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10 Things That Never Happened, Alexis Hall (Book)
101 Pieces of Me, Veronica Bennett (Book)
Chapter 48-51: photos (arranged by the perpetrator) are taken of the incident.
11.22.63, Stephen King (Book)
The main character is approached by a girl implied to be an underage sex worker. When meeting the female lead, she trips and the main character catches her, accidentally fondling her breast in the process. She does not appear to notice. When the main character purchases condoms, the store clerk winks at him and tells him "not to do anything against the law". The main character tries to recruit the help of an impoverished mother, offering her money in exchange. At first, she assumes he intends to ask for something sexual and appears uncomfortable at the idea. When the female lead is recounting her experience with her abusive ex-husband, she mentions a "broom" he used for something during their relationship. The main character ponders whether or not this broom was used in a sexual manner, but it is later revealed not to be the case. Later on, the same ex-husband is revealed to have been stalking the female lead. He attacks her and takes her hostage, disfiguring her with a knife and calling her and the male lead derogatory terms for being sexually active. No sexual assault takes place, however.
13 Things Mentally Strong People Don't Do, Amy Morin (Book)
There is passing mention of the childhood sexual assault that Oprah Winfrey experienced.
14 Ways to Die, Vincent Ralph (Book)
There are a few vague references to the idea of men being creeps online, but nothing involving that happens in the book.
1491, Charles C. Mann (Book)
On a few occasions, rape is briefly mentioned in the context of the European colonisation of the Americas.
1776, David McCullough (Book)
The author discusses reports of troops on both sides raping American colonists during the war, including a contemporary account of British and Hessian soldiers forcing male family members to watch the acts.
1Q84, Haruki Murakami (Book)
Sexual violence against female characters is discussed several times, largely focusing on its emotional impact on the survivors. However, in chapter 5 a female protagonist pressures a man into sex despite his continuous ambivalence about it, and this is handled rather insensitively. Child sexual abuse is explicitly described.
Abel, Katee Robert (Book)
Abolish the Family, Sophie Lewis (Book)
The author discusses how families are the most common site of abuse and sexual violence. She also references the sexual violence perpetrated by colonizers, slave holders, and staff at Indian boarding schools
The Absinthe Underground, Jamie Pacton (Book)
The Abyss Surrounds Us, Emily Skrutskie (Book)
Worthy of note: a female character forces her female prisoner to literally share a bed with her, but it is clearly about security and nothing sexual happens.
Academic Ableism, Jay T. Dolmage (Book)
The author discusses general statistics on sexual violence on college campuses, statistics related to how disabled people in general and disabled women in particular are disproportionately victims of rape and sexual assault; and sexual violence in films.
Accountable, Dashka Slater (Book)
The book examines the impact of a high school student-run social media account that shared racist memes, often targeting specific students of color, particularly Black girls. Some of the memes were also sexually harassing or body shaming in nature. A father is mentioned to have been arrested for possession of child pornography. A teacher commits suicide after it comes to light that he molested students.
Ace, Angela Chen (Book)
The author covers in detail the case of Carrie Buck, a woman who was raped and impregnated by her adoptive parents’ nephew. She was then institutionalized and sterilized. In chapters 8 and 9, the author explores the ways in which sex can be consensual but still unwanted, and she argues that the phrase “rape isn’t sex” is often unhelpful for asexual and aromantic people. Throughout the book, there are references to the rape of enslaved women, as well as legal and societal understandings of marital rape.
Ache for You, J.T. Geissinger (Book)
Across a Field of Starlight, Blue Delliquanti (Book)
One of the protagonist's kisses the other, assuming that it is what the latter wants, and it is not.
Act Your Age, Eve Brown, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Worthy of note: the two romantic leads are a manager and his employee. There are continual discussions about the power dynamic in their relationship, and both parties give enthusiastic consent in each of the described sexual encounters.
Activation Degradation, Marina J. Lostetter (Book)
The protagonist is unaware of sex or sexuality and watches two secondary characters engage in foreplay (kissing, groping, undressing) without their knowledge or consent. The protagonist enjoys this and wishes to continue watching but does not.
Adaptation, Malinda Lo (Book)
Chapter 15: a young female character kisses another female teen after the second character has stated that she is straight. She decides she is into it, but did not actually consent. Chapter 31: a female teen is forced to strip and undergo medical examination against her will (by female doctor with male assistants) Spoilers: a love interest entered a relationship under entirely false pretenses. The teen girl protagonist regrets dating that love interest once her story and motivations are revealed.
The Aeronaut's Windlass, Jim Butcher (Book)
There is one brief moment when a hostage/prisoner character is justifiably afraid she will be raped, but no one attempts to hurt her and her safety is guaranteed shortly thereafter.
The Affair of the Mysterious Letter, Alexis Hall (Book)
At one point, the trans man main character is being seduced while under the mind control of supernatural beings who clearly intend to kill him. He is rescued before things go very far and the specifics of the seduction are not much detailed.
After the Rain, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Afterlife, Julia Alvarez (Book)
There is passing reference to coyotes raping women they are assisting to cross the border. Worthy of note: a character calls his girlfriend bitch and whore for having a baby with another man.
Against the Lockers, Aiden E. Messer (Book)
Agnes Moor's Wild Knight, Alyssa Cole (Book)
Worthy of note: the premise of the story is that the king and queen of England have offered up a kiss from the protagonist as a prize in a tourney for noblemen. The protagonist is uncomfortable with the possibility that she would have to kiss someone she’s not attracted to or someone who has a bigoted opinion of her for being African. However, this ends up being a moot point because the person who wins ends up being someone she’s met before and is attracted to. The royal couple’s real-life historical counterparts were a 30-year-old king who married a 14-year-old girl. This was, of course, common at the time. However, you wouldn’t know from reading this because in this novella the two are portrayed as adults.
The Agony Chamber, Morgan Sylvia (Book)
Rape is mentioned in passing as one of the terrible things than humans do.
The A.I. Who Loved Me, Alyssa Cole (Book)
The book contains conversations about whether it is ethical for the protagonist to have sex with the titular AI character, considering that he might interpret his programming to mean that he has to do whatever a human wants. The AI character dismisses this ethical dilemma and says that he has the ability to choose what he wants.
Akata Warrior, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Akata Witch, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
A boy uses magic to make a girl's clothing tighter across her breasts in front of a group of people.
Akata Woman, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Akira, Katsuhiro Otomo (Book)
Volume 4: several girls are given drugs so the protagonist can rape them. The direct sexual assault is not shown, but very plainly discussed.
Alastair: Sons of the Fallen Book 7, Jaclyn Osborn (Book)
There are mentions of rape as a crime. Chapter 4: a captured angel is threatened with rape as a means of torture, this is referenced again in later chapters.
Alexander the Great, Philip Freeman (Book)
Rape of both men and women are discussed in a historical context as part of war and slavery. Details of gang rape are discussed as it instigated a significant historical event.
Alice in Borderland, Haro Aso (Book)
A man attempts to rape the heroine three times.
All Boys Aren't Blue, George M. Johnson (Book)
In one of the essays, the author graphically describes an instance of incest they experienced as a kid.
All the Horses of Iceland, Sarah Tolmie (Book)
The male main character is given a bondswoman concubine. It is implied that they had sex, with no details about the circumstances or the woman's feelings on the matter.
All the Light We Cannot See, Anthony Doerr (Book)
Late in the novel, a group of women prepare to be (and are) assaulted when the allied forces take Berlin. The passage is few pages long.
All My Rage, Sabaa Tahir (Book)
It is heavily implied throughout the book that a main character was sexually assaulted as a child.
All the Stars and Teeth, Adalyn Grace (Book)
There is one scene where several characters are under a siren spell and are kissed by said siren to break it. They do not consent to this kiss.
All Systems Red, Martha Wells (Book)
All the Things We Never Said, Yasmin Rahman (Book)
One of the protagonists has suicidal ideation because her mother's boyfriend molests her.
All of This is True, Lygia Day Penaflor (Book)
The novel explores a toxic, inappropriate relationship between four teenagers an adult author they idolize. One of the teens defends her behavior and refuses to see she did anything wrong, while two of the others feel used, manipulated, and hurt. One of the character's parents specifically calls the relationship the author had with the teens, and the way the teens would spread her message to others, as being cultlike. The author's behavior is manipulative and has a lot in common with grooming, although nothing physical happens on-page. She is inappropriately familiar and emotionally close with the teens, including having them over to her house and giving one of them a key, and gets one of them to tell her details of her romantic and sexual relationship with one of the other teens. She encourages the teens to share intimate and personal details with her, with the intent of using it as fodder for her writing. It is deliberately murky whether she cared about the teens at all as people. One of the teens admits to having suspected the author was having a romantic or sexual relationship with one of them, but it's never entirely clear if she's right. A major event in the backstory is an instance of sexual assault and hazing that took place at a high school. For much of the novel, one of the characters is assumed to have been the victim of the hazing; however, it is eventually discovered that he was actually a perpetrator. The book-within-a-book that dramatizes the in-universe events (written by the author who has been basing her work off the teenagers she's cultivated a relationship with) portrays the perpetrator as remorseful of his actions and being a good person who did something terrible. The characters all have different opinions on this, and we never see the perpetrator's actual thoughts, or hear from him directly, only seeing him through other's eyes. The victim similarly never makes an appearance.
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things, Bryn Greenwood (Book)
The relationship between the child, starting when she is 9 and a 24 adult man, is romanticized.
Allow Me to Introduce Myself, Onyi Nwabineli (Book)
The protagonist is the stepdaughter of a mommy blogger/influencer. This stepmother became famous by recording and writing about her family life, mostly through intense focus on the protagonist, who she started blogging about when the protagonist was a baby. As the protagonist gets older, she becomes less and less comfortable with being the subject of her stepmother's successful media empire. The protagonist gets emancipated as a teenager. As an adult, the protagonist has a sexual experience where her partner knew her from her stepmother's social media, but didn't tell her until after they'd had sex. Specifically, he comments on how a scar on her hip, which he first saw in a video by her stepmother when the protagonist was a child, looks different in real life. In the climax of the book, the protagonist learns that people have uploaded photos of her younger sister, who is the new subject of her stepmother's social media, to pedophilia-oriented areas of the dark web. The protagonist also learns that her stepmother has known about this fact for a long time and hasn't told the protagonist's father. Nothing bad happens to the sister, but the last quarter or so of the book deals with the fallout from the protagonist confronting her stepmother about these photos.
The Alpha and His King, Kiki Clark (Book)
Amateur, Thomas Page McBee (Book)
In several chapters, the author discusses his experiences of childhood sexual abuse at the hands of his stepfather. There are no on-page descriptions of what those specific instances of abuse entailed. There is also passing mention of the rape allegations against Mike Tyson and Harvey Weinstein.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay, Michael Chabon (Book)
There is a description of the events immediately before and after a coercive rape committed by a police officer against a gay man. Non-graphic.
The Amber Spyglass, Philip Pullman (Book)
American Pastoral, Philip Roth (Book)
The main character learns that his daughter was raped. The rape is not described in detail, but the main character’s feelings toward the event are explored in detail. There is a description of his own imagining of the rape.
American Royals, Katharine McGee (Book)
Americanah, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Book)
The protagonist, desperate for money, answers an ad for a man who wants someone to help him "relax." He claims that he wants her to massage him, but he requests that she come to his house and lie down in his bed with him. He touches her sexually and makes her uncomfortable. She accepts his payment, leaves, and never returns. This experience, in addition to the alienation she had already been feeling, causes her to go into a deep depression.
Among the Barons, Margaret Peterson Haddix (Book)
Among the Betrayed, Margaret Peterson Haddix (Book)
Among the Brave, Margaret Peterson Haddix (Book)
Among the Enemy, Margaret Peterson Haddix (Book)
Among the Free, Margaret Peterson Haddix (Book)
Among the Hidden, Margaret Peterson Haddix (Book)
Among the Impostors, Margaret Peterson Haddix (Book)
An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Hank Green (Book)
An Ember in the Ashes, Sabaa Tahir (Book)
An Extraordinary Union, Alyssa Cole (Book)
The main characters in this romance are a free Black woman and a white Scottish man who are fellow spies for the Union during the American Civil War. When the two first meet, she is worried that he will rape her. She does not know that he is a fellow spy at this point. Later on, the two have real conversations about the power dynamics of a white man being with a Black woman. Nevertheless, their relationship is presented as wholly consensual. The main male character's mother was gang raped prior to the events of the book and bore a child as a result. There is a scene where the main female character is undercover as a man, and when she is found out by slave catchers, the men start touching her body and trying to remove her clothing. They are stopped before they get very far. An antagonist female character accuses the main male character of attempting to rape her. It is very clear in context that she is lying and trying to get him in trouble.
An Indigenous People's History of the United States, Roxanne Dunbar-Ortiz (Book)
In several places, this book details how sexual violence was used (and continues to be used) as a tool of warfare by European settlers against Indigenous peoples in North America and around the world. Towards the end of the book, the author includes personal accounts by people who were sexually assaulted as children in the Indian boarding school system. She also discusses the current epidemic of missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls (MMIWG), many of whom are victims of sexual violence.
An Unconditional Freedom, Alyssa Cole (Book)
This book takes place during the United States Civil War. The couple in the book consists of a Black American man and a dark-skinned biracial Cuban woman. The male protagonist saves a slave girl from being raped by the slave owner. The female protagonist was born from a union between a slaveholder and a slave woman. The protagonist's mother somehow persuaded the slaveholder to free her, marry her, and treat her and her daughter as equal members of the family. There is a suggestion that he may have fathered another child with a different slave woman because the protagonist notices a slave girl who resembles her. The female protagonist's home gets taken over by soldiers who flirt with, attempt to touch, and otherwise harass her and her sisters. At the start of the book, she has a white sweetheart whom she believes she loves, but it becomes clear to her that he is using her, and she describes their sexual encounters as him "taking his pleasure" from her. There are instances where he initiates sex with her when she is visibly upset. Finally, she mentions that people often think that she is her father's mistress. A side character relates how his wife was raped by a slave owner. Two male characters openly contemplate "sharing" the female protagonist, assuming that she does not understand their language, which she secretly does. A group of Confederate soldiers threaten to rape the women present in a group of traveling slaves, but they are stopped.
An Unkindness of Ghosts, Rivers Solomon (Book)
The book centers around a generation spaceship with a large enslaved population. The genderqueer female main character and her enslaved kin experience systematic physical and sexual abuse from their captors, both heavily implied and simply stated. However, many before-and-after details drive home the horror and intergenerational trauma of this abuse. Child sexual abuse is shown to be widespread through pregnant teenagers, children's play that acts out rape, and brief flashbacks during PTSD episodes.
An Untamed State, Roxane Gay (Book)
The protagonist endures repeated rapes, assaults and mutilations while she is being held for ransom over a 13 day period. The second half of the book chronicles what happened after her release, the impact of her traumas and her attempts to reclaim the life she had before she was kidnapped. Everything is described in vivid detail in first-person POV.
Ander and Santi Were Here, Jonny Garza Villa (Book)
Angel Sanctuary, Kaori Yuki (Book)
Angus, Thongs and Full-Frontal Snogging, Louise Rennison (Book)
The main character's same-aged cousin attempts to kiss her on the lips and later gropes her. This is played for dark comedy. The main character's love interest is 17 years old, while she is 14. The age gap is brought up as an issue.
Animorphs, K. A. Applegate (Book)
Anne of Green Gables, L. M. Montgomery (Book)
Annie Bot, Sierra Greer (Book)
The protagonist is a "cuddle bunny," a robot that looks and talks indistinguishably from humans and is designed to be ready for sex with her owner at any time. We find out that the protagonist's owner made her to look almost exactly like his ex-wife, without the ex-wife's knowledge or consent. The owner's friend visits the house for one night. The friend convinces the protagonist to have sex with him that night behind the owner's back. He tries to convince her to do so again the following morning and keeps verbally harassing her after she says no. The relationship between the protagonist and her owner gets increasingly verbally abusive throughout, and is at times physically abusive. The owner has the ability to control aspects of her body and behavior through vocal controls against her will. For example, to punish her for cheating on him, the owner sets her libido to its highest level and locks her in a closet, leaving her in extreme physical discomfort for hours until she powers down. He leaves her there for several weeks before letting her out.
Annihilation of Caste, B.R. Ambedkar (Book)
In versions that include the section “Castes in India: Their Mechanism, Genesis, and Development,” the author discusses how child marriage often arises out of endogamy requirements within castes.
Annihilation, Jeff VanderMeer (Book)
Another Dimension of Us, Mike Albo (Book)
A 15-year-old goes out with someone they meet online, thinking he is a 20-year-old. The date ends up being a demon who wants to steal their soul, but there is no sexual assault.
Antifa: the Anti-Fascist Handbook, Mark Bray (Book)
The author references fascist fearmongering that immigrants are rapists, Donald Trump's declaration that Mexicans are rapists, Milo Yiannopoulos's support for pedophilia, and rape culture as a concept. None of these references are graphic.
Anya's Ghost, Vera Brosgol (Book)
Apotheosis, Juniper Lake Fitzgerald (Book)
The Arctic Fury, Greer Macallister (Book)
There are references throughout the book of women knowing that they are in unsafe situations because of men, and there are discussions of times when they were harassed in the present or past. All discussions are non-graphic. A female servant discusses how men in the household would harass her and some of them slept with her.
Are Prisons Obsolete?, Angela Y. Davis (Book)
Are You Listening, Tillie Walden (Book)
A character runs away as she processes her trauma of being raped by her cousin. This graphic novel handles this with care: no rape scenes are showed/drawn directly just her feelings throughout, which can be triggering to some.
Arkham Asylum, Grant Morrison (Book)
A serial killer who rapes and tortures his victims is a major player in the story, and he mentions how his father sexually abused him as a child. He later rapes and murders another character's wife and young daughter and tries to claim that the child made sexual advances. Another character implies a sexual attraction to young girls. Allusions to the movie Psycho and insinuations of incestuous mother-son relationships are included throughout, though nothing of the sort is directly discussed or depicted.
The Art of Losing, Lizzy Mason (Book)
The adult/child relationship concerns a 14 year old with a 18 year old.
Artificial Condition, Martha Wells (Book)
A "Comfortbot" or "Sexbot" is a peripheral character in this novella. They indicate to the main character that they do not like or want to serve their owner. Only through the robot's designation as a Comfortbot can one infer that nonconsentual sexual activity may have occurred.
Artificial Unintelligence, Meredith Broussard (Book)
The author references instances of rape and sexual harassment that went unaddressed at Uber, as well as rape during slavery in the United States. These mentions are in passing and do not go into detail.
As You Walk On By, Julian Winters (Book)
One of the main characters is the target of a harassment campaign where people make sexualizing, derogatory comments to and about her. She speaks about how upset she is by this treatment and how the protagonist has not challenged his friend for that friend's participation in harassing her.
Ash, Malinda Lo (Book)
Ashes of Honor, Seanan McGuire (Book)
Ashes of the Sun, Django Wexler (Book)
A female love interest gropes a male protagonist's genitals whilst they are hiding, and whilst he clearly is upset by the occurrence at the time, it is never discussed again.
Asian American is Not a Color, OiYan A. Poon (Book)
Assassin's Quest, Robin Hobb (Book)
A female side character is raped off-screen. Later, the male protagonist's uncle steals his body to go and sleep with his wife. This is treated quite confusingly by the narrative.
Asylum, Madeleine Roux (Book)
Atlas, Shaw Hart (Book)
Attached, Amir Levine, Rachel Heller (Book)
This book contains passing mentions of men liking to check out women other than their partners. It is not explicitly stated whether the women the men are checking out are aware they are being watched. Worthy of note: in chapter 10, the authors describe a relationship that is clearly emotionally and verbally abusive but do not name it as such.
Aurora Burning, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Book)
Aurora Rising, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Book)
Aurora's End, Amie Kaufman & Jay Kristoff (Book)
The Authenticity Project, Clare Pooley (Book)
Authority, Jeff Vandermeer (Book)
Autoboyography, Christina Lauren (Book)
The book does not have any rape or sexual assault though the main relationship is between a high schooler and a college student, but the college student is 19 and the high schooler is 18.
The Awakening, L.A. Banks (Book)
Chapter 8: a teenage girl is trafficked to a group of male vampires. Both them and the girl make references to having sex but nothing happens.
The Awakening: Zodiac Academy 1, Caroline Peckham, Susanne Valenti (Book)
There are non-consensual acts constantly, emotionally, physically, and sexually.
The Awesome Autistic Guide for Trans Teens, Yenn Purkis, Sam Rose (Book)
Axrel, Olivia Riley (Book)
A coworker propositions the protagonist.
Ayesha At Last, Uzma Jalaluddin (Book)
Ayesha is hit on by a "veil chaser" (someone who fetishizes Muslim women) and reflects on other instances where this has happened to her in the past. Two female characters mention being married at the age of 17, including a character who was forced to get married by her parents. There are mentions of characters getting married to second cousins or more distant relations. Characters frequently discuss their feelings on the differences between arranged marriages and forced marriages. Several male characters comment on having lost their virginity at ages 16, 12, and even 9. We don't hear how old their partners were.
Back in a Spell, Lana Harper (Book)
This book addresses emotional/psychological abuse from a mother and grandmother to the other members of their family, including the main character's childhood recollections.
The Bad Beginning, Lemony Snicket (Book)
The villain of the story intends to marry a 14-year-old girl to obtain her family's fortune. In discussing this, he makes some sexually charged remarks. One of his henchmen does the same.
Bad for the Boss, Talia Hibbert (Book)
The premise of this book is that a high-powered partner of an advertising firm and one of his employees begin a sexual relationship. The power dynamics between the two of them come up a lot, not only in the disparity between their positions but also because he is older than she is. The female romantic lead gets sexually harassed by a fellow employee repeatedly. This employee is eventually fired. There is a stalking/kidnapping subplot, but there is no sexual assault or rape involved in that.
Bad Cree, Jessica Johns (Book)
There is mention of the oil industry's exacerbation of the issue of missing and murdered indigenous women, girls, and two spirits. There is also mention of family members surviving Indian boarding schools, which were notorious for child sexual abuse, though this specific type of abuse is not highlighted in the narrative.
The Bad Muslim Discount, Syed M. Masood (Book)
One of the protagonists is coerced into having sex with a man in exchange for his help to get her and her father passage to the United States. He then uses the fact that she had sex with him to control her in other ways, including forcing her to become engaged to him. Another character describes his experience of being tortured. One of the torture methods was anal rape with an object. Worthy of note: there are many detailed scenes of domestic violence of a daughter at the hands of her father throughout the book.
The Ballad of Black Tom, Victor LaValle (Book)
The Ballad of Perilous Graves, Alex Jennings (Book)
Barbarian's Prize, Ruby Dixon (Book)
The first few pages of the book are a nightmare of the female character about a past rape. She wakes up just before clothes come off, and it begins in earnest. However, before she wakes, she is dragged by her hair to a bed and the implication is strong.
The Barbarian's Vow, Keira Andrews (Book)
The Bastard of Istanbul, Elif Safak (Book)
Bath Haus, P.J. Vernon (Book)
The first chapter features a scene where a character is trying to murder one of the protagonists (protagonist 1) while both are naked and in a private bath house room in a way that reads reminiscent of rape, even though there is not any. In protagonist 1's backstory, we find out that he was once in an abusive relationship where his partner at the time attempted to rape him. Protagonist 1 escaped the same night as the attempt. He hitchhiked, and the driver who took him where he wanted to go demanded that protagonist 1 show him his genitals. Protagonist 1's abuser kept trying to contact him for years, eventually showing up in the town where the former lives and inviting him out for coffee. In the climax of the book, the abuser shows up in the protagonists' social circle with a different name, and only Protagonist 1 knows who the abuser really is. It's a very tense set of scenes. Protagonist 1 often experiences other queer men leering at him and touching him without his consent. Protagonist 2, Protagonist 1's partner, is very controlling. We find out over the course of the book that he monitors Protagonist 1's finances, location, and phone activity. Towards the end of the book, he wakes up Protagonist 1 in the middle of the night for sex. Protagonist 2's internal monologue indicates that he wasn't going to give Protagonist 1 a chance to say no and that he was using Protagonist 1's body to masturbate. An antagonist of the book reveals that he was sexually assaulted by adult men while a child, and that his foster mother facilitated these assaults.
Battle Ground, Jim Butcher (Book)
Non spoiler version: character A has sex offscreen with character B who, it is later revealed, was character C in disguise and was specifically seeking to blackmail character A. There is, unrelatedly, a political betrothal in which one party is extremely reluctant. Both of these occurrences are discussed toward the end of the book, with major plot implications. Spoiler version: in the first incident listed, character C has been spiritually possessing character B and deliberately conceived a child with character A. C then revealed themselves and coerced character A into acting on their behalf in order to protect character B and their unborn child. (The political betrothal is unrelated. The reluctant party is Dresden himself, the male perspective character. His relationship with his fiancee is very complicated and the timing is very bad.)
Battle Royale, Hitoshi Tomizawa (Book)
Volume 3: graphic rape scene of one of the adult female characters. Volume 8: a teenage girl has sex with adult men, and it is implied that she was raped by her father as a young child.
Be Boy Buzz, Bell Hooks (Book)
Be Kind, My Neighbor, Yugo Limbo (Book)
A major character's backstory involves being indoctrinated into a cult; after being love-bombed, he is forced into a ritual that involves a forced orgy. This is shown in graphic detail both in a flashback scene and as a major part of the character's development.
Be Not Afraid, Alyssa Cole (Book)
This book takes place during the U.S. Revolutionary War. The romantic leads are a Black woman who escaped from slavery and a Black man who is still enslaved but expects to be freed after the war. Towards the beginning of the book she fights off and kills a white man who chases and attempts to rape her. She makes several allusions to having been raped or sexually assaulted in the past by numerous men, including her former slave master.
Be Prepared, Vera Brosgol (Book)
To Be Taught, If Fortunate, Becky Chambers (Book)
Beach Read, Emily Henry (Book)
The protagonist mentions in passing that she was sexually harassed constantly at her job when she worked at a car wash as a teenager.
The Bear's Protected, Layla Silver (Book)
Chapter 8: a woman's ex breaks into her house and pins her against the wall. He kisses her neck and begins to tear her clothes off when he is stopped by her new boyfriend
Beartown, Fredrik Backman (Book)
The story follows the events leading up to the rape of a 15-year-old girl by a star junior hockey player, and the consequences for the victim, the players, their families, friends, and the community which has a long-standing reputation as a hockey town.
The Beast, Katee Robert (Book)
Worthy of note: The female lead has to trick another woman into selling her virginity. The male leads hate eachother at the start, even when having sex with the woman, while not forced to do it, both see the woman as a prize.
Beasts of Burden, Sunaura Taylor (Book)
Beasts of No Nation, Uzodinma Iweala (Book)
The protagonist, a child, is forced to become a child soldier. The commander rapes him multiple times, and it is implied that he also rapes other boys in the group. There is a scene where the protagonist helps force a woman's legs open so that other soldiers can rape her. In another scene, the soldiers visit a brothel and make harassing comments and gestures towards the women there.
Beauty and the Beast, Eleanor Vere Boyle (Book)
A beast keeps a woman imprisoned in his home with the intention of convincing her to marry him. She refuses daily for three years. This is not acknowledged as sexual harassment in the story.
Before the Devil Breaks You, Libba Bray (Book)
Before I Fall, Lauren Oliver (Book)
Before Takeoff, Adi Alsaid (Book)
Before We Were Free, Julia Alvarez (Book)
This book takes place during the Rafael Trujillo dictatorship in the Dominican Republic. In this book, Trujillo is described as having a penchant for "courting" and then raping young women. Adults warn the protagonist, her sister, and other young girls not to be too pretty in public. Still, the protagonist's older sister receives a bouquet of flowers from Trujillo, which prompts her family to organize to help her flee the country. There is a scene towards the end of the book where a shopkeeper frisks the protagonist to see if she stole anything and touches her breasts in the process.
Behind You is the Sea, Susan Muaddi Darraj (Book)
Chapter 1: a high school girl is pregnant with a college boy. Chapter 2: a story is uncovered where a woman was raped by her Uncle then killed by her family. The assault is not discussed in detail. Chapter 7: this chapter mentions of a man posting sexual pictures of women online without their consent. Chapter 9: this chapter mentions of past instances of women and teenage girls being raped. The assaults are not discussed in detail.
Behold the Dreamers, Imbolo Mbue (Book)
A character reveals that she was conceived when a stranger raped her mother. The courts would not allow the mother to get an abortion, and the mother resents and abuses this character for looking like her rapist.
Bel Canto, Ann Patchett (Book)
The first scene entails a piano accompanist forcing a kiss on an opera singer. We later find out that the accompanist declared his love to her in a rather obnoxious way multiple times, but the opera singer just tried to ignore him.
The Bell Jar, Sylvia Plath (Book)
Worthy of note: a man takes a woman to bed who describes herself as being very drunk. It is unclear how drunk he is so it can be read as an unbalanced power dynamic.
Bellamy: Sons of the Fallen Book 5, Jaclyn Osborn (Book)
There are mentions in the book about how the main character can use his powers over Lust to make people want to have sex with him/other people. There is a point in the book when he uses his power as a distraction but it is non-graphic.
Belles & Mobsters: Cassio, Eva Winners (Book)
Mentions of human trafficking throughout the book, some of the girls noted to be teenagers. The female main character has several flashbacks to the time that she was kidnapped when she was 14 and was forced to witness other women being raped. The descriptions range from being semi-graphic to more detailed. The female main character is kidnapped again as an adult and the man attempts to rape her. She fights him off before he is able to.
Belles & Mobsters: Luciano, Eva Winners (Book)
There are mentions of human trafficking throughout the book. The main characters are fighting against and working to take down a rival mob family that runs the trafficking ring. The two main female characters are kidnapped and auctioned off as brides, but are able to escape before they're taken away by any of the men. A man attempts to rape his female cousin. He touches her and is able to get her underwear off before he is stopped and killed.
Belles & Mobsters: Nico, Eva Winners (Book)
Mentions in the book of human trafficking and women being auctioned off as brides. Man talks about how his sister was gang raped and killed; there are brief descriptions of her injuries but not of the assault itself. Man swaps his wife's birth control pills for placebos.
Belles & Mobsters: Raphael, Eva Winners (Book)
A main part of the story is the repeated past rape of the female main character's sister. It is described in detail several times and referred to throughout the book. She was also raped multiple times as a child/teenager by the man who they both believed to be her father. There is an attempted rape against the female main character. He gropes and threatens her but he is killed before anything further happens. There are other references in the book to human trafficking and non-graphic rapes that have happened in the past.
The Belles, Dhonielle Clayton (Book)
A prince attempts to rape the protagonist during an appointment. He grabs her by the wrists, bruises her cheek, and forces a kiss on her. When she tells him to stop, he calls her feisty. He tries to take off her clothes. He hints that he may have also assaulted the protagonist's sister. She is able to defend herself, almost killing him, until someone else intervenes. Authorities say that they will banish the prince, but the princess, his cousin, arranges for him to marry one of her ladies in waiting. It is likely, though not confirmed, that the princess would know that the prince tried to assault the protagonist.
Bellman & Black, Diane Setterfield (Book)
Belly of the Beast, DaShaun Harrison (Book)
Beloved, Toni Morrison (Book)
A rape scene is described in a particularly violent way: the book explores the complexity of violence and its effect on people as a theme.
Below, Laurel Hightower (Book)
Bendy: Fade to Black, Adrienne Kress (Book)
An adult takes advantage of a teenager's crush on him. He also takes her to a personal one-on-one outing and then later grabs her so hard that she fears he will rip off her shoulder. This is viewed as acceptable behavior because he is paying attention to her. It is never viewed outside of the lens of being romanticized.
Bendy: the Illusion of Living, Adrienne Kress (Book)
The main character gets another character so drunk that they are above the legal limit and get them to agree to a contract without asking or realizing the clauses in it. It is played for laughs and not appropriately addressed.
Berserk, Kentaro Miura (Book)
Sexual violence is a huge part of the plot: there are a lot of intense graphic rape scenes.
Better Off Red, Rebekah Weatherspoon (Book)
Chapter 16: attempted rape.
Betty, Tiffany McDaniel (Book)
The Between, Tananarive Due (Book)
An antagonist character threatens to rape the protagonist's wife.
Bewitching Rhaego, Victoria Aveline (Book)
Beyond the Shadowed Earth, Joanna Ruth Meyer (Book)
Bibliomania, Obaru (Book)
The Binding, Bridget Collins (Book)
Binti: Home, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Binti: the Night Masquerade, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Binti, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Birth, S.T. Gulik (Book)
Multiple rape jokes are made. The main character unconsentingly comes into contact with a species of worm that reproduces with the first DNA it comes into contact with. The main character refers to this as rape, as well as when supernatural/extraterrestrial beings filled all of his orifices with coffee grounds. Worthy of note: Every single female character immediately wants to have sex with the main character, or have sex with someone else for the pleasure of the main character.
Bishop, Candace Nola (Book)
Bitch Planet: Extraordinary Machine, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Valentine De Landro (Book)
The premise of this comic series is that women who are not able or willing to comply with the extreme social pressures put on their gender get imprisoned on a separate planet. The world that the characters live in is deeply misogynist. When characters are in a group shower, a guard watches them through a hole in the wall.
Bitch Planet: President Bitch, Valentine De Landro, Taki Soma, Kelly Sue DeConnick (Book)
The premise of this comic series is that women who are not able or willing to comply with the extreme social pressures put on their gender get imprisoned on a separate planet. The world that the characters live in is deeply misogynist. There is a content advisory in the beginning of issue 6 that reads “The following is a flashback issue, covering the events that led to Meiko Maki’s incarceration. It contains plot elements and images relating to sexual assault. We encourage you to evaluate your comfort level before deciding to continue. Bitch Planet’s main narrative resumes with issue 7 and does not recount the assault.” As a teenager, the character named above killed an adult man who was attempting to groom her.
Bitch Planet: Triple Feature 1, Conley Lyons, Valentine De Landro, Cheryl Lynn Eaton, Andrew Aydin, Joanna Estep, Kelly Sue DeConnick, Maria Frhlich (Book)
The premise of this comic series is that women who are not able or willing to comply with the extreme social pressures put on their gender get imprisoned on a separate planet. The world that the characters live in is deeply misogynist. Sexual harassment on the job is a key plot point in the stories “Without and Within” and “The Invisible Woman.”
The Bitten, L.A. Banks (Book)
Chapters 4 and 12: mention of a man being a pedophile . Chapter 5: a man fears his partner could be gang raped as punishment against him. Chapter 6: mention that a man was born from rape. A club owner states that under his management they will no longer allow underage club performers.
Bitter Virgin, Kei Kusunoki (Book)
The manga's main premise is about a boy discovering that a girl in his school had been sexually abused by her stepfather. There is heavy exploration of themes of child sexual abuse, teenage pregnancy, abortion, and the effects of this on one's physical body and mental state. There is also an attempted rape from a man who is not her step father, but the boy saves her. The manga's handle of the topic matter is done respectfully with showing symptoms of abuse that are not usually explored and her not be sexualized by the boy or the narrative.
The Black Company, Glen Cook (Book)
Black Disability Politics, Sami Schalk (Book)
Black Indians: a Hidden Heritage, William Loren Katz (Book)
Mention of slave masters fathering children with their slaves. Mention of men forcing a woman to cook dinner for them and then raping her in front of her husband.
Black Jack Justice- Dead Men Run, Gregg Taylor (Book)
It is revealed that in the past, an antagonist made a career of grooming and abusing young ladies (ages unclear, but implied to be older teens to young twenties). Few details are given and none of his victims are characterized or appear "on-screen." The grooming included hooking them in drugs and luring them into prostitution in an era when the legal system had no interest in listening to "fallen women." It is a plot point that the police knew for some time and could not make charges stick.
Black Jack Justice, Gregg Taylor (Book)
One of the women central to the mystery may have been pressured into an uncomfortable situation involving photos of her (consentually) having sex. One male side character grooms young women into letting him take compromising photos of them, and another is callously self-serving and controlling in his relationships with his girlfriends.
The Black Kids, Christina HammondS Reed (Book)
Early in the book, an adult man hits on the protagonist and her friends, all teenage girls. Towards the end of the book, there is passing mention of the real life gang rape of the nun Diana Mae Ortiz, shared among a list of other news events.
Black Pill, Elle Reeve (Book)
Since this book covers the growth of online white supremacy movements in the 2000s and 2010s, it goes into detail about the rampant misogyny of those groups. In particular, the author covers instances of rape threats, rape apologism, and the tradwife movement. The author also briefly touches on the origin of the Qanon movement.
Black Tide, KC Jones (Book)
The Black Tides of Heaven, Neon Yang (Book)
Black Water Sister, Zen Cho (Book)
Two significant secondary characters' husbands (now dead) used to be physically and sexually abusive. The narration shows flashbacks of the women desperately fleeing from domestic violence. The female main character is kidnapped by a group of men who mean to murder her. One of them attempts to rape her first, getting as far as starting to remove her clothing before she is able to fight back and escape. The scene is brief but vividly detailed, including her emotional distress.
A Blade So Black, L.L. McKinney (Book)
Worthy of note: the protagonist, who is 17 and about to turn 18, has a crush on and later makes out with a character who is functionally immortal and has lived an unspecified number of years longer than is possible for any human to live.
Blameless, Gail Carriger (Book)
Worthy of note: The main character has been wrongfully accused of infidelity. There is slut-shaming because of her supposed adultery is a running theme, especially in the early part of the book.
Blankets, Craig Thompson (Book)
An autobiographical account of the author's own childhood assault by a teenage babysitter. The author is also unable to protect his little brother. It's also a graphic novel. The relevant scenes occur between pages 29-32. Worthy of note: aggressive or domineering - but not sexual - physical interactions (looming, grabbing, dragging) are regular features throughout the book.
Blended, Sharon M. Draper (Book)
Bless Your Heart, Lindy Ryan (Book)
Two female main characters have/had (consensual) relationships with men who they later discover are controlling, possessive, and literally monstrous.
Blind Pass, Teagan Hunter (Book)
Blindsided, Amy Daws (Book)
Blood Debts, Terry J Benton-Walker (Book)
In the past, a minor female character was tricked and coerced into sex work. Before the story begins, she maneuvered her way into running a brothel centered around treating its sex workers well. A major teen female character finds out, just before having sex for the first time, that her (teen) boyfriend has been doing love spells on her since before their relationship started. After she breaks up with him, he acts threateningly towards her.
Blood and Fury, Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland (Book)
Blood, K. Easton (Book)
Blood in the Machine, Brian Merchant (Book)
Blood Over Bright Haven, M.L. Wang (Book)
Chapter 16: attempted rape of the main character.
The Bluest Eye, Toni Morrison (Book)
One of the central events of the novel is an 11-year-old girl being raped by her father, which happens twice (one only alluded to and one explicitly depicted). The other characters discuss this throughout the book. Two black teenagers are caught in a field by two white men, and the men force one of the teenagers to assault the other for their amusement. Another character, a pedophile, describes memories of abusing multiple young girls.
The Body Keeps the Score, Bessel Van Der Kolk (Book)
This book is about the neurological and physiological effects of trauma, especially trauma from sexual violence.
Bodyminds Reimagined, Sami Schalk (Book)
This book largely consists of literary analysis of selected works of Black women's speculative fiction. Consequently, sexual violence is referenced to the degree that it shows up in the source materials. Chapters 1, 3, and 4 are the areas where sexual violence are primarily discussed. Chapter 4 in particular discusses themes of incest. These discussions are not particularly graphic, but they do go pretty in-depth into the feelings of characters who have experienced sexual violence.
Bonds of Brass, Emily Skrutskie (Book)
Bone Gap, Laura Ruby (Book)
A woman is held captive by a man.
The Book of Dust Vol 2, Philip Pullman (Book)
First mention is a woman saying she was raped as a child, the second occasion is attempted rape which results in the woman heavily bleeding after trying to fight them away.
The Book of Dust Vol 1, Philip Pullman (Book)
Rape is ambiguous/implied. The main villain is overpowering women throughout the book, and there is an interaction between the main female character (who is 14), where he is on top of her. Then the next scene blood is seen trickling down her inner leg, implying rape or abuse.
The Book Eaters, Sunyi Dean (Book)
The protagonist, a lesbian, is required by social custom to get married at least twice. Both of the protagonist’s husbands rape her. It is implied that in other marriages, rape is widespread and happens at least some of the time.
The Book of Essie, Meghan Maclean Weir (Book)
This is a great book about surviving sexual trauma but it has very vivid details of rape throughout, which can be triggering.
The Book of Life, Deborah Harkness (Book)
The Book Woman of Troublesome Creek, Kim Michele Richardson (Book)
Chapter 2: the main character is forced to marry a violent man decades older than her. There are brief but frank descriptions of two marital rapes before the man dies. Chapter 3: the main character aborts the pregnancy which resulted from her rape. The event is a brief mention in a summary of other activities of her life moving on. In subsequent chapters the trauma of her rape and pregnancy are periodic themes. Chapter 4: a man stalks the main character, forces a kiss clearly and intends more. She escapes. Chapter 14: her stalker dies while hiding on the main character's property (without touching her again). She can't speak out without retaliation, and reflects on women she's known who were blamed and ostracized after men had assaulted them. Chapter 16: the main character is coerced to change into a hospital gown, sedated via suppository, restrained, and subjected unwillingly to medical tests by indifferent male doctors and female nurses. Chapter 27: a drunk stranger gropes and attempts to assault the main character. She is rescued before he succeeds.
Bookshops & Bonedust, Travis Baldree (Book)
Border and Rule, Harsha Walia (Book)
In several chapters, the author references sexual violence suffered by displaced, colonized, and migrant people around the world. These references are typically not graphic, but they are numerous.
Bound to the Orc Guardian, Krista Luna (Book)
An ogre grabs a woman's ass that he has kidnapped: he then implies that he is going to assault her. An man accidentally walks in on a woman who is bathing.
Bound to the Orc Hunter, Krista Luna (Book)
Bound to the Orc Ranger, Krista Luna (Book)
Bound to the Orc Renegade, Krista Luna (Book)
Bound to the Orc Warlord, Krista Luna (Book)
The Boy On the Bridge, M.R. Cary (Book)
There is a passing mention of an antagonist group being rapists.
Boyfriend Material, Alexis Hall (Book)
One character kisses another without warning, causing discomfort. The kisser apologizes and later refers to this event as a sexual assault. However, no one takes it seriously as such in-universe.
Braiding Sweetgrass, Robin Wall Kimmerer (Book)
Brainwyrms, Alison Rumfitt (Book)
Breathe and Count Back From Ten, Natalia Sylvester (Book)
The author includes a trigger warning in the beginning, which includes lack of consent, both sexually and medically. The incident referenced by the author is a scene where the protagonist is making out with a boy who keeps touching her in ways that she is uncomfortable with. He makes ableist, objectifying comments about her body while he does so. The protagonist later sees this boy and is so uncomfortable that she has to leave.
Breathless, Beverly Jenkins (Book)
Bride, Ali Hazelwood (Book)
The protagonist, a vampire, is all but forced into a marriage with a werewolf to improve political relations between their two species. However, it is not expected that they have sex, and the marriage is only intended to last 1 year. As their relationship does become sexual, both parties explicitly refuse to initiate anything without enthusiastic consent.
Bright-Sided, Barbara Ehrenreich (Book)
There is passing mention of "pederasty" in a list of dangers to children in the last chapter.
The Brightness Between Us, Eliot Schrefer (Book)
A character says he was passed around as a plaything among adults when he was a child. Another character, in his internal monologue, refers to the first character as a “former concubine”.
Brisingr, Christopher Paolini (Book)
Towards the beginning of the book, a group of men make harassing comments to a main female character.
Bro and the Beast, L.C. Davis (Book)
This entry is about volumes 1-5.
Brokeback Mountain, Annie Proulx (Book)
Broken Dove, Kristen Ashley (Book)
The main witch in the series leaves out Adela tea, which is used as an enhancement drug during sex, for the main character to consume who does not know what this tea is and what its effects are on a person. The main character is then painfully sexually aroused and the love interest finds her in this state as the witch wanted. At first the love interest refuses to engage to due dubious consent, then explains what is going on in detail. After the main character insists the love interest takes the tea as well and they engage in sexual activities. The main character does not seem to regret these activities and the witch is told off for her actions by the love interest but it isn't much. There is also a lot of domestic violence in this book and mentions of still births.
Broken Places & Outer Spaces, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
The Bromance Book Club, Lyssa Kay Adams (Book)
Worthy of note: the premise of this book is that it is a romance about a married couple on the rocks trying to repair their relationship. Early on the man in the relationship kisses his wife before she is really ready to accept affection from him on two separate occasions. His friends had already warned him not to kiss her or even see her yet.
Brooms, Jasmine Walls (Book)
Brownstone, Samuel Teer, Mar Julia (Book)
BTTM FDRS, Ezra Claytan Daniels (Book)
Bullshit Jobs, David Graeber (Book)
There is a passing mention of sexual harassment in work settings.
Buried Angels, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
The sexual abuse it not detailed but implied. Four of the characters experience rape: all are children/teens, with an older abuser.
Burn for You, J.T. Geissinger (Book)
Burning Chrome, William Gibson (Book)
The relevant scene occurs on pages 171-172.
The Burning Girls, Cj Tudor (Book)
A man stands over a teenage boy mastrubating. The sound wakes the boy up, who is disturbed. The man asks if he wants to give him a blowjob for money: the boy does not.
A Burning, Megha Majumdar (Book)
A character worries that a sound in the night is a man coming in her home "to do what men do." Later on, her mother is robbed and sexually harassed. Guards in a prison clinic in the book are notorious for sedating women prisoners and raping them. A mob of men rape the wife of a Muslim neighbor they are targeting before murdering them both.
Burnout: the Secret to Unlocking the Stress Cycle, Amelia Nagoski, Emily Nagoski (Book)
The authors reference catcalling, as well as statistics about rape and sexual assault.
Bury Your Gays, Chuck Tingle (Book)
But Everyone Feels This Way, Paige Layle (Book)
Butts: a Backstory, Heather Radke (Book)
The author discusses the following: the history of slaveholders raping enslaved women and justifying it by painting the latter as hypersexual; the racist sexual harassment that Sarah Baartman experienced; and the fact that parts of Baartman's body were amputated, embalmed, and put on display in museums for almost two centuries after she died.
By the Book, Jasmine Guillory (Book)
A character recalls punching someone in a bar who touched his friend in appropriately.
The Cabin At the End of the World, Paul Tremblay (Book)
Chapter 4: a female captor assists the two men they have tied up to go to the bathroom by opening their pants and taking out their penis. Mention of a drunk woman getting handsy at a bar Chapter 6: a man makes suggestive comments to women in their group message board .
Cafe Con Lychee, Emery Lee (Book)
Call Me By Your Name, Andre Aciman (Book)
The central plot of this book revolves around a teenage boy who is involved in a romantic and sexual relationship with an adult man.
Camp Damascus, Chuck Tingle (Book)
The book revolves around a conservative Christian gay conversion camp with unusually awful methods. Spiritual, psychological, and emotional abuse are common in the community.
Camp Zero, Michelle Min Sterling (Book)
Many of the main characters are sex workers, but they have entered the profession consensually, as far as what's presented in the book.
Can We All Be Feminists?, June Eric-Udorie (Book)
The Cancer Journals, Audre Lorde (Book)
The author discusses victim-blaming as a concept and mentions the idea that women "ask for" rape.
Cannibalism: a Perfectly Natural History, Bill Schutt (Book)
Can't Escape Love, Alyssa Cole (Book)
Can't Pay, Won't Pay, Debt Collective (Book)
The Canterville Ghost, Oscar Wilde (Book)
Canto Contigo, Jonny Garza Villa (Book)
Captive Prince, C. S. Pacat (Book)
The above mentioned material appears in chapters 2-3, 6, and 11. It is never presented in a glorifying or romanticized way and the author is clearly condemning it.
Careless People, Sarah Wynn-Williams (Book)
The author describes being sexually harassed by two of her superiors at her former job, resulting in her eventually being fired in retaliation for reporting it. Rape and sexual slavery are mentioned when discussing the genocide in Myanmar.
Carmilla, Joseph Sheridan Le Fanu (Book)
An under-aged girl is touched and groped without her permission.
Carnal Urges, J.T. Geissinger (Book)
Chapters 3+5: a kidnapped woman is threatened with rape if she does not cooperate, there is no actual or attempted assault. Chapter 34: a woman discusses a time from her early teen years when she was abused and raped by an older man, which led to a pregnancy then a miscarriage. The discussion is non-graphic.
The Carpet People, Terry Pratchett (Book)
Carta De Amor Aos Mor, Ava Dellaira (Book)
Carving Shadows Into Gold, Brigid Kemmerer (Book)
A character’s history of being assaulted as a child is discussed in passing. A character describes observing trying to kidnap a young girl to “keep” her. Towards the end of the book, a man kisses one of the main characters. The main character is not expecting this. The main character tries to push him away, only for the other man to hold tighter. The main character says the man’s name, and the latter lets go. The man is verbally apologetic but what he says also could be interpreted as gaslighting. It is somewhat ambiguous, and the main character feels conflicted and confused after the fact.
A Casa Dos Espiritos, Isabel Allende (Book)
The book contains graphic and long descriptions of young slave being raped by her boss.
The Case Against Free Speech, P. E. Moskowitz (Book)
The author references sexual violence on college campuses, rape threats against targets of harassment campaigns, white supremacist Frank Collin's molestation of young boys, and Milo Yiannopoulos being in favor of pedophilia.
Caste: the Origins of Our Discontents, Isabel Wilkerson (Book)
Castor: Sons of the Fallen Book 2, Jaclyn Osborn (Book)
Chapter 14: brief non-graphic mention of past rape.
The Casual Vacancy, J.K.Rowling (Book)
The book contains a vivid description of a teenage girl being raped by an older man.
Cat On a Hot Tin Roof, Tennessee Williams (Book)
Rape is not actually depicted in the play, but the last scene ends with the implication that one is about to occur.
The Cat Who Saved Books, Sosuke Natsukawa (Book)
Catboy, Benji Nate (Book)
The Catcher in the Rye, J.D. Salinger (Book)
The main character, a teenager, stays at a former teacher’s house overnight. He wakes up in the middle of the night to the teacher petting him. He is uncomfortable with the interaction and interprets it as sexual but leaves before anything else happens.
Catching Fire, Suzanne Collins (Book)
In the first few chapters, the protagonist's childhood friend kisses her unexpectedly. She is uncomfortable and confused as a result. Later on, an adult character forces a kiss on the teenage protagonist. Another adult flirts with her, and another gets naked in front of her. There is mention that one character, who is an adult in the narrative of this book, was groomed into starting affairs with rich adult women when he was a 16 years old. As with the first book, a key part of the plot is the presumably primarily adult audience of the Hunger Games being deeply invested in the protagonist's performed romantic relationship with another character. The protagonist feels a lot of pressure to kiss him and perform romantic devotion to him even though she does not feel those feelings.
Cattywampus, Ash Van Otterloo (Book)
Celestial Monsters, Aiden Thomas (Book)
Cemetery Boys, Aiden Thomas (Book)
A Certain Hunger, Chelsea G. Summers (Book)
A woman describes being stalked by a man which progresses until he rapes her. The scene is short but graphic. The narrator does not seem bothered by this experience, continuing her detached/inhuman persona.
Chain-Gang All-Stars, Nana Kwame Adjei-Brenyah (Book)
The book is set in a dystopian near future where incarcerated people can elect to enter competitions where they fight one another to the death for a chance to be set free. A few of the main characters were convicted of rape. One ended up in prison after killing a teacher who sexually assaulted her. Even when the characters are not in battle, many of their most intimate moments are filmed like a reality show feed. Two of the main characters are lesbians, and the cameras tend to focus a lot on their affection toward one another in a fetishistic manner. Female characters regularly receive "fan mail" that is harassing in nature: men who send unsolicited pictures of their genitalia, men who fetishize romantic relationships between women, backhanded compliments, etc.
Chains, Laurie Halse Anderson (Book)
Worthy of note: there is a scene where the protagonist, a young enslaved girl, feels an adult man trying to take her blankets of her body while she is sleeping. It turns out that he just wanted the blankets.
