Now that The Fever King ARCs are out in the world, I wanted to make a comprehensive list of content warnings available for anyone who might need them. They’re a little spoilery so I’ve placed them under a “read more” tag, so people who want to avoid spoilers won’t get spoiled.
A non-spoilery list of content warnings:
- violence
- intergenerational trauma/genocide
- immigration
- abuse
- parental death
- death of a child
- mental health and suicide
- slut-shaming
- ableist language
- drug and alcohol abuse
- emetophobia
A detailed list is under the cut.
Intergenerational trauma, genocide
- Discussion of intergenerational trauma (specifically: the Holocaust, being child of refugees, a fictional genocide).
- References to the Holocaust, references to a fictional genocide against magic-users in the past
Immigration
- A character is the child of undocumented immigrant parents, and there is discussion of anti-immigration policies, refugee camps, deportation, human rights abuses against refugees. Some expression of anti-immigrant sentiment, which is challenged.
Violence
- A character is electrocuted on page; a character is shot in the head at close range on page and this is described. There are riots which are violently subdued, and political prisoners are shot (this is mentioned in passing but not described). A girl is beaten during a protest; this is not described in great detail. A boy is punched during the same protest.
- Description of dead bodies and of illness; multiple characters are infected with a virus. Some symptoms, like hemorrhaging and vomiting, are only mentioned in passing. Other symptoms, like fevers, seizures, delirium, are described in detail.
- Torture: there is a scene describing an adolescent being tortured in the context of the fictional genocide. Details are scant; it’s a transcript of a video recording from fictional archival material. There are further passing references to torture.
- A bird is killed off-screen. Some disturbing descriptions involving the bird’s corpse.
- References to some characters being intentionally infected with a virus that will likely kill them but has a remote possibility of giving them magical powers.
Abuse
- Child abuse: there are references to physical abuse and sexual abuse of a minor—this is off-screen and not described in detail. Bruises are visible on screen.
- There is a reference to a character encountering child pornography involving a teen. This is not described in detail.
- Family abuse: there is a reference to a man who killed his family, but it is not described.
Parental Death
- The main character’s mother died prior to the start of the story. The main character’s father dies in the first chapter (off-screen, but the main character learns of his death in chapter two).
- Several side characters have at least one dead parent, from the virus. This is mentioned in passing.
- One character’s parents died in a genocide a hundred years before the start of the story.
Death of a Child
- A child dies from a virus on screen
Mental Health and Suicide
- There is some gaslighting of a character with mental illness.
- Depiction of mental illness involving paranoia and mood swings, as well as possible (unconfirmed) suicidal ideation.
- The main character’s mother died by suicide, and there are two references to him finding her body (not in great detail). Another character died in circumstances which may or may not have involved suicide; this is not described.
- The main character’s father has catatonic depression.
Ableist Language
- There is some ableist language surrounding mental illness (e.g., use of the word “crazy,” etc.) and other disabilities (e.g., use of the word “blind” to mean “ignorant”).
Sexuality
- Some instances of slut-shaming
Emetophobia
- Three references to vomiting, not described in detail.
Drug and Alcohol Abuse
- Characters drink underage. One character is a confirmed alcoholic and addict. A character uses cocaine on-screen.
- Three characters are coercively injected with a drug that suppresses their ability to use magic.