{"id":18453,"date":"2025-08-23T17:52:52","date_gmt":"2025-08-23T22:52:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/?p=18453"},"modified":"2026-02-23T14:59:22","modified_gmt":"2026-02-23T19:59:22","slug":"spoilers-tags-triggers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/moriahjovan.com\/talesofdunham\/blog\/spoilers-tags-triggers\/","title":{"rendered":"Of trigger warnings, spoilers, and tags"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fiction has many purposes. Entertainment, education, enlightenment, and learning empathy are the big four I can think of right now. Good fiction should do all these things, sometimes without your notice. As you learn and grow, the lessons may get more subtle. Maybe the book is just brain candy,1<\/a><\/sup> meant solely to entertain, and author didn\u2019t mean to do anything<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"Author\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

but habitual readers will learn something<\/em>, even if it\u2019s a masterclass in what not<\/em> to do.<\/p>\n

I don\u2019t know when or where formalized trigger warnings started in earnest (not the rare \u201cThe following film contains scenes that some viewers may find disturbing. Viewer discretion is advised.\u201d), but I first saw them on the e-publishing sites in the mid-aughts.<\/p>\n

Some took themselves very seriously and come from a place of concern (but this is not<\/em> on the Kindle buy page):<\/p>\n

This series deals with parental loss and terminal diagnosis of a loved one. I\u2019ve been through it myself, so I hope it is dealt with appropriately \u2013 with real sensitivity and empathy.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some could marginally be classified as spoilers:<\/p>\n

This is a dark romantic suspense and psychological thriller of 80,000 words, featuring a main character with Dissociative Identity Disorder. Trigger warnings for abuse, self-harm, CSA, pregnancy-related issues.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Some were cheeky extensions on the blurb:<\/p>\n

CAUTION: This title contains the jarring and bizarre juxtaposition of explicit sex and overt religion. As an added bonus, there\u2019s quite a bit of libertarian\/objectivist philosophy, politics, money, and cursing\u2014the really bad kind. I also threw in a smattering of violence, nude art, the criminal use of mint chocolate chip ice cream, rampant armchair psychoanalysis, a slew of shoulda-coulda-wouldas, and a cat named Dog.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

There are arguments for and against, of course, and I am firmly on Team No in terms of warning about problematic or disturbing content.<\/p>\n

For one, if they serve as spoilers, there is no point to reading the book if you know what happens before you can click BUY. Whether you turn to the back of the book before you start reading is your<\/em> problem, not the problem of a potential reader who resents being spoiled without warning.<\/p>\n

For two, and this is my biggest WTF objection, don\u2019t read what is clearly<\/em> marked and shelved HORROR and then complain about what you get.<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"Ah,\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Somehow trigger warnings spread to academia and classic literature, including Shakespeare, riding on the coattails of safe spaces.<\/p>\n

Students in America have been asking for \u201ctrigger warnings\u201d to be included on works of literature which deal with topics such as rape or war<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

That\u2019s not new. Book banning is a trigger warning on steroids<\/a>.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not going to go into how people should handle their trauma because that\u2019s not my business. I don\u2019t care about your trauma and you don\u2019t care about mine<\/a>. That\u2019s as it should be.<\/p>\n

I\u2019m also not going to tell you to suck it up. I\u2019m going to tell you how not<\/em> to suck it up and why you should<\/em> suck it up.<\/p>\n

AVOID IT<\/p>\n

\n
\nKnow your genres.<\/strong>
\nIf your traumas involve gore, suicide, rape, incest, eating disorders, racism, homophobia, gun violence, domestic abuse, hospitals, and small yappy dogs, be very careful about selecting horror, mystery, romance, scifi, fantasy, children\u2019s, mainstream, and literary fiction. For some genres, triggers are their raison d\u2019\u00eatre<\/em>. Why would you seek these out, then complain about it? What you actively choose<\/em> to consume is your<\/em> responsibility.<\/p>\n

Read reviews.<\/strong>
\nIf it\u2019s going to be a problem for you, it was already a problem for a reviewer. Give the reviewer a thumb\u2019s up, forget the book, and move along.<\/p>\n

Research the author.<\/strong>
\nIf they have a website (and they should) and a social media presence, you can pretty quickly deduce what they write, how, and what topics they might cover, even if you don\u2019t know how<\/em> they treat them.<\/p>\n

Look for clues in the summary.<\/strong>
\nBe more careful about reading the summary. This is a crap shoot, I\u2019ll admit, especially if you\u2019re not well versed in the genre.<\/p>\n

Do a basic search on \u201cBook Title<\/em> with problematic elements\u201d:<\/strong>
\nIf none of those are helpful, there are sites that can help you:<\/p>\n