Chains, V. Theia (Book)
This book contains mentions of rape as a general crime, suggestions of a man putting women in porn against their will, a mention of human trafficking as a general crime, and brief non-graphic mentions of a past rape/murder.
Chainsaw Man, Tatsuki Fujimoto (Book)
Chapter 12: an adult woman seductively bites a teenage boy's finger and places his hand on her chest. Chapters 21-22: an adult woman offers to kiss a minor while he is drunk, but instead throws up in his mouth. Later, while still drunk, she offers to have sex with him and begins to undress him before the scene cuts away. When the reader later returns to the scene, she appears to be asleep. Chapter 98: a girl says that she has been having sex with her teacher. Chapter 119: a demon possessing a girl's body makes her kiss a boy she is on a date with despite him telling her not to kiss him. Chapter 136: a girl grabs a high schooler's groin without his consent. This girl is later revealed to be an adult woman posing as a teenager. Chapter 167: a demon possessing a girl's body forces her to stick her hand down a boy's pants and grab his genitals without his consent, then kisses him. The girl is later shown to be furious at the demon for making her do such a thing.
The Chalk Man, C.J. Tudor (Book)
A boy around the age of 12 gets bullied by a teenager (also boy) and is forced to give oral this does get stopped by an adult. This happening reappears in a nightmare. A man (age 31) has a relationship with a 17 year old altough this seems to be consensual. There is a claim of rape wich turns out to be a lie, but there is a girl (17 years) who had sex with a way older man who is in a position of power (a priest) and when he impragnates her he wants her to have an abortion, she does not go trough with it and keeps the child.
The Challenger Sale, Matthew Dixon & Brent Adamson (Book)
Changeless, Gail Carriger (Book)
Chaos & Flame, Tessa Gratton and Justina Ireland (Book)
Charming Young Man, Eliot Schrefer (Book)
After being abandoned in an unfamiliar place and being forced to sleep on the street, the protagonist worries he will be raped. Some tertiary characters discuss homosexuality as though it were the same as pedophilia/pederasty.
Cheer Up!: Love and Pompoms, Crystal Frasier (Book)
A character continually sexually harasses one of the protagonists--cornering her, touching her, and asking her out---despite her obvious visual discomfort and repeated verbal refusals. The protagonist feels fearful of rejecting him firmly, but her friends help her stand up to him. The harassing character tries to force the protagonist to dance with him at the homecoming dance, saying, "Don't be shy. You've always wanted this. Stop making a scene!": she fights him off.
Chef's Choice, TJ Alexander (Book)
A strange man strokes the protagonist's arm without her consent while she is alone in a public place. He backs off when she threatens him with pepper spray.
Chi: On the Movements of the Earth, Uoto (Book)
Chapter 36: it is mentioned in passing that poor boys and girls are bought by the church. It is not further explained and not mentioned again. Chapter 40: a man tries to sell a girl to a bishop. The bishop is aware that the girl is smart and has helped her village make money. The bishop seems to be interested in her knowledge. There does not seem to be any sexual intent.
Chichi to Hige Gorilla to Watashi, Sadaji Koike (Book)
Chapter. 27: the male protagonist says zjsz his brother used to be a bad child, because he would flip skirts of girls. Chapter. 57: a male character is dating a woman who looks young due to her height. His coworkers make a comment about this but he reiterates that she is a grown adult.
Child of a Mad God, R. A. Salvatore (Book)
Children of Ash and Elm: a History of the Vikings, Neil Price (Book)
This book discusses the history and culture of Vikings including the treatment and rape of slaves, rape as ritual practice, and other sexual acts people were forced to engage in. It also discusses historical legal codes about a variety of specific sexual crimes and the violent executions of people accused of being LGBTQ+. While the writing is not gratuitous or glorifying it is explicit and clear about what it is describing for the sake of education. Incest is mentioned in discussions of Viking mythology.
The Chimera Affair, Keira Andrews (Book)
The Chimes, Anna Smaill (Book)
Chimes At Midnight, Seanan McGuire (Book)
Chlorine, Jade Song (Book)
The protagonist is groomed by her swimming coach, who is overfamiliar with her in terms of commenting on her body, touching her inappropriately, and communicating with her outside of practices and competitions. The protagonist is later raped by a fellow swim team member.
Choosing Theo, Victoria Aveline (Book)
In the last couple chapters of the book, the female main character is kidnapped as part of a plan to use her for breeding. There is also discussion of others having been kidnapped for this as well. There is no actual assault: she is rescued before anything can happen.
A Chorus Rises, Bethany C. Morrow (Book)
The protagonist learns that there is a fan website about her. She finds that some of the contributors to the website have made posts that sexualize her. Other contributors chastise this behavior, since the protagonist is 17. The protagonist and other characters explicitly label this behavior as pedophilic.
The Chosen and the Beautiful, Nghi Vo (Book)
A Christmas Carol, Charles Dickens (Book)
The Christmas Deal, Keira Andrews (Book)
The Christmas Jigsaw Murders, Alexandra Benedict (Book)
Chapter 25: discussion of when a man was a teenager he was suspended for making, and distributing to friends, home videos and photos of himself with various girls of the same age. Some of whom were sleeping when the photos were taken. Chapter 42: confirmation that the above mentioned photographs and videos continued to be taken with women as the man got older. Chapters 48 and 54: these photographs are discussed with the survivors in brief conversations.
Cinderella is Dead, Kalynn Bayron (Book)
Rape is not explicitly named at any point. However, in the depicted fantasy culture, girls aged 16-18 are compelled to marry the (sometimes also teen, sometimes much older) men who claim them. Misogyny and domestic violence are major themes. Spoiler: it is revealed that Cinderella married Prince Charming while under the influence of a strong love spell, and actually hated him.
Cinders & Sparrows, Stefan Bachmann (Book)
Circe, Madeline Miller (Book)
The relevant scenes occur in the chapter where the sailors first begin to visit Circe's island.
The City We Became, N.K. Jemisin (Book)
Some white supremacist artists attempt to get a woman of color-owned art gallery to host their art. The art in question depicts Black women being gang raped by white men. A man gets one of the protagonists alone. He belittles her for being obedient and for being a virgin. Then he grabs her arm and flashes his genitals at her, telling her that he would be willing to take her virginity. She gets away before he can do anything.
Claimed By the Alien Rogue, Krista Luna (Book)
The Claiming of Sleeping Beauty, Anne Rice (Book)
The female lead, Sleeping Beauty, instead of being awoken by a kiss, is raped by a prince claiming that he "can not control himself" thus waking her from her sleep. She is sold to him by her father afterwards. On the journey to his home, she is brutally beaten, raped, groped, and tied up to not defend herself from both the prince and strangers who pay to both see and partake in the "action". When arriving home, it is revealed that the prince and his mother would take other princes/princesses to keep as sex slaves. It is heavily implied that the prince is in a relationship with his mother. The female lead learns from other sex slaves that they are beaten, groped, raped, and tortured if they do not do as they are told. One states this starts as young as age 13 and older. The slaves are forced to do sexual acts to strangers, each other (including same-sex despite not wanting to) and helpers of the kingdom. One slave elaborates that when he tried being defiant, he was given to the cooks who did such horrid things that he began to lose his senses. Everything is described in graphic detail, and considered "BDSM" by the author.
Claire of the Sea Light, Edwidge Danticat (Book)
The son of a wealthy family rapes his house servant while he is drunk. The servant becomes pregnant. She goes on a radio show to discuss what happened to her, and although the host is mostly supportive, she does ask questions that might seem like rape apologism, specifically, asking why she did not go to the police. The father of the man who raped her rationalizes to himself that such the rape of house staff is a "rite of passage" for men of his class. There is mention of a classmate of the main character, who was raped by a grown man and subsequently removed from school.
Clap When You Land, Elizabeth Acevedo (Book)
There is a scene where one of the protagonists is sexually touched by a stranger on a subway. Also about 90% through the book, a man attempts to rape one of the protagonists before she gets away.
Clay's Ark, Octavia Butler (Book)
In general, this series involves a lot of incest. The characters in this book are infected with an extraterrestrial disease that gives them superhuman abilities and increases their fertility. They have to actively restrain themselves from raping people because of this heightened libido. Two of the main characters are 16-year-old girls. Once they are affected by the disease, they begin craving and pursuing sex with adult men. One even starts trying to initiate sex with her father, but she is interrupted. Towards the end of the book, the two girls and their father are kidnapped. The kidnappers have other hostages, mostly women and children, whom they rape repeatedly and leave for dead. One child hostage is described as having mutilated genitals.
Click: When We Knew We Were Feminists, Courtney E. Martin, J. Courtney Sullivan (Book)
The following essays have references to sexual violence: "God, Sex, and Pythagoras" features a 16-year-old who became pregnant by her 18-year-old boyfriend. The author of "I Was Not Aborted and Further Miscellanea" recalls attending a protest where someone had a sign that said "All Men Rape." The author of "The Feminist Evolution of an Artist, Survivor, Conjurer from the Tropics" details her experienced being raped by a man who was supposed to be taking her to church when she was a teenager. She subsequently has an abortion. "You Can't Rape a Whore: A Love Story" features someone saying that they hoped a particular celebrity would get raped. "Anita and Me" is about the author's identification with Anita Hill after her rape accusations against Clarence Thomas. There is passing mention in "My Number One Must-Have" about rape taking place at Woodstock. In "On Reading Katie Roiphe," the author discusses rape on college campuses. The author of "Pillow Dancing and Other Failed Hetero Experiments" references the author's experiences with sexual assault, as well as those of her friends.
Clockwork Boys, T Kingfisher (Book)
A character is kidnapped and sexually assaulted by a demon. This is described in graphic detail from the victim's point of view.
Clown in a Cornfield, Adam Cesare (Book)
Clown in a Cornfield 2: Frendo Lives, Adam Cesare (Book)
Clown in a Cornfield 3, Adam Cesare (Book)
The Cock Down the Block, Amy Award (Book)
In the content warning at the start of the book, the author assures the reader that sexual violence does not exist in the worlds she writes. Even so, there is a fair amount of sexual harassment throughout the book. The protagonist's boss is nicknamed "Creepy Carter" because he leers at female coworkers, touches them in appropriately, and just generally crosses the line. Also, the protagonist's mother is a retired porn star. When men find out about the connection between her and her mother, they sexualize and objectify her intensely.
Cold Sassy Tree, Olive Ann Burns (Book)
Chapter 19: two underage boys discus sex and one of them suggests luring his sister to the barn so they can "see what it's like." His friend is frightened and disturbed by this suggestion. Chapter 35: the protagonist, a teen boy, kisses a classmate despite them saying no multiple times. Chapter 42: an adult character shares that her father raped her when she was twelve years old. The circumstances are described in detail.
Cold Storage, David Koepp (Book)
A secondary adult character is mentioned to have had multiple relationships with minors. One of the protagonists follows another protagonist home without her knowing, before they have even formally met. He clearly knows this is wrong. He lets it slip in conversation with her, and she does not react very negatively.
Cold Victory, Karl Marlantes (Book)
The violence is not too detailed, and it is not towards main characters. However, before the reader and protagonist can confirm that the assaults are occuring, there is an ominous implication of women getting plucked off that is not hard to miss before it is explained by a main character.
The Collected Regrets of Clover, Mikki Brammer (Book)
A Collection of Monstrous Short Stories, Lily Mayne (Book)
Volume 1: no rape or sexual assault.
The Color Purple, Alice Walker (Book)
The Colors of Space, Marion Zimmer Bradley (Book)
The Colour of Magic, Terry Pratchett (Book)
Come & Get It, Kiley Reid (Book)
Worthy of note: two of the protagonists begin a sexual relationship. One is a 38-year-old visiting professor, and the second is a 24-year-old resident advisor in a dorm where the professor conducted research interviews. The instability of hierarchies and the difficulty of navigating them is a major theme. So, although the resident advisor is of age and is not a student of the professor, multiple characters who are aware of the relationship raise ethical concerns about it.
Come As You Are, Emily Nagoski (Book)
The author discusses the impacts of trauma from sexual violence on survivors' overall sexual relationships, a specific instance of homophobic rape, and a specific instance of someone walking in on his friend raping a woman while she was drunk and passed out.
The Comet, W. E. B. Du Bois (Book)
A white character assumes that the main Black character raped or otherwise harmed a white woman, but it is well established in the narrative that this assumption is untrue.
The Complete Persepolis, Marjane Satrapi (Book)
There are several instances of sexual harassment through the book, experienced by the author, her mother, and other women. These take the form of threats, comments, non-consensual touching, and insinuations that the women in question are sex workers. The author and one of her friends have sexual relationships with men in their twenties while they are still teenagers in high school. A woman that the author's family knew was raped in prison before being executed.
Compound Fracture, Andrew Joseph White (Book)
An antagonist character recorded and shared a video of his stepsister showering before the events of the book. This incident is brought up a few times. The inciting incident of the book is that the protagonist gets beaten up, suffers serious injuries, and wakes up in the hospital. He wonders aloud whether his attackers raped him because he does not remember. A nurse offers him a rape kit, but he declines. The protagonist's mother makes a comment that rape kits are invasive. It is left ambiguous whether he experienced sexual violence, but this aspect is not dwelled upon in the rest of the book.
Concert for Leah, Maira Landa (Book)
The particular scene is quite violent and descriptive and does imply that a little girl who is the main character is raped by Hitler and subsequently bares a child from the assault. The entire story builds on this act happening to the girl.
Concrete Rose, Angie Thomas (Book)
There is a passing mention of a person who is 24 and hangs out around the local high school to date underage girls there.
Confessions, Kanae Minato (Book)
The Conquest of Bread, Pyotr Kropotkin (Book)
Consider Phlebas, Iain M. Banks (Book)
In a conversation discussing female members of a humanoid race (The Culture), it is mentioned that they are often genetically modified to gain enhanced sexual gratification, and a characters says "You know, they say you can't rape a Culture woman?" No further context for the comment is given, and, apart from that instance, there are no further sexual assault or rape references in the book.
Consumed, Aja Barber (Book)
The book contains a passing mention of sexual harassment and abuse aimed at garment workers.
Contagion, Erin Bowman (Book)
Convenience Store Woman, Sayaka Murata (Book)
The protagonist works with a man who stalks female customers and tries to get information about where they live. He makes inappropriate comments about the protagonist's body. He likens others teasing him for being a virgin to rape. In general, he has very regressive and misogynist opinions, and the author portrays him as insufferable. The protagonist invites him to live in her home so she can pretend to date him and others will stop commenting that she should be married at her age. He continues to disrespect her the entire time until they separate by the end of the book.
Conversations With Octavia Butler, Consuela Francis (Book)
Rape and incest are mentioned in passing as plot points in Butler's books.
Copper Sun, Sharon Draper (Book)
The protagonist is a teenage African girl who is kidnapped into slavery and taken to the Americas. She is raped and impregnated.
Coraline, Neil Gaiman (Book)
A Court of Mist and Fury, Sarah J. Maas (Book)
Several references are made to a neighboring land in which as soon as girls reach menarche, they are forced into partnerships and pregnancy. One female secondary character was badly abused (details unspecified) for trying to escape her fate. A male main character has undergone prolonged sexual abuse by the evil queen. He is safe now, but trauma and recovery are major themes. The female main character experiences emotional and psychological abuse from an intimate partner in the early chapters. She escapes the situation, but the fallout continues to be a major theme, and she is forced later to interact with her abuser and his allies.
A Court of Silver Flames, Sarah J. Maas (Book)
One character briefly mentions a previous memory of being sexually assaulted. There is another scene in the bog where a supernatural creature sexually harasses her, with hinted intentions to do more. One of the groups in the world is also known for treating women poorly. The book focuses heavily on her traumas.
A Court of Thorns and Roses, Sarah J. Maas (Book)
A male main character is "overtaken" by magic that forces him choose a woman to have sex with. A group of minor male characters attempt to gang rape the female main character. They are interrupted before things get far. A secondary male character is forced to be the female antagonist's lover. A secondary male character touches and kisses the female main character against her will.
The Cousins, Karen M McManus (Book)
A Cowboy to Remember, Rebekah Weatherspoon (Book)
Coyote Songs, Gabino Iglesias (Book)
This book contains several mentions of rape or trafficking (mostly at the beginning and end). There is no actual, attempted, or threat of assault, but it is brought up as something that could have happened or that people are involved in trafficking and is in theme with the stories of the book.
Crank, Ellen Hopkins (Book)
The Crash, Frieda McFadden (Book)
The main character is pregnant after what she believes is a one night stand. She is tormented by nightmares, and eventually remembers that the father of her child drugged and assaulted her. A brief dialogue from during the assault is included in a flashback.
Crazy Like Us, Ethan Watters (Book)
Sexual violence is mentioned a few times in passing as a contributor to mental illness. A respondent in the chapter on eating disorders discusses being abused, including sexually, by her father.
Crazy Stupid Bromance, Lyssa Kay Adams (Book)
In the previous book, the female romantic lead of this book worked together with friends to expose a prominent man’s perpetration of serial sexual assault against herself and several other women. Because this man was well liked, the protagonist and her associates receive hate mail, as well as in-person comments, from individuals who think that the women just accused him to get money or attention. The female romantic lead uses the cafe she owns as a refuge for women who have been harassed, abused, or sexually assaulted.
The Crimson Petal and the White, Michel Faber (Book)
This is a historical novel centring around the life of a Victorian-era sex worker. She and her colleagues begin their careers at a very young age, usually out of financial need and often exploited by adults, and are often subject to violence or harassment from men.
Crooked Kingdom, Leigh Bardugo (Book)
One of the main characters was forced to work as a slave in what is essentially a legal whorehouse. We get a pretty vivid description of not the acts, but how she felt during what she was forced to do on one time where she did not manage to mentally “leave her body behind”.
A Cruel God Reigns, Moto Haigo (Book)
The story follows a boy who is being sexually abused by his step-dad: it is handled fairly well (right emotions and parts of sexual trauma that are not always discussed). However the manga is graphic.
The Cruel Prince, Holly Black (Book)
A (teenage) character is controlled by her bullies through magic. At one point they make her strip down to her underwear in public for their own amusement. Also, after the character is out through the spell, she experiences PTSD-like symptoms and thoughts which are very reminiscent of the behavior of sexual abuse victims.
Cruel Seduction, Katee Robert (Book)
The female lead is forced into a marriage, and states that she knew she would never be able to marry for love. She explains her dislike to her husband, consistently tells readers how she wants to get the "wedding duties over with" While she never says "No" or "Stop", she does express not enjoying the sex with her new husband, instead imagining him as someone else to get it over with. Another female lead tells the first that while in foster care, a man tried to rape her. She also hints that it might not have been the first time a foster parent had done less severe things to her. The male lead admits to hating the female lead and just wanting to chase his own pleasure during sex. He hooks up with the female lead's ex, hoping to hurt her: the second male lead/ex ends up disliking himself for it. The second female lead gets drunk and the first female lead takes her home, while nothing sexual goes on. It is heavily implied that the first female lead was going to get her intoxicated in hopes of having sex, but upon realizing that it would be rape, chooses not to. The female lead hints at past child abuse from her father: however, it is not discussed if he was sexually abusive or not. The female and male lead get into an argument, and end up having sex while angry. All four end up happy and together in the end, but a lot of scenes hinted at past sexual assault, rapes and rape attempts.
Crushing, Sophie Burrows (Book)
The protagonist has a dating app interaction with someone who sends her an unsolicited nude picture. She later sees the person who harassed her in a public place, but the two do not interact.
The Cuckoo, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
One character is handsy and responsible for unknown amount of sexual assaults or possibly rape, but it is not detailed. Prostitution is also mentioned.
Cuckoo Song, Frances Hardinge (Book)
Cursed, Karol Ruth Silverstein (Book)
A bully character tries to make the protagonist touch him by pulling her hand to his body.
Curtsies & Conspiracies, Gail Carriger (Book)
The Da Vinci Code, Dan Brown (Book)
Daemon, Daniel Suarez (Book)
The rape, which is not a plot point, is heavily described with a male-gaze.
Damaged Goods, Talia Hibbert (Book)
The premise of this book is that the female main character has escaped her abusive husband to a remote beach town with the help of her father-in-law. At one point, she has a detailed trauma nightmare that serves as a flashback detailing the abuse. She describes sex with her husband as him "forcing himself between her legs" while "bruising her hips and wrists." At the start of the book, she considers herself to be "damaged" and "ruined" as a result of this experience.
Daman: Sons of the Fallen Book 3, Jaclyn Osborn (Book)
Damsel, Evelyn Skye (Book)
Worthy of note: The protagonist is led to believe that she is marrying a prince, but in actuality, her would-be husband's family attempts to sacrifice her to a dragon. She later learns that this has been happening to most women who "married" into the royal family for the last 800 years.
Daniel, Deconstructed, James Ramos (Book)
Darius the Great Deserves Better, Adib Khorram (Book)
The protagonist is continually bullied throughout the book often in homophobic and/or sexual ways. The protagonist has his first boyfriend at the start of this book. The boyfriend continually pressures the protagonist to have sex, even though the latter is not ready. They never end up having sex
Darius the Great is Not Okay, Adib Khorram (Book)
The protagonist, a queer boy of color, is frequently bullied, sometimes in sexual ways, like being called "d-bag." Later on, in a group shower scene, some boys question and make fun of the protagonist for being uncircumcised.
Dark Cities, Christopher Golden (Book)
Dogs: a woman is raped by a sentient dog. The Way she is with Strangers: the main character married her husband when she was 17 and he was 20. Good night, Prison Kings: possible reference to a past child sexual assault. Grit: mention of teenage girls who are likely having sex with a dealer in exchange for drugs. Dark Hill Run: non-graphic mention of an older brother who sexually abused his younger brother in the past.
Dark Currents, Jacqueline Carey (Book)
Rape is not described but is discussed, mostly between police investigators. There is sex trafficking as well: a website for sex trafficking is described, as a pictures of the victim in distress.
Dark and Deepest Red, Anna-Marie McLemore (Book)
A Dark and Drowning Tide, Allison Saft (Book)
Dark Harvest, Norman Partridge (Book)
Dark Lord of Derkholm, Diana Wynne Jones (Book)
A prominent secondary female character is barraged with (unspecified) lewd comments from a band of soldiers. Later some of those soldiers attack her and while nothing explicit is shown, it is strongly implied that they attempted to rape her before her brother interceded. The narrative shows her coping with trauma in the aftermath, though it is not the focus of the story.
Dark Restraint By Katee Robert (Book)
The author notes that the book contains dubious consent. The female main character does not explicitly give consent, male main character takes her silence as a yes. The female main character learns her brother slept with multiple adults while he was a teen, he says it was consensual but confesses he was not happy with it and only did it to blackmail the adults and appease their physically abusive father. The male main character discloses being sexually abused for money when he was a child.
A Dark and Starless Forest, Sarah Hollowell (Book)
The abuse and manipulation of children and teens are themes, but none of this is sexual in nature.
The Dark We Know, Wen-Yi Lee (Book)
Incest and sexual assault are briefly implied: nothing graphic. One secondary character feels deeply ashamed after believing she has become pregnant. Her feelings toward her male partner become complicated and tired up in that shame. The main character's father was controlling and physically abusive, but not sexually abusive. He is dead at the start of the book.
A Darker Shade of Magic, V. E. Schwab (Book)
The female protagonist successfully fights off a minor male character who is attempting to rape her. The female protagonist creates a magical duplicate of the male protagonist and makes the duplicate perform a striptease for her while the male protagonist watches and repeatedly asks her to stop. At the age of 15, the female protagonist is sold to a man by her father to pay his debts. The man intends to rape her but before he can, she is able to fight him off and escape. The encounter is mentioned only briefly. An unnamed male character has sex with a prostitute and uses the encounter to infect her with a magical disease without her knowledge. The encounter is described euphemistically but the content is clear.
The Darkness Between Us, Eliot Schrefer (Book)
Darkness On the Edge of Town, Brian Keene (Book)
Chapter 3 + 8: general mention of rape as a crime. Chapter 8: rumor that a gang rape happened earlier in the day. Chapter 14: a group of men are overheard discussing how they tortured and raped a woman. Chapter 15: mentions of corpses with mutilated genitals, discussion of and attempt to use women for trades.
The Daughter of Doctor Moreau, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Book)
A suitor and his cousin try to take advantage of the protagonist's naiveté by getting her to go swimming with them. Chaperones foil their plans at first. The suitor and the protagonist do eventually have consensual sexual encounters. Later, when the suitor finds out a secret about the protagonist, he changes his mind about marrying her and tries to coerce her into being his mistress instead. When the protagonist declines, he becomes possessive of her, literally saying that she belongs to him. He forces her to sleep in the same bed with him non-sexually during the climax. The tone of this scene is tense and uncomfortable. She eventually kills him to keep him from shooting a loved one.
Daughter of the Drow, Elaine Cunningham (Book)
An antagonist is the leader of a drow settlement. It is stated in narration that he captures and keeps a harem of women of various races, and there are also children of his in the settlement that are half-drow. The same antagonist states to his son that there are "other ways to exact revenge", discouraging him from killing the female protagonist. He also states that he wants her for his pleasure and is not opposed to "sharing her". The son of the aforementioned antagonist implies what he will do to the protagonist once he finally confronts her one-on-one, and starts to make an attempt, but is quickly overcome and nothing occurs from it. The scene does not even begin to get graphic. Due to the nature of drow, especially in earlier D&D lore, there are several uncomfortable comments throughout the book referring to forced advances and to one gender or the other as breeding stock.
Daughter of the Red Deer, Joan Wolf (Book)
Chapters 1–6: a group of girls is kidnapped by a group of men. No assault or harassment happens, but the possibility of a sexual assault is discussed multiple times in different occasions.
The Day of the Locust, Nathanel West (Book)
Multiple men in the novel have a sexual relationship or fantasize about one with a main character who is 17 years old. While this was much more commonplace at the time the novel was written, it may be uncomfortable for modern readers nonetheless. She is also sexualized throughout the book, and at one point works as a prostitute to pay for her father's funeral. The protagonist fantasizes about raping this same character multiple times, and at one point seems about to attempt it, but the fantasies aren't detailed and he never actually does it. During one of the final scenes of the novel, the protagonist witnesses an old man raping a young girl amid a mob. This is described in more detail. He fights the man off, only for her to be seized by another man and swept away.
The Daylight Gate, Jeanette Winterson (Book)
Rape is a something that comes up a lot in this relatively short book. It isnever discused in detail but discussed in passing a lot. The most jarring part of the story is with a little girl that is repeatedly abused by someone who later turns out to be her father.
Days of Dreams, Aiden E. Messer (Book)
The Dead Cat Tail Assassins, P. Djeli Clark (Book)
Dead Collections, Isaac Fellman (Book)
The Dead and the Dark, Courtney Gould (Book)
Dead Silence, S.A. Barnes (Book)
The female protagonist is the leader of a small crew of people. One of her male crew-mates deliberately and maliciously makes an inappropriate, crude innuendo about her and a different male crew-mate, which makes both parties very uncomfortable and embarrassed.
Dead of Winter, Darcy Coates (Book)
Deadbeat Druid, David R. Slayton (Book)
Dear Edward, Ann Napolitano (Book)
Chapter "1:40pm" has references to past sexual harassment that a female flight attendant has experienced.
Dear Haiti, Love Alaine, Maika Moulite (Book)
Prior to the events of the book, the protagonist's grandfather routinely sexually assaulted the house girl, who was the same age as his daughters.
Dear Shimazaki in the Peaceful Land, Gouten Hamada (Book)
Death of the Author, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
The protagonist is a disabled woman who becomes a famous author over the course of the book. There is a scene about 2/3 of the way through where she is in a public place and men approach her because of her fame and because they notice her mobility aid. One asks her if she is married and then declares that she probably can not have children after she rejects him. The protagonist regularly dissociates during sex, and the reason for this is never stated directly. There is passing reference to an incident at her prom which may have been rape.
Death and the Maiden, Ariel Dorfman (Book)
The play mostly deals with a woman trying to gain answers and vengeance about her rape and torture prior to the events of the book.
Deathless, Catherynne Valente (Book)
The central relationship is built upon dubious consent. The female human lead is destined to marry an ancient immortal being. She is 16 when he first claims and kisses her. She agrees to go with him, but it is clear that refusal is not truly an option. He treats her in ways that often border on emotional and even occasionally physical abuse. She comes to be passionately drawn to him, while never settling into a sense of safety around him. The earliest chapters contain passing references to an adult male housemate leering at the then-teenage girl protagonist. One minor character mentions in passing that his father raped his mother, and praises his father's strength.
Deathless Divide, Justina Ireland (Book)
One of the main characters consistently gets harassed by men. There is mention of her throwing a man overboard a boat when he would not leave her alone. The other main character becomes a bounty hunter, and one of her targets had a bounty on his head for "taking advantage of someone's daughter."
Decarcerating Disability, Liat Ben-Moshe (Book)
A Decolonial Feminism, Franoise Vergs (Book)
Throughout the book, there is discussion of anti-rape activism, the #MeToo Movement, rape at the hands of police, rape threats against activists and politicians, sexual harassment experienced by domestic workers, the racist perception that Muslims and other immigrants to Europe are rapists, the false rape allegations against the Scottsboro boys, and sexual violence against enslaved women. The author does not describe these instances graphically, but the sheer number of mentions can be triggering.
The Deep Dark, Molly Knox Ostertag (Book)
Worthy of note: In the last third of the book, a character’s ex-boyfriend, who had been stalking her, finds her after finding out from her roommates where she went. He tries to pressure her into getting back with him, including by driving too fast and threatening to kill himself. She is able to escape him in the end.
The Deep, Nick Cutter (Book)
A sinister force sexually manipulates male protagonists. Part 5, chapter 18: there is a semi-graphic flashback where a mother sexually abuses her oldest son.
The Deep, Rivers Solomon (Book)
Deeplight, Frances Hardinge (Book)
Deer Woman: An Anthology, Elizabeth LaPensee (Book)
Several stories have a theme of sexual assault. The collection is a graphic novel, and there are a few semi-graphic panels that strongly suggest rape but do not actually depict the rape.
Deerskin, Robin McKinley (Book)
There is a father-daughter incestuous rape resulting in temporary amnesia and a miscarriage.
In Defense of Looting, Vicky Osterweil (Book)
The author discusses and describes the following: slaveholders' sexual violence against enslaved Africans, false rape accusations used as justification for lynching, sexual violence that took place during various riots, sexual violence at the hands of the police.
Delicious Foods, James Hannaham (Book)
A landlord implies to a child that he could excuse the child’s mother’s late rent if she slept with him. There is passing mention that an overseer coerces women workers into having sex with him.
Delicious Monsters, Liselle Sambury (Book)
From the author note: "Content warnings: childhood sexual assault (off page, some details discussed), childhood physical abuse (corporal punishment, off page, described), childhood physical abuse (confinement punishment), childhood neglect, gaslighting, grooming, suicide (off page, mention), killing of a goat (off page, described), discussions of fatphobia, body horror/gore, violence, death." One of the protagonists is groomed into a relationship while she is a teenager, with a man in his early twenties. This man later denies that he was ever with her. There are several flashbacks to scenes where he choked her while raping her. We find out that the protagonist's mother was raped by her sister's husband, and the sister does not believe her. Many other children in the town where they live also were preyed upon by this man.
Delilah Green Doesn't Care, Ashley Herring Blake (Book)
A Delinquent's Life Hacks, Otsuji (Book)
Worthy of note: the friends of a teenage girl think she is dating the male protagonist who is an adult. This is not true as the girl is dating someone her own age and the male protagonist is interested in a woman his own age. The author makes it clear that the friends are misunderstanding the situation.
The Deluge, Stephen Markley (Book)
Demon's Bride, Leigh Miller (Book)
Demystifying Disability, Emily Ladau (Book)
The author discusses the common experience among disabled people of being touched without asking or of abled people asking them how or if they have sex.
The Descent of Monsters, Neon Yang (Book)
Desperate Measures, Katee Robert (Book)
The female main character is supposed to be married to someone against her will. The female lead struggles against the male lead and while the male does mention a safe-word, the female does not want to seem "weak" In a sense it's described in detail of her "losing her virginity" during a rapeplay game The rest of the book is rather consensual but the female lead does end up with the male lead and participates in CNC style sex (also described in detail).
Detour: a Hollywood Story, Cheryl Crane (Book)
The author describes being raped as a child by her mother’s adult boyfriend.
Detroit: I Do Mind Dying, Dan Georgakas, Marvin Surkin (Book)
The book references female auto workers being coerced into relationships with male foremen and the rapes of enslaved women.
The Devil and the Dark Water, Stuart Turton (Book)
Standard rape does not strictly occur, but there are two notable moments that could be triggering and one is definitely coercion: Chapter 37: one of the main characters is a woman in an arranged marriage. Her father traded her to her older husband when she was a teenager and she hates both of them for it. When the story begins she is in her 30s and reflects back to her anger and devastation over being sold. She views having sex with her husband as her "duty" that she hates and there is only one scene where sex is described but it can be triggering. She does not fight him, but she very clearly does not want to be there and when he finishes she tells him she hates him. He says and he knows and that he picked her out from amongst her sisters because he knew she would hate him the most and he wanted to punish her father by making her "suffer". He is also physically abusive to her throughout the book. Chapter 75: the second incident involves a character who is stranded amongst a lot of other characters in an isolated environment. He gains power over most of the men, but says very matter of factly that he only has control over them while he can provide what they want - so he calls a meeting with two others to discuss offering all the unmarried "of age " women to the men so they can be raped repeatedly. While the other characters are horrified, they later only refer to this set up as a "brothel" which can feel dismissive to real life victims. The plot also does not advance far enough beyond this point for the rape to take place, but it can be retraumatising to read as this seems almost certain to happen for several pages until the plan is interrupted. There are other mentions of rape, but they are in passing and vague. The story takes place on a boat in the 1600s and it is mentioned every now and then that the sailors are bad men who might do such a thing.
Devilish Deal, Jenna Wolfhart (Book)
The Devil's Daughter, Katee Robert (Book)
Girls are raped and murdered by a serial killer. The main character is almost raped at the end of the book. Its implied another character is assaulted so often she begs to be killed.
The Dew Breaker, Edwidge Danticat (Book)
There is a passing mention of Abner Louima, who was sodomized by NYPD officers. A character is tortured for refusing to go out with an agent of the Haitian military dictatorship. Discussions of rape and genital mutilation in the context of torture.
Dewey: the Small-Town Library Cat Who Touched the World, Vicki Myron (Book)
Dial a for Aunties, Jesse Q. Sutanto (Book)
The premise of the book is that the protagonist accidentally kills her blind date while acting in self defense after he starts trying to take her somewhere presumably to assault her. The would-be rapist's actions never get to the point of actually assaulting her, so there is no graphic description. However, he does ignore the protagonist's repeated wishes to not let him drive her car, and he calls her a tease. There is also passing commentary about how "everything bad" happens at frat parties, including rape.
The Dictionary of Lost Words, Pip Williams (Book)
The force-feeding of suffragettes on hunger strike in prison is likened to rape.
Didn't Nobody Give a Shit What Happened to Carlotta, James Hannaham (Book)
The protagonist is a trans woman who was sent to a man's prison for a crime she did not commit. At the beginning of the book, she is at the cusp of getting out of prison on parole. While in prison, she was constantly under threat of physical and sexual violence at the hands of correctional officers and fellow prisoners. She has several PTSD flashbacks to specific instances of rape she experienced. She also discusses experiences of rape with other female friends. There is passing mention of a house where a number of children were raped and murdered. In the last chapter, we find out that one of the protagonist's friends dies in a domestic violence situation.
Different, Not Less, Chloé Hayden (Book)
The author discusses her own experiences with sexual violence and statistical information about sexual violence experienced by neurodivergent and disabled people more broadly. The author gives clear content warnings before discussing these topics.
The Dire Days of Willowweep Manor, Shaenon K. Garrity (Book)
A Disability History of the United States, Kim E. Nielsen (Book)
The author discusses sexual assault in the contexts of the trans-Atlantic slave trade, psychiatric institutions, wartime, and within families. Towards the end, there is discussion about how abled people are often incredulous about the high rates of sexual assault against disabled people due to stereotypes of disabled people as sexually undesirable.
Disability Intimacy, Alice Wong (Book)
Disability Pride: Dispatches From a Post-ADA World, Ben Mattlin (Book)
The author discusses the following throughout the book: numerous individuals with a background of experiencing sexual violence, sexual violence in institutions, the Buck v. Bell US Supreme Court case, PTSD that arises from sexual violence and other forms of violence, and general statistics about sexual violence against disabled people.
Disability Visibility, Alice Wong (Book)
Many of the essayists discuss statistics about disabled people’s heightened vulnerability to sexual violence, as well as their own experiences. Several essays begin with content warnings, particularly those that involve sexual violence.
Discord's Apple, Carrie Vaughn (Book)
This book contains a mention of mass rape of women post downfall of Troy, including brief interaction with a minor character who has been raped and is afraid she will be again A major male character is enslaved and repeatedly raped by a Greek god, on and offscreen (descriptions of nonconsentual interactions are not detailed). The situation persists over many flashbacks to various parts of their lives together, and the emotional and sexual relationship dynamics between them become complicated. A secondary male antagonist attempts to rape female lead onscreen. She is rescued before things progress very far, but the descriptions of her struggles and his touch are detailed and emotionally charged.
The Dispossessed, Ursula K. Le Guin (Book)
While drunk, the protagonist attempts to rape another character. His internal monologue shows that he believes the way she is dressed to be an invitation to sex. She says "no" and "stop" repeatedly in the interaction.
Divergent, Veronica Roth (Book)
A scene in the book in which the protagonist is kidnapped, it is debated on weather or not the aim was to kill the character or rape/assault them before killing. The main character (16, female) and their Instructor (18, male) engage in a relationship, however they do not have sex and the relationship is very healthy. Worthy of note: the love interest (18, male) experiences physical abuse from his father which is vividly discussed. Though no sexual abuse occurs this may be triggering for some viewers.
Do You Dream of Terra-Two?, Temi Oh (Book)
A teen character agrees to have sex with her teen boyfriend out of a sense of obligation, although her thoughts reveal that she does not want to have sex. Midway through the scene, the character changes her mind and tells her boyfriend to get off of her, and he does not. She has to physically push him off, and the boy is cruel about it. A teen character recalls an abusive boyfriend of her mother’s from her childhood. She recalls finding the boyfriend raping her mother at knifepoint in a car. A teen character experiencing debilitating depression has sex with another boy out of a sense of obligation, although her thoughts reveal that she doesn’t want to do it.
DonT Be a Drag, Skye Quinlan (Book)
A character talks about disliking being touched by strangers who think it is ok to touch him without consent just because he is in drag. The touching is non-sexual, however.
Don't Call Us Dead, Danez Smith (Book)
Don't Fear the Reaper, Stephen Graham Jones (Book)
Though there is no actual assault or harassment in the book, there are several references to past events or potential events. - Several mentions of hidden cameras that a male school employee put in the girl's locker room and bathrooms (known from events in the previous book); - Mention of how the same man previously worked at a funeral home and took naked photos of dead women; - Concerns that a male doctor would grope a patient while treating them so another woman stays nearby just in case; - Brief reference to past incestual sexual assault (known from the previous book); - Reference to sexual abuse at residential schools; - Video of people who flash British Royal Guards as a means to get them to lose focus; - Mention of when an older teen put his hand on a younger teen girl's thigh before the girl's mother drew him away; - Mentions of rumors of a male high school teacher and female student being in a relationship. It's later discovered that he tried to get sexual favors from her in exchange for information.
Don't Feed the Trolls, Erica Kudisch (Book)
The main character becomes a target for increasingly severe death threats throughout the course of the book for having won an award related to her role in a video game. This hostility spills over into the offline world when certain individuals who also play the video game doxx her friend in one instance, and chase and attempt to brutalize her in other instances. A person who works for the company who gave her the award and to whom the main character attempts to report this harassment is dismissive of her experience and even threatens to rescind the award.
Downpour, Christopher Hawkins (Book)
The Downstairs Girl, Stacey Lee (Book)
The protagonist is a Chinese American young woman living in Atlanta, Georgia in 1890. Throughout the book, many characters, strangers and acquaintances alike, sexualize and fetishize her. There is passing mention of Chinese men paying for mail order brides that are younger than the protagonist (i.e. younger than 17). While the protagonist and a male character are walking together, a stranger addresses the latter, saying, "enjoy that fine piece of arse." An antagonist character attempts to intimidate the protagonist by having her meet him in a brothel while he is taking a bath. Towards the beginning of the book, there is discussion of a news story about the "rabid eyes rapist," a Chinese man who was accused of raping a white woman. We later find out that this was a false accusation.
A Dowry of Blood, S.T. Gibson (Book)
The narrator is a vampire who hunts people that she believes are bad. There are some brief and non-graphic mentions of rape and abuse as she mentions why she is hunted/killed someone to feed from them.
Draco, Hattie Jacks (Book)
Dracula, Bram Stoker (Book)
While there is technically no rape, Dracula turning women into vampires is well-known to have sexual undertones and to be related to the moral panic around women's sexual freedom at the time.
Dragon Queens, Kathleen De Plume (Book)
One of the main characters is trying to avoid an arranged marriage to a nobleman known for raping peasant women and tormenting his enemies. A secondary female character ends up marrying this abusive nobleman instead. She chose the union for political gain, and ultimately escapes it.
The Dragonbone Chair, Tad Williams (Book)
The Dragon's Path, Daniel Abraham (Book)
Chapter 2: rape is referred to twice. Chapter 4: a young adult woman is asked to strip in front of a pseudo-parental/authority figure.
Dramacon, Svetlana Chmakova (Book)
Volume 1: The primary romance is between a high school student and a college student. They are about two years apart in age; she is mentioned to have just finished 11th grade, while he just finished his first year of university. Their exact ages are never specified. They kiss once during the book but otherwise have no sexual contact. The main character's boyfriend attempts to rape her before she fights him off and escapes. Volume 2: No rape or sexual assault. Volume 3: A man flashes a crowd. This is played for laughs. The main character runs into an ex-boyfriend who previously attempted to rape her. This causes her to have a brief flashback to the incident and she is too scared to move or speak until her new boyfriend arrives and comforts her. The ex is portrayed as having become a better person since their breakup, but it is clear the main character will have no further contact with him if possible.
Draxx, Hattie Jacks (Book)
Dread Nation, Justina Ireland (Book)
The main characters are formerly enslaved women and because of their race, there are several implications of rape and sexual abuse. The main character is trapped by men on several occasions. She is a teenager while they are adult men.
Dreadmarrow Thief, Marjory Kaptanoglu (Book)
A significant background character fled an unhappy arranged marriage that is implied to have been abusive in ways unspecified. She was pregnant at the time.
Dream a Little Dream, Kerstin Gier (Book)
Dream On, Kerstin Gier (Book)
A Dream So Dark, L.L. McKinney (Book)
Worthy of note: the protagonist, who is a 17-year-old about to turn 18, has a crush on a functionally immortal character of unspecified age. They kiss in a few scenes, but there is no sexual relationship at this point.
The Drift, C.J. Tudor (Book)
A prisoner says he had to perform sexual acts to get information. In his description he does not go into detail. A woman is raped by a zombie-like creature, who was a sex offender in a past life. The woman may or may not be conscious. Somebody else sees this and shoots the rapist, the description of the rape is short but vivid.
Driftwood, Marie Brennan (Book)
Drowned City, Don Brown (Book)
The Drowning, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
A flashback contains detailed information of how a mentally disabled tween was forced drunk and abused.
A Duke By Default, Alyssa Cole (Book)
Worthy of note: towards the end of the book, the main character gets drugged at a public event. The antagonist who drugs her does not do so with the intention to rape her, but with the intention of making her appear drunk and to cast doubt on her character.
Dune, Frank Herbert (Book)
It is mentioned that a Duke keeps underage slave boys; nothing further is specified but this could be taken to imply a sexual component to the dynamic. There is description of an event in which a village has an "orgy" at which children are present, under the influence of a psychoactive drug. However it is ambiguous whether the term "orgy" here is used metaphorically (to refer to the melding of minds under the influence of this substance), literally or as a combination of the two. A Duke has teen sex slaves sent to his bedroom. It is strongly implied that he rapes them and sometimes murders them. At one point, this Duke asks one of his underlings to drug the boy sent to his room because he “doesn’t feel like fighting”. Two soldiers discuss raping a female character. One says, “I’ve never had a Duke’s lady before.” However, she is able to subdue them before they can attempt violence.
Dustborn, Erin Bowman (Book)
The Dutch House, Ann Pratchet (Book)
Eagle's Heart, Alyssa Cole (Book)
The book opens with the protagonist, a schoolteacher, being fired because she has been accused of molesting her students. In reality, she reported to the police that one of her students was being abused at home, and since the child's mother's boyfriend is involved in the Albanian mafia, he decided to use his resources to ruin the protagonist's reputation by starting the molestation rumor. Although there are no formal charges, the protagonist is constantly worried that others will recognize her from the news and hate her on sight. Meanwhile, the student that the protagonist was attempting to protect gets sold into the Albanian mafia's sex trafficking ring. She and other girls are drugged, held in squalor against their will, and forced to have sex with adult men. They are in this situation for most of the book until they are rescued towards the end. Even before the student was kidnapped, she was in an abusive household. Her mother's boyfriend made passes at her, and her mother called her a slut for attracting him. The mother excused the behavior taking place by saying that she herself had been sexually involved with adult men when she was her daughter's age and that it isn't a big deal. A woman who is the mafia boss's second in command is also in an abusive relationship with him. The mafia boss brags that he has "subjected her to every degradation possible." This woman threatens to allow the protagonist to be raped the same way she has been, but this doesn't end up happening. Worthy of note: an FBI agent who is trying to bring down the Albanian mafia becomes aware of the schoolteacher getting unwittingly wrapped up in their business. Before this agent meets her, he immediately becomes infatuated with her from her photos. They happen to meet at a party, and the FBI agent doesn't reveal that he already knows who she is. They have sex. When the schoolteacher finds out later that the FBI agent already knew about her before they met, she feels very betrayed and assumes that he only had sex with her to get information out of her. He is able to convince her later that he is genuinely interested in her, but it takes some doing.
Early Departures, Justin A. Reynolds (Book)
The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big, Round Things, Carolyn Mackler (Book)
The protagonist's older brother is found guilty by his college's administration of raping another student. Other than being suspended for a semester, he does not face any significant consequences or accountability. Their parents, specifically their mother, tries to save face and act as though nothing bad is happening. They don't believe they could have raised someone who could be capable of rape. The protagonist feels a great deal of sympathy for the rape survivor. There is a scene where she imagines in fairly graphic detail what the rape may have been like. The protagonist is upset that no one in her family seems concerned for the feelings of the student that her brother raped. They seem more concerned with placating their son's bruised ego. The protagonist contends with the fact that, prior to this event, she idolized her brother. There is a scene where the protagonist visits the rape survivor to apologize on her brother's behalf and check how she is doing. At the end, the protagonist doesn't forgive her brother but is still trying to make peace with him.
Earthlings, Sayaka Murata (Book)
The instances of sexual violence in this book are heavily detailed. The protagonist, who is entering the 6th grade at the start of the book, is groomed and sexually assaulted by a teacher. In one instance, he reaches under her clothing under the guise of correcting her posture. In another, he coerces her into changing her menstrual pad in front of him. In yet another, he tricks her into going to his home alone and forces her to perform oral sex on him. After this instance, he tells her not to tell anyone because he will get into trouble, but she will get into more trouble. When the protagonist tries to tell her mother what happened, between the second and third instances of assault, her mother does not believe her. Her mother says the protagonist has a filthy mind and then beats her. The protagonist is in love with her first cousin. They decide to "get married" in a childlike, pretend way. Later, the protagonist asks him to have sex with her, specifically because she feels her body doesn't belong to her after her assault, and she believes the teacher will eventually kill her. They sneak off together and have sex in a very detailed scene. While in a heavily dissociated state, the protagonist sneaks into the teacher's house and stabs him to death. The press labels him as a beloved and intelligent person whom everyone loved. When the protagonist is an adult, tries to tell friends what he did to her, and they misunderstand her or say that she was lucky to have a grown man interested in her when she was in elementary school. The protagonist ends up marrying a man with the agreement that they will not have sex or even any touching. He was traumatized by the fact that his mother would take baths with him into his teenage years. He later decides to try to abandon humanity having incest with a member of his family. At first, he considers his grandfather, who is in a coma in a hospital. When the protagonist tells him that's wrong, he apologizes and later decides to invite his brother into incest. The brother reacts negatively to this invitation. When the protagonist's and her husband's families and friends find out that they haven't been having sex, they tell her how abnormal they find that and try to get her to have sex with him. Towards the end of the book, the protagonist, her husband, and the cousin she had sex with as a child all move into a house together where they believe they are aliens, walk about the house naked, and steal food from other houses to survive. The book ends with all 3 of them somehow becoming pregnant.
Earthworm Gods, Brian Keene (Book)
Chapter 6: general reference to child pornography Chapter 11: reference to incest and child abuse within a cult. A woman briefly discusses how three men tried to rape her but she was able to get away.
Easy, Kiki Clark (Book)
The Echo Wife, Sarah Gailey (Book)
Rape and sexual assault are never directly indicated in this book, but issues of consent and domestic abuse are integral to the themes of the story. The protagonists are women who are mostly in positions of power within their lives during most of the plot events. One of the main characters had a father (absent in the present day, shown in flashbacks) who was explicitly controlling and physically abusive, implied to be possibly more. The other main character is a clone custom-designed to want to be a subservient housewife and mother, who gradually becomes independent; questions her goals and desires. When she deviates from her programming, her "loving husband" / creator becomes physically violent.
Ecosocialism: a Radical Alternative to Capitalist Catastrophe, Michael Lwy (Book)
The Edge of the Abyss, Emily Skrutskie (Book)
Edgedancer, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
The Edible Woman, Margaret Atwood (Book)
Edin, Lily Mayne (Book)
Chapter 25: during a tournament, a prize offers a night with a captive human.
Educated, Tara Westover (Book)
Worthy of note: whilst there are no explicit scenes including rape or sexual assault, the author is abused by her older, adult brother and describes an incident in which he calls her a slut/whore and tries to pull off her clothes. In another scene, he forces her to sit on his lap. Although handled sensitively, these scenes may be disturbing. The brother referenced above ends up marrying someone he met when he was 28 and she was a senior in high school. Although there is no indication of a sexual relationship before they got married, the author lays out the brother's pattern of gaslighting and abuse with his previous girlfriends.
Effective Immediately: How to Fit In, Stand Out, and Move Up At Your First Real Job, Emily Bennington, Skip Lineberg (Book)
There is a chapter on being discreet about workplace romances, but no mention of sexual harassment. Domestic violence is mentioned in passing one time as an example (among others) of a cause to get involved with through volunteering.
El Cuaderno De Maya, Isabel Allende (Book)
After escaping from a reformatory, the protagonist decides to hitchhike and is picked up by a truck driver who takes her to a motel, drugs and brutally rapes her (the post-rape scenes are described in detail).
Eldest, Christopher Paolini (Book)
Eleanor & Park, Rainbow Rowell (Book)
SPOILERS: A main character finds unwanted sexual comments written on her school books; it turns out that this character’s stepdad was the one who wrote these comments. The stepdad threatens to sexually assault this character and she has to escape from the situation.
Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine, Gail Honeyman (Book)
It is implied that a female character was raped by her ex-boyfriend. It is also implied that she is the product of rape.
Eletric Idol, Katee Robert (Book)
The female lead is forced to marry a man or she may be killed, while the man does not rape her, she expresses discomfort with how close he gets and the way he touches her.
Eleutheria, Allegra Hyde (Book)
Over the course of the book, the protagonist ends up in relationships where people use her, neglect her, and infantilize her.
Elf Defence, Lisa Henry & Sarah Honey (Book)
In a prior book, two characters had been identified as cousins engaging in enthusiastic incest. This book focuses on those two and clarifies that they are not blood-related. Rather, they were raised in the same commune in which familial titles are used for all members.
Eloquent Rage, Brittney Cooper (Book)
The author discusses Bill Clinton's sexual assault of Monica Lewinsky, rape allegations against Bill Cosby, rape allegations against Donald Trump, Donald Trump's blaming the Exonerated Five for the rape of the Central Park Jogger, false rape allegations by white women against Black men, rape by slaveholders against slaves, and Eldritch Cleaver's admission of intentionally raping women in his book Soul on Ice.
