Prisoner of Night and Fog

A lot of violence, both past incidents and in the story's present, is mentioned or described briefly. Most of it's in the form of fistfights and punches, with some blows and resulting pain described in detail. Being choked is described in detail. The central mystery involves the shooting death of Gretchen's father, and the past incident is revisited several times, along with some descriptions of forensic-type evidence from gunshot wounds. Blood is mentioned a half dozen times or so, usually only briefly, but one throat-slitting includes a description of spraying and then pooling blood. A dead pet cat with a broken neck is briefly described, and a horse being whipped is described in detail.

Gretchen and Daniel kiss a half-dozen times or so, always above the shoulders, and the kisses are described briefly. Once they lie fully clothed on a bed and fall asleep together. Gretchen's nudity while swimming in a river is mentioned once but not described. A hotel that rents rooms by the hour and is a front for prostitution is mentioned, and background people are described as "grappling" in the dark. Hitler asks Gretchen if he can kiss her during a tense and menacing interaction, but she runs away.

True to its historical setting, smoking is fairly common, and cigarettes, tobacco, and their smells are mentioned a dozen times or so, mostly in the background. Once an adult offers Gretchen a cigarette, which she declines. Drinking beer is mentioned several times, mostly with meals, and older teens are depicted drinking beer a couple of times. It's likely the 17- and 18-year-olds would have been of age in the book's setting. A minor adult character is depicted as a closet drinker, probably due to a past trauma, and the sound of sloshing from his hidden flask is mentioned.

Parents need to know that the historical setting in early-1930s Munich makes Prisoner of Night and Fog a good way to introduce teens to the background causes of World War II and the Holocaust in some depth. Hitler's an important character, and kids can think about whether he had a clinical mental illness and about how someone with ideas like getting rid of all the Jewish people in Germany could gain so much political power. Violence is mostly in the form of fistfights, riots, and protests, but there's one throat slashing that includes detail like spraying blood. There's also a couple of instances of violent treatment of animals, including the killing of a beloved pet cat. The love interests kiss a half dozen times or so, but the descriptions are brief and the action's always above the shoulders.