Trigger Warnings Book Club

Trigger Warnings Book Club
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Join CJ and Holly, two best friends who share a love of reading as they discuss books they’ve loved, books they want to read, the best and the worst of tropes, and a lot of sports romance and fantasy books. Please note this is Trigger Warnings Book Club because we especially love to read and discuss dark romance

  1. 5d ago

    Dungeon Crawler Carl: No Pants, No Problem??? (Full Spoilers) | September 2026 Book Club

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

  2. Sep 21

    2026 Fall TBR: Ten(ish) Books for Spooky Season

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

  3. Sep 14

    Coastal Vibes and Small Town Crime | Author Interview: Courtney Giardina

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

  4. Sep 7

    A Dark Romance and a Banging Playlist | Author Interview: D.C. Powers

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

  5. Aug 31

    Kiss of the Basilisk Broke Our Producer | August Book Club (Spoilers)

    We've been teasing the sex snakes for weeks…the sex snakes are here. Our August book club pick is Kiss of the Basilisk by Lindsay Straube, and this is the full spoiler discussion. We get into all of it. The claw, where it goes and what it is made of. The blood that turns into gold. Whether Caspen's personality survives part two. Whether this even counts as a love triangle. And the quote we all texted each other about, which we cannot print here. A WARNING…we split this one(get it??). Plot first. Around the 52 minute mark it gets explicit. Genuinely explicit. If you are one of our parents, that is your stop. CURRENTLY READING  Andrew — Delivering Justice and Steel Song (Silas Sinclair), Hometown Hero, and Dungeon Crawler Carl on audio Holly — Lula Dean's Little Library of Banned Books (Kirsten Miller) CJ — More Than Friends (Cat Singleton), Our Secret Summer (R.S. Grey), The Hot Shot TROPES: monster romance, why choose, fated mates, love triangle, forced proximity, class divide, virgin heroine  SPICE: As high as it goes. This is the most explicit episode we have recorded. TRIGGER WARNINGS: Extremely explicit sexual content; dubious consent and attempted sexual coercion; sexual content in non-human form; a sexual ritual involving the love interest's father; sexual injury; blood, violence, body horror, and petrification. In the current reads segment: book banning, antisemitism and Holocaust content, domestic violence, and sibling death from terminal illness.  ALSO MENTIONED  PS I Hate You · The Selection · Challengers · Fourth Wing TELL US WHAT TO READ  We really do use your suggestions. DM us on Instagram or email hello@triggerwarningsbookclub.com  Currently reading something great? Leave us a comment wherever you're listening.  If you've been with us a while, a rating is the one thing that puts this show in front of people like you.  Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclub  Holly is running the NYC Marathon in November to support The Book Fairies! Consider giving a donation: https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

  6. Aug 24

    Monster Romance vs. Paranormal Romance — We Finally Settled It | Author Interview: B.L. Brown

    The question as old as time…are vampires and werewolves monster romance, or is it straight paranormal? We bring in a subject matter expert to give the official ruling. B.L. Brown (Britta) writes across three worlds: — the sapphic monster romance of Camp Cryptid — the witchy urban fantasy of Witch of the Demesne — and Beer Hall Brides, a cozy fairy-tale romance set at a magical Oktoberfest where every beer hall gets its own love story, built on folklore creatures from the German Alps We also get into the "what if" engine behind monster romance (but seriously, how does the anatomy of a faun work?), why you should meticulously plan your red herrings but let the romance surprise you, and the one-bed trope that was just supposed to be a joke and turned into one of her favorite scenes. Plus…romance is NOT FLUFF! The bodily autonomy thread running through Ice Planet Barbarians. The student debt and sex-work conversation buried in Morning Glory Milking Farm. Why Unhinged — yup, that Unhinged, the one about a sentient doorknob — is a genuinely smart Greek myth allegory. Britta also gives three pieces of advice for new writers, including tossing out the term "aspiring." Make sure to stay to the end, where Holly and CJ react to Sarah J. Maas wiping her Instagram to announce her upcoming Valkyrie Cycle books, A Court of Splintered Harmony and A Court of Forgotten Melody. We have some hot takes about the vibes. Andrew was on vacation. The hosts noticed. Be prepared. CURRENTLY READING Holly — Our Immortal Hearts (Lara Buckheit) CJ — Kiss of the Basilisk (Lindsay Straube), our next book club pick Britta — The Moon Raven (Grace Draven), Mr. and Mrs. X ALSO MENTIONED Unhinged · Stiff · PS I Hate You · Ice Planet Barbarians · Morning Glory Milking Farm · Emily Antoinette's minotaur romance · Cleo Evans· Krista Luna's orc series · Crescent City TROPES: monster romance, paranormal romance, sapphic, grumpy/sunshine, second chance, enemies to lovers, only one bed, "my wife” , fated mates SPICE: High in the books, frank in the conversation CONTENT WARNINGS: Explicit language; open discussion of sex, spice, and monster anatomy; discussion of sex work; brief mention of grief and cancer (PS I Hate You) FIND B.L. BROWN Website — https://brittawritesthings.com/ Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/brittawritesthings TikTok — https://www.tiktok.com/@brittawritesthings Britta keeps content warnings for all of her books on her website. Newsletter signup is in her Instagram bio. Catch her in person at Spellbound in the Valley (New York) in late October. BUY THE BOOKS Ritual Income (Witch of the Demesne) — https://books2read.com/ritualincome Faun Over Me (Camp Cryptid) — https://books2read.com/faunoverme Shady Depths (A Witches of C.R.O.W. Novella) — https://books2read.com/shadydepths Britta's ask, and ours: request indie books at your library. Authors can't get themselves stocked — readers can. Currently reading something great? Leave us a comment wherever you're listening — especially if it's a monster romance. If you've been with us a while, a rating is the one thing that puts this show in front of people like you. Instagram: @trigger.warnings.bookclub Holly is running the NYC Marathon in November to support The Book Fairies! Consider giving a donation: https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101

