I’m a pretty firm believer in trigger warnings, so now that the ARCs for Controlled Burn are out in the world, I thought it would be a good time to talk about some of the triggering aspects of my debut. I don’t want anyone to be blindsided or inadvertently hurt by something that is easily divulged. I hope these warnings reach those who need it.
- Death/Grief
The main character, Joel, is actively dealing with the death of his high school sweetheart. It has been 3 years since the death, but he has never learned to cope with the trauma so it is a reoccurring element of the story.
- Attempted suicide in secondary character
This is a big one, and I want anyone who reads this that might be triggered by a secondary character/family member character dealing with depression and suicidal actions to go into the story with eyes wide open. A secondary character does try to commit suicide. It happens off page. If you have any questions about this, or if you need more information to determine if this is a safe read for you, feel free to use the contact form on this website to get in touch. I’ll give you as much info as you need.
- Homophobia/Language
Both of the main characters have dealt and continue to deal with homophobia, especially from their families. This includes instances of homophobic language. Again, if you need specifics about this, feel free to contact me.
- Description of a fatal car accident
Joel describes his high school boyfriend’s fatal car accident. The descriptions are specific and detailed and might be distressing to some.
- Alcohol consumption
- On-page vomiting (non-descriptive)
- Explicit sex
Now, I’m also going to provide two spoiler-y warnings. I don’t consider these triggers, but I know that some readers have strong feelings about certain things in their romance so I wanted to provide a heads up. If you don’t want spoilers, do not read on!!
- Multiple Partners
The main character, Joel, has multiple sexual partners in the story. He sleeps with one person, on page, before he gets together with the other main character. The other MC also dates someone else during the time the two main characters are broken up, but this all happens off page. There is no cheating in this book.
- Language/Verbal Fights
The main characters both say harsh, mean things to each other at certain points in the book when they are fighting. They act immaturely, but, I hope, they redeem themselves. That, of course, is for the readers to decide! 🙂
I hope that this posts helps some readers decide if this is a safe read for them. Again, if you have any questions, or need more detail, let me know. I’m happy to help!