A (Small) List of Trigger Warnings You Can Use

Trigger warnings in books is a much talked topic in the bookish world and most often on Twitter. I personally find trigger warnings very important. But many others have already said everything about it that I have wanted to so below I will link you to their posts so you can check those out to make up your own mind.

The Cursed Books / Brittany the Book Guru / Word Wonders / Wonderfully Bookish / If you have written one let me know and I’ll link it here.

Something that I hear a lot is that people do want to use trigger warnings but they aren’t sure what are triggers or content warnings they can share. When I first started using trigger and content warnings I found this hard as well. Looking at reviews of those that use these warnings of books I’d read as well I’ve learned what fits there.

However I am always willing to help and so I have made a list of trigger and content warnings that can be used for those that find it tricky.

First things first however:

This is by no means THE list or an extensive list. This list is just to help those starting out with the trigger warnings. I can assure you that once you get more comfortable with using them in your reviews that you will not need a list like these to help you out.

We are all very diverse and different people and what might not be a trigger for you, can still be one for someone else. Always consider that when you start writing down your warnings. We are listing these warnings to help others, not ourselves. Also poc might use different and more detailed trigger warnings for racial ones, which the same goes for any of these categories and the people who are affected by them. They know more on this. Remember that.

With all you can add / Mentioned / Suggested / On Page / Off the Page/ Implied / Threatening/ Talking of/  Attempted /  to make more clear if it is mild or big or in what way it is in the book.  I took most of those out of the trigger warnings below as it cluttered it up.

It is up to you on how detailed you want to make your trigger warnings. However never see them as spoilers. They are not.

Racial and Religious

Racism	Racial Slurs	Racial Profiling
Use of the Word Savage	Slavery	Talk of Superior Race
Police Brutality	Microagressions	Colorism
Prejudice	Genocide	Islamphobia
Antisemitism	Witch Prosecution	Concentration Camps

LGBTQ+

Acephobia	Homophobia	Biphobia
Transphobia	Bi-Erasure	Internalized Acephobia/Homophobia/ Transphobia etc
Triggering talk regarding pronouns	Deathnaming Character	Misgendering
Forced Outing of Character

Mental Health

Suicide	Hanging (by suicide)	Suicide Ideation
Self-Harm	Cutting	Scars
Trivializing Mental Illness	Romanticized Mental Illness	PTSD
Emotional Abuse	Controlling Parents	Panic Attacks
Drug Use	Drug Addiction	Alcholism
Alcohol/Drug Withdrawel	Trauma	Child Abandonnement
Eating Disorders	Confrontation Rapist/Abuser	Nightmares about Traumatic Events
Locking up MH Patient against their will

Disabilities

Curing of Speech-Impaired Character	Curing of Disabilities	Lifechanging injury
Ableism	Ableistic language	Detailed Medical Talk
Seizures	Paralyzed

Sexual Content

Explicit Sex Scene	Nudeness (Graphic Novel)	Masturbation
Blowjob	Sex with a Minor	Pedophilia
Sexual Predator	Sexual Abuse	Incest
Human Traficking	Sex Slaves

Violence and Death

Death	Death of a Loved One	Infant Death
Animal Death	Graphic Deaths	Mass Death
Murder	Execution	Burned at the Stake
Hangings (Not by suicide)	Decapitation	Suffocation
Burning People	Extreme Violence	Gore
Torture	Mutilation	Self-Mutilation
Mutilation of Corpses	Cutting of Limbs	Forced Blood Draining
Threatening baby/child	Violence against Children	Child Abuse
Physical Abuse	Domestic Abuse	Animal Cruelty
Escalating Violence	Described Blood	Graphic Violence
Doxxing

Other

Slut Shaming	Drugging Someone Against Their Will	Miscarriage
Body Shaming	Female Oppression	Forced Marriage
Fat Phobia	Underage Drinking	Kidnapping
Hostage Situation

Other Great Resources Regarding Trigger Warnings

Lauren Hannah’s Book Trigger List / Of Wonderland’s Trigger Warning Master List / Content Warning Database / Again if you have one of these lists let me know and I will like you here.