Sealed in Blood is a dark story that covers a long list of topics that might be triggering to some. In this page, I cover these different different topics as well as their portrayal in the book and the specific chapters the reader should look out for.
Please understand that this page is not for all readers. If you’re not sensitive to any of the topics listed in the book’s main page, I’d recommend closing this page to avoid potential spoilers. The risk of spoilers is very low as only chapter titles are listed here, but a keen reader might still connect some dots.
Blood / Violence
Violence against women, including domestic and state violence, is a central theme in this book, often with detailed portrayal, including blood. There is no depiction of gore or mutilation, but if blood and violence triggers you, my general recommendation is to avoid this book. If you still want to continue, the following chapters depict blood and/or violence:
- To Be a Girl
- Unveiled
- Freedom
- Repercussions
- Crimson Cry
- Needle in a Haystack
- Unwelcome Guest
- First Interrogation
- Cellmate
- The Unthinkable
- Cost of Resistance
- Bad News
- Medication
- Fighting Back
Death / Grief
The moment of dying is never portrayed in the book. However, there are multiple references to it in the form of flashbacks and dialog, where the manner of death is described with moderate detail. Below are the chapters with the themes of death and grief:
- To Be a Girl
- To Be a Woman
- Late Night
- Gone
- Cost of Resistance
- Bad News
- The Message
- How I End
Depression / PTSD
A section of this novel deals with depression and PTSD. If these themes are triggering for you, you might want to prepared when reading the following chapters:
- The Unthinkable
- Mistakes
- Cost of Resistance
- Kindred Spirit
- Backlash
- The Message
- How I End
- Nightmares
- Pain
- Medication
- Imposter
- Together
- Fighting Back
Drugs / Alcohol
While not a central theme in the book, there is some portrayal of these topics. That said, substance abuse is NOT portrayed in the book for any of the main characters, and there’s only a passing mention of it for a secondary character in the chapter Friend Request. These are the chapters that portray drugs and alcohol:
- Friend Request
- Comfort Zone
- Mistakes
Suicide / Suicide Ideation
Mental health is an important theme in this book, and there are multiple chapters where suicide, suicide ideation, or threat of suicide is portrayed with varying levels of detail. If you’re sensitive to this topic, please look out for these chapters:
- Repercussions
- Gone
- The Unthinkable
- Mistakes
- Cost of Resistance
- Recovery
- The Message
- How I End
- Pain
- Medication
- Airport
Sexual abuse / rape
There are chapters in the book where sexual abuse is portrayed in varying levels of detail. I’m going to break this into two sections for a more fine-grained content warning. The following scenes contain portrayals of passive sexual advances, sexual insults, and unsolicited sexualization of women:
- The Bug
- To Be a Girl
- Friend Request
- Comfort Zone
- Playboy
- Friends With Benefits
- The Art of Defiance
- Late Night
- Crimson Cry
- Unwelcome Guest
- First Interrogation
- Cellmate
- Cost of Resistance
- Medication
The following chapter portrays aggravated sexual assault and rape:
- The Unthinkable
Misogyny
This theme runs through the entire book, and listing all the chapters that involve misogyny will be long. If you’re sensitive to misogyny, please read at your own discretion. The book does NOT paint misogyny in a positive light in any way, and great care has been taken to portray its harms and long-lasting effects.
Torture
Physical, sexual, and psychological torture is portrayed in the following chapters, and the on-page detail can be disturbing for some audiences.
- First Interrogation
- The Unthinkable
- Cost of Resistance
- Backlash
- Imposter
- Airport
Sex
As a dark romance novel, the book contains sapphic sex scenes. I will not list all the chapters containing PDAs and kissing, as that can get long and spoil the book, but below are the chapters that involve explicit sex between the main characters:
- Unveiled
- Together
Note that sex in this context is consensual. For sexual abuse / rape, please refer to its dedicated section.