Emergent Strategy, Adrienne Maree Brown (Book)
There is mention of slaves being raped. The author discusses a desire to create a world where rape does not happen.
Emma, Jane Austen (Book)
Empire of Wild, Cherie Dimaline (Book)
The book makes passing references to the real life issue of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG). On two separate occasions, one character tries to initiate sex with another and doesn't listen initially when he says no. A character is mentioned to have "forced himself" on his younger cousin.
The Empress of Salt and Fortune, Nghi Vo (Book)
One of the main characters is forced into a political marriage, and then essentially placed under house arrest to keep her out of the way once she has given the emperor a child. Nothing physical is shown, but she is clearly upset about her situation.
The End of Alice, A. M. Homes (Book)
Ennead, Mojito (Book)
Based on the 19+ Mature Physical Edition Incest: Due to Ennead being a story inspired by Egyptian mythology, almost all of the main characters are related to one another. This includes the main pairing. Prologue: A character demands his sister sleep with him. She refuses, and she is locked away as punishment. Chapter 3 (Secret Rendezvous): A character restrains his brother and kisses him without his consent. Chapter 8 (A Whisper of Calamity): Attempted rape followed by 50+ pages of graphic and violent rape. Chapter 10 (The Whereabouts of the Curse): Discussion about the rape in Chapter 8 and victim blaming. Chapter 11 (A Night of Betrayal): Graphic drugging, rape, and victim blaming scenes that last over 100 pages. Chapter 14 (Penalty): Brief discussion about the rape in Chapter 8.
Equal Rites, Terry Pratchett (Book)
Eragon, Christopher Paolini (Book)
A character recounts how she was tortured with beatings and poison in prison to try to get her to divulge secret information. When the torture failed, her captor instructed the guards to "use her body as they saw fit." She was able to evade rape by using magic, though.
Escaping Exodus, Nicky Drayden (Book)
A drunk character climbs on top of the protagonist while the protagonist is in bed and tries to remove her clothing. The protagonist starts worrying that she is about to be assaulted, but it is actually that the drunk character wants to give her a scarification tattoo. It is still written in a way that could be triggering, especially with the inclusion of phrases such as, "You want this."
Escaping Exodus: Symbiosis, Nicky Drayden (Book)
The Eternal Ones, Namina Forna (Book)
The book takes place in a severely patriarchal and misogynistic fictional society. The protagonist and many others like her are considered impure based on the in-world religion, and people use that impure status as a justification to harass and assault them. These so-called impure people are all teen girls and the people targeting them are mostly adult men.
Etiquette & Espionage, Gail Carriger (Book)
The Everlasting Rose, Dhonielle Clayton (Book)
The book contains a very brief mention of an attempted rape that happened in the previous book.
Everyone in My Family Has Killed Someone, Benjamin Stevenson (Book)
Everyone On This Train is a Suspect, Benjamin Stevenson (Book)
Nothing is written detailed, but there are several mentions of rape and sexual assault throughout the second half of the novel. SPOILERS: A father unknowingly hits on his daughter because he does not know she is his daughter. Towards the end of the book, it is explained multiple men covered up a rape, then continued to taunt the victim about it. The woman states she did not speak up because she knew it was his word against hers.
Everyone's a Aliebn When Ur a Aliebn Too, Jomny Sun (Book)
Everything Must Go, Dorian Lynskey (Book)
Everything You Wanted to Know About Indians But Were Afraid to Ask, Anton Treuer (Book)
Ex-Yakuza and Stray Kitten, Riddle Kamimura (Book)
Excuse Me While I Ugly Cry, Joya Goffney (Book)
A man flirts with the protagonist while she happens to be sitting by herself. She doesn't answer him when he speaks to her, and he starts touching her face until one of her friends enters the scene and defends her. A secondary character is the victim of a slut-shaming smear campaign.
Exes and Foes, Amanda Woody (Book)
Two female characters (one an adult and one in middle school) discuss their experiences of being told to dress modestly so as not to attract male attention, and how what they wore did not make a difference as to whether they got harassed or not. No explicit details are given. A high school student flirts with a new student on her first day, and refuses to back off when she declines his advances, physically intimidating her in the cafeteria. Two other students intervene so the girl can slip away. A main character's mother is slut-shamed and disparaged, both by teens and other adults, for dressing in revealing clothing and working as a bartender in a strip club, and her son's classmates sometimes mock him about it.
Exile, R.A. Salvatore (Book)
Exit Strategy, Martha Wells (Book)
Extraordinary, Adam Selzer (Book)
An adult supernatural creature uses psychic abilities to cause the teenage protagonist to have sexual dreams about another character against her will. Nothing graphic is described, but she describes the act as "out of line." The process of becoming a vampire is left deliberately vague, but is said to require the person being converted to be "intimate" with whoever is turning them. What this means is unspecified, but a vampire coercing a teenage girl into letting him convert her (when she was hoping her boyfriend would do it) is treated as an assault and traumatic for the girl.
Extras, Scott Westerfeld (Book)
Extremely Online, Taylor Lorenz (Book)
The author discusses the rampant sexual harassment against women online, particularly during Gamergate; an incident where a man stalked an influencer and killed her when she would not date him, video skits involving jokes about sexual assault, and the Pizzagate and Qanon conspiracy theories.
Eye Candy Ink Series, Shaw Hart (Book)
The Eye of the World, Robert Jordan (Book)
Fabio's American Home Kitchen, Fabio Viviani (Book)
Fable for the End of the World, Ava Reid (Book)
The premise of this book is that individuals are occasionally forced to participate in a ritual called The Gauntlet, where they try to escape a trained, biologically augmented assassin for a set number of days while being streamed live to an audience. One protagonist is chosen to be The Lamb, the assassin's target in The Gauntlet. A boy she knows forces a kiss on her just before The Gauntlet begins, and this causes her to recall other situations where boys touched her against her will. The other protagonist is the assassin, referred to as an Angel. She and other Angels receive cosmetic surgery against their will, with one character being given a breast augmentation. When Angels are decommissioned they are married off to high status men and not allowed to refuse. Their memories are also tampered with as a matter of course, which allows their handlers to gaslight and subdue them. The Angel and The Lamb, both teenage girls, fall in love at a point in The Gauntlet where they believe the streaming cameras are not present. They then feel very violated when it's revealed that the cameras were there all along, especially during intimate moments. They are exposed to sexually harassing comments from the public, as well as AI-edited images that show them in compromising positions.
Faces in the Crowd, Valeria Luiselli (Book)
A drunk character grabs a woman in a way she does not like during a dance. Another character notices a group of men staring at her backside.
Fadeout, Joseph Hansen (Book)
A 44-year-old has sex with a 17-year-old. A character lost his virginity to a grown woman when he was 14.
Fae's Deception, Melissa A. Craven & M. Lynn (Book)
Worthy of note: the female main character starts a consensual relationship with a male lead. She is then upset to discover that he has been manipulative and dishonest. She narrowly escapes a third party trapping her into marrying that male lead for their own motives.
Faithful, Alice Hoffman (Book)
The female perspective character is raped repeatedly when she is 17 years old, early in the book. It is described in frank language but without excessive detail. Her abuser is a medical provider in a position of authority over her. After she escapes that situation, she spends some narrative time coping with the trauma. The focus is on broader mental health and personal healing issues. The story separately involves two male stalkers (one who is actively threatening to his underage ex-girlfriend).
The Faithless Hawk, Margaret Owen (Book)
One character must seduce another as part of a plan, and they are somewhat resentful.
Faking With Benefits, Lily Gold (Book)
Chapters 30, 31 and 36: the female main character recalls and discusses the sexual harassment she went through in high school - other students spreading sexual rumors, some groping/attempting to touch her, and teachers disregarding her coming to them for help and even continuing the rumors themselves. The topic does come up in later chapters again, but not with explicit details.
Fall On Your Knees, Ann-Marie MacDonald (Book)
An adult man marries a 13-year-old girl, who eventually gives birth to several daughters. He has sexual attraction towards their eldest daughter when she is a child. He eventually rapes her and she dies giving birth. After the eldest daughter dies, he rapes another of their daughters when she is a child. This daughter has a sexual relationship with an adult man. The book contains both vivid descriptions of rape and implied descriptions.
Fallout, Ellen Hopkins (Book)
Family Abolition, M.E. O'Brien (Book)
Fangs, Sarah Andersen (Book)
FantasticLand, Mike Bockoven (Book)
Chapter 7: a group of guys verbally sexually harass a girl. Chapters 8, 9, 11-14, 22: mentions of rape which are all brief and mostly in relation to rumors. As the story is told through many different accounts, there is talk of rumors of rape happening or fear of that happening but in no part of the story is that shown to be something that actually happened.
Far Sector, N.K. Jemisin (Book)
Sex trafficking, including trafficking of children, is mentioned in passing in one panel.
A Far Wilder Magic, Allison Saft (Book)
The Farm, Joanne Ramos (Book)
A character recalls a memory in which adult men stared at her chest when she was a teenager.
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green (Book)
Favor, Kiki Clark (Book)
Chapter 5: mentions of rape and trafficking as crimes
The Favor, Suzanne Wright (Book)
Chapter 2: the female main character recalls when an ex blackmailed her after secretly filming them having sex. He threatened to send the video out to her family/job/etc if she did not either pay him or have sex with him again but her boss found out and was able to get rid of the recording. Chapter 11: there is a brief conversation about a drug dealer who tried to get addicts to let him have sex with their children. This does not happen in the story. Chapter 29: the main character's ex forcibly kisses her after she tells him to leave her alone.
The Favourite, Ophelia Field (Book)
Faye's Revenge, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
A rape by a brother is mentioned in passing.
Fearing the Black Body, Sabrina Strings (Book)
Feed the Silence, Lee Mandelo (Book)
Felix Ever After, Kacen Callender (Book)
Later, a guy who the protagonist is visiting tries to initiate sex. The protagonist says that he is not ready for sex yet. The other guy seems to try to pressure him to continue, but eventually listens and stops. Worthy of note: the protagonist, a teenage boy, mentions in passing that "creepy older men" tried to buy him drinks at a bar.
Feminist Pedagogy for Library Instruction, Maria T. Accardi (Book)
Chapter 1: the author recounts the story of St. Maria Goretti, "a young Italian teenager who was almost raped and then subsequently murdered by her assailant" and who "is now the patron sain tof chastity, teen girls, and rape victims."
Ferris, Kate DiCamillo (Book)
The Fifth Season, N.K. Jemisin (Book)
A caste of people called breeders must bear children with whoever authorities tell them to have sex with. A protagonist is one such breeder. The man she is set up with turns out to be gay, but he has had sex with women because he has no choice.
Fifty Beasts to Break Your Heart, Gennarose Nethercott (Book)
Story 1: a male manager only hires women he thought were attractive. Story 2: there is a mention of middle school boys who always smack a female student's bottom.
Fight Like Hell, Kim Kelly (Book)
Fighting Words, Kimberly Brubaker Bradley (Book)
The book surrounds the discussion of child sexual abuse. The topic is handled carefully and the author was also a victim, which lends some credit to the depictions. The scenes are not graphic, but the book can still be distressing.
The Final Girl Support Group, Grady Hendrix (Book)
Violence against women perpetrated by men is a central theme. It is not exactly sexual, but is often obsessive, personally targeted, and creepily intimate. There are multiple instances of stalking. When one major character was 16, she became very close with a police officer who saved her life from a brutal attack. He was her crush and her hero. When she was 18 and he 41, he saved her life again and then seduced her into an emotionally manipulative relationship. (He was already married.) He took advantage of her emotional vulnerability to exploit her personal traumas for his financial gain. In the present day, when she is an adult, he ends up directly supervising her while she is in jail.
Find Layla, Meg Elison (Book)
The protagonist overheard her brother being taken away by Child Protective Services and at first wonders if they’re child molesters. Later, the protagonist falls asleep in a public place and wakes up to find a man watching her. He tries to get her to go with him in his car, but she escapes.
Fire From the Sky, Moa Backe Åstot (Book)
The protagonist is a gay teenage boy who is closeted for most of the book. At a party, girl says she likes him and kisses him without asking. The protagonist lies to his friends and says he slept with this girl at the party to throw off their suspicion that he is gay. This lie gets back to her, and she becomes understandably upset with him.
Fire, Kristin Cashore (Book)
It is a common theme throughout the book that the main character is constantly verbally and physically harassed/assaulted by men. She often mentions the way they look at her, think/say threatening things, and even grope her. She also mentions how they often threaten rape, and that she feels unsafe around men. On page 44, it is mentioned that a man's wife was raped, resulting in a child. "He'd handpicked a brute from his prisons, a dirty, savage man, and sent him north to punish Brocker by punishing Brocker's wife." Page 48: "the few women he couldn't seduce with the power of his beauty or his mind, he raped. The few women he impregnated, he killed" Pages 143-145: a man verbally assaults the main character and says horrible things about what he will do to her – it is implied that he threatens to rape her. His specific words are not written.
Fire Punch, Tatsuki Fujimoto (Book)
Firekeeper's Daughter, Angeline Boulley (Book)
The protagonist is raped by a teammate's parent. He gets her alone by claiming to have sensitive information on her, then he overpowers her in a hotel room. The protagonist dissociates, so there is no description of what happened. However, there is a lot of description of what he said to her, her feelings after the fact, and rape apologism expressed by people she knows (e.g. 'what were you thinking would happen when you were alone with him?). ' The protagonist overhears boys talking about her body in a sexual manner when they do not think she is around. Her brother defends her. There is discussion of a tradition called a "blanket party" in which groups of women apprehend someone who has "done something to a girl," wrap him in a blanket, take him to the woods, and beat him up. Worthy of note: for much of the book, the protagonist, who is 18, becomes romantically involved with an undercover FBI agent who is 22. Because the FBI agent seems young, towards the beginning of the book, he is pretending to be a high school student, and the protagonist doesn't know his true age or role at first. We later find out from the FBI agent's colleague that the FBI agent had the idea of pretending to date the protagonist in order to get close to her.
First Comes Like, Alisha Rai (Book)
First Frost, Sarah Addison Allen (Book)
Chapter 3: a character implies that he committed murder because the victim sexually abused him when he was a child. In chapter 9, he confirms this, and provides details of the circumstances but not the assault itself. Chapter 9: a female character says she wakes up at night to her male housemate in her room watching her sleep, and that she fears assault
First Love, Take Two, Sajni Patel (Book)
The protagonist of this book is friends with the protagonist of The Trouble with Hating You. Consequently, in this book, the latter's sexual assault is discussed here and there. Some people in the community do not believe she was raped, or they believe she brought it on herself. Worthy of note: the protagonist of this book is referred to by some antagonist characters as "defiled" for having consensual sex before marriage.
Five Gifts for the Blacksmith's Wife, Lyonne Riley (Book)
In the early chapters of the story, a woman is traded for food to an orc village against her will. She is brought in to have children with one of the orcs and several of them make inappropriate comments about/towards her.
Flamer, Mike Curato (Book)
No child sexual abuse is depicted, but a character who is fired for being gay is the subject of rumors that he was fired for peeping at boys showering, even though he was not.
Fledgling, Octavia E. Butler (Book)
The protagonist of the book is a vampire over 70 years old, but she appears to be a child because, in this universe, vampires age slowly. She engages in several sexual encounters with adult humans throughout the book, which can feel very uncomfortable to read, despite the fact that she is mentally an adult.
Flip the Script, Lyla Lee (Book)
The protagonist enters a fake relationship with her costar to promote the television show on which they both act. In the contract outlining the parameters of the relationship, it states that the costar must get explicit consent for any touching or risk a lawsuit. The costar's manager claims that the wording of the contract insinuates that the costar is a predator when he has not done anything.
Foe, Iain Reid (Book)
Forbidden, Beverly Jenkins (Book)
The male romantic lead is a former slave who was conceived when his slave master raped his enslaved mother. The female romantic lead is tricked and robbed by a man who tries to take advantage of her sexually. The female romantic lead’s sister is a sex worker with two children. One of the children repeats that her mother wants to sell their virginity to one of her clients. That does not end up happening.
The Forest Unseen: a Year's Watch in Nature, David G Haskell (Book)
Forging Silver Into Stars, Brigid Kemmerer (Book)
One character mentions that travelers have propositioned him, sometimes not taking no for an answer, causing him to need to defend himself. Another character discusses a memory of soldiers gang raping his mother. At the time, he was trying to hide with his sisters, but he was found. The soldiers then forced him to rape his sisters.
Foster, Claire Keegan (Book)
Foul is Fair, Hannah Capin (Book)
The plot concerns the aftermath of a teenage girl's rape, as she goes on a quest for revenge against her attacker and his accomplices. Rape, rape culture and sexual harassment are central to the plot.
Foundation, Isaac Asimov (Book)
Four Aunties and a Wedding, Jesse Q. Sutanto (Book)
There is a passing mention to the attempted assault from the previous book.
Four Past Midnight, Stephen King (Book)
The Langoliers: upon coming to a realisation, a main character grabs a young lady and sniffs her neck. She misunderstands this as sexual advances. If she consents or not is dubious. Secret Window, Secret Garden: multiple main characters are stalked. Library Policeman: a character begins retelling about his relationship with the villainess. Once he describes himself as being "horny enough to rape the Statue of Liberty". In a later scene, he sees the villainess crouching infront of a child and making strange noises. He assumes she was molesting the boy, but it is reveals she was not. The villainess instructs a character to kill a small child, and she tells him to "Do whatever he wants with her". However he does not go through with it. In a flashback, the main character, as a child, is brutally sexually assaulted by an adult, in a very graphic and detailed scene. It is heavily implied that the man has assaulted other children before.
Four Thousand Weeks, Oliver Burkeman (Book)
Fourth Wing, Rebecca Yarros (Book)
A Fox in My Brain, Lou Lubie (Book)
The Foxhole Court, Nora Sakavic (Book)
Chapter 7: sexual harassment. A violent rape scene is described around the middle of the book. Rape mentioned throughout the series. It is implied that a character had a sexual relationship with their adult coworker while underage. It is confirmed that a character experienced sexual abuse multiple times as a child.
Frankenstein; Or, the Modern Prometheus, Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley (Book)
Depending on the version of the book in question, the woman the protagonist marries is either biologically his first cousin and was raised alongside him as his sister, or someone technically unrelated to him who was raised as his sister. In either case, from a modern perspective, their marriage might be viewed as unorthodox despite the fact that it is never consummated.
Freedom is a Constant Struggle: Ferguson, Palestine, and the Foundations of a Movement, Angela Y. Davis (Book)
The author discusses the case of the Scottsboro Boys (1931) and the Kissing Case (1958), both instances of young Black boys being falsely accused of rape. There is also an exploration of how carceral feminism, which promotes incarceration as the primary or only response to sexual violence, itself perpetuates sexual violence and does not address its root causes. The book also contains a discussion of the case of Marissa Alexander, who was arrested for shooting warning shots into the air to protect herself against her abusive husband, who had been sexually assaulting her.
Fried Green Tomatoes At the Whistle Stop Cafe, Fannie Flagg (Book)
Frientimacy, Shasta Nelson (Book)
From Bad to Cursed, Lana Harper (Book)
From Below, Darcy Coates (Book)
Fugitive Telemetry, Martha Wells (Book)
Full Exposure, Thien-Kim Lam (Book)
Fun Home, Alison Bechdel (Book)
The author discusses at multiple points how her father had sexual relationships with teenage boys, although she does not go into explicit details.
Funeral Songs for Dying Girls, Cherie Dimaline (Book)
The protagonist asks her best friend to take her virginity early in the book. This does not end up happening. The friend later tells another friend about this incident, who in turn spreads this information and many people make sexual jokes on social media at the protagonist's expense. At a party, a group of boys takes advantage of a girl while she is extremely drunk. This group coerces her and another girl to kiss in front of them for their amusement.
Furia, Yamile Saied Mendez (Book)
Throughout the book, there are news stories about women and girls who go missing and/or get found murdered. It is implied that many of these victims have been raped, but it is not spelled out, and there are not any descriptions of the violence they must have endured.
Futbolista, Jonny Garza Villa (Book)
Over the course of the book, the protagonist realizes that he is bisexual and dates another man while closeted. Others guess that they are in a relationship, including the captain of the protagonist’s soccer team, who asks him invasive questions about his sex life and tries to pressure the two to breakup.
GaGalCleaning!, Ramunemura Shuwata (Book)
A rape scene occurs from chapter 8.94 to chapter 8.97.
Galen: Sons of the Fallen Book 1, Jaclyn Osborn (Book)
Chapter 8: Non-graphic mention of a child who was born as a result of rape.
Garaku, Yuto Suzuki (Book)
Gathering Blue, Lois Lowry (Book)
Gender Euphoria, Laura Kate Dale (Book)
The author of the last essay in the anthology references having been sexually assaulted as a teenager and using kink and sex work to heal from that experience.
Gender Queer, Maia Kobabe (Book)
The author recalls a sexual fantasy they experienced as a teenager with an illustration that depicts a grown man touching a youth's penis, reminiscent of ancient Greek pederasty depictions.
Gender Trouble, Judith Butler (Book)
There are sections that discuss incest in purely theoretical terms, specifically Sigmund Freud's and Claude Lévi-Strauss' theories about incest's role in culture.
Genocide, Adam Jones (Book)
This is a historical and political book addressing a range of genocidal events throughout history. In some sections, sexual assault and rape are addressed as elements of the genocidal events in question.
The Gentleman's Guide to Getting Lucky, Mackenzie Lee (Book)
The Gentleman's Guide to Vice and Virtue, Mackenzie Lee (Book)
George Orwell's 1984, Matyá Namai (Book)
The protagonist fantasises about violently raping a young woman. This is shown with her chained to the ground, being choked, and surrounded by cameras. In the next panel,he smashes her head with a hammer. The protagonist visits a sex worker, and describes her as "villainous". He thinks about following and murdering the above-mentioned woman. He then meets with her, has sex with her, and tells her about how he wanted to rape and murder her. She laughs about it. The woman says that the first time she had sex was with a 60-year-old, and she was 16 (this is somehow lega where the book is set). While the two characters are having sex, they are being watched by members of the government, despite being assured that their room was safe. The protagonist is stripped naked and tortured while in prison.
Get a Life, Chloe Brown, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Ghost Radio, Leopoldo Gout (Book)
Ghost Station, S.A. Barnes (Book)
Ghost Summer: Stories, Tananarive Due (Book)
The protagonist of "The Lake" is a child predator. She lures to teenage boys to her home, tells them not to tell anyone where they are, and strips naked in front of them. In "Like Daughter" a character is physically abused by her father and sexually abused by an uncle as a child. In "Herd Immunity," the protagonist cuts off her hair to avoid being "an obvious rape target." She later kisses someone on the mouth while he's sleeping, despite the fact that he told her to keep her distance. In "Carriers," the protagonist recalls being restrained and raped in a medical setting.
Ghostwritten, David Mitchell (Book)
Chapter 4: the aftermath of a rape scene is discussed in detail. It is used derogatorily against the victim.
Gideon the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Book)
The Gilded Ones, Namina Forna (Book)
The book takes place in a severely patriarchal and misogynistic fictional society. The protagonist and many others like her are considered impure based on the in-world religion, and people use that impure status as a justification to harass and assault them. These so-called impure people are all teen girls and the people targeting them are mostly adult men.
The Girl From the Sea, Molly Knox Ostertag (Book)
Girl Gone Viral, Alisha Rai (Book)
The premise of this book is that a wealthy woman falls in love with someone on her security staff. The female lead directly asks the male lead if he feels coerced into having sex with her because she pays him. He says no. When the two decide to be a committed couple at the end of the book, the male lead quits and talks about pursuing other work in order to remove this conflict of interest and power dynamic. This decision to quit is framed as his own decision and was not prompted by the female lead. The female lead makes a passing comment about how she was groped when she was a teenager and that her father thought she was making it up. Prior to the events of the book, the female lead was kidnapped for ransom and has has PTSD as a result. Although there is no mention of any sexual assault involved with this kidnapping.
A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, Eimear McBride (Book)
A Girl Like Her, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Prior to the events of the book, the main female character was in a relationship with the son of a powerful family. She got into the relationship because the guy wore her down by asking her out every day for two years, despite the fact that she always said no. She described the relationship thusly: "I was with a guy ... And once I agreed to be with him, I suppose that meant, in his mind, that I always agreed ... I mean, he didn't really care if I said yes. Most people don't care about yes. A few more people care about no." Throughout the book, although they are broken up, this ex harasses her and slut shames her publicly while secretly trying to win her back by sending her flowers and presents. There is a scene where she and her sister are in a restaurant and two men come up to her table and ask, "When you gonna give me a ride, babe?"
The Girl On the Train, Paula Hawkins (Book)
Worthy of note: violence against women is a common theme throughout the book. There is mention of a relationship that a main character had with an older man when she was a teenager. There is no detailed discussion of their sexual relationship, although it is specified that he waited until she was "of age" (16) to engage with her sexually. This character also mentions that she was a sex worker as a teenager. During a police report, it is mentioned that a crime was not sexually motivated; the book specifies that this means the victim was not raped. This is mentioned twice over the course of the story. In one scene, a couple has sex despite the fact that the woman involved does not want to; this is because she "does not know how to say no". The encounter is not necessarily forceful, but some may find it uncomfortable (pg. 268). On another occasion, the man in this relationship tries to persuade the woman to "come back to bed" and she says no, but he holds her forcefully and says "I'm not taking no for an answer" (pg. 274).
Girl in Pieces, Kathleen Glasgow (Book)
Girl, Serpent, Thorn, Melissa Bashardoust (Book)
There is a very brief relationship between a girl and a very old demon (this ends when his true identity is revealed, even if she still occasionally sees him in a positive light).
The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland in a Ship of Her Own Making, Catherynne M. Valente (Book)
The Girl Who Drank the Moon, Kelly Barnhill (Book)
The Girl Who Fell Beneath the Sea, Axie Oh (Book)
The main (nonsexual) romance occurs between a 16 year old girl and two gods of unspecified ages.
The Girl With All the Gifts, M. R. Carey (Book)
Girl, Woman, Other, Bernardine Evaristo (Book)
This book has a section named for each of the 12 main characters. Many of their stories involve some form of sexual violence. Dominique's story involves child sexual abuse at the hands of a relative. Carole is gang raped as a teenager by a group of adult men. Bummi is sexually harassed by her pastor and coerced into sleeping with him for money. LaTisha suffers date rape. Penelope, a teacher, observes that male teachers sexually harass and even have sex with female students with no repercussions. Grace is sexually harassed while on the job as a maid.
The Girl in the Woods, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
There is a mentioned rape between a foster father and his daughter. There is also detailed degradation and mentioned forced sexual abuse of an unconscious teenager.
Girls Burn Brighter, Shobha Rao (Book)
The sexual violence in this book is pretty extreme and graphic. The following occur throughout the book: rape at the hands of a friend's parent, marital rape, sex trafficking, child sexual abuse, and sexual assault at gunpoint. Victim blaming, both external and internalized, are frequent themes, along with general misogyny.
The Girls, Emma Cline (Book)
The book centers around a cult, so there is sexual coercion and abuse. The main character (who is a teen) is pressured to give oral sex to the cult leader upon meeting him. Later, the cult leader sets up the main character and her friend to have sex with an adult man as a favor.
The Girls Who Stepped Out of Line, Mari K. Eder (Book)
Chapters 1 and 2 contain brief, non-graphic mentions of past rapes, as well as of the experience of hearing a woman being raped in a neighbouring jail cell.
Girls With Bright Futures, Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman (Book)
Give Me Your Hand, Megan Abbott (Book)
Discussion of past sex between adult and a 14 year old girl (not nonconsensual, exactly, but she has a lot of mixed feelings about it afterward). Pervasive misogynistic microaggression. sex between two adults who have been drinking. The woman is much more drunk than the man and regrets it the next morning. Implication that he may have deliberately stayed more sober than she. Mention of past sex between a college boy and a high school girl who was too drunk to remember what happened.
The Giver, Lois Lowry (Book)
Glass, Ellen Hopkins (Book)
Glitch Feminism, Legacy Russell (Book)
There is passing mention of a minor speaking sexually with adults on the Internet, presumably without the adults knowing they are speaking to minors.
Gloam, Lily Mayne (Book)
Go Ask Alice, Anonymous (Book)
The protagonist gets set up on a date with a boy who turns out to be "all hands" when they get alone. The protagonist and a friend, who are teenagers, go to a party with adults. The adults drug and rape them. She and that same friend later start dating college students. A character was raped throughout her childhood by her stepfather. Foster siblings also assaulted her. The protagonist is coerced to perform sexual favors for an adult man in exchange for drugs. Later, the protagonist is overpowered and forcibly kissed by a stranger while walking in a park. A 13-year-old character describes becoming a "baby prostitute" at the age of 10 due to drug addiction.
The God Delusion, Richard Dawkins (Book)
God Loves Hair, Vivek Shraya (Book)
The author is a trans woman, and this book focuses on her childhood and teenage years before she transitioned. Many boys teased her in sexual ways. There is also an anecdote called "Dirty Thoughts" where a boy tries to coerce her into touching him, but she escapes.
The God of Small Things, Arundhati Roy (Book)
It is revealed that two siblings once engaged in consensual intercourse with one another. A woman is sexually harassed by police officers when she attempts to report a crime. A young boy is sexually assaulted by a stranger - the scene is quite descriptive, as is the account of his resulting trauma.
Gods of Jade and Shadow, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Book)
The protagonist gets used as "bait" to attract the attention of a god. The god fondles her and kisses her without her consent.
Going Bicoastal, Dahlia Adler (Book)
Golden Boy, Abigail Tarttelin (Book)
The main character is sexually assaulted within the first twenty pages of the book. The event plays a central part to the story and is brought up often.
The Golden Cage, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
The main character and her friend has no choice but to be very much degraded with a strong sexual undertone by their fellow students. They are not forced, but they mention they have no choice but to do so. A few pages later, a boy attempts to sexually assault a sleeping girl, but is stopped by the main character.
The Golden Dynasty, Kristen Ashley (Book)
This fictional nomad society has a rape culture. It is explained to the main character that it is their way and that she should not intervene. The main character does intervene in a specific scenario where a woman is orally raped but is held back by the main love interest. The same love interest who raped her in the beginning of the book. Some other women talk about their experiences being raped in this nomad society but it eventually just gets pushed to the side as a normal thing in favor of focusing on the romance aspect of this book.
Golden Gulag, Ruth Wilson Gilmore (Book)
There is a passing mention of rape against domestic workers.
The Golden Spoon, Jessa Maxwell (Book)
The Goldfinch, Donna Tartt (Book)
The protagonist (a boy) mentions in passing that when he was 16, he was sleeping with a woman in her 30s in exchange for alcohol: it does not go into much more detail. His best friend (aged 15-16) makes remarks about wanting to sleep with his best friend's step mother: when it is pointed out that this would be rape, he responds with “i wish”. He also ends up in a relationship with an 18 year old girl and in addition to the entire relationship being very toxic, he states that he hit her. Additionally, he is nearly sold into sex trafficking as a child. Both characters sleep together several times while both are drunk and underage.
Gone Girl, Gillian Flynn (Book)
A protagonist lies multiple times about having been raped by her husband and other men, even going so far as to collect DNA from the men and harm her own genitals to make her lies appear true. There is mention of a group of homeless men gang raping a girl, but this is a rumor. It is mentioned in passing.
Good Girl, Bad Blood, Holly Jackson (Book)
SPOILER: Aa sexual assault case goes to court but the perpetrator wins the case, leaving the victims with a spike in mental health issues
Good Girl Complex, Elle Kennedy (Book)
A Good Girl's Guide to Murder, Holly Jackson (Book)
The main character goes to a party and a boy makes an unwanted advance on her. She leaves before it is too late. A teen girl is said to have had sex with two grown men in the past, one being her teacher. A character is found out to have been selling date rape drugs. One of her regular clients, who is a side character in the book, is revealed to have raped several women in the past, including the dealer’s sister. Worthy of note: near the end, the main character, who’s 17-18, is slipped a date rape drug. However, the reason wasn’t for sexual assault, but for a character to be able to escape with the main character stopping her, SPOILER: There is a sexual relationship between a teacher and one of his students. This can be considered very upsetting because the teacher is a trusted character in the book.
The Good House, Tananarive Due (Book)
A character who is possessed by a demon forces a teenage girl (probably 13 years old) to give him oral sex. Later, this character goes to kill another character, who in turn thinks he will rape her. In the climax, this possessed character plans to rape his ex-wife before killing her. He strips some clothes off of her, but is stopped before he can complete the act. We learn that the grandmother to whom the titular house belongs to inherited the house from an affair she was coerced into. She was a Black maid serving a white man in his home, and he later willed the house to her. The main character occasionally thinks back to having been abused by an older man when she was 13 years old, which culminated in a rape at that time, although this is not described in any detail.
Goodbye, Again, Jonny Sun (Book)
Graceling, Kristin Cashore (Book)
There are mentions of places being "unsafe, especially for women", discussion of characters who harass women, a brief mention of girls who disappeared in one country and appeared in the brothel of another, discussion of a forced marriage of a young woman, and a scene where a teenage girl is harassed and teased by a group of men, who later make jokes about wanting to assault her, saying "If only it weren't for locked door and protective fathers" (this is the most detailed incident). Nothing is described in further detail, and the words "rape" or "sexual assault" are never mentioned.
The Grand Hotel, Scott Kenmore (Book)
Grandma Gatewood's Walk, Ben Montgomery (Book)
This book contains - repeated domestic violence (husband on wife) in flashbacks: description of bodily damage in the aftermath; some details of particular occurrences including while protagonist was pregnant; -marital rape- referenced without detail multiple times, often in conjunction with some detail about domestic violence being given. These passages can all be avoided by careful skimming and/or outright skipping of the flashbacks about Grandma Gatewood's marriage that are interwoven at points throughout the narrative. There is also one very brief teen-and-teen rape mention (a news story, not developed characters) in the section about rising teen/youth violence in the news in the early 1950s.
Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (Book)
There is a few scenes of sexual harassment. Mainly, a villain in a flashback harassing a girl but this ever time is stopped as the protagonist intervenes. Throughout several, recurring scenes in the novels one of the main love interest becomes drunk. It is described that he acts like a child when drunk and never remembers what happens afterwards. The protagonist teases and flirts with him in this state and while drunk the love interest reciprocates. However, near the end of last book, they perform sexual act while this happens. The drunk love interest wakes up during this act shocked about what happened and the protagonist feels as if he has violated him. We do not get insight into the drunk love interest's thoughts, but it appears he also thought he had violated the protagonist. This is resolved later, however the lack of clear consent that was involved in this is not mentioned or explored more than that. In the middle of the book, during a flashback sequence, the protagonist is blindfolded during a competition. Someone sneaks up on him and forcibly kisses him. It is not revealed then but the person who kissed him was the love interest. A major reveal near the end of the novels is that one of the villains unknowingly married his biological half-sister, both were unaware at the time they were married that this happened and had a child together. Another reveal in a flashback near the end of the story has this same villain torturing his father by having him be raped by numerous women as he was sick and dying. The women also did not consent to being forced to do this so therefore both the father and women were raped. This is not described explicitly, however it is talked about and there is a brief scene where the protagonist sees it in a censored flashback. Near the very end of the book, the protagonist and love interest have sex and the protagonist asks the love interest why he didn't do this to him when they were teenagers, however it is put in a way that makes it sound as if the protagonist wishes the love interest would have raped him rather than had consensual sex. In the extras in the last book, there is a explicit rape scene in a dream sequence between the protagonist and love interest.
Grave Witch, Kalayna Price (Book)
One of the central plot threads involves a series of ritual murders, described in some detail. Each one appears to begin as consensual bondage sex and clearly becomes physically violent while the women are restrained. It is unclear whether anything overtly sexual occurs after the violence begins. Additionally, the male love interest repeatedly pushes the female lead's boundaries (non-sexually mostly but not always). Not quite to the point of harassment, and she does reciprocate his feelings, but the dynamic may be uncomfortable for some.
Gravitas, Caroline Goydner (Book)
The Gray House, Maryam Petrosyan (Book)
A female character mentions that she was raped before. This topic is never addressed again and she seems to not realize the seriousness of what happened.
Gray: Sons of the Fallen Book 4, Jaclyn Osborn (Book)
The Great Hunt, Robert Jordan (Book)
In a magic dream-like sequence, a female character is nude and fights an antagonist who shouts "vile" things about what he will do to her when he defeats her. The remarks are not written out; it is only stated in the text that he shouts things leaving the reader to imagine what they may be. It is unclear if they pertain only to the violence of combat or if they are sexual in nature. However, because the female character is nude in this scene, one could assume the comments may have been sexual.
A Great and Terrible Beauty, Libba Bray (Book)
This book takes place England and India in the 1890s. The protagonist's brother, noting that the protagonist was alone with a man during an emergency situation, asks the protagonist if her chastity is still intact. A satyr looks up a woman's skirt. A teenage character's parents plan to marry her off to a rich man to improve the family's financial situation. One man whom they allowed to court her kept pinching her bottom while they were dancing. Towards the end of the book, she is forced to get engaged to a man who is older than her own father, and she commits suicide as a result.
Grief in the Fourth Dimension, Jennifer Yu (Book)
Grief is the Thing With Feathers, Max Porter (Book)
Grown, Tiffany D. Jackson (Book)
Mentions of sexual abuse, rape, assault, child abuse, kidnapping, and addiction to opioids. The premise is that an influential 28-year-old celebrity grooms the protagonist, who is 17 at the start of the narrative, into a relationship with him. He kidnaps her, repeatedly sexually violates her, and abuses her verbally, emotionally, physically, and financially. We later learn that his victimization of teen girls is a pattern of behavior. Early on in the book, the protagonist is almost raped by a classmate. The abuser character confesses that he "lost his virginity" with an adult woman when he was 14. The author reveals in the author's note that her first relationship was with a 22-year-old man when she was only 15. The book has many parallels to the R. Kelly case, although the author states that the book is not about him, but the many men like him and the systems that facilitated his abuse.
Grunt, Mary Roach (Book)
Guardian's of Ga'Hoole, Kathryn Lasky (Book)
All 16 books in the Guardians of Ga'Hoole series contain no sexual violence.
Guardians of the Galaxy: No Guts, No Glory, M. K. England (Book)
Guarding Temptation, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Gullstruck Island, Frances Hardinge (Book)
Gunn's Golden Rules, Tim Gunn (Book)
The Haar, David Sodergren (Book)
Chapter 18: there is a brief flashback that suggests rape.
Haben, Haben Girma (Book)
The a relative of the author alludes to the risk of sexual violence that she and other women worried about while crossing borders during the Ethiopian-Eritrean war. The author describes a situation where a classmate in a dance class kissed her hand and made her uncomfortable.
Hairpin Curves, Elia Winters (Book)
Half-Earth Socialism, Drew Pendergrass & Troy Vettesse (Book)
Hammerfall, C. J. Cherryh (Book)
This book involves a caravan of people who are formerly exiles due to being considered "mad" by society traveling across a desert towards some unknown thing. During their journey, there is a massive storm and, after sheltering in tents for many days, when they emerge the main character discovers that some soldiers raped the women who were in a tent with them. Subsequently one of those women starts having sex with men in the caravan for favors, and the way the other women react to that exemplifies the (negative) way that survivors are slut-shamed or their behavior is not seen through the lens of trauma. It felt like crucial and traumatic events once again just being thrown in to add "realism" to a fantasy or scifi setting. There are well-written female characters and positive depictions of consenting sex in this book as well.
Hana Khan Carries On, Uzma Jalaluddin (Book)
The Handmaid's Tale, Margaret Atwood (Book)
The Handmaid's Tale is set in a dystopian future where, due to declining fertility rates, fertile women are conscripted into becoming 'Handmaids.' This involves state-sanctioned rape and, as such, rape and sexual violence/control are running themes throughout the book. Related themes include female genital mutilation, sex trafficking and domestic violence.
The Handyman Method, Nick Cutter and Andrew F Sullivan (Book)
Chapter 13: a man theatens to cut off another man's penis. He snips a hole in his pants but lets him go.
Hani and Ishu's Guide to Fake Dating, Adiba Jaigirdar (Book)
Hannibal, Thomas Harris (Book)
A man attempts to have intecourse with a gay women he is friends with and touches her without concent while in a gym showroom. There are implied incestuous thoughts of the main characters that impacts their actions and implied incestuous abusive relationship between twins (the brother abused his lesbian sister in the past). There is an implied child abuse from that same character: he has allegations of child molestation in the story and emotionally manipulats a child into killing a cat during the narrative. A man has his seminal fluid forcefully extracted while sleeping (off-screen). There is a scene at the end whitch Is heavily Implied to be concenting but one of the characters is partially drugged and manipulated and does a sexual act that is nit incestuous but reminiscent of incest (breastfeeding feeding a man).
Happiness is a Warm Puppy, Charles M. Shultz (Book)
Happy Endings, Thien-Kim Lam (Book)
Happy Trail, Daisy Prescott (Book)
The book contains a mention of male hikers on the AT trail cuddling up to the female main character while she is sleeping (she felt their male parts against her). This is very briefly mentioned in a passing thought and the main character does not dwell on it and moves on quickly as it is merely an annoyance she deals with being a woman in a male dominated activity.
Harrow Faire, Kathryn Ann Kingsley (Book)
The main character, who was previously a victim of rape, ends up in a romantic relationship with the main villain who assaults and attempts to rape her on multiple occasions and does rape her at least once. He never receives any consequences for his abuse and it is never acknowledged as such.
Harrow the Ninth, Taymsn Muir (Book)
The protagonist kisses a woman without her consent though she herself also does not want to do so but is instructed via a note. The woman is shocked but does not seem disturbed by this and teases the protagonist about it several times.
Harvest, Jim Crace (Book)
Haukka, Minun Rakkaani, Kaari Utrio (Book)
There is a constant mention and threat of sexual violence in the book. Marital rape is also discussed in many occasions. The narrative is that men do not have the ability to control themselves and that sexual violence towards women is expected both in daily life and in times of war. It is mentioned that the female lead endured marital sexual violence from her really old husband starting since they were married. She was around 12-15 when they got married. The male love interest rapes the female lead in the beginning of the book, after her escape from the husband's house: initially, he saves her from drowning but then she loses her consciousness. While she is unconscious, he starts having sex with her. The scene is described vividly. In another scene the male love interest contemplates raping the female lead again, but he does not act on the urges. The scene starts with him saving her in the fishing hut (where she is unconscious). Additionally, there is an antagonist male whose plan is to rape the female lead and get married with her. There are some scenes with him and the female lead where he is being really threatening.
The Haunted Forest Tour, James A. Moore & Jeff Strand (Book)
Chapter 2: a boy mentions that his uncle always says "weird things" to him, and that his mother calls the uncle a pervert- Chapter 32: brief mention of prison rape.
Haunting Adeline, H. D. Carlton (Book)
This story centers around a man stalking a woman that he is in love with, and his intent is that she should reciprocate his feelings. There is a scene in which he forces himself on her, but over the course of the story she begins to develop feelings for him. By the end of the story they are in an ostensibly consensual relationship. The male lead spends most of the book tracking down a pedophile ring and human traffickers. There are mentions of rape, sexually violent dark web sites, a scene with dozens of women and girls being held in a warehouse and scenes with other children being kidnapped individually. Though there is no graphic description of what happens to any of these children/women it plays a large part of the plot of the story and is discussed frequently.
The Haunting of Alejandra, V. Castro (Book)
The book's central theme is misogyny and generational trauma experienced by the protagonist and her ancestors. Many of her ancestors experienced some form of sexual violence.
Hawaii's Story By Hawaii's Queen, Lili'uokalani (Book)
The Hazel Wood, Melissa Albert (Book)
The Heart Principle, Helen Hoang (Book)
At the beginning of the second chapter, the female romantic lead is reflecting on how she hates giving blowjobs, while she is giving her boyfriend a blowjob. She feels like he expects her to do this for him, and he pushes her head while she is doing it. Towards the end of the book, a tertiary character is mentioned to have been ousted from his job after several women accuse him of sexual harassment.
Heartless, Gail Carriger (Book)
A deceased male character had abused victims as a sexual sadist. A major male character had deliberately drawn the brunt of his abuse to protect others. He was definitely repeatedly beaten, and implied to have been raped. All this happened before the series begins and is named without any detail.
The Hearts We Sold, Emily Lloyd-Jones (Book)
Heartstopper, Alice Oseman (Book)
A character pushes the protagonist against a locker and starts kissing him, despite the latter's repeated verbal protests. Another character acts on the protagonist's behalf and interrupts the situation.
Heartstopper 2, Alice Oseman (Book)
Heartstopper 3, Alice Oseman (Book)
Heartstopper 4, Alice Osman (Book)
The Heaven & Earth Grocery Store, James McBride (Book)
A female character has a seizure and falls unconscious while arguing with a male character. After she is unconscious, the male character starts removing her clothing and fondling her. He is stopped before raping her, but he clearly would have done that if not interrupted. Later, whenever he reflected on this incident, he tells himself that she was so alluring that "she did it to him." A child character is forcibly institutionalized. The other patients are mostly adult men. One of the attendants is a sexual predator and takes advantage of boys, knowing they either are incapable of speaking against him or won't be believed if they do. This predator prepares to rape the main child character, but he is interrupted.
Heaven Official's Blessing, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (Book)
In the third book the main character breathes in something of an aphrodisiac (a poison that basically sends him into a mania that was meant to make him partake in sexual activities) After that, the fruit of the plant that did that to him harass him and a solider (who is a minor) verbally, and by appearing as naked human beings. This so for the purpose of the main character to have sex. A minor is there, and involved. Due to the situation the main character self harms to prevent himself from becoming unpure, as that is where he gets his power due to the kind of cultivation he uses.
Heavenly Tyrant, Xiran Jay Zhao (Book)
The author's note reads as follows: "Please be aware that this book contains violence and abuse, body horror, mass murder, toxic relationship dynamics, discussions of reproductive coercion, allusions to childhood sexual abuse, and references to miscarriage, domestic violence, sexual assault, and suicide." The protagonist is repeatedly referred to as a whore based on her polyamorous relationships and just generally because she is a powerful woman. The toxic relationship dynamics in question relate to the protagonist's marriage to a man who, based on the in-world magic system, has a lot of physical and psychological power over her. He is very controlling of her and frequently threatens to kill people she cares about. A character mentions that he was considered a pretty child when he was younger, and that his father would leave him alone in rooms with grown men, implying that they assaulted him or were otherwise inappropriate. A tertiary character escapes an abusive husband. He comes looking for her and excuses his physical abuse by claiming she hit him first. After further questioning, we find out that she hit him first because he was trying to force her to have sex with him. Throughout the book, many women are killed and mutilated in very sexualized ways, particularly having their breasts cut off.
Heir Apparent, Vivian Vande Velde (Book)
There is an adult male character who continuously hits on an adult female character (not the YA perspective character) despite his advances being clearly unwanted. It's played for laughs; the perspective character even considers arranging a marriage between the two adults. (The situation consensually resolves for political reasons after a point.)
Hell Followed With Us, Andrew Joseph White (Book)
Although there is no explicit sexual violence, the protagonist starts the book in a relationship with someone who verbally abuses him and physically overpowers him at times. The protagonist does eventually free himself from this partner.
The Hellion's Waltz, Olivia Waite (Book)
A secondary older male character makes the female lead uncomfortable by gripping her hands and wrists, and by some creepy flirting.
Hello, Melancholic!, Yayoi Oosawa (Book)
A bonus chapter at the end of volume 3 briefly explores the relationship between a teenage girl and her adult girlfriend. It is not made clear how large their age gap is, and this relationship is not referenced anywhere else in the story.
Hench, Natalie Zina Walschots (Book)
The Henna Wars, Adiba Jaigirdar (Book)
Worthy of note: a character fears that if she comes out, people will sexualize her for being both Brazilian and bisexual.
Her Neighbor's Wife: a History of Lesbian Desire Within Marriage, Lauren Jae Gutterman (Book)
There are passing mentions of marital rape throughout. There are references to rape in literature, such as in The Color Purple by Alice Walker. Psychologists, other doctors, and court judges discussed at some points in the book believed that queer women would indoctrinate or sexually assault their children. One person in the study discusses who she was sexually abused by her father.
Here's to Us, Becky Albertalli, Adam Silvera (Book)
HEX, Thomas Olde Heuvelt (Book)
There is a character who was physically and sexually abused by a husband who is dead at the time the book takes place. This is periodically discussed in an unkind way throughout the novel. Another character who has been tortured attempts to rape this character. The novel centers around a murdered witch who haunts a small town. One of the teen boys cuts her dress to expose and mutilate one of her breasts. He accused her of raping his mother.
Hidden Valley Road, Robert Kolker (Book)
This book is about a family of 12 siblings, half of which develop schizophrenia. There is loads of mentions of physical and mental abuse to start, then about halfway through they start to mention the older siblings sexually abusing the younger ones.
Hide, Kiersten White (Book)
Hijab Butch Blues, Lamya H. (Book)
Hired, James Bloodworth (Book)
His and Hers, Alice Feeney (Book)
The rape scenes in this book were not handled with care at all and seemed to be mostly done for shock value. It contains a graphic gang rape scene, and the sexual exploitation of a teenager ends up being a major plotline which is unskippable. SPOILERS: From the killer's perspective, we get the lines, "They let her. They could have said no. There is always a choice." The sixteen year old girls are on drugs after being pressured to take them.
His Only Wife, Peace Adzo Medie (Book)
The protagonist reflects on how she and her classmates had relationships with adult men while they were in secondary school. As an adult, she ends up marrying someone who is 13 years older than her.
The History of Bees, Maja Lunde (Book)
The Hobbit, J.R.R. Tolkien (Book)
Hold My Hand, Michael Barakiva (Book)
Holes, Louis Sachar (Book)
A white man makes unwanted advances on a white woman who rejects him. Later, when he finds out she's in a relationship with a black man (this section of the novel being set in the 1800s in Texas, meaning interracial relationships are illegal), he leads a lynch mob and murders the woman's lover. When the woman initially realizes her lover is in danger, she goes to the sheriff for help. He only agrees to have her lover's life spared if she kisses him, which she refuses to do, so in retaliation, he allows her lover to be murdered. In another section of the novel, also set sometime in the 1800s, a 15 year old girl is married to a man old enough to be her father. She does not seem to care, but was also given little say in the matter.
Hollow Empire, Sam Hawke (Book)
The protagonist is kidnapped, drugged, and taken to a party where it is strongly implied some form of assault took place, then taken to a room upstairs where he is undressed, forced to witness an antagonist sexually assault and murder another man, and then left there with the intent of framing him for the other man's murder.
The Hollow Heart, Marie Rutkoski (Book)
The Hollow Ones, Guillermo Del Toro & Chuck Hogan (Book)
The Hollow Places, T. Kingfisher (Book)
Hollowpox: the Hunt for Morrigan Crow, Jessica Townsend (Book)
A Holly Jolly Diwali, Sonya Lalli (Book)
The protagonist is followed by men who sexually harass her until she yells at them. This prompts the protagonist to recall a real-life rape and murder case and reflect on rape culture in general.
Homebodies, Tembe Denton-Hurst (Book)
Homegoing, Yaa Gyasi (Book)
Child marriage and the rape of slaves by slave masters both occur.
Homeland, R.A. Salvatore (Book)
The lead character is put in a situation where his awareness is obscured and a priestess touches and grabs him in an attempt to entice him into a ceremonial orgy against his will. He manages to break away before anything happens to him. The scene is not graphic.
Homestuck, Andrew Hussie (Book)
One female character (antagonist) uses psionics to force a woman into a sexual encounter. This is explicitly mentioned to be non consensual.
Homo Deus, Yuval Noah Harari (Book)
Honey and Clover, Chika Umino (Book)
The college love interest is designed to look and acts like a young child, which may make some readers uncomfortable. At the end of the manga, the uncle of a young college protagonists confesses to having feelings for her.
Honey Girl, Morgan Rogers (Book)
There is passing mention of a tertiary character who cannot keep his hands to himself and disrespects the fact that the protagonist is a lesbian.
The Honeymoon Crashers, Christina Lauren (Book)
One romantic lead refers to her ex-husband as a “serial sex abuser” for cheating on her with three different women.
