Thank you all for your support, and take care of yourselves!
This Vicious Grace and This Cursed Light are intended for readers age 13 and up and deal with topics of grief and death. As such, there is content included that may be sensitive for some readers. While I’ve done my best to approach all topics with thought and care, I want to make sure every reader has the information they need to protect themselves. In my attempt to be as thorough as possible, I am including any topic, however briefly mentioned, that I think may concern readers, but please note that many of the warnings listed are vague, brief, and off-page. For those familiar with the young adult fantasy genre, I don’t think anything depicted in the duology is beyond the typical range for this genre.
Spoiler-free list (* = further information provided below the spoiler line)
On page depiction: both books contain scenes of war, violence, alcohol use, blood, internalized self-ableism*, familial estrangement, PTSD, assault (not sexual)*, attempted murder, a character considers taking their life* in This Vicious Grace (not suicidal ideation), sex (consensual, non-explicit).
Re: Ableism: Both stories feature characters grappling with disability (ADHD) and/or recovery from serious injury, and those situations in real life often come with negative self-talk/self-perception as develop and grow in how they see themselves vs how the world perceives them. As an author and a person with a disability, I believe readers deserve a reflection of authentic lived experiences and this means that characters may at times think things about themselves that are unkind. The process of self-acceptance is often messy but worthwhile. If you can relate to their feelings, please know that we are all perfectly imperfect and you are worthy of love and respect.
References (off-page/non-graphic): murder, mob-violence, death, allusions to past child neglect/abuse, accidental death of a child. None of this is depicted on page, only mentioned briefly in backstory.
Discrimination toward a group for their magical ability.
In This Cursed Light, a main character struggles with bouts of memory loss and mental disassociation, while other individuals are subject to mental manipulation/mind control. There is also a battle scene where people of all ages are depicted as being at risk of possible injury or death (see below for vague spoilers.)
Special mentions/further details (Warning: SPOILERS AHEAD)
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Special concerns for those sensitive to:
SA: There is no rape, sexual assault or attempted sexual assault in either book, but in This Vicious Grace, there is a physical attack in chapter seven that may be triggering to readers as it begins when the main character is sleeping, and involves her waking up as a stranger attempts to kill her via choking. Again, there is no sexual assault implied, but I recognize that the nature of this attack could trigger readers who interpret it thus, so please be aware. You can avoid this section by skipping the last part of Chapter Seven starting halfway down page 57.
Consent: In addition, in This Vicious Grace there is a scene where consent is muddied when a character who is asleep briefly gets handsy with the main character (who would be fine with it if they were both awake), before the other character realizes they are not awake and puts a stop to it.
Violence: Alessa, the main character in This Vicious Grace, is subjected to multiple assassination attempts, and one accidental near-fatal wound.
In both books, Dante suffers from PTSD as a result of the violent deaths of his parents and the subsequent abuse and neglect he faced.
Child death: In This Vicious Grace there is a brief mention of the off-page death of a child who died from a fall prior to the events in the book.
THIS CURSED LIGHT Vague spoilers:
In This Cursed Light, Dante faces repercussions from his bout with death and the long and difficult recovery that followed, along with the loss of his powers. As is common with people who have faced their mortality at a young age, and as would make sense for a previously almost-invincible person who no longer has those powers, he struggles to process his new limitations, engages in negative self talk and thoughts of being “less than” or “broken.” He’s also processing some internalized ideas about masculinity and strength.
In This Cursed Light, there is a battle involving serious wounds and death. Children are depicted as being in danger of serious injury or death, but they are not physically harmed.