Edit: Had to include all the pretty covers
A rec list ( I’ll be updating this list as I find more books )
This is male character whump only, and the books are in various genres. Descriptions will contain spme spoilers. I’ve submitted most of these to the Whumpapedia too but I’m keeping this list here for my future convenient reference.
Eric Carter series (Stephen Blackmoore) - noir urban fantasy
Eric is beaten, knocked unconscious, overuses magic and collapses all over the place, leaving his allies ( all of which hate him to a degree ) to pick up the pieces. Whump is sprinkled throughout the books, a bit of aftercare included - I’m making detailed whump lists for this series cause they’re so neat.
Orphan X series (Greg Hurwitz) - ex government spy action with found family trope
Evan gets concussed, stabbed, beaten and shot throughout the books, we get a few aftercare scenes and him struggling with the wounds after. Evan also has OCD and we see that throughout the series.
Dragon Unleashed (Grace Draven) - historical setting fantasy romance
Malachus is shot and left to die when found by a travelling group, taken in and nursed back to health. Several chapters of descriptive whump, exactly how the arrows are removed, how much pain he’s in, the healing (although sped up) process etc.
Down Comes the Night - YA atmospheric fantasy with romance at the end
Wren is tasked with healing Hal (her sworn enemy) from a serious illness. Hal is dying and at her mercy, recovering very slowly, with setbacks. They have healing sessions, one time she neglects him and he gets worse, she kidnaps him, it goes wrong and he gets hypothermia. The whump is a plotpoint.
Bloodwitch (book 3 of Witchlands series - Susan Dennard ) - YA Fantasy
Aeduan is one of the 4 main characters where each one gets a book focused more on their story. He was portrayed as a villain in the 1st 2 books. He is shot with poisoned arrows that make him lose his magic. He can’t heal and ends up at the mercy of someone who previously stabbed him in the heart (love interest). We get whump while the characters are travelling. Aeduan is not having a good time in this book.
Frost and Fugitive (Kate Avery Ellison)- YA atmospheric fantasy (Fugitive is Frost but from Gabe’s POV)
Gabe is on the run and found in the woods by Lia, shot, bleeding in the snow. He recovers in her barn, still in hiding. Several chapters of whump. He doesn’t start getting better until she brings him in the house in the warmth.
Angelfall (Susan Ee)- dystopian urban fantasy romance
Raffe is an angel that lost his wings (we get the gory details of how) and taken in by Penryn who saw what happened and hopes to use him. Whump at the beggining, some whump sprinkled later.
Homebound ( Lydia Hope) - dystopian alien adult romance
Simon is an alien that got stranded on earth years ago and had since been wasting away in prison, not before being experimented on for years. Gemma, a prison worker, helps him get his health and strength back. Whump is a plot point. Simon’s recovery journey is told in great detail.
Lighthouse duet ( Carol Berg) - Fantasy
Valen is injured and taking shelter in a monastery, on the run from his family. Lots of whump sprinkled throughout the duology. There’s one part where he ends up back with his family who punish him by parading him tied up, in a mask, in front of the entire city. In the second book he gets injured and taken care of.
Charles Hayden series by Sean Thomas Russel - Historical Naval Fiction
Hayden is stabbed, concussed, shipwrecked and gets hypothermia and is taken care of by his crew, afterwards he’s shipwrecked again and found by a doctor on the coast of France, then taken to a woman’s house where he takes a while to recover before finding the rest of the crew. There’s whump sprinkled throughout.
Cold Summer (Gwen Cole) - YA time travel - part historical fantasy romance
Kale time-travels back and forth to WW2 and pops up back home with various wounds from fighting on the front lines. Ends up getting shot and in the hospital. Lots of angst in this one.
Shades of magic series (V.E. Schwab) - NA / grimdark Fantasy
Kell (our redhead) gets in a lot of scrapes, is stabbed a lot, bleeds a lot etc. Lots of whump for Kell throughout the trilogy. At one time he is kidnapped, tied up and tears his wrists open trying to get free, almost bleeds out.
The Grim Company series (Luke Skull) - Grimdark Fantasy
Cole goes through a lot in this series. In the second book he is imprisoned and works in the mines. His health is so poorly that he’s nicknamed Ghost.
The Prince of Fools (and following 2 books by Mark Lawrence) - Grimdark Fantasy (but funny asf)
Jalan is injured multiple times, also has motion sicknes, get f-ed up in many ways. He gets rescued by his close friend and we also get some aftercare (not a lot compared to other books but these are so fun to read)
The Sons of Thestian ( & Sequel by M.E. Vaughan) - NA Fantasy
Book 3 is not out yet but this cover is great.
Rufus, a mage, largely hated by a lot of people, overuses his magic in the 1st book wich combined with a nasty head wound causes him to go into a coma from which he recovers slowly. In the 2nd book he and his little brother are found very ill in the mountains and brought to safety, where he recovers slowly once again. We find out through flashbacks that he’d been tortured on top of it.
Maradaine Constabulary Series (Marshall Ryan Maresca) - Detective Fantasy
Minox, a detective and secretly a mage who can’t control his magic, is kidnapped in the 1st book and rescued by his partner, after almost bleeding out. In the following books he loses control of his magic often, with whumpy consequences. This series contains a lot of magic overuse whump.
This Vicious Grace (Emily Thiede) - YA Fantasy Romance
Dante is a bodyguard whose secret power is that he can heal very quickly if he’s in overall good health. He gets thrown is prison for a few days (weeks?) during which his health declines, but he’s rescued, helped to heal by his employer. She is someone who can drain away other people’s powers and use them. In the final battle, Dante gets injured, but to save his employer he offers up all his healing powers for her to use. He ends up having to recover from his wounds the hard way at the end of the book.
The Thief (Meghan Whalen Turner) - Adult Fantasy
Gen is a thief who ends up on a quest, getting very injured very often in the meantime. There is aftercare at the end of the book.
Nathan Peake series (Seth Hunter) - Historical Naval Fiction
Nathan throughout the series is almost hanged, gets in many fights, is shot in the head (with some good whumpy aftercare), shot in the chest with a TBI causing memory loss, with plenty aftercare, stabbed and more.
Red Roses mean Love (Jacquie D'Alessandro) - historical romance
Stephen is shot and left for dead, found by Hayley and brought back to her house where he takes his time recovering in hiding, not disclosing his identity.
Sorcery of Thorns (Margaret Rogerson) - YA fantasy romance
Nathaniel is attacked and injured, ending up bedridden, partially recovering and then going back into action, overuses magic etc. Second half of the book has him weak and shaky.
Lightning (Dean Koontz) - time-travel urban fantasy
Stefan time-travels to protect Laura, gets shot in the process, and has to keep protecting her while injured. He ends up needing rescue himself hehe. Lots of aftercare.
