Trigger Warnings Book Club

It's book vs. movie time!! The Love Hypothesis finally hit Prime Video, with Lili Reinhart and Tom Bateman as Olive and Adam, so we put it up against Ali Hazelwood's book. Full spoilers for both.What made the cut? Did the yearning survive? And why does Stanford's grant logic make zero sense to Holly? And Tom...ugh f**kin Tom!TRIGGER WARNING… the book and the movie both involve workplace sexual harassment, which we do discuss.STAY TO THE END. Andrew reads us the IMDb reviews, and we defend this movie’s honor. Cringe is a victimless crime, people.Pretty Little Liars or Gossip Girl?? Tell us in the comments.CURRENTLY WATCHINGAndrew — The Great British Baking ShowCJ — Supernatural and an Off Campus rewatchHolly — Pretty Little Liars and Dancing with the StarsTROPES / SPICE / TRIGGER WARNINGSTropes: fake dating · grumpy x sunshine · women in STEM · forced proximitySpice: one open-door scene, in the book and the movieTrigger warnings: workplace sexual harassment · death of a parent from cancer (in the past) · sex scene discussion · explicit languageALSO MENTIONEDThe DUFF · People We Meet on Vacation · Alchemised (SenLinYu) · The Summer I Turned Pretty · A Court of Splintered Harmony (Sarah J. Maas) · Fourth WingTALK TO US!!!Leave us a comment wherever you're listening and tell us what we should read next.Rate and review us. It helps more than you'd think.Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclubEmail: [email protected]

It's book club time again!! For October we got into book four of the Stay a Spell series, Always Practice Safe Hex by Juliette Cross.Two loathers turn into lovers… but were they really loathers at all? What got shaved, when and why? Down bad from the beginning…TRIGGER WARNING… the book touches on murder and attempted sexual assault, which we do get into.CJ opens a birthday blind date with a book from Holly and gives us the haul.If you're reading this, Holly completed the NYC Marathon!!!! Leave your congratulations in the comments or on Instagram @trigger.warnings.bookclubCURRENTLY READINGAndrew — Literally just finished the book before the podcastCJ — Between Tides & Thunder (Leena Kazak)CJ — Dungeon Crawler Carl (Matt Dinniman), on audioHolly — The Witch (Freida McFadden)Holly — Sunday Supper (K. Sinko)Holly — City of Bones (Cassandra Clare)TROPES / SPICETropes: workplace rivals to lovers · forced proximity · grumpy x sunshine · he falls first · a hero with a monster inside himSpice: open door, early and often. Bondage play. One scene where a demon is very much in charge.ALSO MENTIONEDHopeless (Elsie Silver) · Wolf Gone Wild, Resting Witch Face and Grim and Bear It (Juliette Cross) · Grim Tidings (B.K. Borison) · Pink Ink (Avina St. Graves) · Tropesick (Lauren Okie) · Dante (Sadie Kincaid) · Meghan Quinn · Kindle+, but Kindle Unlimited always in our heartsTALK TO US!!!Got a grim reaper romance that isn't Stay a Spell or Grim Tidings? Send it our way. We are enthused.Want TWBC merch? T-shirts, mugs, bookmarks, stickers… tell us. We're seeing if anyone besides us wants it.Authors: want to be interviewed on the podcast? DM us on Instagram or email [email protected] 26 in 2026 results are in. The winner (and the prize) gets named on a future episode.Leave us a comment wherever you're listening and tell us what we should read next.Rate and review us. It helps more than you'd think.Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclub

Andrew is back this week to keep us on task (try to contain yourselves), and we're joined by indie fantasy author K.N. Timofeev, creator of the Lost Guardian trilogy and the A Tale of Blades and Darkness series. We get into how leaving the Marine Corps plus one very long YouTube rabbit hole turned into two fantasy series, whether she's a plotter or a pantser, the movie trope she refuses to write, the Tolkien travel-scene problem, and why fan fiction is the ultimate "just do it." She also tells us about the map she drew that ended up in a published book. Bonus content: Holly gets assigned homework and takes a second shot at bonding a dragon.Find K.N. TimofeevSigned copies: https://www.timofeevbooks.comInstagram & TikTok: @timofeev_booksLocal to Raleigh/Wake Forest? Page 158 Books carries her books.Catch her at Between the Pages in Fayetteville, NC on November 14.Current ReadsAndrew: Always Practice Safe HexHolly: Always Practice Safe Hex, CackleCJ: Meet Cute Magic, You're the One That I Haunt, Between Tides & ThunderK.N.: SlewfootOther Books Mentioned: The Lost Guardian, Souls in the Dark, Time of Prophecy, The Serpent's Coils, The Hidden Temple, The Last Light, The Dark Gate, Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, The Lord of the Rings, The Hobbit, Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, Six of Crows, the Grishaverse, the Alex Stern series, The Clan of the Cave Bear, Tamora PierceTALK TO US!!!Leave a comment wherever you're listening and tell us: who does found family better, fantasy or college hockey?Rate and review the show. It helps other readers find us.Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclubEmail: [email protected] Pwincess: Holly is running the NYC Marathon on November 1 for The Book Fairies, getting books into the hands of kids who need them. Fundraising technically closed October 24, but the link still works. We are officially in the home stretch.Donate: https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

