There’s been a few times where I’ve suggested books to people and they’ve come back afterwards to say they wish they’d known it involved…rape/assault, slavery, death of an animal or child, etc. I never want to unintentionally hurt someone, but it also feels awkward to randomly say “this book includes x,y,z” and I worry I’ll inadvertently offend for making assumptions about what might be upsetting. Does anyone use “trigger warnings” or how do you handle this?
by sardonicseas
5 Comments
My go to, if a book is kinda bad with triggers (like The Last Housewife, which I read recently) is, “If triggers are a problem for you either look them up or you can feel free to ask me because there’s a lot in this one.”
Mostly I figure people that read usually look up books on their own afterward? Like I can’t imagine ANY of my friends I suggest books to not at least checking for the synopsis etc.
I always mention what’s in it if there are difficult scenarios.
Or say to check out the trigger warnings first that way they know there may be something they might not like.
But I always appreciate when someone says “heads up there’s some trigger warnings” not because I’m triggered by something but I don’t like to read about violence against women/children/animals.
So idk it doesn’t hurt anyone to mention they should look into the trigger warnings and if they don’t well that’s not your fault.
Nope. The onus is on the person who received the recommendation to look it up. The world around them won’t manage their triggers for them.
No. I assume people Google a book before reading it if they need trigger warnings.
Also if you are someone who wants trigger warnings definitely download Storygraph because they always have trigger warnings listed for books.
Unless I know for sure they won’t be bothered, I warn about the heavier stuff that isn’t readily predictable from the kind of book it is. Say, warning about violence in a war book is a bit silly, but if there’s an outstandingly graphic description of atrocities, I will give a heads-up because that kind of thing is upsetting to a good portion of people. And I’ll *definitely* give a warning if the book seems like it’s going to be a light read but it’s actually pretty dark. Also, rape is one of these things that is a deal breaker for quite a few readers and tends to just randomly come up, so it’s often worth mentioning.
If you’re worried about spoilers or anything like that, you can ask them outright whether they want a warning beforehand or would prefer to go in blind.