Honeymoon for One, Keira Andrews (Book)
Honor Among Thieves, Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre (Book)
Honor Bound, Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre (Book)
Honor Lost, Rachel Caine and Ann Aguirre (Book)
Honour, Elif Shafak (Book)
Worthy of note: there is a scene where a character is robbed.
Hood Feminism, Mikki Kendall (Book)
Throughout, the author discusses her experiences with being sexually harassed, drugged, and assaulted. She also shares statistics about sexual violence, particularly sexual violence at the hands of the police.
Hoodoo, Ronald L. Smith (Book)
A character is mentioned to have had a slaveholding ancestor who impregnated one of his slaves.
Hook, Line, and Sinker, Tessa Bailey (Book)
Hooked, Emily McIntire (Book)
Worth noting: in the first chapters of the book, the main male character has plans to sexually "break" and degrade the female main character in order to hurt her father. This does not happen and there is no sexual assault that actually takes place.
A Hope Divided, Alyssa Cole (Book)
The main male character's mother was gang raped prior to the events of the book and bore a child as a result. The main female character, who is a free Black woman, assumed that she was conceived from an affair between her mother and her mother's slavemaster. It is later revealed that the actual father was the slavemaster's son. The relationship between her mother and the slavemaster's son is framed as consensual, and there is no mention of an age difference. However, the inherent power difference in this relationship is highlighted frequently. A Confederate soldier threatens to sell the main female character into prostitution, and makes veiled allusions to the fact that he would rape her if she were his slave. This book takes place during the United States Civil War, and the primary couple in this book consists of a free Black woman who spies for the Union cause and a white Scottish Union soldier. The characters have honest conversations about this power dynamic and how their coupling would be perceived by other people.
Horrorstor, Grady Hendrix (Book)
Hot Comb, Ebony Flowers (Book)
The protagonist hears from her friend that her grandfather makes her get undressed before spanking her. Such a scene is depicted in one of the comic panels. The protagonist tells her own mother about this, which alarms the mother.
Hounded, Kevin Hearne (Book)
The straight male lead has a magical weakness that makes him more vulnerable to seduction and manipulation. Several female characters use this against him. Some female allies leverage this to tease him (including kisses that are not unwelcome, but are partially compelled) and make the point that he needs to be more cautious while his enemies are in active pursuit. One female character whose allegiances are ambiguous wears a passive "I'm beautiful, so you wish to do things that please me" charm that the protagonist actively resists. The impact of these episodes is softened considerably by the fact that he views them as annoyances, turn-ons, and/or reminders to protect himself, rather than seeming especially distressed. There is a running gag in which his sentient dog begs for a harem of French poodles. The dog is extremely excited when his master arranges for a date with a group of poodles in heat. It is played for laughs at every point, which can get uncomfortable as a reader.
The House At the Bottom of a Lake, Josh Malerman (Book)
The House in the Cerulean Sea, TJ Klune (Book)
House of Hunger, Alexis Henderson (Book)
A pair of adult twins share a consensual incestuous relationship (along with their mutual mistress). Throughout the book, blood-drinking (and at times, other kinds of bodily consumption) is a direct metaphor for possessive sex. This is initially portrayed as darkly romantic, and becomes disturbingly obsessive and abusive. There is no non-consensual sex, but there is lots of non-consensual sensual intimacy. It is also strongly implied that the act of repeatedly having one's blood drained creates a supernatural affection similar to Stockholm Syndrome. One character discusses her childhood relationship with her father in language that heavily implies incest. The father repeatedly drank his daughter's blood, making his wife jealous.
The House of My Mother, Shari Franke (Book)
The author describes being groomed and repeatedly sexually assaulted by a married middle-aged man when she was a teenager.
The House of the Scorpion, Nancy Farmer (Book)
It is mentioned that women are not safe around a particular male character. The protagonist demands that his friend give him a kiss in front of a large group of people. This makes her and most of the other people in the room extremely uncomfortable. Only one person is happy with the situation, the most powerful person present. This powerful person encourages the protagonist to treat women and girls this way.
House of Whispers, Laura Purcell (Book)
Chapter 22: brief mention of men having sex with children in an attempt to cure their STD.
How to ADHD, Jessica McCabe (Book)
How Beautiful We Were, Imbolo Mbue (Book)
Throughout the book, there are references to women and girls being raped by soldiers or oil workers. In the chapter entitled "Yaya," a character learns that her husband was sexually assaulted by an uncle when he was a child. When he told trusted adults about the incident, they minimized his pain and expressed worry about ruining the uncle's life since he was an influential figure in their village. Towards the end of the book, shamans complete a ritual where they insert semen into the vagina of one of the main female characters while she is unconscious, without her knowledge or consent.
How Boards Work, Dambisa Moyo (Book)
This books contains a discussion of the #MeToo movement and corporate responses to sexual harassment and sexual assault scandals.
How Can I Get Through to You?, Terrence Real (Book)
There is passing mention of sexual harassment charges levied against some of the author's clients.
How to Catch a Queen, Alyssa Cole (Book)
How to Do Nothing, Jenny Odell (Book)
How Does It Feel to Be a Problem?, Moustafa Bayoumi (Book)
A few chapters include non-specific, passing mentions of the Abu Ghraib torture and prisoner abuse. Worthy of note: each chapter is named after a person the author interviewed. In Lina's chapter, she gets engaged at one point to a cousin. However, she ends up breaking off the engagement.
How to Find a Princess, Alyssa Cole (Book)
How to Get Suspended and Influence People, Adam Selzer (Book)
How It All Ends, Emma Hunsinger (Book)
Worthy of note: The premise of the book is that the protagonist gets to skip eighth grade/her last year of middle school to enter ninth grade/her first year of high school. In her English class, a bunch of boys take off their shirts to prank the teacher. This is not sexual or directed at the protagonist, but it does make her uncomfortable.
How to Keep House While Drowning, KC Davis (Book)
How Much of These Hills is Gold, C. Pam Zhang (Book)
An adult male character says to the protagonist, a young girl at this point, that he "needs a girl." She does not exactly understand what he means, but she lies and says she is younger than she is anyway. As the protagonist becomes a teenager, men pay her a lot of unwanted attention, in large part because she is the one Chinese person in a white settlement. Her friend's fiancé is particularly harassing. She tells her friend that this fiancé forced kisses on her and made sexual comments to her, but her friend does not believe her. The book ends with the protagonist's sibling having tricked her into being a sex worker to pay off the sibling's debts. Also worthy of note: the protagonist is a victim of domestic violence at the hands of her father.
How to Resist Amazon and Why, Danny Caine (Book)
How to Sell a Haunted House, Grady Hendrix (Book)
How to Stop Feeling Like Shit, Andrea Owen (Book)
How to Talk So Kids Will Listen and Listen So Kids Will Talk, Elaine Mazlish, Adele Faber (Book)
How We Fall Apart, Katie Zhao (Book)
The main character (17 years old) dates a student teacher at her school (20 years old). The two previously dated when she was a freshman in high school and he was a senior. The relationship is not portrayed positively by the narrative, and the power imbalance is remarked upon.
The Human Stain, Philip Roth (Book)
Worthy of note: one of the main characters is a woman who was married to a physically and emotionally abusive man. She continues to be stalked by him after having ended their relationship.
The Humans, Matt Haig (Book)
Worthy of note: the narrator is an alien who replaces a human man and steps into every part of his life, including his relationships. He has sex with the man's wife and with his mistress. When the wife discovers that he is an alien replacement, she feels betrayed and troubled (even though he treated her far better than her actual husband had).
The Hundred Years' War On Palestine, Rashid Khalidi (Book)
There is a passing discussion of Israeli Occupation Force soldiers raping Palestinians.
The Hunger, Alma Katsu (Book)
Multiple instances and scenarios of sexual violence occur in this book. A man tells multiple people that their sexual relationship with him will end on his terms, not theirs. A man is revealed to have been sexually assaulting his daughter between the ages of 15-17. She becomes pregnant and dies by suicide. There are many occasions on which men imply that they will sexually assault a woman or a girl. A man tricks multiple teenagers into thinking they will be killed if they do not submit to him sexually assaulting them.
The Hunger Games: the Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes, Suzanne Collins (Book)
Worthy of note: the protagonist stalks and manipulates his love interest throughout the book.
The Hunger Games, Suzanne Collins (Book)
Worthy of note: the story as a whole is about a society that is numb to violence, so despite nothing happening, there are some things that could possibly be triggering, such as a girl being taken as a slave and having her tongue cut off prior to the events of the book. A key part of the plot is the presumably primarily adult audience of the Hunger Games being deeply invested in the protagonist's performed romantic relationship with another character. The protagonist feels a lot of pressure to kiss him and perform romantic devotion to him even though she does not feel those feelings. There are also scenes where she has to be naked in front of adults she does not know while they are styling her.
Hunger, Roxane Gay (Book)
This book contains detailed descriptions of the author's rape by a group of boys during her early teenage years. She also addresses, at length, the effect which this incident has had on her since it happened.
Hunted, Darcy Coates (Book)
Chapters 5 and 48: mention of rape as a general crime Some parts of the book are told from the perspective of a man who has a very "but I'm a nice guy" attitude towards one of the women in their group.
The Hunted, L.A. Banks (Book)
Chapter 2: two women discuss how they were assaulted by one of the woman's uncle when they were teenagers, it having been prolonged abuse against his niece Chapter 17 and 22: there are non graphic mentions of rape as part of flashbacks/listed atrocities. A man is briefly concerned that a woman may try to rape him but nothing happens.
Hunting Adeline, H.D Carlton (Book)
This entire book is about the main characters time during the sex trade. It contains very graphic full descriptions of rape, torture, and rape with inanimate objects. Though the first book is more of a CNC (consensual non-consent) story as most dark romance books are, this one is completely different and horrifically violent.
Hunting By Stars, Cherie Dimaline (Book)
A male character has a harem or cult of women whom he calls his wives. One of the protagonists, a teenage girl, seeks help from this community. There is discussion about the protagonist being made one of his wives, but that never happens.
Hurricane Girl, Marcy Dermansky (Book)
The main character flees an abusive relationship (before the book starts, but the abuse is discussed). Later in the book, she gets knocked out by a man smashing a vase into her head after she refused his advances.
I Am a Cat Barista, Hiro Maijima (Book)
I Am the Dark That Answers When You Call, Jamison Shea (Book)
The protagonist is a teenage girl possessed by a demon. The demon forces a kiss on her at one point, and she defends herself against it.
I Am Not Your Perfect Mexican Daughter, Ericka Sanchez (Book)
Chapter 5: a side characters step father is described pressing his genitalia to his teenage step daughter. same man takes a photo up the skirt of the main character. Chapter 6: the main characters uncle sticks his fingers in her mouth. one time, he does it much deeper than usual, so the main character bites him so hard she draws blood. Chapter 8: the main character and her mother are cleaning the house of an older man who is described by the main character as staring at her mother inappropriately. Chapter 22: the main character learns that her mother was raped at gunpoint while her father was forced to watch. She also discovers that her older sister was the product of this rape. This is mentioned multiple times throughout the rest of the book.
I, the Divine: a Novel in First Chapters, Rabih Alameddine (Book)
The (male) author devotes a whole chapter in the second half of the book to gang rape of the main character. The chapter is very detailed, describing the sensations and thoughts of the teenager as she is assaulted by a group of men. Worthy of note is the emphasis which the author places on the darkness of the rapists' hands in comparison to the white skin of the main character.
I Feed Her to the Beast and the Beast is Me, Jamison Shea (Book)
There is a passing mention of someone whose touch lingers inappropriately while adjusting the ballet dancers' posture.
I Found a Circus Tent in the Woods Behind My House, Ben Farthing (Book)
I Got Abducted By Aliens and Now I'm Trapped in a Rom-Com, Kimberly Lemming (Book)
The author's note at the beginning reads, "This book deals with emotionally difficult topics, including dubious consent under the form of a love serum, hostage situations, violence, and sexually explicit content that could trigger certain audiences. Reader discretion is advised." The premise is that the protagonist and several other human women are abducted from earth and genetically modified against their knowledge and consent to be able to bear children with an alien species. Within the first third or so of the book, the protagonist and two aliens are shot with darts bearing a love serum to hurry along their relationship. The three do end up feeling confident in their love for one another, but they also voice anger at the people who put them together on the planet that they are on.
I Had That Same Dream Again, Yoru Sumino (Book)
I Hope We Choose Love, Kai Cheng Thom (Book)
Many of the essays throughout the book deal with sexual assault, particularly how it is handled or mishandled in leftist queer communities.
The One, John Marrs (Book)
A character remembers how he coerced a previous girlfriend into having sex with other men in front of him for his entertainment, and then broke up with her, calling her a slag for doing it. Pedophilia is mentioned in a few places, specifically how the gene matching could be abused to match pedophiles with children.
I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings, Maya Angelou (Book)
I, Robot, Isaac Asimov (Book)
I Wish You All the Best, Mason Deaver (Book)
I Wish You Would, Eva Des Lauriers (Book)
In the backstory, a teacher (22 years old) has a sexual relationship with a student (17/18 years old). She insists it was consensual, but he was fired when they were found out, and other characters recognize the relationship as inappropriate. The same character also leaked nude photos of his ex-girlfriend (her age goes unmentioned). The main character is cornered by her best friend's father when he is drunk, and he stares at her inappropriately and makes several sexualized comments to her, which traumatizes her and causes her to blame herself. He is later discovered to have coerced his younger coworker into an affair. Many characters' personal letters are made public and read aloud in a deliberately humiliating manner, the letters often relating to their sexual experiences.
The Ice Child, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
Rape is mentioned, but not at all detailed.
Ice Planet Barbarians, Ruby Dixon (Book)
A few pages in, there is a gang rape scene.
I'd Rather Burn Than Bloom, Shannon C.F. Rogers (Book)
There are a few scenes where the protagonist's classmates make harassing comments to her and others.
Ida B. the Queen, Michelle Duster (Book)
The author references false rape allegations used to excuse lynching, rape against slaves, false rape allegations against the Exonerated Five, and the kidnapping and gang rape of Recy Taylor.
Ida in the Middle, Nora Lester Murad (Book)
Identical, Ellen Hopkins (Book)
The two main characters were raped by their father as young children. This is described in detail numerous times through flashbacks and is a key plot point. One of the characters gets so high she basically immobilized and the man she is with initiates sex. She consented but she was not in the proper mental or physical state to. One of the characters desires to have a romantic/sexual relationship with one of her teachers. He then flirts with her back and even invites her to his house. It is implied that he wants to take things further but feels it would be wrong and he stops before anything can happen between them.
If Beale Street Could Talk, James Baldwin (Book)
The central conflict of the book is that one of the protagonists was accused of rape. It is believed by most of the characters that this is a false accusation, but whether or not it did happen is ambiguous.
If the Boot Fits, Rebekah Weatherspoon (Book)
A character repeatedly flirts with the male romantic lead and tries to get him to ask her out. He ignores her and then directly says he is not interested, but she persists.
If I Never Met You, Mhairi McFarlane (Book)
Prior to the events of the book, when the protagonist was eight years old, her father left her alone with one of his friends, who tried to touch her inappropriately. This prompted the protagonist to leave the house. At the time, her mother chastised her for running away because the protagonist was too traumatized to explain what happened. She also knew that her father would brush off responsibility for the incident. The memories of this event resurface when, as an adult, the protagonist is at a party and sees the man who tried to touch her. She is deeply distressed upon seeing him and decides to leave the event. Later on, she tells her mother the whole story of what happened, and her mother apologizes for blaming her. The protagonist finds out that a previous girlfriend of her love interest made false rape allegations against him. It is clear in context that these accusations are actually fake, and he is not simply claiming that they are. There is passing mention of men catcalling the protagonist while she is out running.
If Nobody Speaks of Remarkable Things, John McGregor (Book)
If We Were Villains, M. L. Rio (Book)
If You'll Have Me, Eunnie (Book)
The Three-Body Problem, Cixin Liu (Book)
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, Philip K. Dick (Book)
A man kisses a woman while she is limp from the effects of a drug, thinking that she will not remember the incident. He leaves her alone after this.
I'll Be Gone in the Dark, Michelle McNamara (Book)
This is a true crime book examining the crimes of the so-called Golden State Killer/East Area Rapist with a view to discerning the identity of the perpetrator, which was still unknown at the time of writing. As such, the details of these crimes (many of them sexual in nature) are discussed throughout the book.
I'll Be the One, Lyla Lee (Book)
I'll Give You the Sun, Jandy Nelson (Book)
I'm Afraid of Men, Vivek Shraya (Book)
The author mentions a time when an Uber driver said he could smell a young girl passenger's "sweet pussy." Sexual harassment and sexual violence are discussed in abstract terms throughout.
I'm Glad My Mom Died, Jennette McCurdy (Book)
The author discusses how her mother was emotionally and sexually abusive towards her, gaslight her, and manipulated her into developing an eating disorder. The mother consistently undermined the author's boundaries about her body and preferences, even going as far as to wipe the author, shower with her, and shave her legs, well after the author was capable of doing these things on her own. In the final chapter of the book, the author specifically points out how her mother would give her breast and vaginal exams, despite how uncomfortable it made the author feel. The author's manager is also described as having been manipulative toward the author and other clients. The author describes being coerced into having her first kiss be on camera with a co-star. The discusses having dated two men in their 30s when she was 18 years old. The author discusses having been raped by a man who initiated sex with her when she was too drunk to know what was going on. Part of the book also references the Dan Schneider sexual misconduct scandal at Nickelodeon.
I'm the One That I Want, Margaret Cho (Book)
The author describes being raped at a party.
I'm in Love With Mothman, Paige Lavoie (Book)
I'm Not Dying With You Tonight, Kimberly Jones and Gilly Segal (Book)
The protagonists have to go through a neighborhood with many abandoned houses where "things happen to girls." In that area, a man starts following them and making sexual advances. Worthy of note: Both protagonists are high school students. One is dating a 20-year-old and keeping his age a secret from her grandfather. It i not confirmed whether or not this relationship is sexual.
I'm Still Here, Austin Channing Brown (Book)
The author makes a passing mention about fearing that her body would be "violated by the state".
I'm Telling the Truth But I'm Lying, Bassey Ikpi (Book)
Imajica, Clive Barker (Book)
Immunity, Erin Bowman (Book)
The Improbability of Love, Hannah Rothschild (Book)
Impromptu Match, Lily Mayne (Book)
Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl, Harriet Jacobs (Book)
The book is the author's biography, focused on her time as a slave in South Carolina, as well as her escape and what came after. Jacobs describes how her owner and other slaveholders would harass, assault, and rape the female slaves around the plantations. Her owner repeatedly harasses her and tries to force her into having sex with him, both personally and by threatening to punish Jacobs' family. In addition to this, her owner's wife reacts by punishing Jacobs for this perceived transgression. Jacobs is ultimately protected from her owner's advances by the fact that he fears her grandmother, a former slave who is universally respected even by the white people in the community.
The Indifferent Stars Above, Daniel James Brown (Book)
Indiginerds, Alina Pete (Book)
Towards the end of the story "Airwave Pirates," there is an illustration of the symbol for Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), which is a red handprint covering the lower half of a person's face. The illustration has no caption or descriptor identifying at s the MMIWG symbol.
Infernal Games, Jenna Wolfhart (Book)
Chapter 16: while on a date, a man forcibly kisses a woman.
Inheritance, Christopher Paolini (Book)
There are very detailed scenes of a woman being tortured. She worries to herself that she will be taken advantage of. Worthy of note: the protagonist, who is 15 at the start of the series and 18 by the end, ends up with an elf who is over 100 years old. The elf had hitherto this point stated that their age difference was a reason that they should not be together.
The Inheritance Games, Jennifer Lynn Barnes (Book)
One character caresses another character's face without her permission.
Ink, Jonathan Maberry (Book)
The details of a woman's rape and murder are discussed in great detail.
Insurrecto, Gina Apostol (Book)
Intensity, Dean Koontz (Book)
Within the first few chapters of the book the main character finds her best friend raped and dead on her bed. Whilst she was able to hear the assault taking place, she arrived too late in order to save her friend.
Interesting Facts About Space, Emily Austin (Book)
The protagonist has an obsession with true crime stories, many of which involve rape. Some characters sexually harass the protagonist at work.
Internet for the People, Ben Tarnoff (Book)
Interview With the Vampire, Anne Rice (Book)
A major plot point is that the protagonist and another character turn a five-year-old girl into a vampire. The protagonist's internal monologue indicates that she became a woman (psychologically) in that instant. The character grows mentally but always appears to be five years old. The protagonist has a sexual relationship with this character, but it is unclear when this started.
The Intimacy Experiment, Rosie Danan (Book)
There are a handful of discussions (some direct and some indirect) through the book about when the main character was 18 and her high school boyfriend shared the naked photos that she sent him. Chapter 10/11: a man verbally sexually harasses a woman at a bar (the same event overlapping both chapters).
Into the Broken Lands, Tanya Huff (Book)
Into the Drowning Deep, Mira Grant (Book)
A few brief, non-detailed mentions of one female character's past experiences of sexual harassment.
Into the Heartless Wood, Joanna Ruth Meyer (Book)
Invincible, Robert Kirk (Book)
Issue n° 110: the protagonist is physically assaulted and raped by a woman that he was, until then, familiar with. She tells him to man up and coerces him to come back multiple times since "It" may take more than one session. The distress this causes him becomes a major plot point. She becomes pregnant by him and the protagonist eventually meets the offspring and realizes who the mother is.
Invisible Differences, Julie Dachez, Mademoiselle Caroline (Book)
In pages 82-85 of the hardcover edition there is a sexual harassment scene in which a man forces a kiss on a woman and gets angry when she refuses him. On page 192 (resources section) there is mention of the sexual abuse of autistic children.
The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, V.E. Schwav (Book)
In a few instances, the protagonist is cornered by men with bad intentions. She manages to escape. The protagonist is forced to prostitution as a way to survive starvation. Her experience is described in detail.
Invisible No More, Andrea J. Ritchie (Book)
Discussion of sexual violence committed by police against women as a form of police violence.
Invisible Women, Caroline Criado Perez (Book)
Iron & Velvet, Alexis Hall (Book)
The narrator's brooding vampire ex (a clear parody of Twilight's Edward Cullen) is still stalking her. He acts very possessive but not sexual toward her: he declares his love periodically; enters her bedroom to watch her sleep; interferes with her plans in the name of protecting her from harm; etc.
Iron Flame, Rebecca Yarros (Book)
Iron Kissed, Patricia Briggs (Book)
In the book, the main character is influenced by another person using a magical artifact. The rape scene is vague enough but the scenes leading up and prior and disturbingly visual. The main character has no control of their actions and then the rape is discussed in detail, with main character still present, to a variety of friends and acquaintances moments after it happened. The main character is traumatized but the author uses that as a way to deepen the relationship between the main character and her love interest.
Iron Tongue of Midnight, Brittany N. Williams (Book)
Iron Widow, Xiran Jay Zhao (Book)
From the author's note: "Please be aware that this book contains scenes of violence and abuse, suicide ideation, discussion and references to sexual assault (though no on-page depictions), alcohol addiction, and torture." A character reveals that he killed his brother because the latter raped a girl.
The Island of Sea Women, Lisa See (Book)
This book takes place in Korea during World War II and a subsequent autocratic government. Rapes committed by Japanese colonizers and then by Korean soldiers and police officers are widespread and routinely mentioned. There is mention of Korean police officers forcing a man to rape his daughter in law at gunpoint. A group of soldiers cut off the breasts of a mentally disabled woman in front of her village before killing her. The protagonist’s best friend ends up in an arranged marriage to a physically abusive man.
IsnT It Bromantic?, Lyssa Kay Adams (Book)
The female romantic lead works throughout much of the book to uncover details about a Russian sex trafficking ring. This character gets kidnapped towards the end for finding out too much, but she escapes and survives and is never sexually assaulted.
The Five, Hallie Rubenhold (Book)
Page 11: it is mentioned, in passing, that the young daughters of poor families were sometimes forced into sex work "having barely reached puberty." Page 48: mentioned within the context of women's marital rights during the Victorian era. It is observed that women would not be legally eligible to be granted a divorce if their husband had committed adultery, but only if he had committed adultery alongside another crime (one of the examples listed is rape). Pages 69-71: discussion of the sexual threat, exploitation and violence to which homeless women were often subjected during the Victorian era, including a number of examples. Page 72 includes a discussion of homeless women who chose to turn to sex work; although these women did not make this choice as a result of direct coercion, it was as a means of survival. Pages 169-170: discussion, in general terms, of the sexual liaisons which often occurred between women working as servants and their masters, colleagues or other individuals; it is mentioned that these liaisons were sometimes consensual and sometimes non-consensual. It is mentioned that these liaisons often resulted in unplanned pregnancies, the consequences of which women were often forced to bear on their own. Pages 171-174: discussion of laws enacted during the 1800s which required women suspected of engaging in sex work to submit to regular genital examinations, under the pretence of preventing the transmission of diseases. References to this process and its implications are made throughout the remainder of the chapter. Page 247: it is mentioned in passing that, during this time, it was largely seen as socially acceptable for a man to physically abuse his wife if she resisted his sexual advances. Page 312-316: there is an extended discussion of sex trafficking during the Victorian era. This discussion is not graphic in nature but elaborates on how women were often deceived into travelling abroad and then coerced into sex work.
The Four Profound Weaves, R. B. Lemberg (Book)
Ivy, Willa Nash (Book)
This book contains regular references to abuse in a previous relationship and a detailed rape scene.
J No Subete 1, Nakamura Asumiko (Book)
Jackpot, Nic Stone (Book)
The protagonist wakes up in a male friend's bed with no memory of why she is there. She worries that they had sex, but they did not.
The Jakarta Method, Vincent Bevins (Book)
The main topic of this book is counterrevolutionary anticommunist efforts around the world, but focusing on Indonesia. These efforts involved torture via sexual violence.
Jameela Green Ruins Everything, Zarqa Nawaz (Book)
Rape is mentioned as a common occurrence in the War on Terror. The protagonist is coerced to promise to marry a man and consummate that marriage, despite the fact that she doesn't want to. She ends up not having to consummate the marriage because their wedding is interrupted. Terrorists threaten to marry the protagonist's daughter, who is 15, to an adult man. This does not end up happening. A character's sexually harassing uncle is mentioned in passing.
Jane Eyre, Charlotte Bronte (Book)
The Jasmine Throne, Tasha Suri (Book)
The story plays out in an empire in which women are valued only as dutiful wives, mothers, and religious sacrifices. Misogyny is a constant backdrop via concern about women's purity and proper place, and threats of violent execution. One main character is in a complicated marriage that she sought out to gain leverage to protect her conquered people. Her husband treats her with the empire's version of love and respect for one's wife. She implies that she considers her marriage, and sex and pregnancy, to be sacrifices she found necessary and would rather not have needed to make.
Jawbreaker, Christina Wyman (Book)
Jaws, Peter Benchley (Book)
Crimes of rape are mentioned fairly frequently throughout by the police officer. Rape is mentioned as if it is a sexual desire (for the victim) and not a crime.
Jazz, Toni Morrison (Book)
Jinx, Mingwa (Book)
The main character is established to be a survivor of past sexual abuse. The first sexual encounter between the main two characters is violent, consistent asking to slow or stop is ignored, with triggering aggressive dialogue, and fully shown in the comic.
JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, Hirohiko Araki (Book)
In Part 7, a rape scene involves a 14-year-old. She is disguised as her abuser's wife. However, even after it is revealed who she is, the man continues to rape her. In Part 8, a young man tries to rape his friend after her ability to distinguish faces has been lost.
Jonny Appleseed, Joshua Whitehead (Book)
The protagonist gets involved in sex work as a teenager, and some of his clients are adult men. The protagonist reflects that he almost always has sex while very drunk, leading to situations where he blacks out and does not remember how the sexual encounter began or the person he is having sex with. There are several passing mentions of missing and murdered indigenous women and girls (MMIWG).
Jon's Boom Shaka Laka Problem, AJ Sherwood (Book)
There are two passing mentions of domestic abuse and one of someone collecting child pornography (all in the course of case investigation). No details and no main characters involved.
Jon's Crazy Head-Boppin' Mystery, AJ Sherwood (Book)
Two past instances of (non-sexual) domestic partner violence are mentioned. The m/m instance has very little detail. The m/f instance is described in greater detail and involves someone actively protecting the woman and child from harm. The main case involves a man physically attacking multiple women with in escalating force. The attacks are non-sexual in nature.
Jon's Downright Ridiculous Shooting Case, AJ Sherwood (Book)
The main characters are police detective consultants, and the story unfolds over two main cases and multiple secondary cases. No details of sexual assaults are described, but it is a running theme. One secondary case involves a short scene interviewing a pedophile while he is in jail for his crimes. One of the main cases involves a woman shooting a man who she falsely believes has been stalking her and attempting to extort her. The other main case involves hunting down a man who stalks, rapes, and kills young women.
Jon's Spooky Corpse Conundrum, AJ Sherwood (Book)
A male secondary character is being stalked by his controlling, emotionally and physically abusive ex-boyfriend. His friends protect him from further harm. A married secondary character discovers that her husband has been manipulating, socially isolating, and lying to her and her children for years. She has support in safely separating from him. One mystery plotline concerns a woman who (in the past) was accidentally killed by her stalker when he physically assaulted her to prevent her from fleeing.
Jo's Boys, Louisa May Alcott (Book)
Chapters 1-8: while one male character never makes any explicitly sexual remarks, or innuendo, he does constantly try to convince a female character to marry him. Despite her repeated refusals he continues pursuing her.
Journal of a Black Queer Nurse, Britney Daniels (Book)
The author recounts several instances where her patients made sexually inappropriate comments about her appearance.
Joyland, Stephen King (Book)
A senior employee talks about how he enjoys looking at visitors' breasts (mostly without their knowledge). He also makes suggestive comments to a significantly younger girl. Late in the story, when discussing a series of murders, a character points out that one of the cases was different because the victim was sexually assaulted.
Juliet Takes a Breath, Gabby Rivera (Book)
A group of men make harassing comments towards the protagonist and slap her behind while she is shopping alone in a corner store. This takes place towards the beginning of the book.
Juliet Takes a Breath: the Graphic Novel, Gabby Rivera, Celia Moscote (Book)
A group of men make harassing comments towards the protagonist and slap her behind while she is shopping alone in a corner store. This takes place towards the beginning of the book.
Juneteenth for Mazie, Floyd Cooper (Book)
Juneteenth: a Novel, Ralph Ellison (Book)
Towards the beginning of the book, a boy tries to engage a girl in a game of "I'll show you mine if you show me yours." The girl is uncomfortable with this.
Juniper's Christmas, Eoin Colfer (Book)
Just As I Am: a Memoir, Cicely Tyson (Book)
The author describes a time when an adult man offered to pay to look at her breasts when she was a ten-year-old. Later, she and her sister confide to their mother that two of their father's adult cousins had touched them inappropriately. The author became pregnant at 17 when her boyfriend pressed her up against a wall while she was trying to leave his apartment, lifted her skirt, and initiated sex with her. The author specifically states that she felt that he didn't force himself on her. However, since she didn't really even know what sex was at the time, and since he didn't discuss what he was doing to her and blocked her exit as she was trying to leave, others may feel differently. When she is seeking acting lessons, a person who is interviewing her stares at her breasts and then tries to force a kiss on her. The author discusses her friendship with Bill Cosby, and how he never touched her, but not necessarily in a way that dismisses the women who have spoken out against him.
Just Ash, Sol Santana (Book)
The protagonist is an intersex teenage boy. The premise is that he begins menstruating after years of presenting as and being accepted as a boy. A bunch of boys surround him after school one day and demand that he show them his genitals, but he gets away. A person the protagonist considered a friend touched his chest to see if he had breasts. Later, after the protagonist's mom cajoles him into presenting as female, a boy tries to force a kiss on her.
Just Dreaming, Kerstin Gier (Book)
Just Happy to Be Here, Naomi Kanakia (Book)
A bully tries to reach under the protagonist’s skirt.
Just Listen, Sarah Dessen (Book)
Just Mercy, Bryan Stevenson (Book)
This is a memoir of a lawyer whose career has focused on reversing death sentences, particularly in cases of false accusations, incarceration of children, and incarceration of the mentally ill. The author highlights several cases that he worked on throughout his career. Throughout the book, the author references instances where his clients were falsely accused of rape, instances where his clients were raped or sexually assaulted in jail by either fellow inmates or by prison staff; and instances where his clients were victims of rape, sexual assault, child sexual abuse, and incest in their formative years before being arrested.
Just a Pinch of Magic, Alechia Dow (Book)
Just Say Yes, Goldy Moldavsky (Book)
The premise is that the protagonist, a 17-year-old girl, finds out that she and her mother are undocumented. She then decides to pursue a green card marriage to eliminate the risk of deportation. She chooses prospects from a dating site where the minimum age is 21, so they are all older than her, though she lies about her age. One date starts touching her in a way she does not like, so she ends the date. Another tries to get her to pay him lots of money and grabs her wrist to try to prevent her from leaving. She does get away.
Just in Time, Rachael Ray (Book)
Just Your Local Bisexual Disaster, Andrea Mosqueda (Book)
A person at a party touches the protagonist inappropriately. She calls him out immediately and her friends and the host kick him out of the party.
The Justice of Kings, Richard Swan (Book)
Rape is discussed in passing: the main characters are law enforcement and occasionally discuss such crimes. A man admits to being a rapist. The main female character mentions people attempting to assault her in the past. She mentions being worried that her much older mentor and patron might wish for sexual favors from her when she was 17-18 and resigned herself to it, but he did not. She also admits to being somewhat infatuated with him anyway.
Kabu Kabu, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
The following stories in the anthology involve sexual violence: "The Black Stain": individual rape and gang rape of an ethnically oppressed enslaved woman. "Spider the Artist": physically abusive marital relationship. "The Winds of Harmattan": a woman is physically restrained and raped by her husband. "Biafra": passing mention of rape under a military government regimes.
Kafka On the Shore, Haruki Murakami (Book)
The rape scene was in a dream that the main character had about raping his sister. Apparently he did not want to do it but it just happened in his very vivid dream. There are also graphic sex scenes that involve the main character who is a young teenage boy and an older woman who he assumes is him mother.
Kaikeyi, Vaishnavi Patel (Book)
This book takes place in a fictionalized ancient India. The protagonist is someone who we might call asexual today, but obviously that terminology is not used. She is forced into an arranged marriage and is very uncomfortable with sex. There are allusions to her basically being forced to have sex so her husband can produce heirs. She dissociates when this happens. In one scene, a child says that women are supposed to only show themselves to their husbands and that women who participate in public life are whores. He repeats this from an adult who said it. Throughout, there are mentions of intimate partner abuse, but the protagonist does not experience this herself.
Kairos, Jenny Erpenbeck (Book)
The book is about a relationship between a 19 year old woman and a 58 year old married man. He enjoys her dressing up in a school girl-ish way. The man eventually turns their affair into a sado-masochistic one, such as beating her with a belt. When he finds out she slept with someone else, he begins to verbally abuse her and emotionally torture her until she has a minor mental breakdown and almost attempts suicide. He also blames her for miscarrying their child towards the end.
Kenna's Dragon, Leigh Miller (Book)
Kill the Boy Band, Goldy Moldavsky (Book)
A man is held captive by a group of young girls. His sexuality is discussed. His girlfriend finds him and ends up accidentally murdering him while he is tied up. There are implications that if given the chance one of the characters would have assaulted him. A teenage girl is revealed to have had sex with a member of the band, all of whom are young adults. The encounter was consensual and she allowed him to take racy photos of her, but afterwards, he sent them to his friends despite her begging him not to. He then invited two of his friends into their room while she was still naked in order to humiliate her. Another character mocks the girl for this after the fact.
Kill Creek, Scott Thomas (Book)
Chapter 14: a woman says she was asked to perform sexual acts in order to gain a publishing deal Chapter 20: non-graphic mention that within a book one of the characters is writing, a man rapes his female assistant Chapter 25: non-graphic mention of a time in the past where a group of white men raped a black woman.
Kill Her Twice, Stacey Lee (Book)
The protagonists are both young Chinese American women in 1930s Los Angeles. They are targeted a few times throughout by orientalist sexual harassment.
To Kill a Mockingbird, Harper Lee (Book)
A substantial portion of the plot deals with the trial of a Black man who has been accused of raping a white woman. It is very clear in context that this is a false accusation.
Killing the Black Body, Dorothy Roberts (Book)
Killing Stalking, Koogi (Book)
Stalking is an ongoing theme throughout this title. The book contains frequent major acts of violence as well as allusions to childhood sexual abuse committed by a parent against their child. There is a scene where a someone is raped by their uncle and another one where someone is raped by their mom. It is in very graphic detail.
Kindred (Graphic Novel Adaptation), Octavia Butler (Book)
The premise of the book is that the protagonist keeps being sent back in time to save the life of her ancestor, who was a slaveholder. In her journeys to the past, she realizes that, in order to protect her own existence in the future, she has to ensure that her slaveholder ancestor rapes her enslaved ancestor so that the latter will bear a child. This does end up happening, and the enslaved ancestor commits suicide after giving birth. Towards the end of the book, the slaveholder ancestor attempts to rape the protagonist. She fights him off and kills him. Towards the beginning of the book, a slave patroller tries to rape the protagonist, but she escapes.
Kindred, Octavia Butler (Book)
The premise of the book is that the protagonist keeps being sent back in time to save the life of her ancestor, who was a slaveholder. In her journeys to the past, she realizes that, in order to protect her own existence in the future, she has to ensure that her slaveholder ancestor rapes her enslaved ancestor so that the latter will bear a child. This does end up happening, and the enslaved ancestor commits suicide after giving birth. Towards the end of the book, the slaveholder ancestor attempts to rape the protagonist. She fights him off and kills him.
King and the Dragonflies, Kacen Callender (Book)
King of Scars, Leigh Bardugo (Book)
There are discussions in this book regarding a character being raped by the former king. It follows the same thread as the other books and does not go into detail about it. There are discussions of another character being forced to marry as a 9 year old, but she escapes before it can take place and there is no assault that happens.
The Kingdom, Jess Rothenberg (Book)
The protagonist and her siblings are cyborgs with a similar role to Disney princesses in Disneyland. The protagonist often observes men staring at her inappropriately, or hears them make inappropriate comments about her appearance. In one instance, the protagonist has a dream about one of her sisters' sexual assault experiences. We later find out that the cyborgs are offered as sexual partners to powerful men. The cyborgs then have their memories erased.
Kings and Monsters, Clio Evans (Book)
King's Rising, C.S. Pacat (Book)
This book has substantially less reference to and portrayals of rape in it than the previous two books and has no on page rape. Chapter 2: the man torturing one of the protagonists alludes to his desire to rape that protagonist in the past - but there is no explicit mention of that in this chapter. Chapter 16: this chapter reveals the protagonist's sexual abuse as a child from a family member. This reveal is not done in a way considerate or respectful of his trauma and his right to divulging information regarding his abuse given that it’s his abuser doing the revealing solely to upset and throw off the other protagonist. The above mentioned material is also present in chapter 17.
Kings of the Wyld, Nicholas Eames (Book)
All mentions of rape/sexual assault are past events mentioned in passing, without vivid descriptions. A princess is rescued from an attempted rape and she later has (consensual) sex with one of her rescuers. It is mentioned that a character’s mother was sold to a brothel as a child, and implied that the was the product of a rape (the mother immediately murdered the father).
Kiss Her Once for Me, Alison Cochrun (Book)
The Kite Runner, Khaled Hosseini (Book)
A young boy is raped by an adult man.
Know My Name, Chanel Miller (Book)
This book is the memoir of Chanel Miller, the woman who was raped by Brock Turner. The book discusses details of the investigation of the rape, her memories surrounding it, court cases, and how the experience affected her psychologically. The author describes in detail the times she has been catcalled and sexually harassed before her assault. Throughout, she references news stories such as rape allegations against Bill Cosby, the #MeToo movement, Donald Trump’s statements on sexual assault/allegations against him, Anita Hill’s allegations against Clarence Thomas, and Christine Blasey Ford’s allegations that Brett Kavanaugh attempted to rape her. Quotations expressing rape apologism and victim blaming are frequent leveraged against the author and other survivors are frequent throughout the book.
Kult: Divinity Lost, Gunilla Jonsson (Book)
This is a roleplaying game rulebook which contains various detailed examples of onscreen and offscreen rape.
La Tulipe Noire, Alexandre Dumas (Book)
The female romantic lead is 18 and the male romantic lead in his mid 20s. They exchange only kisses and she is considered a marriagable adult by the standards of the time.
A Lady for a Duke, Alexis Hall (Book)
A secondary female protagonist strongly implies that a male antagonist formerly pressed her into sex, in such a way that she feels she did something to “deserve” being assaulted. A male antagonist kidnaps a 17-yr-old debutante. He does not physically harm her, but explicitly intends to force her into marriage.
Lady Hotspur, Tessa Gratton (Book)
Worthy of note: this setting involves political arranged marriages. All affected characters consent, though some are reluctant about it; would really rather it were not necessary. All sex depicted within these couples is consensual (though sometimes not enthusiastic).
Lady Tan's Circle of Women, Lisa See (Book)
Rape is mentioned throughout as something that occasionally happens to women. Also the book is set in Dynastic China where women are property, so consent is not possible. None of the main characters are sexually assaulted, but the maids and concubines are.
The Lady's Guide to Petticoats and Piracy, Mackenzie Lee (Book)
Historical misogyny is a pervasive theme. The female main characters talk around the danger of sexual assault at intervals. One is forced into marriage, though her husband does not attempt anything sexual before she escapes.
LaGuardia, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Worthy of note: the protagonist is pregnant for most of the book. While traveling through customs at the airport, she gets pulled aside by security and asked who the father of her child is. She finds this question invasive and refuses to answer.
Lair of Dreams, Libba Bray (Book)
Lake Lore, Anna-Marie McLemore (Book)
One nonbinary main character is provoked into a fight by a bully who misgenders them and snaps their binder painfully. The bully's friends stalk and threaten them afterwards, and some adult authority figures gaslight then about the situation.
Lapsenpiika, Enni Mustonen (Book)
Lapvona, Ottessa Moshfegh (Book)
The Last Black Unicorn, Tiffany Haddish (Book)
The author describes her experience of being in an abusive relationship, which involved rape. Worthy of note: the author of this book was accused of child sexual abuse and molestation.
Last Girl Standing, Marjorie Kaptanoglu (Book)
This book is clearly written and marketed as YA, but the sexual assault content is pretty severe for that genre. The adult male chief of police gropes and leers at the teenage female lead. He is revealed to have sexual abused a number of other underage girls before. In the last third of the book, there is an extended scene in which the policeman prepares to rape the teen lead. He does not touch her, but he coerces her by threatening to torture her friend, makes many lewd comments, and undresses in front of her with the intention of bathing together. She is able to incapacitate him and escape.
The Last Juror, John Grisham (Book)
A rape is described in great detail in the beginning of the book.
Last Night At the Telegraph Club, Malinda Lo (Book)
There is occasional verbal sexual harassment of teen girl characters by older men. There are recurring themes of historical homophobia.
The Last Pow-Wow, That Native Thomas and Steven Paul Judd (Book)
One character becomes pregnant through stranger rape. An adult male character takes a 16-year-old boy to a strip club so the latter can experience a lap dance.
The Last Sun, K.D. Edwards (Book)
The main protagonist is motivated by what happened in his childhood as a teen (which has an extreme vivid description of rape in the second half of the book. And is mentioned through the full book in passing, with one scene being extremely emotional and details the aftermath the protagonist felt.). He is tasked with protecting a child until said child becomes and adult to save him from marriage to an adult man who only wants to marry the child because of his appearance.
Laura Dean Keeps Breaking Up With Me, Mariko Tamaki & Rosemary Valero-O'Connell (Book)
The protagonist's friend enters a relationship with an adult man and becomes pregnant as a result. The friend gets an abortion.
Laziness Does Not Exist, Devon Price (Book)
Learn My Lesson, Katee Robert (Book)
One of the male leads mentions his father raping women, more specifically, his girlfriend, who he then paid to leave. He continues texting her despite knowing what happened and telling her he's sorry and wants her back. The same male main lead has sex with a woman who he then thinks is being trafficked, she is not, but this tricks him into signing a contract in exchange for her freedom if he participates in a sex club. The female lead gets upset about this, however, the two still end up with the other male lead in the end. The first male lead is recorded preforming sexual acts and the tapes are sent to his father. The female lead references past events that are related or heavily implied that this is not the first time she and the second male lead have tricked someone into signing a contract in exchange for them working at the sex club. Female lead is kidnapped, returned safely, although its heavily implied the two men who kidnapped her plan to assault her.
Leaving Cold Sassy, Olive Ann Burns (Book)
Chapter 15: marital rape is strongly implied as the reason a character must leave their marriage.
Ledfeather, Stephen Graham Jones (Book)
The Left Hand of Darkness, Ursula K. Le Guin (Book)
The premise of this book is the experience of a human man on a planet where the people are neither male nor female and who go into a type of "heat" once a month. Incestuous relationships between siblings are acceptable unless a child is produced from their union, after which they are forbidden to continue their relationship. These types of relationships are explored as tales within the larger narrative of the book and as a practice one of the main characters participated in in the past. We are invited to assume that the relationship between that main character and their sibling was one of love and to also feel sorry for the siblings for being forced apart after they had a child together. It is not directly stated but implied that both siblings may have eventually commit suicide in grief at their separation.
Legendborn, Tracy Deonn (Book)
The protagonist finds out that her ancestor, who was a slave woman, was raped by her slavemaster and bore his child.
Legends & Lattes, Travis Baldree (Book)
A succubus character is repeatedly sexually harassed by a man who ignores her requests for him to leave her alone. He uses the fact that she is a succubus to assume she is willing to date and have sex with anyone.
The Lesbiana's Guide to Catholic School, Sonora Reyes (Book)
At a party, a character tries to flirt with the protagonist in a way that is racially fetishizing: she punches him in the face.
Less is More, Jason Hickel (Book)
There is discussion of how the objectification of nature led to the objectification of women. There is mention of how women around the world do not have control of their bodies and how many children they will have.
Lessons in Chemistry, Bonnie Garmus (Book)
Chapter 4: detailed description of a violent rape. The victim reports the attack to the police and is dismissed by them, despite her physical injuries, with the suggestion that she must have done something to provoke the attack or is otherwise misrepresenting what happened. As a result of her assault, the woman is forced to suspend her PhD studies (her attacker was one of her professors). This is referred to in passing on occasion throughout the rest of the book. Throughout the book, men repeatedly make derogatory remarks demeaning and sexualising the protagonist. At one point, when the protagonist confesses that she never completed her PhD studies due to being sexually assaulted, the woman she is speaking to reveals that the same thing happened to her, also resulting in the suspension of her further studies. On a few occasions, it is mentioned that church-run boys' homes like the one the male protagonist grew up in are a breeding ground for paedophiles. On at least one occasion it is implied that the protagonist was subjected to one of these priest's advances, fending him off with physical force. Another priest characterises this incident as the perpetrator trying to show the boy affection. Later on in the book, a woman meets with her boss who attempts (unsuccessfully) to sexually assault her as retribution for her "bad behaviour." She deters him with a threat that causes him to have a heart attack.
Let It Shine, Alyssa Cole (Book)
This book takes place during the Civil Rights Movement in the United States. There are passing mentions of how women in the movement risk sexual harassment or worse from racists.
Let Us Dream, Alyssa Cole (Book)
This book takes place in 1917 in Harlem, and the romantic leads are a Black woman who owns a nightclub and an Indian man who is her employee. The power dynamic of their work relationship is not brought up as a serious problem. There is passing mention of the female romantic lead ensuring that bouncers know which men not to let in because they sexually harass her workers. She refers to her late husband as a pimp because he "insisted she wear as little as possible" and was very rough with her in a way she didn't always like but felt she had to accept. One of her clients grabs her waist without warning while she is walking past. She is at first angry at this, but soon feels the need to accept the unwanted touching because he is a powerful man. She reflects on a memory of being forced to perform oral sex. In another memory, she reflects on a situation where a man threw her on the bed "and started trying to get crazy" because he "thought because he was paying for it, he could do whatever he wanted." Someone else intervenes and pulls the man off of her.
Let's Get Physical, Danielle Friedman (Book)
Chapter 2: discussion of sexual violence suffered by Esther Fairfax that her parents either facilitated or ignored. Specifically, her mother, Lotte Berk "dared her daughter to perform oral sex on men and convinced her to become a topless dancer in Paris." Her father Ernest made Esther sleep in the same bed with him while they were both naked and she was 12 years old. Chapter 3: runner Katherine Switzer was grabbed while running in the Boston Marathon by the marathon director, who was trying to remove her from the race. Years later, he grabbed her again, and, without warning, directed her to face cameras and kissed her on the cheek. Chapter 7: mention of Yogi K. Pattabhi Jois sexually abusing his students (page 214). Mention of Bikram Choudhury being accused by several women of "rape and sexual assault, as well as false imprisonment, discrimination, and sexual harassment, leading him to be called the 'Harvey Weinstein of Yoga.".
The Liars Club, Mary Karr (Book)
The Librarian of Basra, Jeanette Winter (Book)
The Library of the Unwritten, AJ Hackwith (Book)
The Lies of Locke Lamora, Scott Lynch (Book)
The main character is an orphan who is saved with a group of orphans, and the man who took them in claims that it he did not rescue them, they would have been sold into sexual slavery. This is referenced multiple times. Additionally, 'whores' are referenced frequently, and there is a chapter describing how these women grew tired of being harmed during sex and unionised.
Lies My Teacher Told Me, James W. Loewen (Book)
The Lies They Tell, Gillian French (Book)
Lies We Tell Ourselves, Robin Talley (Book)
Life After Trauma, Dena Rosenbloom, Mary Beth Williams, Barbara E. Watkins (Book)
The Light Fantastic, Terry Pratchett (Book)
Worthy of note: A 17 year-old woman and an 80 year-old man enter into a relationship. She consents enthusiastically and is treated as an adult, though young, within her society. The explicitly shown aspects of their relationship are more platonic than sexual.
The Lighthouse Witches, CJ Cooke (Book)
During an era of witch trials, a pregnant woman is assaulted by a town official. The perpetrator is cursed by a witch for his actions and falls ill. The victim of the assault is later accused as a witch and is arrested.
Little Bee, Chris Cleave (Book)
The protagonist begins the story in an immigration center where she learns that many of the other asylum seekers have experienced sexual violence. Chapter 5: a refugee describes seeing her sister raped and tortured to death.
The Little Friend, Donna Tartt (Book)
Little Heaven, Nick Cutter (Book)
Part 1, chapter 3: non-graphic mention of a past rape. Part 4, chapter 25: discussion of a past sexual encounter. The ages are unclear but one person is mentioned to be a teenager and the other seems to have been an adult Part 4, chapter 27: a man threatens a woman but he leaves after seeing that she is armed and nothing further happens Part 4, chapter 29: brief mention of past rape.
A Little Life, Hanya Yanagihara (Book)
The main character is a victim of sexual violence and domestic assault at multiple points during the book. The accounts of these events are often vivid and have the potential to be upsetting.
Little Men, Louisa May Alcott (Book)
Little Rot (Book)
While attending a sex party thrown by his friend Ahmed, Kalu finds out that a teenage girl is being ganged raped in one of the private rooms. He barges in and throws a man off of her. This man turns out to be a powerful pastor, who then puts out a hit on Kalu. Kalu confronts Ahmed about having a teenage girl at at this party. Ahmed at first lies and says it was an adult woman who looked like a teenager. He then caves and admits that the girl is 17, but ridicules Kalu for trying to save her when plenty of young girls and other innocent people are suffering in their city every day but are ignored. In the final climax of the book, the pastor decides to spare Kalu’s life, but he coerces him and Ahmed to rape the same girl he raped so they can no longer claim any moral high ground over him. Aima and their best friend have sex, and the best friend’s brother overhears them. When he encounters Aima alone, he shames her for enjoying sex with a woman and propositions her. Ahmed goes to a sex party thrown by someone else and has sex with a guy named Shawn. Shawn secretly records this encounter and threatens to expose Ahmed. Upon receiving this threat, Ahmed has rough sex with Shawn and then strangles him to death. There are two main sex worker characters in the book: Souraya and Ola. Ahmed once saved Souraya from a situation where she was locked in a room and raped repeatedly. Ola also experienced sexual violence when she was younger, but she does not expect to get any justice for them and barely thinks it’s worth it to help anyone else who’s suffering similarly. Throughout the book, there are several ostensibly consensual sex scenes that are very violent.