Andrew's out sick this week so apologies if things are more chaotic than usual. Since we've all been fighting off reading slumps for what feels like months now Holly & Caitlyn took some time this week to recommend some of their sure fire books to bust your reading slump. We've got a little something for everyone: series, cliff hangers, romance, fantasy, etc. Bonus content includes a book haul from Holly's vacation in New Hampshire and Caitlyn tells us about a dark romance themed wine tasting. Current ReadsAndrew: we don't know (how mysterious) Holly: Carl's Doomsday Scenario & The Dungeon Anarchist's CookbookCaitlyn: Always Practice Safe Hex, Fangs With Benefits & Meet Cute MagicOther Books Mentioned: Dungeon Crawler Carl, Twilight, New Moon, The MindFck Series, Ice Planet Barbarians, Ruthless Creatures, Pen Pal, Carnal Urges, Binding 13, Atmosphere, The Last Letter, Deep End, Bride, The Love Hypothesis, Love on the Brain, Love Theoretically, The Addicted Series, Gossip Girl, Pretty Little Liars, In Stormy Weather, Twisting Fates, Silver Girl, The Fake Mate, The Cruel Prince, Kiss of the Basilisk, Serpent and the Wings of Night, The Hunger Games, Black Ties & White Lies, Tourist Season, Butcher and Blackbird, Savage Hearts, Carnal Urges, Fate of a RoyalTrigger Warnings: Morning Glory Milking Farm mentioned, knotting, mafia romance, Holly's evil laugh, general chaos, fan fiction, and an oh Pwincess or two. TALK TO US!!!Leave a comment wherever you're listening and tell us what we should read for our upcoming book clubs.Rate and review the show. It helps other readers find us.Instagram: ⁠@trigger.warnings.bookclub⁠Email: [email protected] more thing. Holly is running the NYC Marathon on November 1 for The Book Fairies, getting books into the hands of kids who need them. Fundraising closes October 24. We are officially in the home stretch.Donate: ⁠https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

The secret to surviving a holiday dinner... you have to choose. Fuss or chew.North Carolina author La Toya Hankins joins us to talk Black love, sisterhood, and the power of good food.We get into all of it. Writing the South she actually lives in. The character who showed up uninvited and took over the book. Gas station snacks as a plotting philosophy. Liver pudding, fish roe, and one very important pomegranate. What to do when a third grader hijacks your computer.STAY TO THE END. CJ makes us brave Threshing on Dragonkind. One of us bonds a dragon. One of us gets incinerated. CJ has died six times. She is not giving hints.Did you bond or get incinerated?? Leave a comment and tell us what color your dragon is.WHERE TO FIND La Toya HankinsWebsite: https://latoyahankins.comBooks: SBF Seeking · Iced Tea Love · K-Rho: The Sweet Taste of SisterhoodFind them on her website, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and Libby (support your library!)See her live: Between the Pages, Fayetteville, NC, November 14CURRENTLY READINGAndrew — still in the slump (womp womp)Holly — Fuel the Fire (Krista & Becca Ritchie)CJ — Always Practice Safe Hex (Juliette Cross)La Toya — Crook Manifesto (Colson Whitehead)ALSO MENTIONEDZora Neale Hurston · Walter Mosley · Anne Rice · S.A. Cosby · Gail Carriger (Soulless) · Tomi Adeyemi (Children of Blood and Bone) · The Scammer (Tiffany D. Jackson) · Arsenic and Adobo (Mia P. Manansala) · Kingdom of Ash (Sarah J. Maas) · Threshing Day and Fourth Wing (Rebecca Yarros) · Dragonkind · Interview with the Vampire (AMC+) · past guest Adrian Andover · the Museum of the City of New York · Last Meals (YouTube) · Bojangles Bo-Berry biscuits, because it's Bo time TALK TO US!!!Leave a comment wherever you're listening and tell us what we should read for our upcoming book clubs.Rate and review the show. It helps other readers find us.Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclubEmail: [email protected] more thing. Holly is running the NYC Marathon on November 1 for The Book Fairies, getting books into the hands of kids who need them. Fundraising closes October 24. We are officially in the home stretch.Donate: https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

