death (dog)
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Ruthless Villains by Marion Blackwood

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In a world where magic is distributed equally, there are some people who refuse to share their power. Dark mages. Lethal. Selfish. And utterly without morals. Audrey Sable is one of them. As a poison mage, she can bring men to their knees with a flick of her wrist. But the man she really wants to kill will not go down so easily. Callan Blackwell is also a powerful dark mage, and he would like nothing better than to see Audrey beg for mercy at his feet. But their hatred for one another will have to wait. When the heroic champions of equality prepare to launch an attack that will wipe… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Classism & persecution for witchcraft
  • Intimate partner abuse & violence
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Blood & injury depiction, including decapitation, dismemberment, loss of limb & mutilation
  • Torture
  • Knife violence
  • Strangulation
  • Poisoning
  • Physical assault (beating)
  • Home invasion
  • Kidnapping & hostage situation
  • Imprisonment
  • Blackmail
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Poisoning Ivy by Carly Claire

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The mountain was always my safe place… until it wasn’t. It was my refuge from the cold loneliness of the city, from my parent’s loveless marriage, from their anger and chaos. Even when they left me with my creepy uncle, I looked forward to summers at the cabin, especially after I met them. The reapers. Killian, Monty, and Theo. They were my friends, the secret I kept to make my life tolerable. And then one summer, their friendship turned into something sinister. Their hatred kept me alive, fed a part of me that needed it. I thought it turned into something more, but then… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Homophobia
  • Sex trafficking mentioned (off-page)
  • Child physical & sexual abuse and neglect (implied)
  • Rape & dubious consent (‘dubcon’), including forced voyeurism and gun play
  • Depression & suicidal ideation
  • Domestic abuse
  • Pregnancy discussed
  • Mutilation
  • Murder
  • Home invasion
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Scythe and Sparrow by Brynne Weaver

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Doctor Fionn Kane is running from a broken heart, one he hopes to mend in small-town Nebraska, far away from his almost-fiance and his derailed surgical career. It’s a simpler head down, hard work, and absolutely no romantic relationships. He wants none of the circus he left behind in Boston. But then the real circus finds him. Motorcycle performer Rose Evans has spent a decade on the road with the Silveria Circus, and it suits her just fine, especially when she has the urge to indulge in a little murder when she’s not in the spotlight. But, when a kill goes awry and she ends up with an… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Graphic mutilation
  • Murder
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Rebel Witch by Kristen Ciccarelli

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Rune Winters is on the run. Ever since the boy she loved, Gideon Sharpe, revealed who she was and delivered her into enemy hands, everyone wants her dead. If Rune hopes to survive, she must ally herself with the cruel and dangerous Cressida Roseblood, who’s planning to take back the Republic and reinstate a Reign of Witches—something Cressida needs Rune to accomplish. Apparently it wasn’t enough for Rune to deceive Gideon; she’s now betrayed him by allying herself with the witch who made his life a living hell. Gideon won’t allow the Republic to fall to the witches and be plunged back into the nightmare… Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Sexual assault
  • Blood & injury depiction including mentions of a secondary character getting their ear removed without consent (on-page)
  • Execution of a grandmother recounted
  • Murder of a brother from gun violence
  • Gun & cannon violence
  • Physical assault & strangulation
  • Kidnapping of an infant mentioned
  • Near-fatal whipping
  • Alcohol consumption (on-page)
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The Dryad Storm by Laurie Forest

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Black Witch of prophecy Elloren Gardner Grey has unleashed her powers and embraced her legacy as a Dryad and guardian of the Forest. But the losses—of life, of love—have been almost too great to withstand as the Shadow continues to devour the world. With only a tattered shred of hope remaining, the Bearers of the Wand of Myth must battle their way back to each other to mount a final stand. But Elloren and her allies are not only facing Mage Vogel’s advancing forces—the armies of the Eastern Realm will stop at nothing to see the Black Witch struck down. With Elloren’s…. Read more.

Goodreads • The Story Graph

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Substance addiction recovery
  • Blood & injury depiction including broken bones and the mutilation of an ear
  • Death of a husband recounted
  • Murder by stabbing & decapitation of a sexual assault perpetrator
  • War themes & battle scenes including soldiers being burned or frozen to death and stabbed with magical ice shards
  • Animal death, cruelty & injury
  • Animal attack including a character being crushed by a dragon
  • Forest fires
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The Ever Queen by LJ Andrews

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The Songbird: Captive. Challenger. Queen. Enemies took her from the man who holds her heart. They might see her as weak, as a pawn in wicked games, but they’re no match for the first Ever Queen. Let them think they’ve won. Her heart belongs to a beautiful monster, and she will never stop fighting until she’s back in his arms. The Serpent: Captor. Villain. King. His enemies stole the woman who claimed his soul. They betrayed him out of greed and desire for the crown, but they won’t die for that betrayal. No. They’ll die for touching… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Attempted sexual assault (on-page, secondary character)
  • Graphic blood & gore depiction
  • Emesis
  • Murder
  • Torture & mutilation
  • Kidnapping
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Twisted by Emily McIntire

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Yasmin Karam, daughter to one of the richest men in the world, has never known strife. So, when her beloved father falls ill, she’s determined to make his final days his happiest. His last wish? To see her married to a man of his choosing. Except Yasmin’s heart already belongs to someone else. A servant. A street rat. A man her father would never consider worthy. Stuck between a rock and a hard place, Yasmin strikes a desperate deal with her father’s right-hand man, Julian, not realizing he has his own twisted agenda. Julian Faraci has one goal: become the most powerful man in… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Domestic violence & child abuse mentioned
  • Alcohol consumption
  • Death from childbirth menttioned
  • Blood & gore depiction including emesis, graphic mutilation, and dead bodies
  • Murder
  • Graphic torture
  • Gun violence
  • Car accident (off-page)
  • Kidnapping
  • Whipping
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A Drop of Venom by Sajni Patel

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Sixteen-year-old Manisha is no stranger to monsters—she’s been running from them for years, from beasts who roam the jungle to the King’s army, who forced her people, the naga, to scatter to the ends of the earth. You might think that the kingdom’s famed holy temples atop the floating mountains, where Manisha is now a priestess, would be safe—but you would be wrong. Seventeen-year-old Pratyush is a famed slayer of monsters, one of the King’s most prized warriors and a frequent visitor to the floating temples. For every monster the slayer kills, years are added to his life. You might think such a powerful warrior could… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Rape discussed
  • Blood, gore & body horror including mutilation in which women have their mouths sewn shut and tongues cut out
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Soul of the Deep by Natasha Bowen

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Simi prayed to the gods, once. Now she serves them as Mami Wata–a mermaid–collecting the souls of those who die at sea and blessing their journeys back home. But when a living boy is thrown overboard, Simi goes against an ancient decree and does the unthinkable–she saves his life. And punishment awaits those who dare to defy the gods. To protect the other Mami Wata, Simi must journey to the Supreme Creator to make amends. But all is not as it seems. There’s the boy she rescued, who knows more than he should. And something is shadowing Simi, something that would rather see her fail. Danger lurks at every… Read more.

Goodreads

Trigger and Content Warnings

  • Slavery discussed
  • Alcohol consumption (wine)
  • Blood, gore and injury depiction including dead bodies
  • Mutilation & eye trauma mentioned
  • Grief and loss depiction
  • Death of a friend, on-page
  • Murder and attempted murder
  • Massacres mentioned
  • Sword, knife and axe violence
  • Kidnapping and captivity
  • War themes and battles scenes , on-page
  • Animal death mentioned (elephant)
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