Little Souls, Sandra Dallas (Book)
Chapter 5: the protagonist glimpses bruises (the result of sexual abuse) on her 10 year old neighbour. She questions her neighbour about these bruises in an ignorant and unempathetic manner that some people may find upsetting.
Little Women, Louisa May Alcott (Book)
Living Dead Girl, Elizabeth Scott (Book)
The book's whole story surrounds a teen girl who was abducted as a child and sexually assaulted for years by her kidnapper. Then, when she is too old for his tastes, he teaches her how to groom another little girl for them to kidnap together. It contains several graphic descriptions of rape told from the first-person perspective of the victim, and speculations of what the kidnapper will do to his next victim.
Lo Simpson Starts a Revolution, Melanie Florence (Book)
The protagonist's mother is a lawyer on behalf of survivors of sexual assault. The mother has age-appropriate conversations with the protagonist about consent and puberty. After a sex ed class, a group of boys surrounds a group of girls to rub inflated condoms on them and yell dirty jokes at them. The protagonist notices the girls'
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov (Book)
The central plot of this book revolves around a grown man's romantic and sexual obsession with a pre-teen girl. The same man seduces and then murders the girl's mother in order to get close to her, eventually kidnapping her and travelling around the country.
Lolito, Ben Brooks (Book)
A character says she was "raped with kisses." The main character is a teenage boy who enters a sexual relationship with a woman in her 40's.
Long Shot, Kennedy Ryan (Book)
There are several scenes with detailed graphic sexual and domestic violence including rape. One scene involving gun violence within the sexual assault.
The Long Way to a Small, Angry Planet, Becky Chambers (Book)
In passing, it is mentioned that, as a joke, a male character hacked his male co-worker's computer and filled it with nude images of himself which made the co-worker extremely upset. This anecdote is meant to be funny.
Looking for Alaska, John Green (Book)
Looking for the Hidden Folk, Nancy Marie Brown (Book)
Lor (Book)
The Lord of the Flies, William Golding (Book)
Lord of the Night Realm: Sojourn, Senna Byrd (Book)
There is an implied relationship between two vampire siblings.
The Lord of Opium, Nancy Farmer (Book)
The protagonist kisses an enslaved girl while she is unconscious.
Lore Olympus, Rachel Smythe (Book)
The main character is coerced and raped by her best friend's brother. She says repeatedly she wants to remain a virgin, but her rapist ignores her and continues to undress her/ molest her. When he continues and it becomes clear he will not stop, she says ok, but it reminds clear she does not want it. It does not depict penetration, but gives vivid detail about her mindset thought the trauma. She describes wanting to stop but not thinking she was allowed. Her rapist takes photos of her while he is assaulting her. She describes retreating into her mind to try and stay safe until he's finished.
The Lost Apothecary, Sarah Penner (Book)
The Lost Boy, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
The book contains a planned rape: the victim is forced to drink alcohol (until passing out) in order to be impregnated. The rape itself is not detailed, and consists of three sentences.
The Lost Executioner, Nic Dunlop (Book)
Page 115: it is mentioned that interrogators in a political prison had been found to be sexually abusing female prisoners. Page 136: there is a discussion of the ways in which the Khmer Rouge organisation sought to control the sexual lives of those living under it. It is mentioned that one member of the organisation was 'purged' for the crime of rape. Page 206: discussion of violence in refugee camps, including domestic violence and rape. There is a description of a situation in which a woman was killed by her partner for having been seen talking to another man.
Lost Flowers, Perry D. Sullivan (Book)
Chapter 8 contains a rape scene.
The Lost Future of Pepperharrow, Natasha Pulley (Book)
There are several mentions of domestic violence throughout the book. There is a murder of a woman by her abusive, alcoholic husband (chapter 19). A female character enters a prison as a cleaner and there is catcalling, flashing, and she very briefly thinks of rape as a possibility (chapter 24).
The Lost Girls, Sonia Hartl (Book)
The book centers around three teen girls who were all groomed and then turned vampire by their common ex-boyfriend, who is over 100 yrs old. After turning each, he became emotionally abusive and then abandoned them for the next teen. They seek to stop him from turning a fourth girl (18 yo). He is explicitly identified as a stalker and serial killer. All four vampires (including their ex) theoretically remain at their teenage mental/emotional ages at turning. The main character was turned at 16 and is actually around 50. She becomes romantically an sexually involved with the antagonist’s would-be new victim, who is 18. She struggles with herself about the ethics, but her relationship with an 18 yo is overall portrayed favorably instead of as predatory. The protagonist feeds by seeking out and draining adult men who sexually harass teens. Several short scenes of attempted predation play out. Each time she is fully capable of dispatching her would-be assailant.
Lost in My Own Backyard, Tim Cahill (Book)
Lost in You, Amanda Bailey (Book)
A Lot Like Adios, Alexis Daria (Book)
The Love & Lies of Rukhsana Ali, Sabina Khan (Book)
The protagonist's parents, upon finding out that she is gay, take her by force back to her home country of Bangladesh in order to arrange a marriage for her. The marriage ends up not going through. The protagonist's grandmother shares diary entries about her own arranged marriage, which happened when the grandmother was a child and her husband was an adult.
Is Love the Answer?, Uta Isaki (Book)
The protagonist is an aromantic, asexual woman who feels alienated from her peers because she does not experience attraction. She agrees to enter a relationship with a man in hopes she'll eventually grow attracted to him; he invites her on a date with the intention of having sex with her but does not communicate this, and she is visibly traumatized with him attempting to force himself on her. However, she escapes safely and breaks up with him; bonus material at the end of the book shows that they later reconcile and her ex-boyfriend acknowledges what he did wrong. Later in the story, an alloromantic asexual man recounts a similar story to the protagonist, about his ex-girlfriend insisting on having sex with him. He initially consented, especially due to pressure from male peers about being sexually active, but he recounts the experience as being traumatic and uncomfortable. He was later shunned by his peers for mishandling the relationship and accused of using his ex-girlfriend for sex.
Love Hypothesis, Ali Hazelwood (Book)
The female lead kisses the male lead abruptly when they do not know each other. She does ask for permission first, but mistakes his grunt for a "yes." He points out he could report her for this, and she agrees he would be within his rights to do so, but he ends up deciding not to. The verbal sexual assault is insensitively used as a plot device to break the main couple up. The dialogue here is particularly intense.
Love Letters to the Dead, Ava Dellaria (Book)
This book deals with child sexual abuse, disassociation during sex, as well as several other disturbing themes.
Love Me for Who I Am, Kata Konayama (Book)
Love On the Brain, Ali Hazelwood (Book)
The main character mentions being on the receiving end of verbal harassment, both in person and online.
Of Love and Other Demons, Gabriel Garcia Marquez (Book)
The romantic relationship between the 12-year-old protagonist and a 36-year-old priest features significantly throughout the book's plot. Although it is implied that the relationship never becomes outright sexual, the two secretly meet every night to eat, recite poetry and (literally) sleep together.
Love, Toni Morrison (Book)
A main character of the book was married to a 52 year old man at the age of 11, so that is discussed throughout the book. There is also a description of a gang rape of a teenage girl and a description of an attempted sexual assault of a teenage girl by a person in a position of power over her.
Lovecraft Country, Matt Ruff (Book)
One character is the descendant of an enslaved woman and her slave master. In one chapter, a black female character is catcalled by a group of white men. They are frightened off by a dog.
The Lovely Bones, Alice Sebold (Book)
The main character is raped and murdered by a pedophile and deals with the aftermath of this attack from the safety of the afterlife. Compared to the movie, the book's rape scene involving the protagonist is much more explicit.
The Luis Ortega Survival Club, Sonora Reyes (Book)
The book's synopsis and author's note emphasize that sexual assault is the main topic of this book. In its appendices, this book includes websites and phone numbers for survivors of sexual assault. The author's note reads: "This book deals with issues of bullying, slut-shaming, sexual harassment, rape culture, and the aftermath of an off-page rape. I've done my best to depict these topics with care and sensitivity. If these are difficult subjects for you, please look after yourself, and know that your mental emotional well-being come first." The story opens with the protagonist distraught, leaving a party where she was just raped. Because she's autistic, it takes a while for her to put together that what happened to her was rape. We find out later that the rapist specifically targeted her because she is neurodivergent and selectively mute. The rapist spreads the news that he had sex with the protagonist at this party. The protagonist then begins receiving unwanted social media messages, verbal comments, and touching from boys who think she'll have sex with anyone. The protagonist joins with a group of other people who have been harmed by the rapist's behavior, and throughout the book, they collect stories of his victims. Later, the protagonist learns that her mother was sexually assaulted at a job. After her mother admits this, she makes a safe space for the protagonist to admit that she was raped as well. Before the events of the book, a character tried to intervene when the rapist drugged a girl to rape her. This character ended up blamed for the drugging and incarcerated for two years as a result. In the end, the protagonist and her friends succeed in exposing the rapist. The protagonist records him threatening to use his dad's social power as a judge to get her put in jail instead of him. With all the gathered evidence, he ends up being convicted as a sex offender and cut off from his family's finances and prestige.
Lumberjack Under the Tree, Kiera Andrews (Book)
The Luminous Dead, Caitlin Starling (Book)
Lyra's Oxford, Phillip Pullman (Book)
Ma Rainey's Black Bottom, August Wilson (Book)
A character describes how, when he was a child, a mob of white men broke into his family home and raped his mother in front of him.
MaddAddam, Margaret Atwood (Book)
One of the main female characters is held captive and repeatedly raped by a group of escaped criminals, an experience which leaves her profoundly traumatised, even after being rescued by her friends. The same group of escaped criminals are known to be otherwise sexually violent and there are several points in the novel where other female characters feel at risk of being attacked by them. At one point, a group of male beings who are humanoid in appearance but follow different social norms surround the woman who was raped by these criminals and proposition her for sex in the way which is accepted within their culture. She reacts to this with fear and panic.
The Magic Fish, Trung Le Nguyen (Book)
A Magic Steeped in Poison, Judy I. Lin (Book)
The Maidens, Alex Michaelides (Book)
Making All Black Lives Matter, Barbara Ransby (Book)
The author discusses sexual violence at the hands of police; sexual harassment that women, particularly queer women, experienced in the Black Lives Matter movement; sexual violence among Black Lives Matter activists and how restorative justice practices were used to try to resolve it; and intimate partner violence.
Making a Scene, Constance Wu (Book)
In the first chapter, the author recalls playing a character in a play who had experienced incest. In the chapter about working in a bakery, the author says one of her workplaces closed suddenly when it was found that the boss was kissing a teen employee. The author apologizes in one chapter for writing the word "penis" on paper any time she was writing in a scene for the show 'Fresh Off the Boat', recognizing that others considered this to be a form of sexual harassment. The author describes her experience of being raped, and how she did not realize it was rape at the time because it was not violent, per se. One chapter focuses on the author's experience working with one 'Fresh Off the Boat' producer who manipulated, gaslit, and sexually harassed her.
Malas, Marcela Fuentes (Book)
Malice, Danielle Steel (Book)
The entire book is based off of a woman who murders her step-father while he is raping her. She is seventeen when it happens and its described in great detail what he does before she manages to kill him. She does not tell anyone she was being raped at the time and instead remains quiet, later telling the readers how it started at age 13 and in great detail of when, who, how. Her mother ends up being the one who holds her down when the husband wants to "have sex" with her. She is later almost assaulted by a group of inmates but is saved. She is also drugged and it's heavily implied that she was raped but a kit comes back negative. She ends up finally telling someone in great detail about whar happened and why she killed her step-father before the book comes to an end.
Malice, Heather Walter (Book)
Malice, Keigo Higashino (Book)
A character plans to blackmail the protagonist. The protagonist likens this blackmail to rape. The protagonist's childhood friend writes a novel in which a middle school student rapes another student. It is revealed later that this is based on a real event, in which he held a girl down while one of his friends raped her.
Mambo in Chinatown, Jean Kwok (Book)
At the end of the book, we find out that an 11-year-old victim has been the victim of grooming and sexually assaulting at the hands of a family friend. The trauma of this sexual violence manifested in the 11-year-old having extreme physical symptoms: wetting the bed, losing her ability to walk, etc. When the girl tells her family what happened and they confront the family friend, he tries to gaslight them all, saying that the girl is a temptress and that he is innocent.
A Man and His Cat, Umi Sakurai (Book)
Manhunt, Gretchen Felker-Martin (Book)
Manners & Mutiny, Gail Carriger (Book)
Mantras & Minotaurs, Ashley Bennett (Book)
The Map of Salt and Stars, Zeyn Joukhadar (Book)
A group of boys grab the protagonist's sister. They lift her skirt and one tries to disrobe to rape her. The protagonist tries to fight them off but is too small. The protagonist's uncle ends up chasing off the boys. This scene is referenced multiple times after the fact.
A Market of Dreams and Destiny, Trip Galey (Book)
Child sexual abuse is mentioned as part of the widespread system of indentured servitude. Children who are no longer able to do factory work are sold to more extreme workplaces like mines or brothels. A teenaged main character is briefly threatened with this fate a couple of times.
Marriage of a Thousand Lies, S.J. Sindu (Book)
Worthy of note: a married couple is not attracted to each other but have sex to have a baby. The main character expresses having to shut her eyes and imagine someone/thing else happening.
Married to the Alien Rogue, Krista Luna (Book)
The Marrow Thieves, Cherie Dimaline (Book)
A Marvellous Light, Freya Marske (Book)
There are a variety of non-sexual, non-romantic abuse dynamics past and present. Consent (its honoring or violation) is a general theme (mostly around the use of magic). In one early scene, a character's emotionally abusive ex-boyfriend deliberately humiliates him with commentary on their sex life in front of a stranger.
Marx At the Arcade, Jamie Woodcock (Book)
There is discussion of sexual harassment in Gamergate and sexually exploitative images of women in some games.
Mary Barton, Elizabeth Gaskell (Book)
A young woman breaks off a "flirtationship" with a man, who reacts very poorly. He refuses to leave her alone or respect her rejection, and there is an ominous, threatening tone in how be speaks to her; he starts waiting for her outside her place of work and following her around, and she is disturbed and uncomfortable. This does not escalate further.
Mastodon, Steve Stred (Book)
Chapters 33+35: man is locked in a viewing room where human-hybrid creatures are forced to either "fight or fuck" based on the viewer's choice. The human level intelligence of the hybrid creatures varies so it is unclear how much they all understand what is happening. The viewer initially chooses fight, but he later has no choice but to choose the other option. Chapter 35 contains a brief semi-descriptive scene of the creatures having sex.
A Mating of Convenience, Dakota Cockaday (Book)
Chapter 10: mention of an elderly woman sexually harassing a male nurse. Chapter 13: a woman is unknowingly sold by her brother to the mob to pay off a debt. Chapter 23: mention of a human trafficking ring in the city.
Mating the Huntress, Talia Hibbert (Book)
The premise is that a werewolf and a woman whose family hunts werewolves fall in love. The werewolf stalks the woman at her job for a month because he believes they are fated to be together. This behavior is very lightly chastised in-text because the woman is very much aware of what he is doing, and she ends up feeling the same way eventually. There are sex encounters, but they do not feel coerced because they are either initiated or verbally requested by the woman. Still, the stalking part could be triggering to some. The werewolf mentions that the only humans he hunts are rapists.
Matriarch, Tina Knowles (Book)
The author discusses going to the doctor as a teenage girl for one issue, and the doctor just assumed she was sexually active and hiding a pregnancy or an STI. The doctor made this assumption because she was a young Black woman. In reality, she was still a virgin. The doctor performed a pelvic exam on her without preparing or informing her in any way, and the speculum caused her to bleed. The author described not really understanding what was happening, and her older sister confronted the doctor on her behalf.
The Maze Runner, James Dashner (Book)
There are no females in the book until one woman is mentioned to be unconscious when she arrives: one of the boys (they are all teens) says: „I got dibs“. The chapter ends with a note in her hand, saying „She‘s the last one. Ever.“
Mediocre: the Dangerous Legacy of White Male America, Ijeoma Oluo (Book)
The author references the following throughout the book: rape, sexual assault, and sexual harassment in the abstract, including statistics; rape against slaves, rape that took place during the Chicago race riots, sexual assault allegations against the comedian Jamie Kilstein, sexual assault allegations by Anita Hill against Supreme Court Justice Clarence Thomas, sexual harassment experienced by women staffers in the Bernie Sanders' presidential campaign, the racist idea that black men's sexuality is out of control and will lead them to rape white women, the use of sensationalised stories of rape in the press to discourage white women from joining the workforce during the Great Depression, and sexual harassment that the author experienced herself.
Meet Cute Club, Jack Harbon (Book)
Melmouth, Sarah Perry (Book)
The end of the first part of the book takes places in Prague during World War II. First Jews and then Germans are rounded up and taken away, and there are instances described of violent assaults, women being taken away and mutilated, and of gang rape/sexual assault on the street. The instances are briefly described, but the tension of the chapter and horror of these violent or sexual happening seemingly everywhere is very disturbing.
Melt for You, J.T. Geissinger (Book)
Chapter 30: the main character is cornered by her boss in the bathroom. He kisses and touches her forcibly, ignoring her as she tells him to stop and tries to push him away. Someone else comes in and it distracts him long enough for her to get away. This is discussed again in chapter 34, when it is revealed that similar instances have happened with other people. There are no graphic details provided during that conversation.
Memoirs of a Geisha, Arthur Golden (Book)
At the beginning of the book, the main character is a young girl who is sold to an okiya (geisha house) by her impoverished family. Later in the book, upon having been trained to become a geisha herself, it is proposed that her virginity be sold to one of her clients. She repeatedly encounters the man who would like to buy this and is distressed by these experiences. In one scene, a man invites her into a building on her own and forcibly undresses her. Following this incident, she is chastised by her elders for her 'inappropriate' behaviour.
Memorial Drive, Natasha Trethewey (Book)
The author's mother is held at gunpoint by her abusive ex-husband, and she attempts to placate him by having sex with him. The event is not shown or described in detail, but she recounts the event to the police after the fact.
A Memory Called Empire, Arkady Martine (Book)
The Memory Police, Yoko Ogawa (Book)
In a story written by the main character, a woman is held captive and implies that her captor sexually assaults her on a regular basis. She does not say these words explicitly, but implies that he "does all sorts of things to her" on a bed.
The Memory Thief, Lauren Mansy (Book)
The Merciful Crow, Margaret Owen (Book)
A side character is implied to have been assaulted in the distant past.
The Merciless, Danielle Vega (Book)
The Merciless Ones, Namina Forna (Book)
The book takes place in a severely patriarchal and misogynistic fictional society. The protagonist and many others like her are considered impure based on the in-world religion, and people use that impure status as a justification to harass and assault them. These so-called impure people are all teen girls and the people targeting them are mostly adult men.
The Mercy Chronicles: a Superhero At War With Herself, Fiona Zedde (Book)
Merry Inkmas, Talia Hibbert (Book)
The romantic leads are a tattoo artist and a university student. The tattoo artist hires the student, already knowing that he was attracted to her. They begin a sexual relationship while she is still his employee. Prior to the events of the book, the tattoo artist's mother started a relationship with his father when she was 15 and he was 27. The father was abusive to her and to their children.
The Message, Ta-Nehisi Coates (Book)
The author discusses the #MeToo movement, as well as sexual violence that place during slavery, the Holocaust, various race riots, and the Nakba. There are no detailed descriptions of sexual violence.
Messenger, Lois Lowry (Book)
Metanoia, Juniper Lake Fitzgerald (Book)
Metro 2033, Dmitry Glukhovsky (Book)
A young man tries to give ammunition (the local currency) to a hungry woman and her young child. The mother misinterprets this as him trying to buy her son. She is insulted by the low amount and demands he pays 'twenty cartridges for half an hour'. The man is horrified by the implication and quickly leaves. The woman attempts to haggle with him as he walks away, lowering the price to fifteen cartridges.
Mexican Gothic, Silvia Moreno-Garcia (Book)
The protagonist is sexually assaulted in what she believes is a dream. The family of the manor she is visiting has history of incest and one of the members of the house attempts to rape her.
Mexikid, Pedro Martin (Book)
The Midnight Girls, Alicia Jasinska (Book)
There is a brief sexual harassment (groping and leering) of an older-teen girl by adult men.
The Midnight Library, Matt Haig (Book)
The Midnight Lie, Marie Rutkoski (Book)
Midnight Ruin, Katee Robert (Book)
A male lead tells another male lead to stop doing something during sexual intercourse, the female lead encourages the second male lead to continue, which he does.
Midwestern Gothic, Scott Thomas (Book)
Story 2: There is a mention of a man who is constantly hitting on a woman even after she keeps rejecting him. There are implications of a teenage girl being sexually abused within a book discussed in the story.
Milk and Honey, Rupi Kaur (Book)
Mind of My Mind, Octavia E. Butler (Book)
One protagonist encounters a man looking for her mother, who occasionally engages in sex work. When she says her mother is not there, he tries to assault her, and she defends herself. Another protagonist beats up his longtime partner while they are in a car together. There are not really consequences for his actions. Multiple main characters in this book are telepaths, and they can influence non-telepaths to do things they normally wouldn't, including sex. In general, this series involves a lot of incest.
Mindhunter, John Douglas and Mark Olshaker (Book)
This is a non-fiction book about investigations into serial killing cases. Many of these cases have sexual components and as such, descriptions of violent sexual attacks and their aftermaths occur throughout.
Minion, L.A. Banks (Book)
Chapter 3: non-graphic mention of a foster father trying to molest a teenage girl in his care. There are a few other brief mentions of human trafficking and pedophilia.
The Ministry of Time, Kaliane Bradley (Book)
A character wonders aloud if another character had been raped during the Khmer Rouge regime, which the former escaped.
The Miracle Morning, Hal Elrod (Book)
Misrule, Heather Walter (Book)
Miss Meteor, Anna-Marie McLemore, Tehlor Kay Mejia (Book)
A bully character makes advances towards one of the protagonists: she defends herself and gets away.
Mistborn: the Final Empire, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
The book opens with a man planning to rape one of his enslaved women. Slaves who are raped must, by law, be executed immediately or soon after to prevent pregnancy. A male character reveals he was forced to have sex with an enslaved woman when he was a child, the woman was then executed. Rape is mentioned in passing as a frequent act that happens to lower class women by noblemen, and as a fear that the main character expresses she had growing up as a poor woman.
Mistborn: the Hero of Ages, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
The teenager (19) and adult (~45) relationship from the previous book continues but the teenager is now 20.
Mistborn: the Well of Ascension, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
A male protagonist has a sexual relationship with a teenage secondary character. Both are manipulating each other for political reasons though it is implied later that they both enjoyed aspects of the relationship. A male antagonist kisses the female protagonist without her consent in the middle of combat while he stabs her in the breast. A female secondary character was forced to participate in "breeding programs" in her youth where she was repeatedly raped and forced to give birth. A male antagonist has numerous "mistresses" in order to attempt to breed magical children. It is implied these women are his slaves. A male antagonist threatens to rape the female teenage protagonist in order to taunt her boyfriend. When he is unable to do so, he decides to rape another teenage girl who looks like her instead. It is implied that this girl is one of his slaves.
Mister Magic, Kiersten White (Book)
Mistlefoe, Kimberly Lemming (Book)
The protagonist is pursued, literally and figuratively, by men who want to take her from her partner.
Mixed Signals, Alyssa Cole (Book)
The male romantic lead in this book frequently expresses guilt over not being able to protect several characters from being raped by his fellow soldiers in the previous book. Prior to the events of the book, the female lead, then a teenager, tried to get the male lead, who is six years older than her, to have sex with her. He rejected her then. They do not actually have sex or enter a relationship together until they are both in their twenties. There is mention of an athletic director "who lingered a bit too close to the girls' locker room." The female lead mentions a classmate who flashed his genitals to her. Another classmate offered to drive the protagonist home when her car broke down and then tried to reach under her skirt while he was driving. When she rejected him, he claimed that she was just trying to play hard to get like Asian girls in the porn he watched. A college dorm mate forces a kiss on the female lead on two separate occasions. A male coworker ogles her and implies that she is a lesbian for rejecting his advances. A female coworker is mentioned to have bitten someone's hand who tried to touch her behind. The protagonist's female friend is drugged by an antagonist character, who told her he was just giving her tea. The protagonist saves her friend before anything bad happens. Both the protagonist and her friend get kidnapped toward the end and one of the kidnappers makes a veiled rape threat toward them.
The Mobster's Mate, Kiki Clark (Book)
Chapter 11: it is implied that at the age of 15 a boy was told that he could remain in a pack if he performed sexual services for other members of the pack.
Mockingjay, Suzanne Collins (Book)
A character reports on how he was groomed as a teenager to have sexual relationships with rich adults. He also reports that some of them were involved in incest.
Monday's Not Coming, Tiffany D. Jackson (Book)
The Monster Menagerie, Lyonne Riley (Book)
A Monstrous Christmas in the Camp, Lily Mayne (Book)
Moon of the Crusted Snow, Waubgeshig Rice (Book)
There is a brief conversation where a women mentions feeling threatened by a man but nothing comes of it.
The Moon is Down, John Steinbeck (Book)
The Moonflower Vine, Jetta Carleton (Book)
A main character has an inappropriate romantic interest in one of his students. She is not the first teenage girl he has developed feelings for, but she is the first one he actually kisses. This same character attempted to rape one of his peers when he was a teenager, but she was able to fight him off. This scene is vividly described. The schoolteacher describes another relationship with a 17 year old student that involves kissing. His wife responds to his noticeable distance by strongly pressuring him into sex even though he says no multiple times and attempts to walk away. He eventually agrees but acts violently during sex in an attempt to hurt his wife. This is a vivid description of an unhealthy relationship where sexual coercion is met with sexual violence.
The Moonstone, Wilkie Collins (Book)
The main female character and her two love interests are all first cousins. In the era of publication, first-cousin marriage (especially among upper classes) was considered very normal.
The More Or Less Definitive Guide to Self-Care, Anna Borges (Book)
A contributor to the book mentions in passing that she has PTSD from being sexually assaulted.
Mortal Follies, Alexis Hall (Book)
A male antagonist goes to great lengths, including grave threats to her life, to force the female protagonist to marry and have sex with him (not necessarily in that order). The actual violence is not sexual in nature, but the possessive undertones and his explicit intentions toward her lend a disturbingly sexual flavor to their encounters.
Moth, Lily Mayne (Book)
The Mother of Black Hollywood, Jenifer Lewis (Book)
The author describes sexual abuse at the hands of her pastor when she was a child. There is also a scene where someone breaks into her apartment and attempts to rape her, but she is able to talk him out of it.
Mr. Loverman, Bernardine Evaristo (Book)
While speaking in tongues, a tertiary character confesses having been sexually abused as a child. This is a passing mention.
Muhammad Najem, War Reporter, Nora Neus, Muhammad Najem, Julie Robine (Book)
Mules and Men, Zora Neale Hurston (Book)
Murder Most Actual, Alexis Hall (Book)
Misogyny is directed toward main characters. There is sexual harassment offscreen toward a minor character.
The Murderbot Diaries: All Systems Red, Martha Wells (Book)
Worthy of note: in this scifi setting, sapient cyborgs are enslaved and tightly controlled by their human handlers. The perspective character (a relatively free cyborg who hacked its control unit) mentions several times the existence of sexbots. It has never been used that way and seems more or less indifferent to their existence.
The Murderbot Diaries: Artificial Condition, Martha Wells (Book)
Worthy of note: in this scifi world, sentient cyborgs are typically under strict human control and built for specific functions. A secondary character in this novella is a "comfortbot" aka sexbot controlled by a woman it wishes to escape. Nothing sexual is shown or directly alluded to, and ultimately it achieves freedom.
The Murderbot Diaries: Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells (Book)
The Murderbot Diaries: System Collapse, Martha Wells (Book)
Muscles & Monsters, Ashley Bennett (Book)
The Music of What Happens, Bill Konigsberg (Book)
A male minor is raped by a male adult. The minor does not tell him to stop, he completely panics and all he can do is lay there and not move. In the book, the rapist tells the minor to come to his place. The minor decides against it. He gets upset when about to be very intimate with his now-boyfriend (the rape happened 1-3 months before) and tells him what happened. He talks to him mom too. This was unconsenual sex, with a minor, by someone over the age of 18. The rape has traumatized the victim, and this may be triggering to readers. This is handled sensitively.
Must Love Silence, Lucy Bexley (Book)
Mutual Aid, Dean Spade (Book)
This book contains passing reference to sexual harassment in workplaces.
My Almost Flawless Tokyo Dream Life, Rachel Cohn (Book)
The actions are portrayed from the perspective of the victim and are viewed completely negatively. However other characters around her do victim blame her, and we as the reader are never granted closure on whether or not the perpetrator is punished, which may also be triggering for certain readers.
My Beloved World, Sonia Sotomayor (Book)
The book contains an in-depth discussion of the 1964 rape and killing of Kitty Genovese. The author also describes her experience prosecuting a child pornography case. There are non-explicit descriptions of the videos created by the defendant.
My Best Friends Exorcism, Grady Hendrix (Book)
The book takes place in the late 80s, so what would be considered rape now is not treated as such. It is mentioned that a character's brother drugs girls and rapes them. He faces no consequences for his actions even when caught because he "comes from a good family". A coach lectures female students that they should not get drunk because they put themselves at risk, and states they are responsible for protecting themselves by protecting "their most valuable gift". It is implied that multiple girls have been raped while drunk and that it is their fault. A twelfth grade boy is only attracted to girls that are younger than him and sniffs his little sisters underwear.
My Brother's Husband, Tagame Gengorou (Book)
My Dark Vanessa, Kate Elizabeth Russell (Book)
This novel is about the seduction and continued abuse of a 15 year old boarding school student by her 42 year old English teacher. The plot escalates as grooming turns into sexual abuse, much of which is disturbing and explicitly forced. The protagonist is followed as an adult in alternating chapters as the impacts of this relationship on her life are explored.
My Epic Spring Break (Up), Kristin Rockaway (Book)
My Heart is a Chainsaw, Stephen Graham Jones (Book)
An adult man knowingly catcalls a minor. Throughout the story, there are instances of the same man being a general creep, and references to him having hidden cameras. Discussion of rape-revenge as a movie genre . There is discussion around without explicitly mentioning a father molesting his daughter. Several people are asking her to admit that it happened so they can provide help but she refuses. It is later revealed that he raped her when she was 11 but there is no explicit description of it happening.
My Lesbian Experience With Loneliness, Kabi Nagata (Book)
The manga is an autobiography about the author's own experience with her burgeoning sexuality, and the complications that come with being a lesbian, while also being touch-starved and sexually repressed. The author discusses being aroused by small interactions with her mother (like touching her mom's breasts, finding enjoyment when her mom briefly checks her pants or other private areas, watching her mom shower, to name a few examples), but she realizes it is not necessarily real attraction to her mother - rather, she craves touch and affection from another person, and she is trying to break free from an unhealthy, codependent relationship with her parents. Later, she hires an escort to help her lose her virginity. While both parties are fully consenting, the author feels largely uncomfortable during most of it, due to her rushing into having sex and using her time with an escort to find the affection she craved.
My Love Story, Tina Turner (Book)
The author discusses her abusive first marriage, and how sex with him was rape. They met when he was 25 and she was 17.
My Sweet Audrina, V. C. Andrews (Book)
Thw book revolves around the main character overcoming the gaslighting by her family to try and make her forget the violent gang rape she experienced as a little girl. Flashbacks of the incident in varying levels of graphic detail are described in first-person. A teenager has a sexual relationship with her adult piano teacher, who she seduces by role-playing as a much younger girl. A father has several creepy, incest-implying moments with his daughters. A 13-year-old girl is married and their wedding night is dubiously consensual at best.
My Year of Meats, Ruth Ozeki (Book)
The Myth and Propaganda of Black Buying Power, Jared A. Ball (Book)
The Mythic Dream, Dominik Parisien & Navah Wolfe (Book)
"He Fell Howling": there are several references to Zeus kidnapping people to take back to the mountain or disguising himself to sleep with them. "Kali_Na": here is online harassment at several points in the story. "Live Stream": the entire short story is about the following events. While drunk, a man coerces a woman into performing oral sex where he then take a picture of her without her consent. She stops and demands he deletes the picture, but he only pretends to and instead keeps it to show it to others. He then stalks and threatens her, forcing his way into her apartment and coercing her into another sexual situation which she uses to get him to confess while she is recording (he is unaware that she is doing so). During this encounter there is no sex as she stops everything once she has gotten the confession from him.
N-W, Zadie Smith (Book)
Nakija, Enni Mustonen (Book)
The Name Bearer, Natalia Hernandez (Book)
Chapter 21: one female character is captured by "flesh peddlers" who sell primarily women and children into sex slavery. The leader of the group approaches her cage intending to enter it and rape her. She is rescued before anything happens. Prior to this there are mentions of flesh peddlers throughout. After being captured the slavers comment about how some men will like a woman that struggles or fights back during rape.
Naomi: Season One, Brian Michael Bendis, David F. Walker, Jamal Campbell (Book)
Natives, Akala (Book)
Nectar, Upile Chisala (Book)
Needful Things, Stephen King (Book)
A child has a dream where he touches himself in front of his speech teacher. A few minor characters are pedophiles. They own physical copies of child pornography, which is described vaguely. Two of these characters are said to have raped young (prepubescent) children in their past, but the scene is only referenced, not discussed in detail. None of these incidents are portrayed as positive and the characters are shamed by others.
The Neighbor, Lisa Gardner (Book)
This book is predominantly about child sexual assault. Several chapters are written from the POV of a sex offender, and discuss the ways in which he rationalizes his actions. He is not the protagonist, however, as the book does not support or glorify child sexual assault.
Neon Gods, Katee Robert (Book)
Worthy of note: There is an almost 10 year age gap between two characters in relationship.
Nettle & Bone, T. Kingfisher (Book)
Chapter 5: non-graphic discussion by the princess in regards to her marriage (him abusing her), and how he insists on having guards in the room while they have sex which makes her uncomfortable.
Network Effect, Martha Wells (Book)
The main character, a security consultant/ bodyguard, notices a character described as an adolescent (no exact age given) secretly meeting with man claiming to be her age but is at least 12 years older who is clearly attempting to lure her away from her family and friends to private locations and potentially attempting to drug and/or rape her. The main character prevents this from happening and the whole incident is only mentioned in passing as a point of tension between the main character and the adolescent.
Never Seduce a Scot, Maya Banks (Book)
Chapter 21: the female main character discusses how the man she was previously set to marry harassed her, and snuck into her bedroom at night and touched her. It does not explicitly say that it was sexual touching but he would taunt her with explicit threats of what he would do to her when she they were married. This is mentioned briefly in previous chapters as she had been afraid of him and tried to get out of the marriage. Chapter 41: the female character is kidnapped by the man noted above. He threatens her with assault and forcibly kisses her. After she is rescued, her husband is concerned that she was raped, but there was no assault aside from the kiss.
Never Whistle At Night, Shane Hawk and Theodore Van Alst (Book)
Kushtuka: a woman's mother wants her to have a child with a man for money. When she refuses, her mother threatens to send her 15 year old sister instead. Non-graphic mentions of sexual harassment while working at a party. White hills: a woman is tricked into getting a medicated abortion. Navajos Don't Wear Elk Teeth: a man coerces another man into having sex with him. Hunger: a man has fantasies about raping a woman. Scariest Story Ever: mentions of someone being a pedophile. Dead Owls: mention of rape in a book the character is reading. Prepper: a man fears his mother may have been raped but she was not. Sunday: a man has a graphic memory of being raped by a priest when he was a 9 year old boy, and there are mentions of it happening to others as well. The whole story is about him confronting the priest about this. He forces the priest to bend over and remove his pants and underwear, threatening to penetrate him with a broom handle, but he does not.
Nevermoor: the Trials of Morrigan Crow, Jessica Townsend (Book)
Nevernight, Jay Kristoff (Book)
Several times throughout the book a teenage boy is called a slur that is later revealed to mean ´child of rape´. Chapter 2: a young man touches the face of a teenage girl without her consent. She manages to chase him off. He later returns with another man. It is implied this man wants to rape her. Very short scenes and both men get killed by the girl before they can harm her. Chapter 16: a boy wants to buy a girl a drink, she declines. He becomes pushy and grabs her wrist, but his boss stops him before he can harass her any further. Chapter 20: a teenage boy reveals that he was conceived as a result of rape and that his grandfather detested him: seeing his grandson's face reminded him of his daughter's rapist. Chapter 25: the same boy reveals that when he was born he was frail, and his mother was told to drown him as his people would never accept him. His mother refused, and as a result was shunned from society. Chapter 30: a teenage boy who does not have any teeth reveals he was enslaved in a pleasure house when he was young. The main character then states that she finally understands why the boy doesn't have any teeth, but does not elaborate. Short conversation (one paragraph), but it could still be disturbing to some.
The New Handbook for a Post-Roe America, Robin Marty (Book)
Pregnancy resulting from incest or rape is mentioned a few times in passing.
The New Jim Crow, Michelle Alexander (Book)
The author references the following throughout the book: low conviction rates for rapists, Trump's declaration that Mexican immigrants to the United States are rapists, Obama's opinion that child rapists should be executed, racist fears that Black men would rape white women, and Willie Horton's rape and murder of a woman while he was on work furlough from prison. The author generally discusses rape in the abstract, as opposed to detailing specific acts of rape.
The Nickel Boys, Colson Whitehead (Book)
This is a fictional retelling of abuses that occurred at the Dozier Academy, a reform school for teenage boys in Florida. The systemic abuse includes rape, which is referenced throughout (sometimes using the word rape, sometimes using references to “Lover’s Leap.”). There is one character for whom rape is a central part of his arc, which is recounted on pages 148-49. Given the history this book is based on, the sexual violence was handled carefully and non-graphically.
Nigeria Jones, Ibi Zoboi (Book)
There is mention of slaveholders raping enslaved women. There is a scene where the protagonist kisses a boy and he starts trying to go beyond kissing. He does stop or slow down when asked, though.
The Night Guest, Hildur Knútsdóttir (Book)
The main character works with her verbally abusive ex-boyfriend, who keeps trying to get back together with her. At one point he drugs her with intentions to rape her. The narrative does not explain the details of what happened, but it is clear that she is (at least ultimately) able to defend herself while drugged.
Night of the Mannequins, Stephen Graham Jones (Book)
Nightfall, Isaac Asimov and Robert Silverberg (Book)
Chapter 30: a man attempts to rape a woman when she returns to her office. He gropes her several times and pulls her in to rub against her before she is able to fight him off Chapter 34: the same woman is made to strip naked at gunpoint by a group of men to prove that she doesn't have anything on her.
Nimona, ND Stevenson (Book)
The Nineties, Chuck Klosterman (Book)
The author references the following: the rape and murder of Mia Zapata, Anita Hill's sexual assault allegations against Clarence Thomas, Tupac Shakur's conviction for rape, Harvey Weinstein's conviction for rape, the #MeToo Movement, Mike Tyson's conviction for rape, politicians' sexual relationships with interns (particularly, the Monica Lewinsky scandal), and the movie American Beauty's protagonist's obsession with his teenage daughter's best friend.
Ninth House, Leigh Bardugo (Book)
There is an attempted rape scene between a child and a ghost which is described in fairly vivid detail but the character blacks out so it is unknown how far the rape scene actually goes. There is also a scene in which a character has been videotaped while she performs sexual acts, in this scene she is under the influence of a drug, though the rape itself is not described in detail. However, the after-effects on the character are, as well as the character being coerced before the rape occurs, it should be noted that the actual act is explain briefly but remains off-page. The main character was previously in a relationship with an adult while she was a teenager. The scenes are handled well for what they are, they serve a purpose and are portrayed with sensitivity.
No Country for Eight-Spot Butterflies, Julian Aguon (Book)
The author reveals that he and his grandmother were raped by several relatives while being confined at these relatives' house. The author also discusses Alice Walker's book Overcoming Speechlessness, in which she interviews Congolese women who were victims of sex slavery and other forms of systematic sexual violence. Both of the above are in the essay called "Fighting Words"
No Longer Human, Osamu Dazai (Book)
This book contains very graphic illustrations of child rape and incest.
No is Not Enough, Naomi Klein (Book)
There are frequent but non-graphic references to rape and sexual assault allegations against Trump and other politicians, as well as references to Trump’s labeling of Mexican immigrants as rapists.
No Place for Monsters, Kory Merritt (Book)
No Plot? No Problem!, Chris Baty (Book)
Noah, Sebastian Fitzek (Book)
The Nobleman's Guide to Scandal and Shipwrecks, Mackenzie Lee (Book)
Worthy of note: while mostly naked, a male main character is bound and forced to walk through a bathhouse of (mostly female) strangers. He is embarrassed but not distressed.
Nona the Ninth, Tamsyn Muir (Book)
None of the Above, I.W. Gregorio (Book)
A teenage, pregnant, tertiary character first became pregnant due to date rape. Upon finding out that the protagonist is intersex, a character starts tearing off her clothing to try and find a penis that she does not have. He tries to isolate her in an alley, but someone intervenes on her behalf.
Noor, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Many people ask the protagonist invasive questions about her body because she has cybernetic parts.
Noorkaap, Natalie Pagie (Book)
There is a weird conversation between two guys and its unsure if they talk about rape but one of them is angry because of a woman and says to the other man 'she has no idea what i want to do to her'. There is one instance where two woman are attacked and one is grabbed by the hair by a rapist. he later reveals that he was going to rape her. He also gives an description of how it felt to rape women.
Nora's Kraken, Leigh Miller (Book)
Not the End of the World, Hannah Ritchie (Book)
Nothing But Blackened Teeth, Cassandra Shaw (Book)
Nothing to See Here, Kevin Wilson (Book)
The Nowhere Girls, Amy Reed (Book)
Throughout the entirety of the book there are mentions of rape and sexual assault, as well as graphic scenes depicting rape and sexual assault in great detail, and young women talking about how they feel after being raped or assaulted.
Nubia: Real One, L.L. McKinney, Robyn Smith (Book)
A character continually asks another character out, despite the fact that she has made it clear that she is not interested in dating him. He considers her to be "playing hard to get." There is later discussion of this harasser character having broken the arm of a previous girlfriend and getting away with it because his family is influential. Later, the harasser character forces a kiss on the character above while she is drunk at a party. The protagonist, her friend, punches him. The next day, the harasser character makes a non-apology that could be considered gaslighting, saying that they both had a lot to drink and there were "mixed signals." The climax of the book entails the harasser character bringing a gun to school to attack the character who rejected him. He corners her and calls her a cocktease. She is saved and no one dies. Presumably, the harasser character ends up in police custody because the protagonist records and broadcasts his threats to frame her in the shooting.
Oathbringer, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
There are multiple flashbacks to a period of deeply inhumane war, and some of them either state or imply that soldiers (including a specific named antagonist) were raping and pillaging in the aftermath of conquest. Sexual violence is never shown onscreen or implied for any specific named character.
Oaths of Legacy, Emily Skrutskie (Book)
The Obelisk Gate, N.K. Jemisin (Book)
A caste of people called breeders must bear children with whoever authorities tell them to have sex with.
The Obsession, Jesse Q. Sutanto (Book)
A character mentions frat parties often have sexual assault. Another character mentions a main character could have been raped, but they have not.
The Ocean At the End of the Lane, Neil Gaiman (Book)
The villain of the story is an otherworldly creature who takes the form of a human being. She has the power to affect people's minds; at one point, she seduces the protagonists father, and he briefly sees them having sex (with little descriptive detail) before fleeing the house. It is unclear if she uses her psychic power to induce the seduction or if the father does this of his own will.
Od Magic, Patricia A. McKillip (Book)
One female character is pushed into an arranged marriage she does not want. Her interactions with her betrothed do not contain sexual harassment or anything like it.
Odd Thomas, Dean Koontz (Book)
In the very beginning (towards the end of chapter one) a small girl leads the main character to a man who brutally raped her. The description of the act is quite vivid. The rapist is discovered to have taken a sample of the victim's blood from the rape and to like smelling and licking it.
Odder, Katherine Applegate (Book)
Off Season, Jack Ketchum (Book)
The book contains multiple instances of rape and frequent threats of rape. There are also implied incest and physical abuse of the children.
Old Magic, Marianne Curley (Book)
The Oleander Sword, Tasha Suri (Book)
The story plays out in an empire in which women are valued only as dutiful wives, mothers, and religious sacrifices. Misogyny is a constant backdrop via concern about women's purity and proper place, and threats of violent execution. One secondary female character is forced into an arranged marriage with the cruel emperor in exchange for her tributary state's safety. Multiple scenes from the emperor's POV involve him fantasizing about torturing and murdering his wife and his (main character) sister.
Olga Dies Dreaming, Xochitl Gonzalez (Book)
Towards the end of the book, the titular character is raped by an ex-boyfriend. Later, she explains other times she was sexually assaulted in the past to a trusted person.
Omniscient Reader (Book)
On Juneteenth, Annette Gordon-Reed (Book)
The author discusses the rape of enslaved Black women by white men and white women falsely accusing Black women of rape.
Once Broken Faith, Seanan McGuire (Book)
Once Ghosted, Twice Shy, Alyssa Cole (Book)
Once Upon a Broken Heart, Stephanie Garber (Book)
Love potions and spells to force characters to fall in love are used, but no characters are depicted as having sex while "under the influence." The main character is an older teen, and one of her love interests is an immortal creature who is centuries old. The main character is kissed and touched against her will, and is also ordered to kiss other people under the influence of a magical contract.
Once Upon a K-Prom, Kat Cho (Book)
Once Upon a Time in the North, Philip Pullman (Book)
One Last Stop, Casey McQuiston (Book)
There is a passing mention of the kinds of sexual harassment that occur on public transit.
One Man Guy, Michael Barakiva (Book)
The protagonist goes to visit his best friend, and she kisses him unexpectedly, misinterpreting his verbal appreciation of her as attraction. She asks him to leave when he does not reciprocate her feelings because she felt he was leading her on. The friends do make up later when the protagonist realizes he is gay. There is passing mention of a relative being raped and executed during the Armenian genocide. The love interest character discusses having dated a college student while in high school. The college student was only 17 from having skipped a few years, though, so their age difference was only 2 years.
One of Us is Back, Karen M. McManus (Book)
A character is rumored to have released sex tapes of girls without their consent.
One of Us Knows, Alyssa Cole (Book)
There is a passing mention in the beginning about the protagonist fighting back against a kid who was flipping girls' skirts in a kindergarten class. SPOILERS: We find out over the course of the book that the main antagonists have a tradition of hunting "fallen women" for sport. Many of these women are vulnerable, poor, racialized, queer, etc. An antagonist leaves the protagonist in a situation where he assumes she will die, and he brags about going off to rape two other women.
One of Us is Next, Karen M. McManus (Book)
One protagonist regularly hooks up with a guy. That guy comes to her family’s apartment uninvited and starts trying to force a sexual encounter until he is interrupted. This protagonist clearly says no and is called a tease. Another protagonist receives days of harassment based on a rumor that he once experienced erectile dysfunction. Some male characters make sexual comments towards his ex-girlfriend.
One to Watch, Kate Stayman-London (Book)
A character receives rape threats and is sexually harassed online.
The Ones We're Meant to Find, Joan He (Book)
The Only Good Indians, Stephen Graham Jones (Book)
Only One Bed, Kiera Andrews (Book)
Oona Out of Order, Margarita Montimore (Book)
A character confesses to have lied about his age to someone he was dating, saying he was 18 when he was actually 17.
Opal Lee and What It Means to Be Free, Alice Faye Duncan, Keturah A. Bobo (Book)
Opposite of Always, Justin A. Reynolds (Book)
The Orc From Accounting, Leigh Miller (Book)
In Order to Live, Yeonmi Park (Book)
This book is an account of the author's escape from North Korea. Whilst crossing the border from North Korea to China, the author's mother is raped by a man who is helping them to cross. The uneven power dynamics between women seeking escape and the smugglers who assist them comes up repeatedly - it is mentioned that women are often offered help in crossing the border, only to be forced into sex work when they reach the other side.
The Order of the Pure Moon Reflected in Water, Zen Cho (Book)
The characters make occasional reference to a minor antagonist who groped a male waiter without permission. Two male secondary characters periodically harass the female lead character, pressuring her to break her monastic vows and have sex with them. She is unbothered and wholly capable of defending herself.
Orphan Train, Christina Baker Kline (Book)
Oryx and Crake, Margaret Atwood (Book)
There is a description of child pornography, which two teenage boys access through an adult's computer. One of the children from these videos becomes a central character in the next book in the series. The teenage boys also view torture porn.
The Other Einstein, Marie Benedict (Book)
In Other Lands, Sarah Rees Brennan (Book)
In the beginning of a book, the protagonist is recruited to participate in a magical land. He accuses his recruiter of being a child predator in jest. A character surprises the protagonist with a kiss that he does not want. There are passing mentions of inbreeding in the British royal family. A main character also comes from a family with some inbreeding. While 16, the protagonist has a short relationship with a 20-year-old man.
The Other People, CJ Tudor (Book)
A homeless boy wakes up and a dude stands over him mastrubating and asks if he wants to give him a blowjob for money.
The Other Side of the Sky, Meagan Spooner, Amie Kaufman (Book)
Purity culture is a large part of this book. It is stated that if a character that had been blessed with power from the gods has any sort of physical touch, they will "lose their divinity." When a character received physical touch and did not lose her powers, the church forcibly took her "divinity."
Otto: a Palindrama, Jon Agee (Book)
Our Dreams At Dusk, Yuhki Kamatani (Book)
A child is groped from behind at a public fireworks show (the character is implied to be trans and is presenting as female in public for the first time), and the teenaged protagonist accompanying them jokes that they were groped because of their cute appearance. They then lash out at the protagonist and this event makes them feel uncomfortable about presenting as female later on.
Our Wives Under the Sea, Julia Armfield (Book)
There is a passing mention of a man masturbating while the protagonists, two women, are kissing in a movie theater. There are a few other instances of the protagonists' relationship being fetishized or not being taken seriously by men who are attracted to them.
Out of Darkness, Ashley Hope Pérez (Book)
Towards the beginning of the book in the first "The Gang" chapter, a group of boys contemplates luring the female protagonist somewhere and raping her. The female protagonist's stepfather grooms her and sexually assaults her multiple times. He and several other people in their town want her to marry him, saying it is legal to do because they are not blood related. Her grandmother even supports this, saying she was 14 when she married her husband, who was 25 at the time. The stepfather finally fully rapes the female protagonist in the last few chapters of the book. In the epilogue, we find out that the racist news media produces a story that she was raped by a Black boy. In reality, she had been dating this boy consensually.
Out of My Heart, Sharon M. Draper (Book)
Out of My Mind, Sharon M. Draper (Book)
Outfox, Sandra Brown (Book)
A detective kisses a woman he is investigating without her consent: she pulls away, referring to her marriage, but he kisses her again (chapter 13).
Over the Top, Jonathan Van Ness (Book)
The author discusses how he was sexually abused as a child by another child who was older than him, as well as the psychological ramifications of that abuse.
Oyasumi Punpun (Book)
This book contains a very graphic rape scene where one underage character gets raped by his aunt, and is seen scared and shaken up. Another adult character also almost has sex with a young girl, but does not actually do it.
Oye, Melissa Mogollon (Book)
The protagonist is a teenage girl and a lesbian. Her mother thinks that if the right guy flirts with her, she will stop being a lesbian. To this end, when the protagonist has to go to a shop where she knows a particular adult man will sexually harass her, she asks her mom to go with her, but the mom refuses. The protagonist also recalls relatives making inappropriate comments about how puberty is affecting her body. We find out later in the book that the protagonist's grandma worked for her uncle when she was a teenager herself. This uncle attempted to kiss her and destroyed her reputation when she rebuffed him. We also find out that the parents of this uncle were first cousins who married to keep the wealth in the family.
Pachinko, Min Jin Lee (Book)
An adult man stalks and impregnates a teenage girl. He then keeps tabs on her and her family for years after the fact under the auspices of protecting her. Many characters discuss how Korean women were raped during World War II, the Korean War, and under the totalitarian regime in North Korea.