We had so much fun a few episodes ago when CJ asked Holly an impossible smut, marry, kill question so we decided to dedicate a full episode to the game. Each of the four rounds had a theme: contemporary, fantasy, wild card, and dark romance/villains. It wouldn't be the podcast you know and love if we didn't make a few rounds at least a little evil. Things quickly got out of hand. Trigger warnings: lot's of talk about President Snow (young and old), minor thirsting over shadow daddies, and major spoilers for the Divergent, Empyrean and Plated Prisoner series'. Books mentioned include The Windy City Series, Fourth Wing, The Deal, The Hunger Games, ACOTAR, Reckless, Lights Out, Gild and many more of our favorites!We got together in person which was crazy! Also CJ picked up Threshing Day! She also breaks down her latest book event at Brightside Books & Wine in Raleigh, NC and gives us a book haul!Current Reads: Andrew is in a reading slump (womp womp), Holly finished City of Gods and Monsters and is reading Normal People, CJ is still reading Burn of the Everflame. TALK TO US!!! Leave a comment wherever you're listening and let us know if you agree with our choices (you probably don't). Rate and review the show. It helps other readers find us.Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclubEmail: [email protected] Pwincess: Holly is running the NYC Marathon on November 1 for The Book Fairies, getting books into the hands of kids who need them. Fundraising closes October 24. Donate: ⁠https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

This month's book club pick is Dungeon Crawler Carl by Matt Dinniman. Holly read all eight....We get into all of it. The tutorial guild. The pants situation(or lack thereof). The bathroom rules. Odette's... look. The goblin nursery. The worst talk show host in the dungeon. One very important pedicure kit.A WARNING... CJ is 87% in and refuses to rate it until she's done. Listen to hear what Andrew and Holly rated it!ALSO... CJ went to a book fair in Raleigh and came home with a haul, and saw some familiar facesIf you were a crawler how long would you last???CURRENTLY READINGAndrew — Escaping Gravity (Bruce Sentar)CJ — Dungeon Crawler Carl (Matt Dinniman)Holly — Meet Cute Magic (Morgan Elizabeth)Holly — Addicted for Now (Krista & Becca Ritchie)TROPES / SPICE / TRIGGER WARNINGSTropes: LitRPG · apocalypse as reality TV · death game · human and pet duo · found family · reluctant hero with no pantsSpice: none. Trigger warnings: graphic violence and gore · death, including the death of a child · mass death of (goblin) babies played for dark comedy · murder · insects and body horror · drug use · animal cruelty (dog fighting) · grief and loss of a parent · infidelity (off page) · crude and sexual humorALSO MENTIONEDHeat of the Everflame and Burn of the Everflame (Penn Cole) · Split Fiction (video game) · Wizard101 · The Maze Runner · Gossip Girl · The Hunger Games · the Dungeon Crawler Carl TV series (Peacock) · Faun Over Me and Ritual Income (B.L. Brown) · D.C. Powers · This Safe Darkness (Alexis Maragold) · Of Blood and Aether (Harper Hawthorne) · Quite the Pair (Kathryn Kincaid) · Bright Side Books & Wine (Raleigh) · Practical Magic 2 · The Love Hypothesis (movie) · Wicker (movie, based on The Wicker Husband)TALK TO US!!!Leave a comment wherever you're listening and tell us what we should read for an upcoming book club.Rate and review the show. It helps other readers find us.Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclubEmail: [email protected] is running the NYC Marathon on November 1 for The Book Fairies, getting books into the hands of kids who need them. Fundraising closes October 24. Donate: https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

