I am so tired. I just bought a book that I was very hyped about, but I DNF it after it had the 3rd explicit sex scene in one setting (about 20 pages in the book). And it was sold as a thriller, not erotica, romance, or whatever. I wish writers were obligated to put an "explicit sex scene" warning on every book, because more than often, I just don't want to read about it. I don't care how the main character's love interest's breasts felt/how big his dick was. I buy horror because I want to be scared, not rub one out. I also feel bad for the ace folks and SA victims who are trying to avoid this topic, but it is just everywhere, right in our face, without any warning. I am not asking for it to be banned. I just want to be told about it beforehand. Does anyone here agree?
by Meh040515
25 Comments
You could look into the book further before reading it. See if it’s for you or not.
Pass. Sometimes you read things you don’t care for. If this kind of subject matter is significantly upsetting to you, you should probably consider doing thorough research into the books you choose.
Relatedly, r/horror lit and r/extremehorrorlit would be happy to curate recommendations for you that are free of sexual content.
Tipper Gore’s paying a visit!
What’s the name of the book? Asking for a friend…
Sexuality is an inherent part of the human experience and art is about conveying that. I don’t understand the discomfort with sex in media.
StoryGraph crowd sources content warnings and you can even save the ones that apply to you most! It will warn you if a book is known to have your triggers in it, I use it myself 🙂
Content warnings listed in a discreet location has no downside. Ideally would be standard practice, as it is becoming in other media.
Disagree. Trigger warnings are spoilers in my opinion. But someone could make a website, like goodreads where people could look up books and trigger warnings.
Perhaps just stop reading altogether
Imagine thinking that horror has not historically had some of the most intense sexual scenes in all of media.
oh grow up
I think it depends on how explicit the scene descriptions are? If it is just mentioned in passing or eluded to, I don’t think those warnings are needed. But if the scenes are going to be explicit, it essentially is erotic fiction and usually are tagged as so.
You should tell us what book you were reading, OP, for us to have a better idea of what you were reading.
I bought a book and it had many scenes about people walking. I’m on a wheelchair and find it triggering. I wish author were forced to do as I say.
should there be warnings about other things or only sex scenes? wouldn’t people need warnings about everything in a horror book because it could scare them?
6 year old Redditor requests no gross kissing
Is this a joke thread?
You are joking, right????
What you’re asking for is probably unrealistic, but I think we can all agree that publishers’ marketing departments need to do a better job at distinguishing books with explicit (specifically erotic) material.
Anyone who disagrees should look at the cover and back cover copy for **Icebreaker** by Hannah Grace. It looks like a light, possibly YA, rom-com. No indication that it contains *extensive* explicit sexual content. (And no, I don’t think it’s realistic to expect people to have to do a Google deep-dive into every potential read.)
I’m not saying those awful 80s romance novel covers need to come back in style….but surely publishers can do *something* to separate cosy rom-coms from erotica.
Do you also want a warning on the front of your books for drug and alcohol use? Language? Violence?
Have you tried the children’s section?
Easier to put on slippers, than to try and carpet the world…
Check DoesTheDogDie ahead of time if you need to, they are pretty good about most content warnings, and if you find one that hasn’t been flagged you can add it.
Maybe warnings at the front just saying what’s ahead in a subtle way like “contains sexual content,” but otherwise not really. Most books have hints in their descriptions.
That’s what we need more of. Censoring.
I can appreciate where you’re coming from, I used to read Anita Blake for the action/horror. I had to stop after a while, because it turned into some kind of wish fulfillment erotica for the author.
However, I’m not sure if I want warning labels on books. Some people are all too ready to ban books for whatever reason. I don’t really want to give them an excuse.
Nope. The horror genre is pretty well known for having that sort of content in it, books or otherwise.
I don’t read spicy books, and haven’t really bumped into explicit scenes.
It would be cool though, to have a little tab (removable) inside the books explaining that stuff. Like in ao3, they get to tag it explicit, list trigger warnings, and even specify what kind of sexy stuff they get into.