Paimentytt, Enni Mustonen (Book)
The Pain Eater, Beth Goobie (Book)
The Pairing, Casey McQuiston (Book)
Pakumatkalla, Aino Huilaja (Book)
The Palestine Laboratory, Antony Loewenstein (Book)
There is a discussion of rape at the hands of the Israeli Occupation Force and other repressive governments around the world. There are passing mentions of surveillance technology being used to catch pedophiles.
Panic, Sharon M. Draper (Book)
The premise of the book is that a fifteen-year-old girl is kidnapped by an adult man. The man drugs her and films himself and other men raping her. The actual instances of rape are not described. The kidnapper reveals that he had been stalking her and her family for months and that he has kidnapped other girls around the US before. He threatens to kidnap the girl's younger sister if the girl does not comply with being sold to another trafficker. The girl does manage to escape in the end. A separate teenage girl is in a physically and verbally abusive relationship for much of the book. The boyfriend views sex as something that she "owes" him. Towards the end of the book, he sends revenge porn photos of her to all their friends and classmates. Many of her male classmates react to the images by verbally harassing her. The boyfriend does get arrested for distributing child pornography in the end.
The Paper Palace, Miranda Cowley (Book)
The scene (situated in chapter 12) is a pivotal moment in the story. The location is not violent but is vivid. It is between a brother and a sister.
Paper Towns, John Green (Book)
Parable of the Sower: Graphic Novel Adaptation, Octavia E. Butler, John Jennings, Damian Butler (Book)
Parable of the Sower, Octavia E. Butler (Book)
Parable of the Talents, Octavia E. Butler (Book)
Paradise, Toni Morrison (Book)
A character is a victim of marital rape. Another character tells her mother that, when the mother left home, the father tried to "bother" his daughter. There is discussion of domestic workers being raped. There is a scene where white men drive up and expose themselves to young Black girls who are walking along the road.
Party of Two, Jasmine Guillory (Book)
The protagonist encounters a news story where her love interest (a senator), denounces a fellow senator for perpetrating sexual harassment. This is a plot point that is mentioned in passing exactly once, and no one goes into detail about it.
The Passage, Justin Cronin (Book)
Several characters’ suppressed memories of sexual violence during childhood are brought into their dreams by a mysterious otherworldly force. One of these characters is a sex offender himself.
Passenger 23, Sebastian Fitzek (Book)
Passing, Nella Larsen (Book)
Patsy, Nicole Y. Dennis-Benn (Book)
The protagonist and her girlfriend are ambushed and sexually assaulted by a man. They are eventually rescued. The protagonist's roommate's boyfriend masturbates near her when he thinks she is sleeping. He then moves on to raping her while she is pretending to sleep. There is passing mention of a queer male character putting a little boy on his lap. There are multiple scenes of street harassment, particularly street harassment motivated by gender nonconformity. There are a few mentions throughout of the police rape of Abner Louima.
Patternmaster, Octavia Butler (Book)
In general, this series involves a lot of incest. The book takes place in a society where members of a household functionally belong to the heads of the household, and most of the heads of household are men. As such, women are generally perceived as sexually available and unable to refuse sex.
Payback's a Witch, Lana Harper (Book)
The book centers around three queer female witches who seek revenge against their common ex-boyfriend Gareth. Gareth variously cheated on them, emotionally manipulated them and made them feel worthless. In the first couple chapters the female lead (one of the three above) encounters Gareth at a bar. He does not recognize her; hits on her pretty aggressively until the barkeeper comes to her defense.
Peace Talks, Jim Butcher (Book)
A male main character consciously resists a succubus's magical aura of seduction (Lara Wraith, who is a major character in this book). In some scenes her magic is simply passive. In one scene, she uses it to enthrall, subdue, and rape a male guard who had been trying to kill her. This sex-with-someone-under-mind-control is somewhat graphic, and the perspective character describes it with appropriate horror but does not interfere. Offscreen, a male minor character tries to magically entrance and seduce a female minor character. It fails and he faces consequences onscreen.
Penance, Eliza Clark (Book)
One character’s father is friends with someone who ends up being investigated for pedophilia. The father defends his friend during the investigation. Another character is sexually assaulted as a child by her swim instructor and becomes fearful of men as a result. A third character is sexually abused by her father. An in-world true crime podcast that comments on the crime central to the book fetishizes the suspects, all teenage girls, for supposedly being lesbians.
Penpal, J.T. Geissinger (Book)
Chapter 7: a woman says that she looks through websites with child pornography to try and find her young daughter who was kidnapped. Chapter 35: a woman makes jokes about being molested by a ghost. Epilogue: mention of rape as a general crime.
People of the Book, Geraldine Brooks (Book)
An underage character lives as a boy for survival: she is discovered to be a girl, and promptly raped for it.
People Like Her, Ellery Lloyd (Book)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: the Battle of the Labyrinth, Rick Riordan (Book)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: the Last Olympian, Rick Riordan (Book)
A 23-year-old asks a 16-year-old main character if she loved him. She did, in fact, have a crush on him. It is unclear if he had romantic feelings for her, too, but in a later book, she claims he did. His character, throughout the series, was cruel and manipulative to her.
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: the Lightning Thief, Rick Riordan (Book)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: the Sea of Monsters, Rick Riordan (Book)
Percy Jackson & the Olympians: the Titan's Curse, Rick Riordan (Book)
The Perks of Being a Wallflower, Stephen Chbosky (Book)
Persuasion, Jane Austen (Book)
Pet, Akwaeke Emezi (Book)
The premise of the book is that the protagonist and an otherworldly being try to figure out who in the community is a "monster," the in-universe term for a sexual predator, in order to bring him to justice. The monster turns out to be the protagonist's friend's uncle. The uncle had been molesting the friend's younger brother. There are no specific descriptions of what the uncle was doing to the child. The uncle makes several gaslighting statements when his actions are revealed.
Phases of the Moon, Julia Watts (Book)
The protagonist, who is 16-17, is in a relationship with an adult. She later is coerced into having sex with another adult. There are a couple instances of sexual harassment. Two other characters are groomed by older adults.
The Philosopher's Flight, Tom Miller (Book)
The context of the book is that most cis women have the ability to do magic and most cis men do not. Throughout the book, there is a terrorist, religiously motivated group that tries to outlaw the use and teaching of this magic and make women subservient. At their demonstrations, they make rape threats as well as misogynist and whorephobic statements towards women. Aside from the above, there are several scenes where men catcall women sprinkled throughout the book.
The Philosopher's War, Tom Miller (Book)
The protagonist is the only man in an all-female division of the armed forces. They routinely sexually harass him, including forcing kisses on him and telling their sexual fantasies about him.
The Photographer, Craig Robertson (Book)
Pieces of Her, Karin Slaughter (Book)
The main character was physically and sexually abused by her father.
The Pillars of the Earth, Ken Follett (Book)
There is a graphic rape scene involving a teenage protagonist and the antagonist, conducted under the threat of the protagonist's brother being executed. There are discussions of rape and attempted rape in multiple places in the book, usually in the context of battles or oppression by the gentry.
Pilu of the Woods, Mai K. Nguyen (Book)
Pirates!, Celia Rees (Book)
The protagonist's parents try to arrange a marriage for the protagonist, who is in her teens, and the suitors are mostly adult men. They engage her to someone without her knowledge, but she escapes. The other main character is an enslaved girl who escapes with the protagonist to become pirates together. An overseer character tries to punish the protagonist by selling this enslaved girl, who is also a teenager, to a brothel. The protagonist intervenes as this overseer tries to rape the enslaved girl. We later find out that the enslaved main character was conceived through the protagonist's father raping the enslaved girl's mother. It is not framed as rape in the book, and the gravity of that revelation receives scant consideration. While pirates, the two girls dress as men to blend in. Often, when someone finds out they are actually girls, they make lewd comments or threaten to sexually assault them.
Pirates of the Retail Wasteland, Adam Selzer (Book)
A Place of Greater Safety, Hilary Mantel (Book)
A main character is accused of raping a young woman. However, it is strongly implied that the accusation is false. A character has sex with an older mentor figure when he is underage. His consent is ambiguous and the relationship is only referred to through dialogue. A man lusts after his best friend's wife and some of his behavior towards her could be interpreted as sexually threatening. A teenage girl tries to coerce an adult man into having sex with her, but they are interrupted.
Plague Ship, Andre Norton (Book)
Plaid and Plagiarism, Molly MacRae (Book)
Plain Bad Heroines, Emily M Danforth (Book)
There is implied sexual harassment and/or attempted assault by a young adult to his teenage cousin, and by an older man to a young woman he has some authority over. A man stalks and attempts to rape a woman. She escapes, but he later murders her. These are not major characters, but their story has significant effects on the other plot threads.
Planet of Exile, Ursula K. Le Guin (Book)
A character suggests that being seen with the main character (from a different tribe) will result with either her being ritually raped or him being castrated. It is mentioned only in one sentence and the female character quickly reassures him that it is not something her tribe would do. The topic is immediately dropped and does not get brought up again.
Platonic, Marisa G. Franco (Book)
Playground, Aron Beauregard (Book)
No sexual assault is placed upon any of the children in the book. It remains evident in two of the adult character’s pasts since one groomed the other and that groomer had an incestuous relationship with her biological mother. The groomer also has ideas of grooming one of the children but it never happens and the child she intends to groom never even knows about the idea. There is a graphic description of horrific sex, but the past grooming is mentioned is minor detail throughout the book when in the groomed individual’s persepective.
Poison, Bridget Zinn (Book)
Poison Study, Maria V. Snyder (Book)
The main character is a survivor of rape, and it is the main reason the story happens. It was a plot point that the author treated seriously, and the sexual harassment that came later was to emphasize that the people doing so were dangerous and bad people.
The Poppy War, R.F. Kuang (Book)
Portrait of a Thief, Grace D. Li (Book)
Possession, Andrea Hagan (Book)
Chapter 11: a man kidnaps a woman after she tells him that she does not want to go on another date. He tells her that he is going to rape her, but is stopped before anything happens. Chapter 32: there are mentions of sexual assault as part of police case files but no details or descriptions. Chapter 41: the same woman is kidnapped by the same man and is threatened with rape but nothing happens. There are also non-graphic mentions of a rape in the past.
Poukahangatus: Poems, Tayi Tibble (Book)
Pound Foolish, Helaine Olen (Book)
Power to the Public, Tara Dawson McGuinness and Hana Schank (Book)
The authors reference a welfare seeker who was a survivor of sexual assault, a person who contacted a crisis text line because her father was raping her, and Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE)'s practice of performing nonconsensual hysterectomies on undocumented people. These discussions are in passing and not graphic.
A Power Unbound, Freya Marske (Book)
A minor female character was previously raped by her employer, and is now ostracized for her unmarried pregnant state. Her experiences are never described in detail, but are mentioned often (sympathetically). A major female character is forced to partially undress in front of antagonistic men. A friend quickly covers her with his own waistcoat.
The Power of When, Michael Breus (Book)
Praise, Sara Cate (Book)
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy, Becky Chambers (Book)
Prelude to Foundation, Isaac Asimov (Book)
During a confrontation with a street gang, a man and woman are told by a knife wielding gang member that he intends to rape the woman. However, when the gang member attacks, the woman injures him with a knife and he and his gang flee.
Pressure, Brian Keene (Book)
Chapter 10: mentions of sex trafficking. Chapter 17: prison rape joke.
Pretties, Scott Westerfeld (Book)
The Pretty One, Keah Brown (Book)
The Prey of Gods, Nicky Dreyden (Book)
One of the protagonists, a young girl, was conceived when a god raped her mother. Her mother has continual nightmares about this event and poor mental health as a result of no one taking her seriously. The god has a human form and lives in their village. The mother tells her daughter to never interact with the man. The daughter does end up interacting with him, and there is a scene that seems to be leading up to her getting raped as well, with him removing her clothing. However, rape does not occur, and that is not his intention. The daughter ends up seeing the man as a father figure and spending more time with him. Her mother finds out, and she assembles the village to stone him and shame her. Members of the crowd pull at her clothing, knock her down, and laugh at what she looks like naked.
Pride and Prejudice, Jane Austen (Book)
The Prince and the Dressmaker, Jen Wang (Book)
There are one or two instances of sexual harassment that are quickly resolved.
A Prince On Paper, Alyssa Cole (Book)
Prince's Gambit, C.S. Pacat (Book)
The above mentioned material appears in chapters 1, 13, 15, 18-20.
Princess Floralinda and the Forty-Flight Tower, Tamysn Muir (Book)
A Princess in Theory, Alyssa Cole (Book)
The Princess Trap, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Worthy of note: although there is no sexual assault or rape that is depicted or implied, a character is in a physically and verbally abusive relationship. Prior to the events of the book, a previous partner of the male romantic lead leaks a sex tape of him without his consent or knowledge.
The Priory of the Orange Tree, Samantha Shannon (Book)
A lesbian main character has sex with an older man (though it should be noted that she is 26) for the sake of continuing the royal lineage. She states that she feels nervous, and is uncomfortable with the idea, but she does so anyway. Later, she briefly mentions the dissociation she felt during the act. Two main characters have sex, and both verbally consent, however one of the characters was undergoing an extreme PTSD episode, and was not entirely in her right mind. A main character is coerced into kissing a main antagonist for knowledge. A main antagonist admits to raping her adult son whilst controlling his mind. Outside of this, there are a few consensual sex scenes and brief descriptions of masturbation.
Pritty, Keith F. Miller Jr (Book)
Project Hail Mary, Andy Weir (Book)
Promise Boys, Nick Brooks (Book)
An unnamed teenage character circulates revenge porn of an ex-girlfriend. His phone gets confiscated and school resource officers also circulate these photos. A school nurse recalls inappropriate touching from the principal.
A Psalm for the Wild-Built, Becky Chambers (Book)
Puck Shy, Teagan Hunter (Book)
Pukija, Enni Mustonen (Book)
Pumpkinheads, Rainbow Rowell (Book)
Punching the Air, Ibi Zoboi, Yusef Salaam (Book)
Punk Rock Karaoke, Bianca Xunise (Book)
Dialogue from the first few pages of the book: "My boss wouldn't let me leave early. Not unless I did him a 'special favor.'" "Gross, what a dirtbag!" "But don't worry, friends, I did him one better ... and kicked him in the huevos."
Pushout: the Criminalization of Black Girls in Schools, Monique W. Morris (Book)
The author references rape of enslaved women, the sexualization of Black girls by their peers and teachers, police interactions with Black girls that constitute sexual assault or sexual harassment, the author's own experience with sexual abuse, and the targeting of Black girls for sex trafficking from as young as 11.
Quantum Thief, Hannu Rajaniemi (Book)
Quarter to Midnight, Darcy Coates (Book)
Queen Sugar, Natalie Baszile (Book)
In one scene, the protagonist speaks with a man who openly stares at her body in a sexual way while he is talking to her. The protagonist's brother reacts strongly against her, a Black woman, being in a relationship with a white man because of the history of white men raping Black women. In the climax of the book, the protagonist's brother reveals that he and a friend of the family used to take turns having sex with their employer's wife. It is unclear in the narrative whether the wife actually agreed to this, but regardless, the brother and the friend were teenagers.
Queen Takes Rose, Katee Robert (Book)
The female lead uses sex to cope with death of a loved one. She intends to murder second female lead for causing death of loved one, however, she tries gaining her trust via sexual favors to play "submissive" to get her guard down. She states she was 13 when signing a contract with a sex club owner stating she would get a large sum of money to keep her loved one alive. However, she was to return to the club at age 21 and work off her debt. The second female lead hints that her neices and nephews may be in sexually absuive relationships as they were forced into marriages, including a phone call to her sister, discussing the possibility of pregnancies and abuse. Several other discussions take place in the book that hint at possible sexual abuse/assaults in the past for characters. Wothy of note: There are heavy implications of cheating and the second female lead saying she is okay with it despite telling readers otherwise.
The Queen's Gambit, Walter Tevis (Book)
While the protagonist is an 8-year-old in orphanage, a fellow orphan who is 12 years old enters her bed one night. The 12-year-old touches the protagonist's genitals and attempts to get the protagonist to touch her also. The protagonist feels uncomfortable from the start and eventually shouts for the 12-year-old to stop. The 12-year-old's assault is never discussed after the fact, and the two have a friendly relationship years later. The 12-year-old later claims that she is having an affair with one of the adult workers at the orphanage. As an adult, she claims that she lied. When the protagonist is a teenager in high school, she takes a college class and hangs out with college students. One student initiates sex with her without getting clear consent.
Queens of Geek, Jen Wilde (Book)
A male character tells one of the female protagonists that she would have to "sleep her way to the top" in order to make it in Hollywood.
A Queer History of the United States, Michael Bronski (Book)
Queer (In)Justice, Joey L. Mogul, Andrea J. Ritchie, Kay Whitlock (Book)
Sexual violence is discussed multiple times throughout the book. Although most of the descriptions are not detailed, the sheer volume of mentions can be overwhelming and triggering. Topics covered include catcalling, rape statistics, anti-sodomy laws, rape as a tool of colonization, racist stereotypes of Black men wanting to rape white women and of Black women being hypersexual, sexual violence at the hands of law enforcement officers, rape in prison, LGBT people as both perpetrators and victims of sexual violence, rape apologia, and domestic violence.
Queer, There, and Everywhere, Sarah Prager (Book)
The origin of the terms Sodomy and sodomizing are discussed, particularly in terms of same-sex rape. There is a passing mention of ancient Roman adults having sex with young boys. In the chapter on Josef Kohout, the author describes how he and other gay men during the Holocaust were coerced into giving sexual favors to authority figures in concentration camps for more lenient treatment. In the chapter on Silvia Rivera, there are a few passages about her fending off attempted rapists, including police officers. The Kristina Vasa and Eleanor Roosevelt chapters explain how both figures married cousins—in Roosevelt's case, a distant cousin.
Queerly Beloved, Susie Dumond (Book)
The main character's last girlfriend was emotionally abusive and cheated repeatedly. At one point during the story, that ex initiates an unexpected unwanted kiss.
Questions to Ask Before Your Bat Mitzvah, Rachel Valinsky, Jay Saper, Morgan Bassichis (Book)
The Quiet Damage, Jesselyn Cook (Book)
This book is largely concerned with adherents to the QAnon conspiracy theory, which is the unsubstantiated belief that certain politicians and celebrities traffic, rape, and drink the blood of children in Satanic rituals. Throughout the book, it is very clear that the author does not believe this conspiracy theory to be true, but she interviews people who do believe this or believed it in the past. There are also references to rape allegations against Brett Kavanaugh and Donald Trump.
A Quiet Kind of Thunder, Sara Barnard (Book)
There is a brief catcalling scene towards the beginning of the book.
Quiver, Julia Watts (Book)
Worthy of note: Protagonist A is the oldest daughter in a Quiverfull family. Adherents to Quiverfull Christian philosophy believe in men being heads of households and having an extreme amount of control over their families, particularly over women and girls. In real life, incest and rape is very common in Quiverfull families. Although there is not any explicit sexual violence in the book, there are several scenes that feel uncomfortable because of this extreme patriarchal control. For example, Protagonist A breaks a rule, and her father requires her to lift her nightgown and show her naked backside for him to beat her with a belt. Protagonist B has an obsession with David Bowie, who, in real life is known to have been accused of statutory rape of a 15-year-old fan. This rape allegation is not discussed in the book.
Race After Technology, Ruha Benjamin (Book)
There is passing mention of Tarana Burke and the #MeToo movement, but the author does not describe the movement. The author references racist and eugenicist medical reproductive violations, specifically forced sterilizations, Marion Sims' gynecological experiments on unconsenting enslaved women, and the display and dissection of the genitals of Sarah Baartman.
Radio Silence, Alice Oseman (Book)
The protagonist mentions carrying a rape whistle and fearing sexual assault when out at night. While at a party, a stranger grabs the protagonist's behind while she is dancing.
Radio Silence, Alyssa Cole (Book)
The book opens with someone attempting to rape the protagonist. Although the would-be rapist is killed, the protagonist has traumatic nightmares and flashbacks of the event throughout the book. The protagonist also describes a scene where she heard a woman screaming, followed by sounds of men whooping and making lewd comments. It is left ambiguous what happened, since the protagonist technically did not witness anything, but it is strongly implied that it was rape.
Rafe: a Buff Male Nanny, Rebekah Weatherspoon (Book)
Worthy of note: the romantic leads in this book are a woman and a male nanny under her employ. It is clear in the narrative that their attraction to one another is mutual and that the employer does not make the pursuit of a sexual relationship a condition of his employment. The nanny character quits when their relationship becomes serious.
Raft of Stars, Andrew J. Graff (Book)
Raiden: Sons of the Fallen Book 6, Jaclyn Osborn (Book)
Chapter 11: there is a non-graphic mention of a child who was born as a result of rape.
Raidiant Sin, Katee Robert (Book)
The female lead is paid to fake-date the male lead: she expresses discomfort with physical touching. The male lead expresses concern over being her boss and making her feel pressured to do things. The male lead does not ask for consent before kissing the female lead, instead saying "I'm going to kiss you now" in a more demanding way. Two non-lead characters are implied to have won another non-lead female character as a prize, and might do sexual things. The female character does not vocally consent and later confesses that her father is forcing her into doing these things for his own motive. The female and male leads argue over the power imbalance of boss x employee: they end up together.
Rainwater, Sandra Brown (Book)
The description of an assault and attempted rape could be upsetting to read as they are described as it occurs (pp. 234-5).
Raleigh North Carolina: a Brief History, Joe A. Mobley (Book)
The Raven King, Nora Sakavic (Book)
Chapter 11 (pages 214-222): strongly implied rape scene. Rape mentioned throughout the series.
Raymie Nightingale, Kate DiCamillo (Book)
Rayne & Delilah's Midnite Matinee, Jeff Zentner (Book)
Reader, I Murdered Him, Betsy Cornwell (Book)
This book is a coming of age story of Adele from the classic novel Jane Eyre. Adele becomes a vigilante against men who attempt to abuse or sexually assault women. As the child of a sex worker, her childhood was spent in a brothel, where she learned ways women protected themselves from men, especially with the understanding that the police would be unlikely to help them if they were in danger. Later, she interrupts a man attempting to assault her friend. While visiting another friend, she sees a painting depicting the Rape of Persephone, and this friend's father turns out to be an abuser. Towards the end of the book, the protagonist's father reveals that he had been posing as her penpal, a boy her own age living in another country. He argues that she fell in love with him and that he can take her as his wife, despite already being married. He forces a kiss on her, and then she fights him off.
Rebel Angels, Libba Bray (Book)
A character in an asylum is known to be "handsy with the ladies." A character works to protect her cousin from sexual assault at the hands of her father, sexual assault that she herself has endured. This character blames herself for the assault and tries to deny that it happened. A character who can read minds taunts her about this experience. A character gives absinthe to the protagonist and her friends. He then gets the protagonist alone and tries to initiate sex with her when she does not know what is happening, but he is stopped.
Reckless, Kiki Clark (Book)
Chapter 4: a man is threatened with being forced to perform oral sex on another man. The act does not happen and the threat does not hang over the character’s head afterward.
Reclaiming Two-Spirits, Gregory D. Smithers (Book)
Reconstructing Amelia, Kimberly McCreight (Book)
Teenagers are pressured into taking illicit photos of themselves and posting them online. A teenage girl and her girlfriend have consensual sex, but are filmed against their will, and the footage is leaked specifically to incite a homophobic harassment campaign against one of them.
Red Heir, Lisa Henry & Sarah Honey (Book)
There is enthusiastically consensual incest between two cousins. The narrative jokes about it repeatedly. One male lead pursues the other in ways that cross the line into sexual harassment a few times. The impact is softened as chemistry develops between them.
Red Rising, Pierce Brown (Book)
This story is set in a dystopian future. The main characters are about 16, and are treated either as adults or as basically adults. Rape occurs in the context of these characters participating in an extended military training exercise where factions are created and pitted against each other in a long campaign. It happens 'off-screen' with mentions of screams. An attempted rape also happens in this context. These acts occur similarly to how they might in real life military conquest, and serve to demonstrate aspects of characterisation and the world/society. The characters mention and discuss these rapes, as well as hypothetical ones and ones that have happened in the past. In this story, there exists a class of people raised from birth to be sex slaves. This is not the focus of the book, and there exist otehr classes who are oppressed from birth (in different ways). There are no detailed descriptions of sexual violence in this book.
A Red-Rose Chain, Seanan McGuire (Book)
This book deals with situations of ongoing physical and emotional abuse within systems of authority in some distressing ways. However, none of the abuse is sexual in nature.
Red Seas Under Red Skies, Scott Lynch (Book)
As a forfeit for a game, a woman is forced to undress. Additionally, it is mentioned that people participating in this game are also raped as a result of losing. A woman walking through the street is spoken to threateningly by a man who (verbally) threatens to either force her to perform oral sex or rob her. A woman pretending to be a servant comes across a man who says he will only help her if she has sex with him, though she does not.
The Red Threads of Fortune, Neon Yang (Book)
Red, White & Royal Blue, Casey McQuiston (Book)
Towards the end of the book, a senator character reveals that, prior to the events of the book, when he was an intern for an attorney general, the attorney general would offer mentorship and connections to interns if they would "just get a drink with him after work." There was "a strong implication that 'no' was unacceptable." Most of the people the attorney general targeted were young women, but the senator, then a young man, was also targeted. The senator recalls how the attorney general got him very drunk. It is heavily implied that the attorney general would have raped him if he had not gotten away. The attorney general threatened to reveal personal and family secrets if he ever told anyone what had happened. Over the course of this book, the attorney general becomes a senator and runs for president. He vows that as president, he would start a "Young Congress program." The senator who was his intern strongly believes that this presidential candidate would use such a program to continue targeting and raping young people, so he intervenes. Aside from this plot point, there are several allusions to in-breeding, specifically cousin marriages, in the history of the British royal family. These allusions are mostly played for laughs. One of the romantic leads mentions a time when he tried to defend his sister against a stranger who had touched her inappropriately in public. The two romantic leads often have sex while very drunk. This is not ever presented as a problem in the book. When the sexual relationship of the romantic leads is publicly revealed, the grandmother of one of the leads insist that he deny that he is gay, saying, "I can't imagine people would be as eager to welcome you into children's hospitals" where he had been volunteering prior. She is implying that others will assume he is a pedophile, when that is not the case.
Redefining Realness, Janet Mock (Book)
The author explains in detail how her father's girlfriend's son groomed her and molested her for an extended period of time. The person who groomed her was also a minor, but was older. As the author transitioned in her early teens, she observed that men began catcalling her. There are also explicit discussions of the author and her peers participating in sex work prior to the age of 18 to save up for gender affirmation surgery.
The Reformatory, Tananarive Due (Book)
The novel is set in Florida during Jim Crow, focusing on the wrongful imprisonment and abuse of young Black boys. Antiblack violence, including sexual violence, is a central theme. In the backstory, a Black man was falsely accused of raping a white woman. Most people are aware she's lying to cover up her own husband's abuse of her, but due to the impossibility of a fair trial, the man was forced to flee the state. A Black teenaged girl is regularly sexually harassed by a white boy. At one point she is forced to go to him for help when her brother is wrongfully imprisoned. He demands a kiss in exchange for his help, and when she complies, he attempts to take it further by forcefully grabbing her and pushing her against a wall. She fights him off. An adult white man who runs a "reformatory school" (functionally a prison) for Black and lower-class white boys has raped and molested several of the boys under his authority, keeping photographs of them in his desk. When he first arrives at the reformatory, a 12-year-old Black boy is forced to strip and expose himself to the head of the school (ostensibly to prove he hasn't smuggled anything in). A police officer is mentioned to have raped several people (implicitly all or mostly Black people).
Refusing Compulsory Sexuality, Sherronda J. Brown (Book)
Reimagining Policem Artika R. Tyner (Book)
There is a passing mention of Ernesto Miranda, the person for whom "Miranda rights" are named, who was arrested for rape and kidnapping.
Releasing Maladek, Victoria Aveline (Book)
Remote Control, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
The protagonist, a child, kills an adult man in self defense who would have dragged her into an alley.
The Reptile Room, Lemony Snicket (Book)
The Republic of Thieves, Scott Lynch (Book)
A female main character discusses that because she has red hair, she has been the interest of slavers and ‘perverts.’ In a later chapter, the same female character explains that young girls with red hair are raped and violated on the grounds that their blood contains powers of blessing and can cure injuries on men’s genitals. The character says that she has been aware of this for the majority of her life, and she has dyed her hair as a result. A male side character (who is described to be around the age of twenty) expresses romantic and sexual interest in a female main character who is implied to be around the age of seventeen. Although there is no actual relationship or intercourse, the female character pretends to return his interest, and after his death, pretends that they had intercourse. A male side character has a POV chapter where he thinks sexually about a girl (17) who has no interest in him. In this chapter, he also expresses similar interest in another girl (implied to be around the same age as the first, though this isn't explicitly stated) and follows her to her room with plans to assault her. A female character is a victim of an attempted assault, which is described after the fact and in a few sentences. It is described that he choked her and tried to take her clothes off. This attempted assault is mentioned multiple times after it occurs, and the female character’s self defence is at one point, shamed by a much older man who tells her she should have let the man assault her and tried to enjoy it until he finished.
Rest is Resistance, Tricia Hersey (Book)
A Restless Truth, Freya Marske (Book)
Misogyny is a major theme. This takes the form not of sexual violence, but rather of patriarchy limiting women's lives and resulting in the dismissal of their thoughts, desires, and goals. There are a few moments (one in a backstory conversation, one in a climactic scene) in which a man in a position of power threatens a woman with severe violence of an unspecified type. In both instances, the woman is able to escape.
Restoration, Rose Tremain (Book)
A sex scene, which is not violent or aggressive, involves a psychiatric patient, who cannot truly consent, a fact which is acknowledged in the book. This scene and the attempted rape scene are both handled sensitively, and written from the perspective of the man perpetuating. The whole book is about acknowledging the character's mistakes as he looks back at his life, so these two moments are not romantisized or justified. Neither scene is overly graphic, but quite psychological (i.e. describing complicated feelings and focusing on the feelings rather then the physical aspect.)
Revolting Librarians Redux: Radical Librarians Speak Out, Katia Roberto and Jessamyn C. West (Book)
There is passing mention of how Melvil Dewey (the father of American library science and the creator of the Dewey Decimal System) sexually harassed the college students under his tutelage. Worthy of note: in one chapter, two 12-year-olds are caught looking at porn on a public computer.
The Revolution Starts At Home, Ching-In Chen, Jai Dulani, Leah Lakshmi Piepzna-Samarasinha (Book)
Because this book is about intimate and domestic violence in all its forms, sexual violence is discussed in most of the essays. Forms of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and rape are described both in the abstract and in in-depth examples.
The Revolution Will Not Be Funded, Incite (Book)
The chapter called "Pursuing a Radical Anti-Violence Agenda Inside/Outside a Non-Profit Structure" focuses on a group called the Coalition Against Rape and Abuse (CARA).
Rewire, Richard O'Connor (Book)
The author discusses the clinical ramifications of sexual assault and rape for survivors. At another point, he talks about the sexualisation of father-daughter relationships which can occur as a result of pornography consumption, using a specific case study in which a man began thinking about his daughter in sexual terms as an example.
Rhythm of War, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
RICK, Alex Gino (Book)
A student gawks at other female students and talks about them in a sexual manner.
Riding the Headless Horseman, Molly Likovich (Book)
Riding Shotgun, William W. Johnstone & J.A. Johnstone (Book)
The Right Swipe, Alisha Rai (Book)
Prior to the events of the book, the main character ended a verbally and emotionally abusive relationship. Since they were coworkers at the time, her ex retaliated by attempting to force her out of her industry with a rumor. There is a point in the book where this ex visits the main character while she is alone in her bed room. It is clear in the narrative that he has come specifically to intimidate her, if not assault her. Someone else intervenes before anything happens. It is later revealed that the ex had harassed and assaulted other women.
Rise of the Governor, Robert Kirkman (Book)
The main character keeps two people inside a barn. During this time he repeatedly rapes the woman while making the man watch.
The Road, Cormac McCarthy (Book)
Pregnant women are seen being held captive by men, and later the remains of a cooked baby are seen above a fire; the implication of this could be taken to be that the women are being systemically sexually assaulted in order to provide their captors with a food source.
The Road Home, Amy Alves (Book)
Chapter 33: the main character's ex corners her and threatens her to try and get her to drop the charges she has against him. He forcibly kisses her and leaves right after
The Road to Jonestown: Jim Jones and the Peoples Temple, Jeff Guinn (Book)
Page 224: as part of a general discussion around the sexual liberties which Jim Jones felt free to take with his followers, it is mentioned that at least one surviving member of the temple has spoken about where he "crossed the line into rape." There is a description of her experience and of specific incidents in question. Page 225: discussion of the fact that Jim Jones was sexually involved with at least one teenage member of the temple. Page 299-300: description of an incident where Jim Jones was arrested for exposing himself to a police officer in a bathroom. Page 411-412: discussion of the fact that Jim Jones, when rebuffed by a teenage temple member he was sexually interested in, would routinely have her drugged in order to assault her.
Rogue Protocol, Martha Wells (Book)
Rolling in the Deep, Mira Grant (Book)
Rook, Sharon Cameron (Book)
The Roommate, Rosie Danan (Book)
There are several references through the book that discuss times when the porn performers faced harassment, felt unsafe, or were pressured into scenes. There is not any graphic discussion of events, but it does pop up a few times. Chapter 29: a character mentions that her boyfriend posted her nude photos online without her knowledge or consent.
Rooted, Brea Baker (Book)
The author discusses sexual violence that was a part of slavery, race riots, and lynching in the US.
Rosaline Palmer Takes the Cake, Alexis Hall (Book)
A man gets his main-character-girlfriend and his ex-girlfriend drunk. He and his ex attempt to pressure the main character into a sexual threesome including forcing a kiss. When she resists, the man turns verbally abusive. She locks herself in the bathroom until a friend comes to retrieve her.
Rose and Champagne, Zig and Ttung Gae (Book)
The Rose Code, Kate Quinn (Book)
There is at least one scene with sexual harassment (a man harasses a woman). It happens in the first train scene. Later in the book, other sexual harassment is described.
The Round House, Louise Erdrich (Book)
The whole story centers around a boy of about 12 and his family after his mother is very violently raped. It opens with him going with her to the hospital, and her recovery is chronicled in the book. She at one point gives a detailed description of the attack. The protagonist and his friends often sexualize other girls, and an underage character has sex with a girl in a church basement. He later confesses this to a priest who attacks him. The protagonist and his friends spy on a priest changing clothes. The protagonist blackmails his adult aunt, a former stripper, into performing a strip tease and dance routine for him, too, when she does one for his grandfather (her father-in-law) for his birthday. He also sexualizes her throughout the book and tries to subtly touch her chest at some opportunities. He ejaculates under a blanket while she rubs his feet without her knowing. There is a discussed and implied relationship between a teenage girl and the governor of her state when she is interning for him, and she has a child due to this relationship. She is another victim of the attack on the protagonist's mother.
The Route of Ice & Salt, José Luis Zárate (Book)
The male narrator pressured a young man into sex and escaped while the young man was executed for his "sin." The narrator reflects on this past experience while facing the predatory Dracula picking off a group of trapped sailors (physical and implied sexual assault).
Rubyfruit Jungle, Rita Mae Brown (Book)
A young boy discusses receiving fellatio from an adult man.
The Ruin of Kings, Jenn Lyons (Book)
The fifteen year old protagonist is raped by a shape shifter pretending to be his step mother. Another character discusses details of her own rape in the context of helping the protagonist understand if he was raped. Sexual slavery is a prominent feature of the book's world.
Ruinsong, Julia Ember (Book)
A sadistic male antagonist uses intimacy as a weapon, including stripping women naked while interrogating them. Nothing more overtly sexual is implied.
Rule of Wolves, Leigh Bardugo (Book)
Mentions of the history that two characters have in regards to their respective stories. The mentions are non-graphic.
Ruling Sikthand, Victoria Aveline (Book)
Chapter 6: a man watches a woman through a two way mirror and sees her as she comes out of a bath. Chapter 7: a man tells a story about how a woman drugged him after they had sex so she could alter his body.
Rumble, Ellen Hopkins (Book)
The main character tries to force his girlfriend to touch him intimately. Later in the book the main character also has thoughts of raping his girlfriend.
To Run With the Wild Hunt, Mallory Dunlin (Book)
Running Close to the Wind, Alexandra Rowland (Book)
Ruokarouva, Enni Mustonen (Book)
Ruokarouvan Tytar, Enni Mustonen (Book)
Ruthless Creatures, J.T. Geissinger (Book)
Chapter 23: brief mention of two underage girls being raped and murdered as revenge for a mafia killing. Chapters 29+31: brief non-graphic mentions of human trafficking Chapter 35: a hitman threatens to rape the woman's body after he has killed her. Chapter 45: brief mention of a past instance of sexual harassment.
The Ruthless Lady's Guide to Wizardry, C. M. Waggoner (Book)
The Rycke, Lily Mayne (Book)
Chapter 21: there is a brief discussion of rumors of monsters being forced to have sex for entertainment.
Sacculina, Philip Fracassi (Book)
Sadie, Courtney Summers (Book)
This book follows a nineteen-year-old girl as she searches for the man who murdered her sister. The man in question also happens to be her perpetrator; early on, it is implied that Sadie experienced child sexual abuse at the hands of her sister's eventual murderer. Another character is revealed to have a hidden collection of photos depicting child sexual abuse. A 10-year-old girl is also present as the man's most recent victim.
Sadistic Beauty, Yunhee Woo (Book)
There are multiple scenes where the main character engages in BDSM with other characters. These scenes are dubious and mostly consensual, but some involve force used by the main character and may be uncomfortable for some readers. For example, there is a scene where the main character forces a lesbian to have penetrative sex with a male character, neither consent to this. She also repeatedly molests a specific male character. There is a bisexual male character who makes repeated (some succesful) attempts to rape a straight male character, and later on engages in rough dubious BDSM scenes with another bisexual male character who occasionally asks him to stop, and complains to other characters about his forcefulness. Many sexually dubious scenes are passed off as consensual, but often resemble sexual assault and may be uncomfortable for some readers. It seems that the moral compass of the book twists itself inward simply to justify these things, even when it is obvious, borderline rape as with the ending involving the bisexual male character, and it's side story involving him and one of his victims. Said victim's abuse is seemingly justified by the conflict between him and the main female character. It is worth noting, however, that the graphic novel itself is basically porn.
Saint-Seducing Gold, Brittany N. Williams (Book)
A character leverages his social power over the protagonist to coerce her into a courtship with him. At one point, he forces a kiss on her. He tries to announce that they will be married, but the events of the final conflict of this book end up nullifying his efforts.
Saints of the Household, Ari Tison (Book)
Worthy of note: The plot deals heavily with intimate partner violence, both with the protagonists' peers and with their parents.
Salvaged, Madeleine Roux (Book)
The protagonist is recovering from an abusive relationship with her boyfriend/ coworker. The relationship is never described in detail and what he did to her is never discussed. However, the whole situation is framed using the trope of no one believing her, particularly her employer, when she tells people what happened and her having to leave her life and job while he remains employed. The most detail given is that her boyfriend "got fed up of her", became angry and aggressive, and then was on top of her. One could read this as non-sexual assault or as sexual assault, however the framing of the narrative and the main characters worries heavily imply she is a rape survivor. Two male characters verbally harass the main character under the guise of flirting, making her very uncomfortable. She is stuck in confined quarters with one and is afraid, checking the locks and doors to make sure he couldn't get to her if he wanted to.
Sanctuary, Abby Sher and Paola Mendoza (Book)
The fictional Deportation Force in the book coerces women and girls into sexual favors in the hopes of preventing their detainment. One character who is supposed to be helping undocumented people get across a border to safety has multiple women drugged and tied up in rooms in his home for the entertainment of Deportation Force officers.
The Sandman: Brief Lives, Neil Gaiman (Book)
Chapter 1: a male character compels two women to have sex with each other and implies that one will also eventually murder another, though nothing is depicted. This is done as an amusement. The youngest sister of the abovementioned character is portrayed partially nude at different points. She is an ancient manifestation of human thought patterns and does not appear to be directly drawn as a minor (rather as a young woman), but her youthful appearance and sometimes childlike personality may cause this to give some readers discomfort. Worthy of note: in chapter 5, a love goddess, working at a strip club, gives a performance that destroys the building and causes all the men inside to die graphic deaths while experiencing overwhelming sexual ecstasy.
The Sandman: the Doll's House, Neil Gaiman (Book)
"Tales in the Sand": a woman falls in love with a male character but runs away from him for fear of the repercussions that might result from them being together and mutilates herself in an attempt to drive him off. He touches her private parts without her consent to heal her, and they have sex. (While this sex is implied as being something they both want, no explicit consent is given.) When she later refuses to stay with him, he condemns her to Hell. "The Doll's House": a character reveals that they had partial responsibility for the events in the previous story. The main character meets her grandmother, who alludes to the fact that she had a child via rape while under a magical effect that kept her asleep for decades (though the fact that it was rape is not discussed). A nightmare who removes and eats people's eyes, is shown to have tied up a male sex worker in the bathroom before murdering him; the language used in this scene is sexually charged, though no acts are shown. "Moving In": a group of men harass the protagonist and threaten to rape her, though they are quickly fought off by another character. One character is shown to have murdered two more men, implied to be sex workers also. "Men of Good Fortune": it is mentioned in passing that rape has become increasingly common in a tavern conversation. "Collectors": this story centers around a convention of serial killers that collect trophies from their victims. The convention opens with a rape joke. Some of the killers have names such as "Hello Little Girl," though details are not given about their methods. One attendee reveals that his preferred victims are children, and while he explicitly says that he does not like language dealing with sexual things, his own tone and words imply an element of gratification from the murders. Another, murders transgender individuals who have not undergone gender-affirming surgery, and a brief depiction implies a sexual element to the murders. Another describes in detail the sexual gratification they get from stalking, murdering, and dismembering women. One attendee is not a murderer but expresses a belief that women are objects for male desire and is shown to write for a pornographic magazine with Nazi imagery. "Into the Night": a depiction of a character's dream, while ambiguous, could imply a nonconsensual sexual encounter. "Lost Hearts": it is revealed that a character was the one who raped another's grandmother as part of a plot to cause problems for another character.
The Sandman: Dream Country, Neil Gaiman (Book)
"Calliope" : a muse is held captive by two men over the course of decades, and it is explicitly depicted that, to gain artistic inspiration, they rape her. She is depicted as nude in her captivity. "A Midsummer Night's Dream": elements of harassment present in the original Shakespeare play are present here. A queen is shown to be trying to lure a young boy away, though her intentions are never revealed. "Facade": a god grabs the main character while she is nude to grant her powers which she does not consent to. Nothing is shown of what happens next, but rape can be one interpretation.
The Sandman: the Dream Hunters, Neil Gaiman, P. Craig Russell (Book)
A government official has an underage concubine who is drawn partially nude, but no sexual situations are depicted.
The Sandman: Fables & Reflections, Neil Gaiman (Book)
"August": a vivid depiction of Julius Caesar raping his nephew is shown at the end and is alluded to throughout the story. "The Song of Orpheus: Chapter One" : a satyr attempts to rape a female character, resulting in her death from a snakebite as she flees. He tries to defend his actions and asks her if she wil tell anyone as she dies. "The Song of Orpheus: Chapter 4": a group of ritually frenzied women depicted as nude, come upon a male character and order him to celebrate with them, one of the things they compel him to do being to have sex with them. When he refuses, his body is gruesomely torn apart. One woman is depicted kissing his decapitated head as blood drips from his neck into the mouth of what appears to be a minor. "Ramadan" : a male character is depicted as having a harem filled with both adult women and underage boys (no exact age range is given, but they are described as having no hair on their chins). Both are described with sexually charged language.
The Sandman: a Game of You, Neil Gaiman (Book)
"Lullabies of Broadway" : a trans character has a vivid nightmare in which she is prepped to undergo forced genital surgery, which she has pointedly mentioned before that she does not want. Another character has a nightmare where a character from Preludes and Nocturnes (who was depicted in a rape scene, though this is not mentioned) returns to her, and they discuss the physical abuse that this character perpetrated against another character (though this abuse was not sexual). Worthy of note: a character early on is shown to be stalking the protagonist, and it could appear to be sexual at first, though it is quickly revealed that this is not the case.
The Sandman: the Kindly Ones, Neil Gaiman (Book)
A woman is followed through an airport by a stranger who will not stop staring at her after having openly read a pornographic magazine next to her on a flight. At this same airport, she is groped by a security official. This same woman later meets a grandparent who impregnated the woman's grandmother via rape, and this incident is discussed directly. Worth of note: in a tale told by another character, a man spies on a woman as she bathes nude and then steals her clothes, refusing to give them back unless she has sex with him. The woman says that she will not unless he agrees to certain conditions as well, which he agrees to while planning to find a way around them, and then they have sex. The coercive circumstances of this encounter may make some readers uncomfortable.
The Sandman: Overture, Neil Gaiman (Book)
The Sandman: Preludes and Nocturnes, Neil Gaiman (Book)
"Sleep of the Just": a woman who has been magically induced to sleep 24 hours a day is raped and gives birth to a baby, which is given away for adoption, all without her knowledge. When she wakes years later, she believes the baby was a dream. "A Hope in Hell": worthy of note: there are nude bodies depicted as dead or being tortured on the gates of Hell. "24 Hours": a man uses a magical ruby to control and manipulate people in a diner. At various points he causes a man to threaten to rape a woman, another woman to admit to having engaged in and enjoyed necrophilia, and forces two characters (likely the former man and woman, though who they are is obscured behind a counter) to rape each other.
The Sandman: Season of Mists, Neil Gaiman (Book)
A Prologue: a previous story in which elements of ambiguous or ungiven consent were present is alluded to. Chapter 5: a god harasses a goddess, and the woman from the story alluded to in the prologue, is shown bound and nude. Chapter 6 : an ambassador of a female character directly discusses having sex with a young boy; his exact age is unclear, but he is clearly a minor. The woman from the prologue is freed. Epilogue: two characters discuss the events that led to her imprisonment in Hell at his behest. Worthy of note: in chapters 1-4 and the epilogue, nude or partially nude bodies are depicted in scenes of torture, though none of these tortures appear sexual in nature.
The Sandman: the Wake, Neil Gaiman (Book)
Brief mention is made of a character having had concubines.
The Sandman: World's End, Neil Gaiman (Book)
In "Cluracan's Tale", a ruler offers the storyteller to send a girl or a boy to their room, implying that it is for sexual purposes. He refuses.
Sandry's Book, Tamora Pierce (Book)
Sapiens, Yuval Noah Harari (Book)
Savage Hearts, J.T. Geissinger (Book)
Savages, Greg F. Gifune (Book)
Chapter 10: brief, non-graphic mentions of rape and forced pregnancy as part of medical experiments done during WW2. In the early chapters, there are several mentions of one of the men in the group staring at one of the women. She mentions to another how it makes her uncomfortable. Chapter 12: the same man grabs her breast and twists her nipple Chapter 13: the same man rapes her. He is caught doing so by one of the other women who tries to get him to stop. When he tells her that he is going to do so again, they fight and she kills him.
Save the Cat! Writes a Novel, Jessica Brody (Book)
This novel-writing guide features summaries and breakdowns of several famous novels including "the Kite Runner" by Khaled Hosseini which features the main character witnessing a rape and "The Heart Shaped Box" by Joe Hill which features a man sexually abusing his two step-daughters and grand-daughter. These plot points are discussed in analysis of the works.
Saving Fish From Drowning, Amy Tan (Book)
There are numerous mentions of the Myanmar army's practice of raping ethnic minority women and girls as a fear tactic and as a way to "assimilate" them. There is mention of women from villages being kidnapped for sex trafficking. A teenage boy reminisces about having groped a girl at a party.
Say a Little Prayer, Jenna Voris (Book)
Worthy of note: A teenage girl gets pregnant and is pressured by her boyfriend into getting an abortion. When her church's pastor finds out, he publicly condemns her in front of the whole congregation and demands she either repent or leave. She chooses to leave, as do her parents. The boyfriend was not reprimanded in any way. This event is not shown on-page but the aftermath is explored throughout the novel. Later, the same pastor finds another girl's journal where she describes her feelings for another girl. He reads an entry aloud to the congregation and demands whoever wrote it out herself and repent, or that anyone who knows who it is tell him. Instead, multiple girls claim it's theirs in order to protect the girl who wrote it.
School of Phantoms, Kory Merritt (Book)
Scones and Scoundrels, Molly MacRae (Book)
Chapter 28: there is a singular nongraphic mention of rape as part of a myth . Chapter 29: a story is told via third party about a sexual relationship between a male high school teacher and a female student that resulted in pregnancy.
The Scourge Between Stars, Ness Brown (Book)
Worthy of note: a robot is modeled after the main character's deceased sister. The main character expresses discomfort at this due to the male scientist's affection for the robot and after seeing that the robot has breasts.
The Scum Villains Self Saving System, Mo Xiang Tong Xiu (Book)
Throughout the novel the protagonist references the love interest having had sexual relationships and makes alludes to not all of them having been consensual. Additionnally, the love interest sexually assaults the lead several times (e.g. tearing his clothes off, shoving him onto bed and threatening to rape him etc.). There is at least one instance in the extras where the lead is hurt and bleeding during a sex scene, yet the love interest does not stop even when he is asked to, suggests the lead says something he finds deeply uncomfortable for the love interest to stop, then demands the lead says it again several times and yet does not stop even after that. While the authorial intent is clearly to show that the lead is secretly enjoying the sex, it is not conveyed properly and the whole scene reads as marital rape. Also, the love interest manipulates the lead's emotions to pressure/coerce the lead into sex practices the lead is clearly uncomfortable with. There are several instances where the love interest directly disregards/ignores the lead's words when the lead says "I don't want to/I'm uncomfortable with that". A story is written by a female character depicting the two male leads in a romantic and sexual relationship. This can be particularly upsetting since at the original time of its publication the love interest was only around 15-17. This story is referenced multiple times throughout the novel and it used as a point of comedy. Other characters speculate that the lead had a sexual relationship with the love interest back when the love interest was a teenage and the lead was his teacher. This was untrue but still offhandedly mentioned a few times. A male side character is hit with an aphrodisiac in one of the extra chapters. Nothings comes of it and it is used for comedic effect. At the end of chapter 14 the love interest activity assaults the lead by pinning him down a threatening to rape him. Even as an empty threat it is quite uncomfortable to read. At the end of the novel there is a plot relevant sex scene that neither of the main characters consent to. The love interest is under the influence of an external source and is not fully conscious or aware of his actions, and while the lead does consent he truly didn’t have any other option considering it was either they have sex or the world ends. It’s quite uncomfortable to read and was not enjoyable for either of them. The scene can be easily skipped past. (Chapter 21) The extra chapters at the end of the novel contain multiple sex scenes that may be upsetting. Full consent is given but some people feel as though there’s manipulation at play since the love interest tends to play with emotions to get his way. All my with that the lead is an unreliable narrator who will often go out of his way to claim he isn’t enjoying something. Both of these things are again for comedic reasons but some people find them uncomfortable. (All of this information is based off the English publication by Seven Seas. Due to translation errors and culture differences there may be some context left out).
Sea of Ruin, Pam Godwin (Book)
Chapter 1: the main character is 14 and her mother is attempting to arrange a marriage for her. Chapter 4: the much older man that she is set to marry exposes her by pulling up her skirt to cane her. He threatens to penetrate her with the cane, then touches her after he beats her with it. He tries to rape her, but she kills him before he is able to. Chapter 17: now 21, the protagonist is taken captive by the navy and thrown into the hold with other pirates. The men hold her down, one fingering her and telling her that they will gang rape her. Before he rapes her, the navy captain shoots him and takes her out of the hold. Chapter 20: as punishment, the navy captain repeatedly slaps her vagina. Though he does not attempt to rape her, he does have an erection while this is happening.
Sea Wife, Amity Gaige (Book)
When she was 10, the female main character was molested by a male friend of her mother's. This event (minimal detail) and her subsequent mental health struggles (in-depth) are referenced multiple times.