It's spooky season, so Holly and CJ are handing over their fall TBRs, plus the haul from two weeks in Ireland and Scotland.We get into all of it. Witches, werewolves, and one grim reaper. A tradwife who makes a very bad deal. A manor in Maine and the woman who may have killed her whole family. Dismemberment as a treat. The seasonal genre calendar, which is REAL and NOT NEGOTIABLE. Whether it still counts as horror if there's romance in it.ALSO. CJ's reading slump is dead and it was a five star read. We are as shocked as you are.CURRENTLY READINGAndrew - Dungeon Crawler Carl (Matt Dinniman), Escaping Gravity (Bruce Sentar), and a DNF on Consider Me (Becka Mack)Holly - Normal People (Sally Rooney), and still not The Witcher (Andrzej Sapkowski)CJ - The Wolf King (Lauren Palphreyman) and Glow of the Everflame (Penn Cole), the five-star that ended the slumpCJ'S FALL TBRRitual Income (B.L. Brown) - Witch of the Demesne #1Always Practice Safe Hex (Juliette Cross) - Stay A Spell #4Across the Vanishing Sky (Catherine Cowles) - Starlight Grove #1Burn of the Everflame (Penn Cole) - Kindred's Curse Saga #4Meet Cute Magic (Morgan Elizabeth) - claimed by Holly on air, so we are down to fourHOLLY'S FALL TBRMeet Cute Magic (Morgan Elizabeth) - Heartwood HollowThe Haunting of William Thorn (Ben Alderson)Trad Wife (Saratoga Schaefer)Brimstone (Callie Hart) - Fae & Alchemy #2THE RECOMMENDATIONSHolly - Cackle (Rachel Harrison), the annual reread. A Halloween Hallmark movie with an edge.Holly - The Only One Left (Riley Sager), if you actually want to be spookedCJ - Tourist Season (Brynne Weaver) - Seasons of Carnage #1CJ - Not the Witch You Wed (April Asher) - Supernatural Singles #1CJ - Morbidly Yours (Ivy Fairbanks) - Love in Galway #1Bonus - the whole Stay A Spell series (Juliette Cross), starting with Wolf Gone WildHOLLY'S IRELAND & SCOTLAND HAULThe Names (Florence Knapp) The Future Saints (Ashley Winstead) Pretty Reckless (L.J. Shen)The Midnight Feast (Lucy Foley) ALSO MENTIONEDSpark of the Everflame and Heat of the Everflame (Penn Cole) · Mile High (Liz Tomforde) · Throne of Glass, Heir of Fire and Kingdom of Ash (Sarah J. Maas) · Yesteryear (Caro Claire Burke) · Say You Swear (Meagan Brandy) · Boys of Tommen (Chloe Walsh)· The Love Hypothesis (Ali Hazelwood), on Prime Video September 23 · Bright Side Books & Wine in Raleigh · past guests B.L. Brown and DC PowersTROPES / SPICE / TRIGGER WARNINGSFor the books we talk about: pregnancy horror and body horror (Trad Wife), family annihilation and disability (The Only One Left), graphic violence and dismemberment (Tourist Season), grief and infidelity (The Haunting of William Thorn), domestic abuse (The Names), addiction and hallucination (The Future Saints), bullying and dubious consent (Pretty Reckless).TALK TO US!!!Team horror or team absolutely not? Leave a comment wherever you're listening and tell us what we should read for our upcoming book clubs.If you liked this one, a rating helps more than you'd think.Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/trigger.warnings.bookclubEmail: [email protected] more thing. Holly is running the New York City Marathon on November 1st, raising money for Book Fairies, a charity that gets books into the hands of kids who need them. We are officially in the home stretch. Every little bit helps.Donate: https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

