Traumatized dead, Jess herself is not abused but both her grandmother and Black Water Sister were. Spousal murder twice. Lots of death. An attempted rape of Jess (which is foiled), violence and injury. Also, Jess is a closeted lesbian, and she habitually lies to her family about everything for the sake of appearances, so homophobia and racism both come up.

Complicated family dynamics are a big part of this book. We found that more squirm-inducing than the violence or abuse, honestly.