The Sea Witch, Katee Robert (Book)
The one female lead is tricked into selling her virginity to pay off her lover's debt. While she is reassured by a friend who works at the "auction" that she can leave at any moment, she repeatedly tells him she is fine despite telling the reader she does not want to do this but feels as though she must. She is sold to her enemy (other female lead) who gets her for a week. She consistently tells the readers during the sexual acts that it feels wrong. Her lover (Male lead) is also "property" of the enemy, he, however, has fallen in love, and despite his debt being paid off stays with her, wanting the three of them to be lovers. The second female lead implies she has been sexually assaulted in the past. She also sort of holds the first female lead down during sexual acts, although the first female lead does have a safe word and does not say "no" or "stop" she is hesitant While everything here is "consensual" the first female lead expresses regret and hurt after losing her virginity, saying she wished it was on different terms. Worthy of note: The three end up being lovers.
Seafire, Natalie C. Parker (Book)
The Secret Diary of Laura Palmer, Jennifer Lynch (Book)
The story revolves around an underaged girl who is sexually abused by numerous older men, including her father.
The Secret History, Donna Tartt (Book)
It is occasionally mentioned that a main character sleeps with another character only when he himself is drunk and later claims not to remember. It is unclear whether this is true, but the first assumes he is lying. A character fantasizes about choking and raping a female character (this is only mentioned and not described in detail) in a moment if light-headedness. A major plot point in the last third of the book is the incestuous relationship between a twin brother and sister: they kiss in a sexual way and the brother eventually becomes physically abusive toward the sister (which is not shown, only the aftermath, i.e. bruises/injuries).
The Secret History of Home Economics, Danielle Dreilinger (Book)
Mention of the American Library Association's decision to oust founder Melvil Dewey for repeated instances of sexually harassing women. Mention of acquaintance rape among a list of social problems. Neither mention is graphic.
The Secret Life of Bees, Sue Monk Kidd (Book)
Although there is no sexual violence, the protagonist suffers physical and verbal abuse at the hands of her father, especially towards the beginning and end of the book.
The Secret Lives of Bats, Merlin Tuttle (Book)
Sedated, James Davies (Book)
Sekine-Kun No Koi, Kawachi Haruka (Book)
The Selection, Kiera Cass (Book)
A character is advised not to deny any wishes that a male character may have. She interprets this in a sexual way and later yells at him when she assumes he is about to make advanced towards her. The misunderstanding is resolved quickly. A minor character alludes to being sexually assaulted by a rebel which causes her to be very anxious.
Self-Care for Autistic People, Megan Anna Neff (Book)
The author discusses a few times throughout how some neurotypical people target autistic people for nefarious ends because autistic people can be very trusting and unclear about social contexts. These are all passing mentions.
Self-Help, Inc.: Makeover Culture in American Life, Micki McGee (Book)
A Semi-Definitive List of Worst Nightmares, Krystal Sutherland (Book)
Chapter 27: there is a brief mention of a young girl who was murdered and raped by a serial killer.
Semiosis, Sue Burke (Book)
A character experiences sexial violence.
Seraph of the End, Takaya Kagami, Yamato Yamamato, Daisuke Furuya (Book)
A vampire character named often harasses the teenage characters and is very odd towards children (he openly only drinks blood of children, and states that he only finds children beautiful). He particularly harasses the deuteragonist (who is 16), many times throughout the series, through touch and comments. He grabs the deutaragonist's bottom, threatens to rape him, tries to get teenage girls to look at his genitalia, etc.. Overall, his predatory behavior is treated as comedic relief and he is given plausible deniability about actually being a pedophile, because it is established in the series that vampires are not capable of actually experiencing attraction.
Seraph, Lily Mayne (Book)
Serial Killer Princess, R.J. Blain (Book)
The book opens with the (female) protagonist arriving to murder a (male) serial rapist and killer. She finds him already dead. His crimes, and the crimes of similar perpetrators, are repeatedly mentioned throughout the book– never in detail. At one point the protagonist startles a male character by enthusiastically kissing him (without consent) as a distraction. He gropes her while surprised. They later refer to both of these incidents as sexual assault within the context of witty banter. She decides that she has feelings for him and makes ongoing repeated jokes about "claiming" him as her own, regardless of his opinion (this is perhaps mitigated somewhat by his revelation that he already had a crush on her when she set her sights on him). It is casually mentioned that a lycanthrope's bite inherently creates a lifelong mutual romantic and pheremonal bond.
Serpentine, Phillip Pullman (Book)
Seven Dirty Secrets, Natalie D. Richards (Book)
There are many vivid descriptions of domestic violence.
The Shadow Cipher, Laura Ruby (Book)
A background character is implied to have been sexually harassed or more by her boyfriend. This happened in an era when he could, and did, arrange for her to be committed to an insane asylum for defending herself. Unnamed other women are mentioned to have also been committed for "domestic disputes" and other suspicious excuses.
Shanghai Girls, Lisa See (Book)
The protagonist and her sister are forced into an arranged marriage. The protagonist describes having her virginity taken and bleeding. Later, the protagonist and her mother are raped by soldiers.
Shark Teeth, Sherri Winston (Book)
The protagonist mentions reading Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson. Famously, Melinda, the protagonist in Speak, experiences sexual violence, but the protagonist of this book, Kita, just says "something bad" happens to Melinda. There is passing mention of “Chester the Molester” in a list of fears unlikely to come to pass.
Shattered Midnight, Dhonielle Clayton (Book)
An antagonist male character forces a kiss on a female character as a display of power.
She Drives Me Crazy, Kelly Quindlen (Book)
She Gets the Girl, Rachael Lippincott, Alyson Derrick (Book)
One of the protagonist's gets hit on while she is at her job. She is uncomfortable with this because the person hitting on her is a man, and she is a lesbian.
She is a Haunting, Trang Thanh Tran (Book)
The protagonist's ancestor married into a rich colonizer family whose home she worked in as a servant. It is doubtful that this marriage is her choice.
She Memes Well, Quinta Brunson (Book)
The chapter entitled "How to Mind Your Own Damn Business" touches on Bill Cosby's alleged serial rapes and the kidnapping and trafficking of Black girls in the US.
She Who Became the Sun, Shelley Parker-Chan (Book)
A theme throughout the book is that women in this context (1300s China) have no autonomy over their own lives. The protagonist's father tries to sell her to bandits so they will spare him and her brother. The narrator comments that this is a common behavior for peasants. There is a scene later on where a group of women are expected to sexually entertain a group of military men.
Sheets, Brenna Thummler (Book)
Shielding Riley, Susan Stoker (Book)
The Shining, Stephen King (Book)
Although the book contains no confirmed sexual assault, it is theorized that the main child protagonist may have experienced sexual abuse at the hands of his father. There are subtle references to this in the book and his possible abuse, although not specifically defined as sexual, is a plot point throughout the book. There is a scene where the above-mentioned abusive father starts initiating sex with his wife while she is trying to have a serious conversation. She does not appear to be bothered by this.
Ship of Destiny, Robin Hobb (Book)
Power and cycles of abuse are major themes of this trilogy and it comes to a head in this book. There is one graphic rape of a woman by a man. Another woman is repeatedly raped (fewer details on-screen) during captivity. A male character is coping, poorly, with memories of being physically and sexually abused as a child. And there is a woman (Etta) who continues to be happily in dysfunctional relationship with a man who views her more as a convenience and a possession than as a person. The author handles everything in a sensitive and appropriately serious way.
Shit Cassandra Saw, Gwen E Kirby (Book)
Story 1: there a couple brief rape mentions as they happened within Greek mythology. Story 2: it has several interlocking stories of sexual harassment that the women fend off/fight back against in various supernatural ways.
The Shock Doctrine, Naomi Klein (Book)
The author references Abu Ghraib, where rape and other forms of torture took place. The author does not go into detail about the sexual violence aspects of the torture, mentioning it in passing.
Showdown, Wil Haygood (Book)
The author discusses lynchings stemming from false rape allegations against Black men and boys, Strom Thurmond's impregnation of a Black teenager who worked for his family, and rape allegations against Clarence Thomas.
Shrill, Lindy West (Book)
The chapters "Death Wish" and "It's About Free Speech, Not Hating Women" deal heavily with the debate over whether or not it is ever appropriate to make rape jokes in standup comedy. Specific comedy sets involving rape are mentioned, including an infamous one by Daniel Tosh. Louis C.K. and Bill Cosby are referenced as well. "Death Wish" in particular provides a detailed description of the Steubenville High School rape case from 2012. The author also recounts the mountain of explicit rape threats she received over the years in response to her television appearance and writing on Jezebel. The author refers to Miss Piggy from the Muppets as a rapist because she does not respect Kermit's bodily autonomy. She recounts a statement made by a dog breeder, that a particular dog had a bark that sounded like a woman being raped. She mentions a friend whose partner slipped off a condom during sex without her knowledge or consent, transmitting herpes.
Shuri 2: 247 Vibranium, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Shuri, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Volume 1 - The Search for Black Panther
Signal Boost, Alyssa Cole (Book)
The protagonist kisses his love interest without asking first and feels guilty and apologizes after the fact. There are non-specific references to the attempted rape that took place in the previous book. A side character mentions that a group of soldiers cornered her daughter, but does not go into detail. A professor and a group of soldiers have taken over a college campus and have forced the few international students still living there to work. It is revealed that the soldiers routinely rape these students as a "perk" of their position. The few soldiers who disagree with what is going on don't stop the others who are perpetrating this act. Part of the reason seems to be that they tried to stop them but were not able to do so, but part of it is that they do not want to go against a fellow cadet. The professor, who was a mentor to one of the romantic leads, appears to have been grooming him. The professor kisses him at one point, but the romantic lead was uninterested.
Silver Tears, Camilla Läckberg (Book)
The rapes in this books are moderately detailed, and the surroundings of the rapes are especially disturbing. It happens several times during the: “Fjällbacka-then” chapters of the book. It is possible to avoid reading about these scenes if these pages are skipped. Note that there are many other sexual scenes during this book, but all of these other scenes are consensual and appropriate. Revenge is a big theme in this book, and might feel comforting to some.
Sing, Unburied, Sing, Jesmyn Ward (Book)
There is passing mention of a 30-year-old man who likes to date high school girls. A character who works as a waitress makes allusions to her and her coworkers being grabbed or otherwise sexually harassed by customers. A white woman intentionally falsely accuses a Black man of sexual harassment, and he and his wife are lynched. A prison guard rapes and brutalizes a "good time girl."
Sins of a Highland Devil, Sue-Ellen Welfonder (Book)
Chapter 3: there are rumors of a character keeping women imprisoned as sex slaves.
Siri, Who Am I?, Sam Tschida (Book)
About 3/4 of the way in, the protagonist's fiancé initiates sex with her. The premise of the book is that the protagonist was in an accident and lost her memories, including those of her fiancé. She asks him to take things slowly, meaning that she wants to stop, but he interprets that as her wanting to start with more foreplay. She seems to dissociate during the sex, thinking that she was not in her body and on a cloud somewhere. Throughout she feels that she should be happy that she is having sex with him because he is rich and handsome. At the end, she is disappointed that he does not check in with her to make sure she had an orgasm. This event is framed as bad sex, not as rape. Passing mention of strippers getting groped by clients and by managers.
Sisters of the Lost Nation, Nick Medina (Book)
The central issue of this book is Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG). The protagonist uncovers a conspiracy by influential members of her tribe to traffic teenage girls into the sex trade.
Six of Crows, Leigh Bardugo (Book)
The female protagonist was sold into child sexual slavery at one of the many brothels that exist in the fantasy world. Sexual slavery and slavery in general are common in this universe and frequently mentioned and referenced.
Skin Game, Jim Butcher (Book)
Worthy of note: a male character has a vivid wet dream that becomes a nightmare about a demon possession. A female character mutilates a human young man during a passionate kiss. It is consensual, the man is overjoyed to receive this badge of honor (it is described in deeply disturbing detail).
It Ends With Us, Colleen Hoover (Book)
It Happened One Summer, Tessa Bailey (Book)
It, Stephen King (Book)
The only main character in this book that is female often experiences nonconsensual touching. It also heavily implied that her father wanted to sexually abuse her when she was a child, although he never does. It is mentioned that she is abused sexually and physically by her partner as an adult, but there are no detailed descriptions of a rape scene. One male bullies rapes another male bully while the female protagonist watches. One of the more small and innocent boys in the book is raped by the antagonist in the form of a leper while walking home.
It's Perfectly Normal, Robie Harris (Book)
This is a sexual education book aimed at children. In addition to explanations and illustrations pertaining to puberty, reproduction, and different sexual organs, the book also devotes a lot of time to the topic of sexual abuse, explaining what it is and giving examples, giving advice on how a child can seek help if they are abused, and emphasizing the importance of personal boundaries and consent. Worthy of note: The book contains several illustrations of naked people at all stages of life, including children in the book's target demographic, to illustrate puberty and sexuality in a purely educational context.
Skye Falling, Mia McKenzie (Book)
A woman wakes up in bed with a man with no memory of the night before. Both are partially undressed, so she assumes they drunkenly had sex. However, he later clarifies that nothing happened.
Skywatchers, Carrie Arcos (Book)
After being abducted, girls are asked if they were raped. While they initially do not remember what happened to them, they eventually remember that there was no sexual assault at all.
Slasher Girls and Monster Boys, April Genevieve Tucholke (Book)
In the first two stories, there is discussion of sexual assault and an adult man who repeatedly harasses young girls. The story The Girl Without a Face centers around a rape.
Sleep Like Death, Kalynn Bayron (Book)
Sleeping Dead, Nemui Asada (Book)
There is an extended and graphic flashback of two high school friends being forced by other students to have sex. It is revealed that this happened on multiple occasions, and they are verbally and physically abused throughout the attack. One main character attempts to rape the other main character while claiming to do a medical exam. He verbally abuses him throughout, especially about his sexuality, and only stops when the survivor breaks out of the handcuffs and restrains his attacker.
Small Game, Blair Braverman (Book)
A character who is thought to have cheated on the protagonist later implies that she was coerced into the encounter.
Snow Flower and the Secret Fan, Lisa See (Book)
In this book, marrital sex is considered like a duty from the wife and true consent is sometimes unclear: sex is described in some scenes.
So I'm, a Spider, So What?, Okina Baba (Book)
Volume 8: in chapter 2, two drunkards harass White and grope her chest. A little after, Ariel also does it but it is more treated as a comedic moment than harassment. The incest part is one-sided, Sue has been often depicted as overprotective of her half-brother Schlain and was also implied to be in love with him. This all leads to volume 15 chapter S4 in which Sue drugs and attempts something with him before being stopped by Schlain’s party. (There is an illustration of a half naked Schlain underneath an annoyed Sue in the interlude narrated by Katia following this chapter.)
So Let Them Burn, Kamilah Cole (Book)
So You Want to Start a Podcast, Kristen Meinzer (Book)
Chapter 18: mention of a late show host interviewing a candidate running for public office who had bragged on tape about assaulting women.
So You Want to Talk About Race, Ijeoma Oluo (Book)
The author describes several moments where co-workers made sexually harassing comments towards her.
Social Creature, Tara Isabella Burton (Book)
A woman drinks so much she passes out, and is taken home by a man. She confirms later they had sex. She at first insists it is not assault because she would have said "yes" if she were conscious, but later acknowledges it as rape. The same man later forces a kiss on a teenage girl, though he is unaware of her age until he is told. A woman is regularly catcalled by a man who lives near her apartment, who shouts sexually-charged comments at her almost daily. When she insults him in response, he follows her and grabs her until she fights him off. One woman kisses and vaginally fingers her friend without consent. She later gets angry when the friend pulls away. The friend is unsure whether she wants it or not, but never seems to consider it assault.
Socially Orcward, Lisa Henry & Sarah Honey (Book)
A young male main character faces occasional sexual harassment from other men. One antagonist deliberately manhandles him and promises future sexual assault as part of an interrogation.
The Society for Soulless Girls, Laura Steven (Book)
Towards the beginning of the book, a character grabs the hand of one of the protagonists and tries to force a kiss on her. She is able to fight him off. There are several references to professors and other characters with authority sexually assaulting their female students and turning public opinion against them.
Soft Science, Franny Choi (Book)
Sojourn, R.A. Salvatore (Book)
Sold, Patricia McCormick (Book)
The book is about a 13-year-old girl whose stepfather sells her into sex slavery.
Something Cheeky, Thien-Kim Lam (Book)
A man in a position of power is revealed to have sexually harassed multiple women. There is a scene where he harasses the female romantic lead that is described in some detail.
Something More, Jackie Khalilieh (Book)
Something to Talk About, Meryl Wilsner (Book)
The premise of this book is that two women, a showrunner and her assistant, fall in love. The plot deals thoroughly with the power differential and the age difference (the showrunner is 41 and the assistant is 27) between them. They have some near kisses throughout the book, but they don't actually kiss or have sex until close to the end, when the assistant is about to transition to a different job in which the showrunner will no longer be her boss. A director, who is a colleague of the showrunner, attempts to persuade the assistant into giving him a handjob or a blowjob, citing a rumor that the assistant has no qualms with sleeping her way to the top. The assistant tells the showrunner what happened, and the showrunner leads a campaign to expose the director's misconduct, leading other women in the film industry who had also been harassed by him to do the same. The director does not retaliate or respond in any way.
Something Wicked This Way Comes, Ray Bradbury (Book)
Worthy of note: one of the 12 year old male protagonists likes to climb a tree and spy through the windows of what appears to be a brothel or peep show. No details given; it is part of a greater motif of him being in a hurry to grow up.
Son, Lois Lowry (Book)
Some characters turn against the protagonist after coming to the false conclusion that she had a child out of wedlock. A character discusses abuse he received from his father, saying how he acted as a wife to his father by cooking and “in other ways” that he did not want to spell out. A character takes pleasure in grabbing the protagonist’s hair and neck. This is not for sexual reasons but still might be triggering since it is controlling behavior.
The Song of Achilles, Madeline Miller (Book)
Women are taken captive when their villages are raided: they are “given” to the warriors as “bed slaves”. A main character saves another from being implied to be raped by the leader of an army. A woman is said to have been forced into marriage and raped several times by a man. Two teenage boys (main characters) are coerced into having sex with a girl; one of the scenes is described in detail, and is not treated as sexual assault by the author.
A Song Below Water, Bethany C. Morrow (Book)
Worthy of note: much of the narrative involves characters reacting to news of a woman who was murdered by her boyfriend, as well as the subsequent victim-blaming in the media and community.
Song of the River, Sue Harrison (Book)
The first few pages of this book describe a character being gang raped.
Sorcerer to the Crown, Zen Cho (Book)
Sorrowland, Rivers Solomon (Book)
The perspective character grew up on a religious cult commune. When she was thirteen, a police officer coerced her into sex. A cult leader pressured her into marriage after, and by fifteen she was pregnant. The same teenaged character enters into a sexual relationship with a much older woman. Later it is revealed that the woman has been actively working to harm her in multiple ways. It is mentioned in passing that some men in the commune believe they have a right to sex with their wives, regardless of consent.
Sotaleski, Enni Mustonen (Book)
Soul Eater, Lily Mayne (Book)
Chapter 23 : a man is threatened with being locked up with monsters, the implication being that they would rape him. Chapter 26: monsters attempting to capture the same man imply that he'll be used as "entertainment" for the monsters.
A Soul to Keep, Opal Reyne (Book)
Soulless, Gail Carriger (Book)
The Sound of Stars, Alechia Dow (Book)
Sourcery, Terry Pratchett (Book)
Two main characters (male and female) are kidnapped and implied to be threatened with sexual slavery. No harm comes to them, and the threat is never treated with much emotional weight.
The Southern Book Club's Guide to Slaying Vampires, Grady Hendrix (Book)
The titular vampire character rapes the protagonist's friend and threatens to kill the friend's family if she tells anyone what happened. The rape causes her to have a mysterious autoimmune disease from which she later dies. The vampire primarily targets and abducts children. Before she identifies him as a vampire, the protagonist believes him to be a child molester. He sucks blood from his victims' inner thighs, which adds to the quasi-sexual nature of his attacks. He specifically targets children in a poor Black neighborhood because he knows that the wider community won't defend or care about them. He later begins to target the children in the white community that he lives in. Towards the end of the book, the protagonist catches the vampire sucking blood from her teenage daughter. Almost everyone gaslights the protagonist when she suspects the vampire. The vampire in particular makes excuses for himself, saying that he has to suck people's blood to manage a health condition that he has. He also claims that his attacks on the protagonist's children are the protagonist's fault for suspecting him and trying to oust him from the community.
The Space Between Worlds, Micaiah Johnson (Book)
This story features a woman coping with the memories of an extremely, violently abusive relationship. It is never explicitly stated what age she is when the relationship begins but it may have been her mid to late teens after she was unsuccessful at becoming a sex worker. The focus of the protagonist's memories are the non-sexual violence of the relationship. Their sexual relationship is never really mentioned. A few chapters are spent with some secondary characters, one of whom is an adult man, 30+, who is married to a teenager. They are never seen together in the story. There is a brief passage explaining one of the methods sex workers use to prevent clients from interacting with them in non-consentual ways which describes some hypothetical non-consentual acts.
Space for Growth, Emily Antoinette (Book)
There are mentions of trafficking over a few chapters as part of a plan to kill the trafficker. This culminates in chapter 30 which includes a fake deal to sell someone as part of the plan, but they are never taken from the crew Chapter 38: an aphrodisiac drug was found mixed into food packets so if someone ate it they would be unaware of the drug.
The Spare Man, Mary Robinette Kowal (Book)
The Sparrow, Mary Doria Russell (Book)
Due to a cultural misunderstanding, one of the main characters becomes a sex slave for a wealthy aristocrat. He is violently raped by him and his friends many times over the course of several months. It is worth noting that much of the book (and its sequel) focuses on this character’s experience with and recovery from PTSD. While the sexual violence is discussed many times, these discussions mostly focus on the survivor’s perspective.
Speak: the Graphic Novel, Laurie Halse Anderson, Emily Carroll (Book)
This adaptation follows the same plot as the traditional print version, in that the protagonist spends a school year recovering from a rape that took place before the events of the book. The illustrations related to the rape are stylized to portray the disgust and horror the protagonist feels, portraying the rapist as a monster or predator, but there are no nude or sexual depictions.
Speak, Laurie Halse Anderson (Book)
The book is centered around the protagonist recovering from being raped before the events of the book.
Speak No Evil, Uzodinma Iweala (Book)
Worthy of note: the protagonist, a high school student, goes on a few dates with a college student. However, they are both 18. Spoiler: police shoot one of the protagonists on the assumption that he is raping someone. He is not.
Specials, Scott Westerfeld (Book)
Spellbound, Margit Sandemo (Book)
A couple times it is implied that the main character (16 year old) has encountered creepy people/harassment or similar during her journey. None of that is described, just briefly mentioned. Chapter 12: this chapter contains two rape attempts: first, by the river and then when the protagonist is visited by someone. In the end, the main character gets in a relationship with an adult man whose age is unclear.
Spellhacker, M. K. England (Book)
The Spellshop, Sarah Beth Durst (Book)
One character has a back story involving child abuse and domestic violence, but sexual assault is not mentioned. This is discussed in a kind context.
Spinning Silver, Naomi Novik (Book)
The Spirit Bares Its Teeth, Andrew Joseph White (Book)
Early on in the book, the headmaster of a school is implied to have sexually assaulted the teenage girls who attend it in the past. In Chapter 19, the headmaster attempts to gently pressure the main character (Silas) into admitting to misbehaviour. When Silas repeatedly denies the accusations, the headmaster gets incredibly aggressive, and it’s heavily implied that he raped and/or forced Silas into sexual acts. The main character is shown to dissociate after the events as one of the students comfort him, but the actual events are not described. Silas is a transgender male, but is perceived as female by everyone around him and is shamed through physical and sexual abuse into hiding it by the headmaster, which may be especially uncomfortable for some readers.
Split Tooth, Tanya Tagaq (Book)
In the very beginning of the book, the narrator describes fearing recess as a child because of boys habitually chasing girls in order to touch them inappropriately. There is also mention of a teacher who fondles his girl students. Later on, the narrator describes a boy attempting to rape her.
Spontaneous Human Combustion, Richard Thomas (Book)
Story 1 (Repent): a high school boy drugs a girl, strips her naked and leaves her like that at a party. It is specifically stated that no one assaults her, but that the rumors were enough to ruin her reputation which was the intention. Later, there are brief, non-graphic mentions of women being abused by the police.
SPQR, Mary Beard (Book)
Squad, Lisa Sterle, Maggie Tokuda-Hall (Book)
The main characters are werewolves who hunt rapists or would-be rapists. They lure young men by using themselves or others as bait while they are in their human forms.
Squad, Mariah MacCarthy (Book)
Stag's Leap, Sharon Olds (Book)
The Stand, Stephen King (Book)
Here are the references to rape and sexual assault present in the original edition of the book (1978). A female character is described as ‘morbidly afraid of rape’ and it’s described as ‘no great loss’ when she accidentally shoots herself while trying to shoot a man she believes to be a rapist. A pregnant female character fears she will be raped whilst travelling so carries a gun, along with her three male companions. A male character says ‘have fun getting raped and murdered’ to an older female character he was engaged in a sexual relationship with during an argument. A group of male antagonists establish a group of women they travel with which they call the ‘Zoo’. They drug the women with uppers and downers throughout the day and rape them multiple times per day, orally, vaginally and anally. When they find a younger or prettier woman, they execute the oldest female in the group to make room for the younger woman. It is implied the youngest girl they had in the ‘Zoo’ was 12. The women successfully escape and have vengeance. A male protagonist has sexual intercourse with a woman who is described as looking very young, potentially as young as 15, it is implied she could ‘appear old as you wanted her to be’. An adult woman engages in a sexual relationship with a teenage boy in order to corrupt him. A female character is raped repeatedly by the main protagonist until she becomes pregnant. She is unable to speak after this experience. This second summary concerns the 1990 uncut version of the book. Some of these scenes may or may not appear in the previous edition. In the backstory of a villain, it is told that he attempted to sexually assault a woman. A man approaches a male character and his female compantion, trying to purchase the woman. Later, these same men are in search of the woman, it is implied that if they were to find her, they would assault her. But they are unable to find her. When two groups of main characters meet up, a young man accuses an older one of wanting to "use" his female friend. Later on, the two men have a brief discussion about sexual assault. A male protagonist is seduced by, and has sex with a 17 year old. In a character's backstory, we learn he has been sexually assaulted in prison. The same character later mentions that he knows the result of war will be rape and murder, but he does not care. Later, a character rapes a vulnerable male character with the barrel of a gun and forces him to masturbate him, stating he will shoot if he does not continue. It is implied the vulnerable male character has been routinely abused before and is ‘used to it’. After being stalked, the main group gets ambushed by men who are revealed to keep women as sexual slaves, it is heavily implied that some of them were children. After a fight, women are rescued and talk about their experiences, traumatised. The main villain meets up with a woman. They begin to consentually touch. However the woman changes her mind before the act, but he brutally sexually assaults her. It is shown that she is pregnant and deeply traumatised after.
The Starless Sea, Erin Morgenstern (Book)
The Stars and the Blackness Between Them, Junauda Petrus (Book)
Starving Anonymous, Yuu Kuraishi (Book)
Chapter 3: a man gets injected and forces himself upon another man. It does not show upfront, but has the panicked sentences from the man on the pages. All genitalia (including nipples) are not shown. It is mainly implied, but not fully shown on page. Women beg to have intercourse with others, and this is due to a stimulant being injected into them. Sexual violences are not used in this manga to sexualize women,
The Station, Keira Andrews (Book)
Stay Gold, Tobly McSmith (Book)
Towards the end of the book, two cis men corner a trans man in the bathroom, beat him up, and forcefully remove his shirt and his binder, exposing his breasts.
Steal Like An Artist, Austin Kleon (Book)
Steel Tide, Natalie C. Parker (Book)
Stella By Starlight, Sharon M. Draper (Book)
The Stepford Wives, Ira Levin (Book)
A character voices discomfort about having sex with her husband, saying that she is never really interested, but he is always "chasing her around the bed" and trying to get her to wear fetish gear. In a conversation between two adult women, one notes that there are a lot of teenage boys around "with permanent erections," and the other jokes, "Send them to my place." Worthy of note: the climax involves the protagonist running away from her husband and trying to escape the notice of any other men. Several men find her and corner her. Nothing sexual happens, but the fact that they are cornering her is very tense.
Stiff, Mary Roach (Book)
Stone Butch Blues, Leslie Feinberg (Book)
The book contains a note by the author stating: "Dear Reader, I want to let you know that Stone Butch Blues is an anti-oppression/s novel. As a result, it contains scenes of rape and other violence. None of this violence is gratuitous or salacious". This book about LGBT life in 1970s America contains several graphic descriptions of rape, including a gang rape of a character who is a minor. Rape and sexual harassment, and the impact of such an event on one's life, is a central theme in this novel. It is accurate to the history of how women and sexual minorities were, and continue to be, treated. The second chapter contains a child on child sexual abuse.
Stop Me If You've Heard This One, Kristen Arnett (Book)
The lesbian main character faces misogyny, slut-shaming, and homophobia are various points. Some of these moments involve threats of physical violence, though she is never harmed beyond one time a man grabs her arm. A vigilante militia group tries to disrupt a Drag Queen Story Hour at a children's festival, and the main character is one of those who intervenes. This violence is not specifically directed at her, but is particularly intense because of the situation and her queerness.
Stories of Your Life and Others, Ted Chiang (Book)
Storm Break, Natalie C. Parker (Book)
Straight, Chuck Tingle (Book)
Homophobia & transphobia are central themes.
The Subtle Knife, Philip Pullman (Book)
A protagonist mentions that his mother, who struggles with mental health issues, once walked out of the house wearing very little clothing. Some young boys teased her. The protagonist says that the boys were more so teasing her about her mental health struggles, but sexual harassment is implied. Another protagonist attracts the attention of an antagonist who at first seems to have pedophilic intentions. He is evil, but he demonstrates no sexual intention.
Suburban Monsters, Christopher Hawkins (Book)
Story #2: mention of a man getting handsy regularly. Story #7: a woman sleeps with a teenager whose age she does not know, assumed to be somewhere between 16-18.
Such a Fun Age, Kiley Reid (Book)
There is passing mention of a coach who had an inappropriate relationship with a high school junior at some point before the events of the book.
Sugar Falls, David A. Robertson (Book)
The book is a historical fiction account of being forced to attend an Indian boarding school. The priest in charge of the school raped the protagonist and several other characters. The assaults are not depicted or described in detail. The story focuses on the trauma of those interactions.
Sugar Fighter, Charity Parkerson (Book)
Suggested Reading, Dave Connis (Book)
Suicide Island, Kouji Mori (Book)
It is repeatedly implied and partially shown that some women get raped in orgies. Volume 6, chapter 59 : a main character describes her childhood, mentioning the sexual abuse done to her by her adoptive father. Volume 11, chapter 101 : a trans woman is naked, it is implied that she very recently got raped. The implied rapist claims that she consented. Volume 15, chapters 144 - 146 : a few women are verbally forced to strip naked ; they get to dress again during chapter 146.
Summoned to the Wild, A.K. Caggiano (Book)
Vampires mention their thralls are people who have committed crimes, including rapists. The abusive courtier from the first novel attempts to rape the female lead. The scene is graphic. He tells her she will be given to his guards, next.
The Sunbearer Trials, Aiden Thomas (Book)
Sundial, Catriona Ward (Book)
There is a reference to a man having sex with a 17 year old girl. There is a mention of possible human trafficking in the past.
Sunrise On the Reaping, Suzanne Collins (Book)
The narrator worries that his girlfriend was raped by the authorities as punishment for rebellion. Worthy of note: An older woman tells a teenage girl who is a participant in the Hunger Games "I hope you do win. You have no idea what's in store for you then." It is not explained in this book, but it was revealed in previous installments in the series that some winners of the games are sex trafficked.
Surpassing Certainty: What My Twenties Taught Me, Janet Mock (Book)
The author describes being raped in college: a male friend invited her to his apartment and ignored her when she said she wanted to leave and forced her on the bed. At one point, a roommate pokes the author's breasts to see if they are real.
Survival in the Killing Fields, Haing Ngor With Roger Warner (Book)
It is mentioned in passing on several occasions that the code of behaviour adopted by the Khmer Rouge forbade rape and sexual assault (i.e. pages 120-121). Page 266: a woman's corpse is violently penetrated with a foreign object following her death by torture. Soldiers look on and laugh while this occurs. Pages 314-315: it is described how the Khmer Rouge would regulate sexual and romantic relationships between 'war slaves' by forcing them to seek permission in order to marry and by forcing some couples to live as married couples against their wills. Page 365: it is mentioned in passing that men stealing vegetables metaphorically 'raped' the gardens. Page 366-367: it is mentioned that a woman who had complained about the regime was gang-raped and murderd in her home. Pages 408-409: refugee women attempting to flee Cambodia are raped and robbed. Page 413: it is mentioned that some Thai civilians and soldiers raped and robbed Cambodian refugees who had crossed the border and were living in aid camps. Page 418: the young daughter of a refugee family descibes fleeing Vietnam by boat, and the refugees' abuses by Thai pirates; the author comments that she doesn't mention any sexual violence, but that its having occurred was evident from her demeanour. Page 439: rapists are mentioned in passing. Page 450: the author mentions that the refugee camp he was living and working in was unsafe, with robberies and rapes occuring at night.
Survival Lessons, Alice Hoffman (Book)
Survival of the Richest, Douglas Rushkoff (Book)
The author discusses Jeffrey Epstein's trafficking sex crimes against women and girls.
Swamplandia!, Karen Russell (Book)
Early chapters have brief mentions of drunk tourists making sexual comments directly at or in reference to the underage girls working at Swamplandia Chapter 19: an adult male rapes a 13 year old girl .
The Sweet Far Thing, Libba Bray (Book)
A character's father sexually assaulted her in the past and has begun sexually assaulting her young cousin. The character knows she cannot say anything against her father because he is a well respected man and no one would believe her. The instances of sexual assault are never described, only referenced.
Sweet On the Greek, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Sweet to the Taste, Alyssa Cole (Book)
Swim Home to the Vanished, Brendan Shay Basham (Book)
White soldiers raped Indian women during mass forced displacement. Their experiences are told with limited (though potent) detail, amongst a litany of oppression and survival in the main character's family history. The main character gets entangled with a family with a long history of domestic abuse of various kinds.
Sword of Destiny, Andrzej Sapkowski (Book)
"The Bounds of Reason": a king admits to raping and then marrying a woman to take control of her kingdom. A woman's clothes are ripped open, and a soldier threatens to rape her while groping her. Another character stares at her despite her request for him to stop. A mentally handicapped character is said to be the product of his mother being gang raped by soldiers. "A Shard of Ice": the main character sees a tavern keeper groping a 12-year-old. His only reaction is annoyance. (It has been established in another book that he doesn't intervene in such situations, even if he find them abhorrent.) "Eternal Fire": a character restrains a woman during a fight scene and does so by deliberately putting his hands on her chest. "Sword of Destiny" : a man is held captive by dryads so that he can be used for the purposes of inducing pregnancies. While he seems happy with (or at least okay with) the situation, it is still a choice where he either does this or is executed. Some humans also threaten to rape said dryads after burning their forest. Mention is made of the potential for incest among royal heirs. "Something More": a character is afraid that the protagonist wants to rape his wife (though this worry is unfounded). A sorceress is mentioned to have enchanted a man with the intention of having sex with him, though this never ends up happening. The stories are set in a medieval-style fantasy universe where sexism and sexual violence are common; passing mention of such topics are present throughout the book.
Sword of Kaigen: a Theonite War Story, M.L. Wang (Book)
The rape of a side character happens explicitly in one scene of this book with text that heavily implies the act in its description, but is not outwardly graphic or vivid. Details: A female side character is found by the main character being raped by an enemy soldier during a raid. The side character deals with the emotional aftermath in a few scenes following for the rest of the book, and also discovers she is pregnant as a result. Ultimately the rape and pregnancy devastates this character into committing suicide.
The Sympathizer, Viet Nguyen (Book)
The book deals with themes such as identity, war, and otherization: sexual violence (extremely graphic) is intended to shed light on the brutality of the Vietnam War.
The Tainted Cup, Robert Jackson Bennett (Book)
An older female protagonist, while blindfolded, places a paper in a young male characters lap and points emphatically to several places, making him very uncomfortable with her proximity and physical touching over his crotch which borders on groping. This can be read as accidental or intentional teasing. The male protagonist is subject to an attempted seduction in which magic is used to coerce him into sexual activity with a sex worker who flashes him at the behest of a third party. He does not want to participate in any sexual activity but the magic makes it difficult to resist, however he is able to escape.
Taiteilijan Vaimo, Enni Mustonen (Book)
Take a Hint, Dani Brown, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Taken By the Alien Rogue, Krista Luna (Book)
Taking Off the Mask, Hannah Louise Belcher (Book)
Tale of the Body Thief, Anne Rice (Book)
A rape scene is described in full detail from the point of view of the perpetrator, who up to this point is mostly a trusted character when it comes to this stuff in the story.
The Talented Ribkins, Ladee Hubbard (Book)
The protagonist pointedly asks his niece if she was ever “bothered” by her mother’s boyfriend. A local politician has photos of naked teenage girls.
Tales From the Gas Station, Jack Townsend (Book)
Tales of the Red Panda: the Crime Cabal, Gregg Taylor (Book)
Talking to Strangers, Malcolm Gladwell (Book)
Tap Out, Alley Ciz (Book)
Early in the book there is an instance of a man verbally harassing and grabbing a woman in a bar. She subdues the man, and her handling of the situation is referenced a few times later in the story. In the last few chapters, the rival MMA fighter verbally degrades the main female character in order to offend her boyfriend.
A Taste of Gold and Iron, Alexandra Rowland (Book)
The Tea Dragon Society, K. O'Neill (Book)
Teach the Torches to Burn, Caleb Roehrig (Book)
A character repeatedly claims his female cousin is in danger of seduction from the protagonist. The audience knows this accusation to be false because the protagonist is gay. A character mentions that men will try to leer into carriages if they think young women are in them.
Teen Titans: Beast Boy, Kami Garcia (Book)
Teen Titans: Beast Boy Loves Raven, Kami Garcia (Book)
A psychic character perceives someone thinking sexual thoughts about her and feels uncomfortable. One character touches another character on the shoulders. The latter voices discomfort with this and the former immediately apologizes.
Teen Titans: Raven, Kami Garcia (Book)
The protagonists pass a character who is wishing a man would leave her alone. There is a passing mention of human trafficking as a concept.
Tell Me How Long the Train's Been Gone, James Baldwin (Book)
The protagonist has a consensual sexual encounter with his older brother. The two later go see a movie where a character was a victim of incest at the hands of her father. One of the protagonist's love interests discusses her experiences of rape and incest. The book takes place in the first half of the 20th century in the United States. While the protagonist, a black man, and his love interest, a white woman, are walking along a street in a small town, a bunch of white men proposition her and make suggestive gestures at her.
Tell Me I'm Worthless, Alison Rumfitt (Book)
Two main characters have scars from being mutilated during rape.
The Teller of Secrets, Bisi Adjapon (Book)
Chapter 2: the main character is held down and sexually assaulted by her step mother and sisters as a form of punishment because she was caught examining her own body.
Tempest, Beverly Jenkins (Book)
Two characters have circumstances that force them into sex work at various points.
Temptation, Kiki Clark (Book)
Ten Steps to Nanette, Hannah Gadsby (Book)
Tender Beasts, Liselle Sambury (Book)
Content Warnings for this book from the author’s website: Death of a parent/grief, animal death (on page - cow and lizards; off page, referenced but not described - cat; off page, referenced and somewhat described - unspecified animals), mentions of self-harm/suicide, drinking and drug use, infidelity, discussions of toxic intimate relationships, detailed body horror/gore, violence, death (includes child death).
Tender is the Flesh, Agustina Bazterrica (Book)
There are many sexually violent scenes in this book. The main plot (a factory farm of humans) is described in vivid detail, including the horrific rapes used to inseminate the women in the farm. These women are only described, never given an active role in the plot. Their trauma is not discussed, and they are never granted freedom or justice. In another scene, the main character rapes a woman on-screen in vivid detail. This is not really described as rape, but her discomfort and his forceful actions are described. This is a pretty long scene with lots of sexual imagery. The main character also has sex and impregnates one of the women raised on a factory farm, despite her not being able to speak or understand language. She has been treated like a farm animal her whole life, so she has no education and lacks the ability to consent. The book ends with the main character hitting this woman, and it is implied that he will kill her. This book can thus be extremely triggering to anyone who is sensitive to themes of sexual assault. It is not a hopeful or positive book at all, and it does not explore any trauma left by these scenes. The point of this book is to be horrifying rather than to handle these topics with sensitivity.
Tender Morsels, Margo Lanagan (Book)
In the beginning of the book, it is mentioned that the main character's father sexually assaults her on a regular basis, leaving her pregnant several times at a young age. Later, she (still underage) is gang raped. A festival takes place in a village where men are encouraged to chase women, and several women force the men to touch them inappropriately. A young woman is molested by a man in the form of a bear. Several men are anally raped with a hot poker as an act of revenge for her mother's assault.
Tentacles & Triathalons, Ashley Bennett (Book)
The Tenth Circle, Jodi Piccoult (Book)
The book is about a teenage girl who is raped by a peer and her recovery after the fact.
The Terror, Dan Simmons (Book)
Chapter 2, "Franklin", features a flashback scene in which two sailors, implied to be in their 30s, engage in a sexual relationship (separately) with a teenaged Inuk girl. Worthy of note: a lone Inuit woman lives for a time on a ship inhabited by exclusively male sailors. The fact that she needs to be protected from these sailors is occasionally discussed; this is partially due to the fact that some of them believe her to be evil/a witch, but it is implied that there is also some possibility of sexual violence.
Terror in the Trench, Jay Alexander (Book)
The Testaments, Margaret Atwood (Book)
This is the sequel to Margaret Atwood's "The Handmaid's Tale." A central feature of the plot is an authoritarian regime which systematically controls women's sexuality, paring those of them who are fertile with "eligible" men and obligating them to partake in ritualised rapes, with the intention of impregnating them. Women who rebel against this regime are met with cruel and violent punishments.
That Blue Sky Feeling, Okura (Book)
One of the protagonists is a 16 year old boy whose ex-boyfriend is 26 years old. They are no longer together, but they remain friends and the adult occasionally makes flirtatious comments towards the boy and his friends of a similar age.
That Kind of Guy, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Worthy of note: at the beginning of the book, the male lead is coming to terms with the fact that he is demisexual. That knowledge comes with the realization that most of the sex that he had when he was younger was not sex he wanted to have, but that his partners expected of him. This is not framed as rape, but as a pattern he wants to avoid in the future. It still might be frustrating or upsetting for those readers who identify as asexual, demisexual, or aromantic. The female lead deals with the ramifications of gaslighting, emotional abuse, and verbal abuse from both her mother and her ex-husband. She does try to get the male lead to have sex with her early in the book when she is very drunk, but this is before she knows that he is demisexual. She later apologizes.
That Self-Same Metal, Brittany N. Williams (Book)
Although there is no sexual assault per se, the book takes place in the late 1500s in London, and there is frank discussion of how sex workers in particular were often targets of violence because their attackers knew most people who considered themselves respectable would not care about the well being of sex workers.
That Time I Got Drunk and Saved a Demon, Kimberly Lemming (Book)
The trigger warning at the beginning reads: "Please be aware, this book contains light BDSM, dubcon, violence, mentions of sexual violence (no rape or sexual assault occur; it is mentioned in conversation), and sexually explicit content that could trigger certain audiences".
That Time I Got Drunk and Yeeted a Love Potion At a Werewolf, Kimberly Lemming (Book)
The plot involves dubious consent, love potions, and kidnapping by an antagonist for non-sexual reasons.
Their Eyes Were Watching God, Zora Neale Hurston (Book)
The protagonist's grandmother, who started life as a slave, was raped and impregnated by her master. The protagonist was conceived when the protagonist's mother was raped at the age of 17 by a schoolteacher. Male characters constantly comment on and covet the protagonist's beauty.
There is No Place for Us, Brian Goldstone (Book)
There Plant Eyes, M. Leona Godin (Book)
There are passing mentions of sexual assault in chapter 12.
There Will Be No Miracles Here, Casey Gerald (Book)
The author's first sexual relationship was with a man who was 19 while the author was 16.
These Ghosts Are Family, Maisy Card (Book)
In general, there is a lot of discussion about the rape of slaves by their masters. One character, an adult woman, initiates a sexual affair with a teenager whom she employs to do yard work. This relationship continues until the woman dies decades later. The person with whom she is having an affair abducts three little girls and takes them into the woods. There is no evidence in the plot that there was child sexual abuse, but it is in general a very ambiguous situation because the abduction and the subsequent events are framed in terms of magical realism.
In These Words, GuiltPleasure (Book)
There are several graphic sequences of sexual assault. Many of these are dreams or hallucinations, but are still potentially upsetting. Obsession and abuse play major roles in the story.
They Both Die At the End, Adam Silvera (Book)
There is a passing mention of a character getting catcalled. Both protagonists get sexually harassed on an app.
They Called Me a Lioness, Ahed Tamimi and Dena Takruri (Book)
The author discusses being strip searched as both a visitor to and an inmate in prison. She describes how a fellow prisoner exposed himself to her and some others had sex in front of her to unnerve her.
They Can't Kill Us Until They Kill Us, Hanif Abdurraqib (Book)
The author discusses slut-shaming lyrics in emo music.
They Never Learn, Layne Fargo (Book)
The premise of the book is that one of the protagonist’s is a serial killer of men who abuse or sexually assault women. The protagonist and several other characters have experienced sexual assault themselves. Several professors in the university where this book takes place have sexual relationships with their students. One of the main characters is drugged and assaulted. Aside from the trauma of sexual assault itself, there is also a great deal of rape apologia in the book. This apologia clearly identified as morally wrong, but it could still be hard to hear for some audiences.
Thick: and Other Essays, Tressie McMillan Cottom (Book)
The author references the following: receiving street harassment, getting hit on at a bar, her suspicion that her mother was sexually abused as a child, sexual violence in slavery, rape apologism, the #MeToo movement, adultification of Black girls, general statistics on sexual violence in families; and sexual assault allegations against R. Kelly, Charlemagne Tha God, and Bill Cosby. Although these topics come up throughout the book, the chapter that focuses most on sexual violence is “Black Girlhood, Interrupted.”
Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke, Eric LaRocca (Book)
Worthy of note: this books features an unhealthy relationship with sadomasochistic themes: both parties are adults.
Things We Couldn't Say, Jay Coles (Book)
There is a passing mention of a tertiary teenage character who became pregnant while in a relationship with an adult man. A teenage character jokes that he gave an adult man a handjob in exchange for a vinyl record. He says this just to get a rise out of someone, and it turns out to be untrue.
The Things We Don't See, Savannah Brown (Book)
It is implied that a woman became pregnant as a result of rape.
The Things With Wings, Greg Holch (Book)
The Thirty Names of Night, Zeyn Joukhadar (Book)
There are brief mentions of different harassments that women faced (never more than a couple sentences) in chapters 1, 11, 16 and 17.
This is All Your Fault, Aminah Mae Safi (Book)
An adult man flirts with a teenage girl. He manages to find her alone and then grabs her arm. She steps on his foot to get him to let her go. When others find out what he did, gaslights her and tries get her fired. His assistant reveals that he also harassed her in the past, indicating that this is a pattern of behavior for this character. The harasser character gets asked to leave and the remaining characters support the teenage girl who was harassed.
This Blinding Absence of Light, Tahar Ben Jelloun (Book)
This Chair Rocks, Ashton Applewhite (Book)
The author references the following: sexual abuse against elders as a form of elder abuse, sexual assault allegations against banker Mahmoud Abdel Salam Omar, and a news story about an old man who groped a young woman in a grocery store. Most of these are in the chapter entitled "No Expiration Date: Sex and Intimacy."
This is Going to Hurt, Adam Kay (Book)
This is How You Lose the Time War, Amal El-Mohtar, Max Gladstone (Book)
This is My America, Kim Johnson (Book)
This Poison Heart, Kalynn Bayron (Book)
This Spells Disaster, Tori Anne Martin (Book)
The female narrator spends multiple chapters wrongly convinced that she accidentally dosed her (female) love interest with a coercive love potion. The narrator's ex-girlfriend was emotionally abusive, and she struggles with her lingering insecurities. Because of her insecurities and her concerns about the love potion, she repeatedly and painfully pushes away her current love interest. Mentioned in passing: at a festival, someone gave an unnamed woman essentially a magical date-rape drug. She was rescued before anything happened.
This Uncle Likes Cute Things, Tsutomu (Book)
This is What I Know About Art, Kimberly Drew (Book)
This is Where It Ends, Marieke Nijkamp (Book)
Several implications of a lesbian character being raped are mentioned throughout the book, it is later confirmed by this character saying she in fact was raped but never reported it. There also scenes of the same guy making several sexual advances on the lady knowing she is a lesbian, including groping and unwanted kissing during a junior prom. It is mentioned with her brother describing the events after the assault/rape There are warnings for the book as it describes the event of a school shooting, however, not any warnings for the actual sexual assault.
This Winter, Alice Oseman (Book)
This Year's Best Dark Fantasy and Horror, Paula Guran (Book)
The Quiet Room: mention of rape within a myth. The Screams of Dragons: a boy forcibly kisses a girl twice. Little Miss Queen of Darkness: news headline about a man charged with dozens of counts of rape. The Female Factory: brief mention of a male boss having sex with a female employee so she can earn favor/advance. Mothers lock up your Daughters: a high school girl is coerced into a sexual relationship by her adopted brother. Children of the Fang: past accusation of rape. Madame Damnable's Sewing Circle: girls who are likely underage being kidnapped into prostitution.
Thistles and Thieves, Molly MacRae (Book)
A Thorn in the Saddle, Rebekah Weatherspoon (Book)
Prior to the events of the book, the female romantic lead left her job because her boss was sexually harassing her. Her boyfriend at the time dismissed the seriousness of the situation and she broke up with him. This ex-boyfriend then continues cyber-stalking, texting, and calling her, even though she made it clear they were breaking up.
The Thousand Crimes of Ming Tsu, Tom Lin (Book)
A woman describes a past incident in which a man attempted to rape her, but she fought him off and escaped.
Throne in the Dark, A.K. Caggiano (Book)
The female main character reveals the man courting her (not the male main character) raped her repeatedly.
For the Throne, Hannah Whitten (Book)
Chapter 1: a man forcibly kisses a woman as a means to take her magic into himself.
Through His Eyes, Nikki Ash (Book)
Ties That Tether, Jane Igharo (Book)
There is one flashback to the protagonist fighting off a boy who tried to kiss her on a dare.
Tilly in Technicolor, Mazey Eddings (Book)
The Time Traveler's Wife, Audrey Niffenegger (Book)
Time traveling peculiarities aside, one character grooms the other from childhood to expect a romantic relationship, which begins when that character is in her mid-teens.
Timeless, Gail Carriger (Book)
A major male character was physically and sexually abused by a male sadist in a position of significant power over him. For five years, he deliberately drew the brunt of the abuse to protect other would-be victims. Little detail is given of his ordeal, but the circumstances and political consequences of his abuser’s death (before series start) are discussed frequently.
Tipping the Velvet, Sarah Waters (Book)
This book is set in Victorian London with the sexism of the era. The perspective character (a butch woman strongly implied as genderqueer) faces casual sexual harassment at times when dressed as a woman. She works as a gay male prostitute for a middle section of the book and is afraid of discovery and assault from clients, though those fears are not realized. She spends a substantial middle section of the book as the live-in hired escort of a rich and powerful woman. This woman becomes threatening and violent when the protagonist tries to say no to sex or otherwise resists her mistress's wishes.
Tokyo Revengers Manga, Ken Wakui (Book)
Chapter 11 (Reburn): the gang rape of a teen girl in front of her boyfriend is shown in detail in one panel. Other characters discuss the assault. Chapter 12 (Remind): the teen girl from chapter 11's injuries are discussed and non-graphically shown. Chapter Extra (Zero): a sex worker asks a 10 or 11-year-old boy if he wants oral sex. It iss unclear if she is teasing him or being serious. Chapter 47 (Level With): the same panel that shows the rape in chapter 11 is shown again, and characters briefly and vaguely discuss the events surrounding the assault. Chapter 157 (Money Monger): a teen kisses his sleeping friend.