Our guest quit her job in Nashville and moved to North Carolina to become an actress. Three months later the world shut down…so she started writing about the Carolina coast instead. This week we're joined by Courtney G. Foutz, who writes contemporary romance and women's fiction as Courtney Giardina. We get into all of it. The journal she kept through a divorce, and what happened when she started sharing it online. Running an independent publishing house, and the cupcake crawl she booked across Toronto to launch somebody else's novel. How you fill a small town with liars when only one of them is a murderer. Why chasing a perfect first draft is the thing slowing you down. ANDREW WAS ON VACATION AGAIN…so we have too much freedom to tangent! STAY TO THE END…there is no book content, just some really…WEIRD…vibes.  FIND COURTNEY Website — https://www.courtneygiardina.comInstagram — @courtneygfoutzTikTok — @courtneygwritesNewsletter — https://courtneygfoutz.substack.com Signed paperbacks and full collections are available direct through her website. Everything is also on Amazon, in Kindle Unlimited, ebook and paperback.  HER BOOKS Tear Stained Beaches (Loving Carolina #1)Holding On To Georgia (Loving Carolina #2)Behind the StringsBlue Haven Mysteries The Women of Seaglass Bay CURRENTLY READING Holly — Book one of The WitcherCJ — More Than Friends (Kat Singleton),Kiss of the BasiliskCourtney — Dogs, Boys, and Other Things I've Cried About (Isabel Klee), and about to start The Thursday Murder Club (Richard Osman)  ALSO MENTIONED Elin Hilderbrand — The Five-Star Weekend · The Hotel Nantucket · Silver Girl · The Perfect Couple · the Paradise trilogyThe Outsiders (S.E. Hinton) · The Finley Donovan series · A Discovery of Witches · Atmosphere (Taylor Jenkins Reid) · Onyx Storm · Morgan Elizabeth · Windy City (Liz Tomforde) · Freida McFadden · Steve Higgs  TROPES: friends to lovers, second chance, single dad, billionaire, small town, cozy mystery. Enemies to lovers, discussed with suspicion. SPICE: Low. This one is cozy. TRIGGER WARNINGS: Discussion of divorce and leaving a bad marriage; murder (but in the mystery sense).  TALK TO US!!! We really love our community, feel free to reach out :) DM us on Instagram or email [email protected] Currently reading something great? Leave us a comment wherever you're listening. If you've been with us a while, a rating is the one thing that puts this show in front of people like you. Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclub Holly is running the NYC Marathon in November to support The Book Fairies! Consider giving a donation:https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101 

This week we're joined by indie author D.C. Powers to talk about The Stalker's Playlist.Cindel is deaf. She finds a single earbud left behind at the pub where she bartends, and the songs that start playing are laced with messages about her own past. Her brother is dead. Her boyfriend vanished. Somebody is following her…and he is the only one telling her the truth.We get into all of it. Why a book about music has a deaf main character, and why that was the whole point. The earbud versus the hearing aid, and the consent question hiding in that choice. And how many words are too many for a debut novel?Also DC never watched a single episode of The Sopranos, but she did the research to make the mafia a major antagonist.Are dystopian novels a gateway to dark romance??Andrew also asked an AI for a book recommendation instead of asking the two people he makes a book podcast with. Can you believe this guy?!STAY TO THE END. CJ went to the Hear Me Out Committee at Bright Side Books for a live Smut, Marry, Kill…and then she did one to Holly. Holly cries. Andrew makes it worse. Somebody gets blocked.CATCH D.C. POWERS IN PERSONSeptember 19, 11 to 4, Bright Side Books in Raleigh, NC. Special editions and painted edge copies. The Stalker's Playlist is out now, also on Kindle Unlimited, and you can buy it direct with bundled goodies at https://authordcpowers.comA free ebook event is coming late October.Instagram and TikTok: @authordcpowersCURRENTLY READINGHolly — The Midnight Feast (Lucy Foley), and still chipping away at The Witcher for her 26 in 2026CJ — Boardroom Sins (Nicole Fox)Andrew — Dungeon Crawler Carl on audio, and Consider Me (Becka Mack)DC — Harvest Season (Brynne Weaver), The More the Merrier (Sybil Knight), and Hollow HellionALSO MENTIONEDThe Never King and The Never Queen (Nikki St. Crowe, Vicious Lost BoysThe Giver quartet (Lois Lowry)The Plated Prisoner series (Raven Kennedy)Lights Out · Throne of Glass · A Court of Silver Flames · The Wolf King · Bridgerton · Windy CityTROPES: stalker romance, dark romance, mafia, kidnapping, forced proximity, fake dating, primal play, mask kink.SPICE: HighTRIGGER WARNINGS: Discussion of stalking, kidnapping, murder, cartel violence, and dubious consent; frank talk about sex, kink and explicit content; disability and deafness discussed at length; brief mention of a predatory teacher character. Light spoilers for Throne of Glass, A Court of Silver Flames and Bridgerton in the final segment.TALK TO US!!!We really love our community, feel free to reach out :)DM us on Instagram or email [email protected] reading something great? Leave us a comment wherever you're listening.If you've been with us a while, a rating is the one thing that puts this show in front of people like you.Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclubHolly is running the NYC Marathon in November to support The Book Fairies! Consider giving a donation:https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101