  7. Aug 17

    S2E13 Book Review: Morning Glory Milking Farm

    Welcome back to Trigger Warnings Book Club! We are switching it up this week; Holly and Andrew scandalized Caitlyn by telling her all about Morning Glory Milking Farm. It is safe to say we have never read anything quite like it. Follow us on instagram :⁠ ⁠⁠@trigger.warnings.bookclub ⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to our Youtube channel:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TriggerWarningsBookClub⁠⁠⁠ Want to be a guest on the podcast? Fill out our interest form:⁠ ⁠⁠https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCT-Xqb8kexY97qp2JL5TRoUYBadHl3IPjqqRVSpb_dnHIgA/viewform?usp=header⁠⁠  Check out our website where you can listen to the latest episodes, check out our TBR for the month and play the daily WROMANCEL: ⁠⁠⁠https://triggerwarningsbookclub.com⁠⁠⁠ Donate to Holly's NYC Marathon Fundraiser for Book Fairies: ⁠⁠https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101⁠ Music credit: "Jardins du Luxembourg" by Jahzzar⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/contact⁠⁠

  8. Aug 10

    S2E12 Author Interview: C.R. Lee

    Welcome back to Trigger Warnings Book Club! This week we had the pleasure of chatting with C.R. Lee, an author of both contemporary and fantasy romance (and quite possibly our most hilarious guest yet)! We covered topics such as the differences between writing in the contemporary vs fantasy romance genres, how indie books really set trends in publishing, her experiences self publishing, and of course some of her favorite tropes! If you are a fan of football romance or fantasy romances that are dark in theme but still have an MMC who worships his FMC you should check out the Never U series or the Kingdoms of Light and Shadows trilogy. check out her website: crleewrites.com Connect with C.R. Lee on social media: https://www.facebook.com/groups/crleesbanginbookshttps://www.instagram.com/authorcrlee/ https://www.tiktok.com/@authorcrlee Book 1 of Never U Series: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BSNTVGTV Book 1 of Kingdoms of Light and Shadow trilogy: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D2Y81PSB Follow us on instagram :⁠ ⁠⁠@trigger.warnings.bookclub ⁠⁠⁠ Subscribe to our Youtube channel:⁠ ⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/@TriggerWarningsBookClub⁠⁠⁠ Want to be a guest on the podcast? Fill out our interest form:⁠ ⁠⁠https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLScCT-Xqb8kexY97qp2JL5TRoUYBadHl3IPjqqRVSpb_dnHIgA/viewform?usp=header⁠⁠  Check out our website where you can listen to the latest episodes, check out our TBR for the month and play the daily WROMANCEL: ⁠⁠⁠https://triggerwarningsbookclub.com⁠⁠⁠ Donate to Holly's NYC Marathon Fundraiser for Book Fairies: ⁠⁠https://give.thebookfairies.org/fundraiser/7126101⁠ Music credit: "Jardins du Luxembourg" by Jahzzar⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://freemusicarchive.org/music/Jahzzar/contact⁠⁠

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About

Join CJ and Holly, two best friends who share a love of reading as they discuss books they’ve loved, books they want to read, the best and the worst of tropes, and a lot of sports romance and fantasy books. Please note this is Trigger Warnings Book Club because we especially love to read and discuss dark romance

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  • Creator
    Trigger Warnings Book Club
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    135
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © Trigger Warnings Book Club
  • Show Website
    Trigger Warnings Book Club

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