The Toll, Cherie Priest (Book)
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, Gabrielle Zevin (Book)
The Toni Morrison Book Club, Juda Bennett, Winnifred Brown-Glaude, Cassandra Jackson, Piper Kendrix Williams (Book)
The premise of the book is that the four authors, who have a book club discussing Toni Morrison novels, write chapters reflecting on themes present in those novels. As such, most of the conversations around rape, sexual assault, and child sexual abuse occur because those dynamics exist in Morrison's novels. In particular, the sexual violence perpetrated against enslaved women comes up a lot. A few authors also discuss their own experiences with sexual harassment. One of them relates how, when she was a child, an adult she did not know repeatedly tried to get her to enter his car. Another describes how, when she was a teenager, she escaped a man who was harassing her in an ice cream shop.
Too Many Tamales, Gary Soto (Book)
A Touch of Chaos, Scarlett St. Clair (Book)
Rape is discussed multiple times. It is twice graphically described and one character is prsented as liking it, although it is clearly rape. There is also some rough sex, but it is implied to be consensual. It is vaguely mentioned that several characters who went mad on lust and forcefully took women. Several main characters "have their way with women": no consent is given.
Touch of Darkness, Scarlett St. Clair (Book)
A character is drugged at a bar and forced to dance and coerced into making out with another character.
The Tragedy of Heterosexuality, Jane Ward (Book)
Trailer Park Trickster, David R. Slayton (Book)
Transcendent Kingdom, Yaa Gyasi (Book)
The protagonist mentions in passing that she noticed her mother getting catcalled.
Transgender Explained for Those Who Are Not, Joanne Herman (Book)
There is mention of transgender incarcerated people being raped in prisons. There is also discussion of the pervasive fear that transgender women will rape cisgender women and girls in public restrooms.
Trapped, Camilla Läckberg & Henrik Fexeus (Book)
Rape is mentioned. There is also drunken but consensual cheating.
Trashlands, Alison Stine (Book)
The entire world of this dystopian scifi novel is one in which women are constantly living in fear and/or being abused by men: it contains a lot of sexual violence against women. The main character was lured into having sex with her older teacher when she was a young girl, and she recalls the scene of them having sex in ways that make it seem non-consensual (in addition to her being too young to really give consent). Another main character is a prostitute and was raped by her pimp not to mention her clients. The women are the central figures and they are kinda well-developed, but not enough to make it worth putting yourself as a reader in this grim world.
Trauma and Recovery, Judith Lewis Herman (Book)
This book is about trauma related to sexual violence and torture. There are no in-depth descriptions of specific acts of sexual violence, but this whole book is a deep dive on its psychological effects. The author also describes instances of victim-blaming, gaslighting, and saneism that survivors have experienced when speaking about their trauma.
A Tree Grows in Brooklyn, Betty Smith (Book)
Tress of the Emerald Sea, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
Trick Mirror, Jia Tolentino (Book)
Throughout the book, there are references to the #MeToo movement, legal definitions of rape, cousin marriages in the British royal family, marital rape, rape and pedophilia in the Bible and in various literary works, Gamergate, Pizzagate; and rape allegations against Bill Cosby, Harvey Weinstein, and Donald Trump. The chapter "We Come from Old Virginia" includes particularly frequent and graphic references to sexual violence, such as specific rape cases on college campuses and the author's own experiences with surviving sexual violence at college and while working in the Peace Corps.
The Troop, Nick Cutter (Book)
The Trouble With Hating You, Sajni Patel (Book)
The protagonist goes on a date with someone who assumes that she will have sex with him because of her reputation for being promiscuous and because he treated her to an expensive dinner. He gets quite rough and argumentative with her in a way that makes her fearful, but he ultimately allows her to escape. Prior to the events of the book, a prominent community elder molested the protagonist when she was 15. The narrative doesn’t go into detail about the molestation itself, but the protagonist’s father didn’t believe her when she told him what happened and instead believed that she tempted the community elder. The elder uses his status as a pious individual and the protagonist’s history of consensual sexual interactions to turn the community against her. There are several instances in the book when the elder threatens to further humiliate the protagonist if she tells others what happened, and he and others insinuate that she is unclean, broken, and not worthy of consideration. There is even a moment where the elder implies that he would rape the protagonist’s mother or that he had done so in the past.
The Trouble With Rich Women, Gloria Steinem (Book)
Rape, incest, and pedophilia are mentioned in passing.
True Biz, Sara Novic (Book)
There is a mention in the past of a teacher who tried to molest a student. There are several past instances mentioned of a younger highschooler who was in a sexual relationship with a senior. Later, after he he graduates, they continue to hook up.
Trust Kids, Carla Joy Bergman (Book)
Many of the essays in the book discuss how vulnerable children are to all forms of abuse and coercion, including sexual abuse and coercion.
The Truth According to Ember, Danica Nava (Book)
There are a few passing mentions of the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls (MMIWG), including a scene where the protagonist's car breaks down on an isolated country road and she worries she could be kidnapped. Nothing bad happens in this scene. The author employs the "There is only one bed" trope, wherein the protagonist falls asleep in her hotel room, thinking it was assigned only to her, but the romantic interest also shows up. He climbs into bed, not noticing her in the dark, and she reacts by trying to fight him off physically before realizing who he is. She says something along the lines of, "I thought you were a stranger who was going to rape me." A few of the protagonist's male coworkers make inappropriate comments to her and about women in general. The protagonist also references "grabby" customers at a bowling alley where she used to work.
Tryst Six Venom, Penelope Douglas (Book)
Some mentions of sexual harassment (mostly verbal), detailed scene of sexual assault that involves forcefully removing a characters clothes and writing on her (the other character shows remorse for this and they go on to become a couple), attempted rape scene towards the end of the book however, the character is able to escape before she is hurt.
Tuesday Mooney Talks to Ghosts, Kate Racculia (Book)
Turning Darkness Into Light, Marie Brennan (Book)
Turtles All the Way Down, John Green (Book)
The Twelve Tribes of Hattie, Ayana Mathis (Book)
This book takes place between 1925 and 1980 in the United States and focuses on different members of a black family. In one chapter, two members of the family are traveling by car through the Southern United States. While they are eating a picnic lunch in a park, three white men harass them to leave, threatening the husband. They wolf whistle at the woman and joke that she should stay with them. Another member of the family is molested as a child by a community member.
Twentieth Anniversary Screening, Jeff Strand (Book)
Twenty, Debra Landwehr Engle (Book)
Twisted Games, Ana Huang (Book)
Twisted Love, Ana Huang (Book)
The Twisted Tree, Rachel Burge (Book)
Twittering Birds Never Fly, Kou Yoneda (Book)
There are many graphic scenes of cruel and violent sex involving a main character. A main character secretly sets up microphones and cameras in a friend's house to record his friend having sex. Multiple graphic panels depict a main character being raped by his stepfather when he was a pre-teen or young child. He frankly discusses these events on numerous occasions. He has flashbacks to these assaults on multiple occasions, including during sex with his partner. A main character describes the time he was raped by a school nurse when he was in junior high. His superior openly masturbates while he is talking and pressures him to continue describing the assault. A main character walks in on his father raping his adopted sister. He attacks his father and is sentenced to prison for nearly killing him. Later, he struggles sexually due to remembering this event and worrying that he might rape someone like his father. There are depictions of a main character being sexually assaulted in prison. A character's significant other is kidnapped and gang raped as punishment. He is shown photos of this.
Two Nights in Lisbon, Chris Pavone (Book)
Uglies, Scott Westerfeld (Book)
Ugly Love, Colleen Hoover (Book)
Unapologetic, Charlene Carruthers (Book)
The author references the following: rape allegations against Donald Trump, sexual assault allegations against fellow activist Malcolm London and the ensuing accountability process, patterns of white supremacist groups raping Black women, the kidnapping and rape of Recy Taylor, sexual violence in the abstract, and her own identity as a survivor of sexual violence. These references are all non-graphic.
The Unbearable Lightness of Being, Milan Kundera (Book)
Worthy of note: a central feature of the plot is a main character's repeated infidelity.
Unbowed: a Memoir, Wangari Muta Maathai (Book)
Brief mention of rapes that took place during the Mau Mau uprising.
Unbury Carol, Josh Malerman (Book)
Uncomfortable Labels, Laura Kate Dale (Book)
The author discusses two instances of experiencing child sexual violence, as well as several instances of men following her or speaking suggestively to her against her will.
Under the Dome, Stephen King (Book)
Two male characters attack a female character in her home. The description is vivid and the character involved is hospitalised afterwards.
Under the Skin, Michel Faber (Book)
A man forces a woman to perform oral sex whilst holding a knife to her throat and then tries to rape her.
Under the Whispering Door, TJ Klune (Book)
Undercover Bromance, Lyssa Kay Adams (Book)
Towards the beginning of the book, the protagonist, a pastry chef, walks in on her boss, the owner of the restaurant where she works and a prominent member of the community, as he is trying to force another employee to give him sexual favors in exchange for keeping her job after she made a small mistake. At the time when the protagonist walks in, the boss has his trousers and underwear down and is trying to kiss the employee. The boss fires the protagonist and threatens to ruin her career if she tries to tell anyone what happened. The protagonist had signed a non-disclosure agreement at the start of her career there, so she is too worried about the potential repercussions to go to the authorities. The protagonist's project from then on is to find women that the boss has harassed and get them to come forward against him. She has difficulty at first and makes some statements that some readers may find troubling, such as demonizing women who don't come forward and who therefore allow their antagonist to keep harassing others. As it turns out, the protagonist's close friend had been coerced into a sexual relationship with the boss when she had worked there in the past. The friend feels a lot of shame around this incident and for accepting hush money from him.
Understanding Autistic Relationships Across the Lifespan, Sarah Douglas, Felicity Sedgewick (Book)
The book covers research on how autistic people form relationships at various stages in their lives. Throughout, the authors discuss how autistic people in particular, and disabled people in general, experience higher rates of sexual harassment and sexual violence. There are also references to childhood sexual abuse at the hands of family members and caregivers.
Undone By the Ex-Con, Talia Hibbert (Book)
An antagonist character intentionally walks in on the protagonist whilst she is taking a bath in order to intimidate her. Worthy of note: There is passing mention of the British royal family being inbred.
Undying, Michel Faber (Book)
Unexpected Stories, Octavia E. Butler (Book)
Unfuck Your Habitat, Rachel Hoffman (Book)
Unfuck Yourself, Gary John Bishop (Book)
The Unhoneymooners, Christina Lauren (Book)
Uninvited, Sophie Jordan (Book)
The protagonist's boyfriend tries to pressure her into sex. When she refuses, he embarrasses her in front of all their friends. The protagonist, a high school student, walks in on a teacher kissing her classmate. The student the teacher assaults acts as if it is her decision to be in this relationship, but it is clear in context that that is not the case. This teacher later follows the protagonist into the girls’ restroom at the school to proposition her. In the interlude between chapters 23 and 24, there is an interview of an unnamed person who killed a girl and her mother because the former wouldn’t go out with him. A boy tells the protagonist that she and other girls exist for boys’ “entertainment.”
The Universe is Expanding and So Am I, Carolyn Mackler (Book)
In this sequel to The Earth, My Butt, and Other Big Round Things, there is further development regarding the rape case against the protagonist's brother. Specifically, the woman he raped finds her mental health deteriorating and decides to press charges against him, leading to his arrest towards the start of the book. Many characters, especially the protagonist's parents, engage in rape apologism: because they are more concerned with ensuring that he won't have to register as a sex offender than with the wellbeing of the survivor in question. They insinuate that the survivor only pressed charges for financial gain. There are no rape scenes; the survivor mentions in passing that the protagonist's brother overpowered her, but no more detail is provided regarding the event itself. The rape case and potential consequences for the brother are discussed throughout the book.
Unlearning Shame, Devon Price (Book)
Unleashed, Sophie Jordan (Book)
Unmasking Autism, Devon Price (Book)
Unmissing, Minka Kent (Book)
This book features abuse, kidnapping and rape/assault.
Unshrinking, Kate Manne (Book)
Until I Love Myself, Poppy Pesuyama (Book)
The book is an autobiography, detailing the author's experiences with sexual violence and gender dysphoria. Much of the story is dedicated to them recovering from their trauma and unlearning harmful coping mechanisms related to their trauma - which includes vivid discussion of internalized misogyny/transphobia. The author describes a traumatic series of events in which they acquired a job at a manga studio that ostensibly accepted their nonbinary identity, but their higher-up constantly misgendered them while putting them through a series of sexual violence; such as verbal sexual harassment with violent undertones, touching them on their face and back in a sexual manner, standing right outside a washroom while they showered, and asking them invasive questions (in one instance, labelling them as a 'nympho'). The aftermath of the event shows them with intense gender dysphoria and self-blaming tendencies, as well as severe PTSD and disordered eating habits. When they came forward in the face of the #MeToo movement a few years later, they also received a barrage of victim-blaming comments and DMs, and again when they shared their manga for the first time publicly (to which their publishing agency had to release a statement and moderate comments). They also recount memories from their childhood and adolescence where they experienced sexual violence or were witness to it; like a boy lifting up their skirt in front of a classroom, being pressured into having a shower with a male friend when they're in middle school, being asked invasive questions about their sexuality, and watching a close friend of theirs get sexually harassed by other men. In the face of boys sexually harassing them as a child, they retaliated by writing explicit boys love fanfictions involving their male classmates - but as an adult, they acknowledge that this is also a form of sexual violence and regret their actions. Near the end of the book, there is a brief recollection from their transfeminine friend, who was forced into a sexual situation by cis men for being a feminine-presenting AMAB person.
Untouchable, Talia Hibbert (Book)
The romantic leads are a single father and a woman he employs as a nanny. There are several discussions between the two about the power dynamics in their relationship. For example, at one point, the male lead says, "I have feelings for you, and I've known that for a while. But I also know that as long as I pay your salary it'll never be right for me to pursue you." At the end of their discussion, he says, "I wouldn't feel guilty as long as you swear to me that you'll never put my feelings before yours. That you'll never be afraid to tell me the truth." When their relationship gets more serious toward the end of the book, a new nanny is hired, and the female lead pursues other work and starts using money from her trust fund. The female lead finds out that her own mother was in a similar situation, becoming romantically and sexually involved with an employer. The mother says that she thought in retrospect that the employer's behavior was wrong, especially since he was already married. Worthy of note: there are non-specific discussions of two characters' pasts with intimate partner abuse.
Use of Weapons, Iain M. Banks (Book)
It is briefly mentioned that a male character is beaten, robbed and raped by a group of bandits. A frequently mentioned theme, concerns a brother walking in on his sister and step-brother having sex, and the trauma caused by this.
Uzumaki, Junji Ito (Book)
Chapter 3: Azami Kurotani stalks, harasses and presumably attempts to rape male deuteragonist Shuichi Saito (the attempt is unsuccessful).
The Vampire's Toll, Betsy Hayes (Book)
In the Vanisher's Palace, Aliette De Bodard (Book)
This tale is a retelling of 'Beauty and the Beast' in a dark fantasy-dystopian setting. The relationship between the two main characters is fully consensual but the protagonist is originally sold to the love interest under indentured servitude.
The Vanishing Half, Brit Bennett (Book)
While working as a maid, one of the protagonists suffers frequent sexual assault from her employer’s husband. The violations are described in some detail. In a later job, this same character ends up marrying someone for whom she worked as a secretary. As time goes on, she feels embarrassed that that is how they got together. The husband insists to people that he “was no lech.” Another protagonist escapes an abusive relationship. Passing mention of catcalling.
Vegan Freak, Bob Torres & Jenna Torres (Book)
Worthy of note: there are non-graphic discussions of artificial insemination, describing the practice as a violation.
The Vegetarian, Han Kang (Book)
A man rapes his wife after she refuses to have sex. The situation is described in detail. Later on the same woman gets raped by her brother in law multiple times. She is heavily medicated when he takes advantage of her. This is also described in detail.
VenCo, Cherie Dimaline (Book)
The antagonist uses emotional abuse and magical manipulation to persuade both men and women to have sex with him (or each other). He often erases their memories of having encountered him or having had sex. He stalks the female lead character and attempts to rape her, but she outwits him. A secondary female character tells the story of an emotionally, psychologically, and physically abusive relationship she was in for years. She is safely away from her abuser by the time of the novel. The female lead character recalls a childhood incident in which a man is implied to be scoping her for sexual abuse, though all that happens before she escapes is a grip on her shoulder.
Vengeance Road, Erin Bowman (Book)
Vengeful, V.E. Schwab (Book)
It is mentioned that a character was assaulted by a group of men, but whether this attack was sexual in nature is not specified.
A Venom Dark and Sweet, Judy I. Lin (Book)
The Six Deaths of the Saint, Alix E. Harrow (Book)
Vicious, V.E. Schwab (Book)
A character has superpowers that force people to obey her every command, and even when she is not actively ordering them to do anything, people feel compelled to please her. Because of this, she avoids any sexual or romantic relationships, since no one can 100% freely consent to being with her. However, she later ends up in a toxic and destructive relationship with a man who wishes to kill her, and only does not hurt her because she orders him not to. Partially because of this, she makes an exception and starts a sexual relationship with him. This is never identified as rape by the narrative, but their dynamic is explicitly unhealthy and coercive to them both.
The Seven Necessary Sins for Women and Girls, Mona Eltahawy (Book)
The author opens with a memory of being sexually assaulted. Sexual assault, sexual harassment, and other forms of sexual violence are discussed throughout the book.
A Visit From the Goon Squad, Jennifer Egan (Book)
A relationship between a minor and an adult is discussed frequently in Part I, but there are no overly graphic descriptions. The attempted rape is not unnecessarily graphic either.
Vows of Empire, Emily Skrutskie (Book)
Vox, Christina Dalcher (Book)
All female characters experience frequent low-grade sexual harassment and pervasive misogyny. This dystopia limits the number of words girls and women can speak per day, with cuffs to deliver electric shocks as an enforcement mechanism. The narrator refers to secondary female characters who have experienced domestic violence, which is implied to include sexual coercion. On a society-wide level, teens and young women are forced to choose between marriages arranged between their fathers and suitors,; being brothel sex slaves. Women and teens who have sex outside of a heterosexual marriage are brutally publicly shamed and sent to labor camps.
Vrexus, Olivia Riley (Book)
One of the protagonists experiences a psychic attack that she describes as "violating." This type of attack is known to "break" its victims, and one of the people responsible for this treatment says to bring the protagonist to his room after they have broken her, implying a plan to assault her.
The Wager, David Grann (Book)
During friendly encounters, some of the English sailors make passes at Indigenous women, prompting them to leave. It is not discussed in detail, nor is it clear if the situation was violent, aggressive, or if it went so far as assault. All that is stated is that the men made some sort of declaration of interest that was poorly received.
Waistcoats & Weaponry, Gail Carriger (Book)
A Walk in the Woods, Bill Bryson (Book)
In a section on Shenandoah National Park, the author discusses the unsolved murder of two women hikers. He does not mention sexual assault, but does discuss the circumstances of their murders in a way that loosely implies the possibility.
The Walking Cat, Kitaoka Tomo (Book)
A girl is in love with a guy who is in college: her age is unclear, but she does look a bit younger than him. No relationship develops.
Wanna Bet?, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Worthy of note: in the main couple's first sexual experience, the woman initiates sex without discussing it with the man first. They have only just met, and unbeknownst to her, it is his first time. This encounter is not framed as a problem, since he enjoyed the sex.
Wanted By the Alien Rogue, Krista Luna (Book)
War Girls, Tochi Onyebuchi (Book)
None of the characters in the book experience sexual violence, but it is implied that that might be happening elsewhere.
Warchild, Karin Lowachee (Book)
Warrior Cats, Erin Hunter (Book)
In these novels, there is a lot of inbreeding because cats follow laws called the Warrior Code which states they cannot have mates outside their Clan, and therefore they do not have many options for mates to choose from, and most pairings in the books are at least distant cousins. Spottedleaf's Heart: this novel is entirely about an apprentice (about 12-13 if she were human), being groomed by a middle-aged man (if he were an adult). It does not show their relationship in a bad light, and the teenager only stops contact with the adult after finding out that he trains in the Dark Forest (what is essentially cat hell in these books.)
Wash Day Diaries, Jamila Rowser (Book)
A character is catcalled by two men as she enters and exits a store. A character receives frequent texts from an ex-boyfriend, despite her telling him to leave her alone. He later shows up uninvited to her place of work, intent on seeing her until her friends threaten him into leaving. The exact nature of their relationship and breakup isn't explored in detail, but both she and her friends worry for her safety, with one recommending she get a restraining order.
Washington Black, Esi Edugyan (Book)
A slave girl who is 11 years old is revealed to be pregnant. It is never clarified whether it was the slavemaster who impregnated her or another slave. Towards the beginning of the book, the main character, who is also 11 at the time, gets invited to the bedroom of the slavemaster's brother, who is visiting. Another slave insists that the main character be prepared to defend himself in case the brother intends to molest him. The visit turns out to be entirely benign, and the possibility of molestation never re-emerges.
Wasteland Temptations Series, E.V. Olsen (Book)
The stories start with one character trading sex for food. They begin with dubious consent but quickly move to consensual.
Watched, Marina Budhos (Book)
The Watchers, A.M. Shine (Book)
The Watchmaker's Daughter, C.J. Archer (Book)
It is implied that a group of men chasing one character were going to attempt rape. There are multiple instances of catcalling and inappropriate touching of a female character. Many men harass her on the street by assuming she is a sex worker and propositioning her uninvitedly with money for sex. A female character is cornered by several men and they attempt to rape her but are not successful.
The Water Dancer, Ta-Nehisi Coates (Book)
The main character's love interest, who is a slave, is implied to be involved in a sexual relationship with a slave master. It is clear that she has no option to reject this relationship if she wants to.
Water Moon, Samantha Sotto Yambao (Book)
The Way I Used to Be, Amber Smith (Book)
The main topic of the book is the rape of an adolecent by a college aged family friend. The main character dates an adult who is not aware of her age. She is repeatedly harrassed and assaulted. We learn that her rapist has also assaulted his sister. There is a very detailed description of assault.
The Way of Kings, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
We Are Totally Normal, Naomi Kanakia (Book)
Worthy of note: While there is no sexual violence in this book, there are some confusing sexual situations that result from people trying to figure out their sexual orientation.
We Bought a Zoo, Benjamin Mee (Book)
We Deserve Monuments, Jas Hammonds (Book)
We Do This 'Til We Free Us, Mariame Kaba (Book)
How to provide justice for survivors of sexual violence, including childhood sexual abuse, is a major topic in this book. There are no in-depth or graphic descriptions of any particular instance of sexual violence, however.
We Had a Little Real Estate Problem, Kliph Nesteroff (Book)
The author repeatedly references the child abuse that was rampant at Indian residential schools, which included sexual abuse. Many of the people interviewed in the book discuss their relatives' experiences in the residential schools, including the lasting effects of trauma from sexual violence and cultural imperialism.
We Need to Do Something, Max Booth III (Book)
A high school boy makes a deep fake revenge porn video about a girl who rejected him. He sends the video out to everyone in the school.
We Sold Our Souls, Grady Hendrix (Book)
There are frequent mentions of sexual harassment, groping, catcalling, etc. Early on, an incident of flashing/nudity and public urination as a form of intimidation is described in some detail, with emphasis on its intense emotional impact on a female protagonist. Around the middle of the book, a female protagonist is subjected to restraint and medical abuse and is afraid of what those who control her will do to her. Toward the climax, a female protagonist is graphically described being molested and choked by a group of male friends in the press of a concert crowd. Unnamed female crowdsurfers are mentioned as being repeatedly molested.
We Speak for Ourselves, D. Watkins (Book)
The author discusses the rape of enslaved people by slaveholders and sexual assault committed by the police.
We Survived the End of the World, Steven Charleston (Book)
We Used to Live Here, Marcus Kliewer (Book)
We Were Liars, E. Lockhart (Book)
While no one is assaulted, the main character does describe rape at one point because since she has lost her memory and only knows that something bad happened, she believes that she may have been raped (even though she was not).
We Will Not Cancel Us, Adrienne Maree Brown (Book)
Rape, sexual assault, and intimate partner violence are discussed in abstract terms throughout the booklet.
Wed to the Barbarian, Keira Andrews (Book)
Weirdo, Tony Weaver Jr. (Book)
Welcome to St. Hell, Lewis Hancox (Book)
The author depicts being sexually harassed by adult men and male classmates before transitioning.
We'll Prescribe You a Cat, Syou Ishida (Book)
There is passing mention of a man fearing that his genuine compliments of female coworkers might be taken as sexual harassment.
We're Going to Need More Wine, Gabrielle Union (Book)
The author describes her experience of having been raped by a burglar who targeted the store where she worked, as well as the legal matters surrounding the rape.
The Western Wind, Samantha Harvey (Book)
What Feasts At Night, T. Kingfisher (Book)
Worth noting: Chapter 14 has a reference to a former lord who is rumored to have fathered many children with his servants.
What Happened to Ruthy Ramirez, Claire Jimenez (Book)
Rape is mentioned in relationship to victims family relationships.
What I Mean When I Say I'm Autistic, Annie Kotowicz (Book)
What Moves the Dead, T. Kingfisher (Book)
What My Bones Know, Stephanie Foo (Book)
The author describes detailed and graphic instances of her parents physically and verbally abusing her. Her specific abuse, however, did not involve sexual abuse. The author mentions reacting angrily to a stranger grabbing her behind. There are multiple discussions about Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (CPTSD), and how many people who have it were sexually abused, sometimes as children.
What Tech Calls Thinking, Adrian Daub (Book)
This book contains discussion of the #MeToo movement and rape allegations against Donald Trump.
When Aidan Became a Brother, Kyle Lukoff & Kaylani Juanita (Book)
When Chickenheads Come Home to Roost, Joan Morgan (Book)
There are passing discussions of rape during the era of trans-Atlantic slavery and in the modern day, as well as of street harassment.
When Haru Was Here, Dustin Thao (Book)
Worthy of note: A 19-year-old goes on a date with a guy in his early 20s, and both get drunk. The 20something attempts to initiate sex, and when the 19-year-old declines, he immediately kicks him out.
When Life Gives You Mangos, Kereen Getten (Book)
When No One is Watching, Alyssa Cole (Book)
There is mention of an adult male character who leers at teenage girls. There is also mention of a bodega employee "trying to holla" at the female protagonist when she goes there, and how she wanted to avoid that. The female protagonist recollects how her mother always kept a gun, even at a young age, in part to defend herself if the boys in her neighborhood "suddenly forgot what no means." Worthy of note: there is a conversation between the male protagonist and a neighbor character, both of whom are white, where the neighbor is very fetishizing toward the female protagonist, who is Black. The neighbor clearly operates on the assumption that the male protagonist will share his racist opinions. The neighbor insinuates that the male protagonist just wants to scratch an itch and is going through a phase because he is attracted to the female protagonist. The neighbor mentions that he and his wife periodically go to the Caribbean, implying that they do so to sexually exploit Black people there.
When a Scot Ties the Knot, Tessa Dare (Book)
When You Call My Name, Tucker Shaw (Book)
A protagonist gets drunk very quickly at a Pride festival, and people touch him suggestively, including grabbing his butt, without asking first.
When You Look Like Us, Pamela N. Harris (Book)
The book is about a teenage girl who goes missing, and the police do not take the matter seriously because she is a Black girl from a poor neighborhood. The protagonist, her brother, spends the book trying to figure out what happens to her and eventually finds that she was kidnapped and held hostage by college frat boys, at least one of whom attempted to rape her.
Where the Crawdads Sing, Delia Owens (Book)
Domestic violence throughout.
Where'd You Go, Bernadette, Maria Semple (Book)
Two of the main characters casually mention a radio show they heard about children being raped in another country.
While We Were Dating, Jasmine Guillory (Book)
A character reflects in passing on how some crewmen would grope her under the guise of adjusting microphones or wiring.
Whipping Girl, Julia Serano (Book)
White: Emala's Story, S. J. Sanders (Book)
There is a strong implication and detail from multiple women peppered throughout the book. The main character is the product of rape.
The White Guy Dies First, Terry J. Benton-Walker (Book)
In "The Golden Dragon," there is an attempted rape and discussion of two rapes that happened before the events of the story. In "Best Served Cold," there is discussion of the issue of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, Girls, and Two Spirit People. The protagonist of this story is drugged and kidnapped. They think their kidnapper will rape them, but that ends up not being the case.
White Smoke, Tiffany D. Jackson (Book)
A character mentions the possibility that someone could get raped by squatters in nearby abandoned houses. There is an urban legend that a character used to touch little kids inappropriately, but that turns out not to be true.
White Tears-Brown Scars, Ruby Hamad (Book)
The author references the following: receiving rape threats on the Internet, the #MeToo Movement and rape allegations against Harvey Weinstein, rape allegations against Donald Trump, rape allegations against Brett Kavanaugh, rape allegations against Clarence Thomas, false rape allegations by white women used as justification to lynch Black men and other men of color, rape as a tool of war and colonization, rape of slaves, and rape in the military.
The White Tiger, Aravind Adiga (Book)
The protagonist is an untrustworthy narrator in general, and he is casually misogynist and homophobic throughout. When the government or people of higher castes subjugate and oppress those below them in the hierarchy, he refers to that as rape or generally in sexual terms. He voices the belief that having sex with a virgin, particularly someone who is 17 or 18, cures men of sexually transmitted infections, but he doesn't explicitly admit to having tried this himself. Multiple characters throughout insult one another with the term "sister fucker."
White Trash Warlock, David R. Slayton (Book)
There is a passing mention of multiple sexual harassment charges by same minor character-nothing ever shown/described.
Who Fears Death, Nnedi Okorafor (Book)
Rape is a central theme in this book, as the main character is seeking vengeance for the rape of her mother, of which her birth was a result. The second chapter contains a graphic rape scene.
For Whom the Book Tolls, Laura Gail Black (Book)
In the backstory, a man made unwanted advances on a married woman, including a forced kiss and groping. She punched him and left. A man claims to be the main character's cousin, and then makes several sexually harassing comments towards her. It is later revealed that they are not really related, and he knows it.
Why Does He Do That? Inside the Minds of Angry and Controlling Men, Lundy Bancroft (Book)
Considering that this book is about the tactics and mindsets of abusers, the author delves into how some abusers are also rapists. The author even points out that, in an abusive relationship, it is nearly impossible for sex to be truly consensual. While this book focuses on intimate partner violence, there are also examples of how abusers target their and/or their victims' children, including through incest. There are no in-depth rape scenes, but there are numerous, detailed examples of physical, verbal, and psychological abuse.
Why Women Have Better Sex Under Socialism, Kristen R. Ghodsee (Book)
Rape and sexual harassment are discussed in abstract terms a few times throughout.
Why You Should Be a Socialist, Nathan J. Robinson (Book)
The author references rape allegations against Donald Trump, Trump painting undocumented immigrants as rapists, a joke Ann Coulter made about someone who raped his daughter, and workplace sexual harassment.
Wicked Beauty, Katee Robert (Book)
The female main character's ex was abusive and manipulated her sexually. He also grabs her and harasses her verbally in the novel. The female main character sometimes uses sex as a coping mechanism. She and one of the male main characters have rough/kinky sex without negotiation first, but all characters are implied to be consenting throughout. The characters express concern for one another and engage in caretaking and express love for each other. Consensual-but-not-verbalized-consent is a theme throughout the author's novels. There are no scenes of rape in the novel but the lack of explicit consent may feel upsetting to some readers.
Wicked Oath, Jenna Wolfhart (Book)
The Wife App, Carolyn Mackler (Book)
Wild Seed, Octavia Butler (Book)
One of the protagonists is a millennia-old being whose goal is to breed humans who have powerful magical powers. He does this by coercing his descendants into producing children with one another, especially with parent-child or brother-sister pairings. Because this character is so powerful and influential, almost no one can effectively stop him or resist him The book also takes place during the time of the trans-Atlantic slave trade. The rape and forced breeding of enslaved people is discussed throughout.
Wild and Wicked Things, Francesca May (Book)
One of the main plotlines centers around a dysfunctional marriage. The woman arranged powerful magic to force the man to become romantically obsessed with her, and as the glamour begins to wear off, he gradually becomes confused, distressed, and highly abusive (physically, emotionally, and ultimately spiritually/magically). A significant secondary male character is magically highly sensitive. When he is touched, he involuntarily and painfully absorbs psychic impressions from the other person. Multiple characters (mostly past, some present) use this double-edged talent as a weapon. Most notably, a past authority figure forced him into prostitution (with all the personal pain that entailed) to act as a spy.
The Wilderness of Girls, Madeline Claire Franklin (Book)
The author does give a trigger warning in the beginning about sexual assault. Her abuser is her step brother who In the beginning of the story she speaks roundly of, making the reader think he is one of the only good pple in her life, later we learn he uses this trust and kindness to manipulate her throughout her childhood and teenage years. She feels betrayed because he was her only true friend.
Wildest Dreams, Kristen Ashley (Book)
It is discussed that a young witch has been held captive since she was a child and raped by the king of her kingdom since she was 14 years old. There is reproductive coercion where the main love interest throws out the main character's birth control and impregnates her without her knowledge nor consent.
The Will to Change: Men, Masculinity, and Love, Bell Hooks (Book)
Sexual violence and the concept of rape culture are discussed primarily in the chapter "Male Sexual Being". The author cites quotations from a book entitled Victims No Longer: Men Recovering from Incest and Other Child Sexual Abuse.
The Wind in the Willows, Kenneth Grahame (Book)
This 1908 novel includes some passing descriptions of men catcalling a male character who is disguised as a washer-woman. The same disguised-cross-dressing male character chats with a barge-woman, together bemoaning the promiscuity and laziness of working-class younger women.
Windflowers, Tamara McKinley (Book)
It is revealed that another important character raped one of the main characters. She gets pregnant. The assault and pregnancy is mentioned many times starting from ch 14.
Windowless Room, Dacto Gongji (Book)
There is a graphic depiction of the main character being restrained and gang raped in the past. He is ‘paid’ afterwards with a small amount of food and medicine. When he returns home, he is berated by his boyfriend for “taking too long” to get the supplies, and his obvious injuries are ignored. He has nightmares about this event years later. Antagonists discuss attempts to lure in women with the promise of shelter for the purpose of raping them. The main character is verbally harassed by the men who raped him years previously. An antagonist strangles and attempts to rape the main character, but the main character fights him off.
The Winter Long,Seanan McGuire (Book)
Some of the plot involves a past heterosexual relationship between two secondary characters. The man is revealed to have been coerced into the relationship (magical compulsion). No relationship details are discussed, and the woman is competely absent from this narrative.
The Winter Witch, Paula Brackston (Book)
There is a non-detailed description of the mute female main character being sexually assaulted by a village young man in the past. In the present, a male secondary character stalks her, watches while she bathes and attempts to rape her. She fights him off. Soon after, he sabotages her in a way intended to discredit and/or kill her. Another past (interrupted) attempted rape, of a secondary female character, is mentioned briefly.
Winter's Bone, Daniel Woodrell (Book)
The narrator/protagonist describes in detail a memory from when she was a young teenager (she is 16 in the novel and this took place a few years earlier) where a friend of her father (who is possibly a cousin) got her high on hallucinogenic drugs and then raped her while she was inebriated. At one point, when the narrator/protagonist is forced to encounter the man who raped her, he jokes about the encounter and implies that she has come back to him to 'have sex' again. Sexual harassment of women of all ages occurs throughout the novel.
Winter's Orbit, Everina Maxwell (Book)
Chapter 27: brief non-graphic scene where the abusive partner is berating the other while having sex. The character is confused and being forced to relive some memories, but the scene is told from an outsider's perspective who is trying to pull him out of the memories.
Winterwood, Shea Ernshaw (Book)
The Wise Man's Fear, Patrick Rothfuss (Book)
The main character describes in vivid detail an incident where, as a child, he was chased down and gang raped by a group of boys. He later encounters a fairy who is known for using mind control to lure men into the fairy world where she proceeds to rape them to death, something she attempts to do to the protagonist. Whilst in the fairy world, he encounters a psychic fairy tree that tells him about how his mother was raped before she was murdered. Back in the normal world, he encounters a group of travellers who have kidnapped and repeatedly raped two girls. He brutally murders the travellers to rescue the two girls.
Wish You Weren't Here, Erin Baldwin (Book)
Wishes, Brittany Eden (Book)
The protagonist describes being sexually assaulted by a coworker at their office holiday party. She believes he would have raped her if he had not been stopped by another coworker.
The Witch Elm, Tana French (Book)
In chapter 11 through the end of the book, a female character describes the harrassment and attempted rape she experienced at the end of high school and soon after graduating. The experiences are discussed multiple times by different characters in those final chapters. There is also mention of harassment aimed towards a gay male character.
The Witch and the Vampire, Francesca Flores (Book)
Witchcraft for Wayward Girls, Grady Hendrix (Book)
A teen girl is revealed to be repeatedly sexually assaulted by her pastor from a young age and is pregnant with his child.
The Witcher: Blood of Elves, Andrzej Sapkowski (Book)
Multiple small incidents of sexual harassment or the mention of it are present throughout (characters being grabbed, someone trying to forcibly kiss them, smelling hair, etc.). Mention is made of a sorceress having used magic to seduce a character. An adult character has consensual sex with a 17-year-old medical student. When a group of monarchs are discussing what to do with a missing princess of a strategically important realm, one suggests forcing her to ingest drugs to the point that she will fall in love with an old, decrepit king.
The Witcher: the Last Wish, Andrzej Sapkowski (Book)
The entire book takes place in a medieval-style world where sexual assault, rape, and relationships with teenage girls are commonplace, and many passing references are present. The Witcher : the monster in this story is the daughter of a king who had sex with his sister. A Grain of Truth: a man was cursed to look like a beast after raping a temple priestess, with the scene being described with some detail. He also describes having relationships with girls at least some of whom (if not all) are implied to be underage, as well as a vampire who looks very young. The Lesser Evil: a woman recalls (without detail) the time that she was raped by a soldier who abandones her in the forest. The Last Wish: an orgy of people have sex in a room under a magic spell from a sorcerer so it is unknown whether the act was consensual or not. Despite her having turned herself invisible to avoid being seen nude, Geralt watches a sorceress bathe and uses the water and soap to see what she didn't want him to see. The Voice of Reason: a priestess has a sexual encounter with the protagonist, and from the descriptions it's not entirely clear if she is of age or not. The protagonist also relates a story where he saw a soldier attempting to rape a pre-teen girl and kills him.
The Witcher: the Time of Contempt, Andrzej Sapkowski (Book)
A non-consensual and extremely toxic relationship between two female main characters is depicted. The victim is a teenager and it is implied the aggressor is older, though exact ages are not specified. The initial description of assault details the emotions and thoughts of the victim as the assault is occurring, the morning after it happens, and the subsequent days.
The Witching Year, Diana Helmuth (Book)
The female author/narrator is physically grabbed at a gas station at night by a man with intent to harm (unclear exactly in what ways). A stranger intervenes before anything happens.
The Witch's Heart, Genevieve Gornichec (Book)
Worthy of note: spiritually/mentally invasive magic is described with language of intimate violation. The main character dealing with her traumatic experiences of this magic is a major theme. So: there is no literal assault or harassment, but there is extensive use of violation metaphors.
With the Light: Raising An Autistic Child (Book)
Without Remorse, Tom Clancy (Book)
There is a graphic depictions of rape, including an autopsy report describing the assault, characters taunting other characters by detailing the rape, and women forced into prostitution.
For the Wolf, Hannah Whitten (Book)
Wolves of the Beyond, Kathryn Lasky (Book)
All six books in the Wolves of the Beyond series have no sexual violence.
Woman At Point Zero, Nawal El Saadawi (Book)
This book contains sexual activity between minors; sexual assault by a family member; female genital mutilation; rape; sexual violence; marital rape and domestic sexual violence; gang rape; forced sexual servitude; sexual assault attempts; description of feelings during prostitution and rape threats.
The Woman in Cabin 10, Ruth Ware (Book)
The main character, who is drunk was about to open the door to the room when an intoxicated man walks up to her and puts his hand down her dress, groping her breast. She managed to fight him off before he could do anything else.
Woman, Eating, Claire Kohda (Book)
The protagonist's internship supervisor touches her inappropriately. We find out later that this supervisor has assaulted interns in the past. There are themes of exoticization and victimization of colonized women in the protagonist's mother's backstory.
The Woman Warrior, Maxine Hong Kingston (Book)
The first section is about an aunt who was driven to suicide after having a baby with a man who was not her husband. The author surmises that she probably became pregnant through rape. There is recitation of a racist story that Japanese people were created when an ape raped a Chinese princes, "who then fled to the Eastern islands to have the first Japanese child." In the final section, the author recounts being stalked by someone who she was not sure if he was an adult or her age (a teenager). He would show up at her school and at her family's laundromat. She also discusses getting harassing phone calls when her parents were out of the house.
The Women of Brewster Place, Gloria Naylor (Book)
LGBTQ characters are raped and end up losing their minds as a result.
The Women's House of Detention, Hugh Ryan (Book)
The Woods All Black, Lee Mandelo (Book)
The story is set in 1920s rural Kentucky, in a deeply religious town where it is common for older-teen girls (17-19) to marry and bear children. Some of these marriages are consensual, others are under duress. The two main characters are transgender men who are routinely and sometimes aggressively misgendered by the townsfolk. The perspective character refers with minimal detail to a past rape, and copes with PTSD in the present. The secondary main character is violently raped offscreen in a direct attempt to force a marriage. The narrative describes his wounded condition afterwards in detail, and returns repeatedly to the consequences: pregnancy, abortion, his search for justice and then for revenge.
The Woods Are Always Watching, Stephanie Perkins (Book)
Throughout the book, the characters mention and fear sexual assault. The antagonists are serial rapists targeting young women backpackers. There are at least two scenes of sexual assault, and a scene of attempted rape- though, this is interrupted.
In the Woods, Tana French (Book)
Woom, Duncan Ralston (Book)
A main character’s conception was implied to be from a rape. A main character is a prostitute because she is said to have been repeatedly sexually abused as a teen. This is not described in detail, but it’s said that a baseball bat was involved that permanently damaged her reproductive organs. There is a story about a girl whose mother was a nymphomaniac and a, “ borderline predator.” The two main characters are a man and a prostitute. Near the end of the story the man reveals that he has hired her because he wants to shove his head inside of her vagina for a, “rebirthing experience.” The woman is then drugged as he does just that. He ends up suffocating and passing out inside of her, and once she comes to she is forced to push him out of herself.
The Word for World is Forest, Ursula Le Guin (Book)
There are mentions of rape and threats of rape against the indigenous aliens life forms of a planet that is being colonised by humans. This is used to draw comparisons to the real world history and implications of colonialism.
Words of Radiance, Brandon Sanderson (Book)
A female perspective character grapples with her traumatizing memories of growing up with a controlling, physically and emotionally abusive father. Nothing explicitly points to off-screen sexual assault; however, one of his targets of abuse was his wife. The perspective character is not directly harmed, rather, he controls her through threats and violence against those around her.
Wordslut, Amanda Montell (Book)
Work for It, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Work Won't Love You Back, Sarah Jaffe (Book)
Throughout, there is discussion of sexual harassment women experience at various jobs and of the #MeToo movement. There is also passing mention of sexual violence committed by slaveholders against enslaved women.
World War Z, Max Brooks (Book)
World of Wonders, Aimee Nezhukumatathil (Book)
The Worst Best Man, Mia Sosa (Book)
Worst Laid Plans, Samantha Kolesnik (Book)
"You’ve Been Saved": two men think that a woman is being trafficked but later realize that she is not. "Unkindly Girls". the story is told from the perspective of a teenage girl whose father has killed many other teenage girls as punishment because he lusted after them. "In the Water": this part mentions of sex trafficking as part of a crime investigation.
A Worthy Opponent, Katee Robert (Book)
The female lead works at a sex club in exchange for protection from an abusive ex. She is let go from the club and is forced to marry her enemy in exchange for protection from her ex. She heavily implies her ex was sexually abusive and might have raped her a few times as she has a bad relationship with submission. At one point during a scene, she is bound and has a panic attack, hinting that she may have been bound and assaulted at one point, stating it was triggering. She gets kidnapped by her ex and its strongly implied he is about to rape her before her enemy (now husband) comes to the rescue. Worthy of note: The absuive ex does have a new partner (also abused, later it is hinted she was killed) and the abusive ex is killed later.
Wow, No Thank You, Samantha Irby (Book)
There is a passing mention in an early chapter of a song that references rape.
Wrapped Up in You, Talia Hibbert (Book)
Wretched, Emily McIntire (Book)
The Writing Retreat, Julia Bartz (Book)
On two separate occasions, the protagonist has sex while intoxicated. The second time, she is so inebriated that she cannot fully understand what's going on. The first experience is one she says she enjoyed, but initially said "no" to. There is a detailed dream sequence in which the main character is sexually assaulted and violently killed. Multiple characters involved in dubiously consensual or abusive relationships are portrayed with varying levels of sympathy or moral complexity.
Written in the Stars, Alexandria Bellefleur (Book)
Wundersmith: the Calling of Morrigan Crow, Jessica Townsend (Book)
Wyn, Lily Mayne (Book)
X: a Novel, Kekla Magoon, Ilyasah Shabazz (Book)
There is a discussion of Black men being lynched under suspicion that they raped or harassed white women. A white woman is harassed by a group of white men for being with the protagonist, who is a Black man.
Xeda, Olivia Riley (Book)
A character who employs the female romantic lead alternately threatens to sell her to another family and propositions her.
Xeni: a Marriage of Inconvenience, Rebekah Weatherspoon (Book)
Worthy of note: although there is no sexual violence, the premise of the book is that, as a condition of receiving her inheritance, the female romantic lead must marry a person she does not know. The situation works out fine in context, but on its face, this premise can be troubling.
Xora, Olivia Riley (Book)
The protagonist's boss plants drugs on her and threatens to fire her unless she participates in a particular project. When the boss first offers this ultimatum, the protagonist insists that she will not sleep with him, implying that he has harassed her or other workers before.
XOXO, Axie Oh (Book)
The Year of the Flood, Margaret Atwood (Book)
One of the leading female protagonists is raped repeatedly by her manager while she is working in a fast-food restaurant. This manager has a reputation for taking up 'relationships' with women who work for him, which he continues until he eventually becomes bored and they 'disappear.' The woman is unable to reject his advances as he is a known violent criminal with a history of abusing women and she feels he poses a real danger to her if she resists in any way. Eventually, she is assisted in escaping, but she continues to live in fear of him finding her throughout this novel and the next in the series. Another main female character works in a strip club. It is mentioned that, occasionally, ex-convicts visit her place of work and behave destructively and threateningly, forcing the staff to take precautions to prevent injury or death to the women working there. It is discussed that another female character was involved in sex work as a child; the implication was that she was made to 'act' in child pornography. The character in question, as an adult, seems ambivalent to these facts but the severe nature of these events is not overlooked by the man who she speaks with about them. Her childhood experiences are brought up (in passing or alluded to) periodically throughout this novel and the next in the series.
Year of the Tiger: An Activist's Life, Alice Wong (Book)
Yearning, Kiki Clark (Book)
The Yellow Wallpaper, Charlotte Perkins Gilman (Book)
Yellowface, R.F. Kuang (Book)
The main character was sexually assaulted in college. She was blacked out when it happened, so no details of the actual act are discussed, but her trauma after the fact is explored. She is re-traumatized when her friend writes a story based on the incident and publishes it without her consent.
Yes Means Yes! Visions of Female Sexual Power and a World Without Rape, Jaclyn Friedman and Jessica Valenti (Book)
Yinka, Where is Your Husband, Lizzie Damilola Blackburn (Book)
The protagonist goes to a date’s house, and he attempts to initiate sex with her. She says she does not want to, and he keeps saying phrases like, “you know you want it.” She keeps insisting and finally pushes him off of her. The protagonist is firm in a commitment to remain celibate until marriage, and the date later gets angry and says she can’t expect a man to wait that long.
Yoke: My Yoga of Self-Acceptance, Jessamyn Stanley (Book)
Chapter 13: the author explains how the #MeToo movement triggered her own memories of being sexually assaulted. She then tells of a time when a stranger groped her breast on a bus and a time when the doorman for the place she was staying forced a kiss on her. These experiences and her feelings about them are explained in a moderate amount of detail.
You Brought Me the Ocean, Alex Sanchez (Book)
You Had Me At Hola, Alexis Daria (Book)
You Just Need to Lose Weight, Aubrey Gordon (Book)
The author discusses the belief that fat women are either too pitiful to ever have anyone be interested in them sexually or should be grateful if someone raped them, assuming that would be the only sexual attention they get otherwise. This comes up in a specific case where an adult man raped a teenager who happened to be fat. The judge told the teenager she should be flattered.
You Like It Darker, Stephen King (Book)
This is a collection of short stories. In "Danny Coughlin’s Bad Dream" a man dreams about finding the dead body of a young woman who had been raped and murdered. The detectives on the case become convinced he committed the crime and hammer him with upsetting questions and ruminate on how he might have assaulted her. Later in the story, a police officer describes finding the real killer when he tried to assault and murder another young woman; she escaped him when he tried to assault her but was unharmed. In "On Slide Inn Road", a boy finds the body of a woman killed by two nearby men. The men attempt to kidnap the boy's mother and little sister but do not succeed. It is not clear what the men would have done with the mother and sister other than kill them, but readers may find this uncomfortable.
You Should See Me in a Crown, Leah Johnson (Book)
Your Absence is Darkness, Jón Kalman Stefánson (Book)
A male secondary character describes his youthful struggles with sexual addiction. As an adult, he rescues a refugee who had been drugged and blackmailed into becoming a sex worker. A female secondary character lovingly raised a child conceived when she was gang raped. Her rape is referred to with minimal detail.
Your Best Year Ever, Michael Hyatt (Book)
Your Driver is Waiting, Priya Guns (Book)
The protagonist is a rideshare driver, and some of her clients hit on her, making her uncomfortable.
You're Not Supposed to Die Tonight, Kalynn Bayron (Book)
Yu-Gi-Oh!, Kazuki Takahashi (Book)
There is nonconsensual groping, touching, and harassment to one of the main female characters. The main character's grandfather makes a suggestive comment towards one of the female characters. This is played for disturbingly played for laughs, and never apologized for. Later on, a rape attempt is made and stopped and taken seriously. The manga tones down the sexist harassment tropes later on until they are no longer existent, but still has perverted comments made by one of the characters that are consistently chastised. In the early episodes, an attempt to frame a male character for spying on the girls' bath is made and failed. The episode's take on how harassment should be handled is treated rather poorly. None of the characters treat the harassment attempt as a good thing.
Yukionna to Kani Wo Kuu (Book)
This manga (recommended as a "beautiful and spicy love story") starts with the MC following a women, breaking into her house and threating her so she "offers" to do anything (rape). This is supposed to be the origin of a beautiful romance.
Yuusha Goikkou No Kaerimichi, Ryouji Hirano (Book)
Zachary Ying and the Dragon Emperor, Xiran Jay Zhao (Book)
Zami: a New Spelling of My Name, Audre Lorde (Book)
The author recounts a time where she was a small child, and a shopkeeper picked her up, ostensibly to help her see over the walls of a tall bin, but in actuality, he rubbed her body against his as he picked her up and put her down. In another childhood memory, a classmate steals the author's glasses and disrobes in front of her. As an adult, while she is moving to a new apartment, the man hired to help her offers to waive the moving fee if she'd "just be quiet and stand still for a minute" while he masturbates near or on her. A friend of the author's dates a man who later traffics her into forced sex work. She later escapes. Mention of homophobic rape by Black men against Black lesbians with the intent to "take them down a peg or two." The author describes a boss she had who would call her into her office to watch her pick up a pencil. The author’s friend runs away from home after being sexually abused by her father. This friend later commits suicide.
Zara Hossein is Here, Sabina Khan (Book)
Zenobia, Morten Durr, Lars Horneman (Book)
Ziggy Stardust and Me, James Brandon (Book)
A man attempts to blackmail a teenage boy into sex with the threat of outing him. He is unsuccessful. It is handled sensitively.
Zora Books Her Happy Ever Ever, Taj McCoy (Book)
Zyla & Kai, Kristina Forest (Book)
Towards the end of the book, a boy flirts with the female romantic lead, and she does not like it.
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