\n
\nTrigger Warning Database<\/a>
\nStorygraph<\/a>
\nromance.io<\/a>
\nDoes the Dog Die<\/a>
\nReddit<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

Stop reading the book.<\/strong>
\nEasy peasy.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

SUCK IT UP<\/p>\n

If you\u2019ve done the above and you choose to read Book Title<\/em> anyway, that\u2019s on you.<\/p>\n

\n
\nIt\u2019s all in your head.<\/strong>
\nBooks are a safe space<\/em> to explore trauma that fictional<\/em> people experience. It\u2019s not real<\/em>. One can make the argument that yeah, it\u2019s fiction here<\/em>, but you know it happened somewhere. If it happened to you<\/em>, this might help you feel a little less alone or give you some healing catharsis. Or not. Stop reading.<\/p>\n

Reading speaks to your privilege.<\/strong>
\nSo you\u2019re uncomfortable. Whether you have or have not experienced the trauma within the story, you have the leisure time and brain space to read something that has nothing to do with your real life, especially when you can<\/em> suss out problematic themes beforehand if you\u2019re motivated enough.<\/p>\n

Sitting with discomfort is mature.<\/strong>
\nWe all have to do uncomfortable things. Dodging discomfort is immature,3<\/a><\/sup> it makes life pointless, and you\u2019re probably a bore at cocktail parties. See: strength training<\/a>. This comment on Reddit<\/a> is instructive:<\/p>\n

I read One Child<\/em> by Torey Hayden as a young teenager, maybe 13\/14 years old. It\u2019s a true story\/memoir covering the abuse and sexual assault of a child, and the resulting behaviour\/care etc. The book was from my school library, and the librarian and I had a close relationship. She did not give me any clue as to what I was about to read, just asked me to let her know my thoughts afterwards.<\/p>\n

It devastated me, but reading it was also the reason that I noticed my friend was being abused in her home the next year. If there was a trigger warning on that book I probably would have skipped it, or it likely wouldn\u2019t have been approved for a school library. Certainly, I wouldn\u2019t have picked up the clues that my friend was in trouble.<\/p>\n

Life has dark parts, I\u2019d rather encounter them in fiction\/literature first – even unexpectedly – so I have an inkling of how to manage when darkness turns up in real life.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Counterpoint<\/a>:<\/p>\n

Trigger warnings\/content warnings are for people like me. And no, I am not made of sterner stuff because I endured over a decade of sexual assault, physical abuse and emotional trauma. You have no idea what you are talking about.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Now let\u2019s parse the summary of One Child<\/em><\/a>:4<\/a><\/sup><\/p>\n

Six-year-old Sheila never spoke, she never cried, and her eyes were filled with hate. Abandoned on a highway by her mother, unwanted by her alcoholic father, Sheila was placed in a class for emotionally disturbed children after she committed an atrocious act of violence against another child.<\/p>\n

Everyone said Sheila was lost forever, everyone except her teacher, Torey Hayden.<\/p>\n

Torey fought to reach Sheila, to bring the abused child back from her secret nightmare, because beneath the rage, Torey saw in Sheila the spark of genius. And together they embarked on a wondrous journey\u2014a journey gleaming with a child\u2019s joy at discovering a world filled with love and a journey sustained by a young teacher\u2019s inspiring bravery and devotion.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Or \u2026 not. It\u2019s pretty explicit about what it is.<\/p>\n

Embrace being treated like an adult.<\/strong>
\nRead or don\u2019t, but you\u2019re responsible for your choices.\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n

HOWEVER.<\/p>\n

\u201cTrigger warnings\u201d (and I use that phrase loosely) do serve another purpose: Marketing.<\/p>\n

That thing you don\u2019t want to read? Somebody else is actively looking for it, so it behooves an author to take that into account and arrange their words accordingly.<\/p>\n

This<\/p>\n

\n
\n\"This<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n

is not a trigger warning or spoiler. It\u2019s a product description. The readers who pick up this book<\/a> already know<\/em> what it is and they are actively looking for it<\/em>. They want precision<\/em> as to their taste in tropes.<\/p>\n

THE FLIP SIDE.<\/p>\n

Calling it \u201cclean\u201d romance instead of \u201csweet\u201d is damaging and kind of derogatory<\/a><\/p>\n

It always really grinds my gears when people call it clean romance when it is closed door, fade to black, no mention of sex at all, etc. It implies that sex is inherently dirty or wrong in some way.<\/em><\/strong> Calling it sweet on the other hand doesn\u2019t have the same connotations, just that the book isn\u2019t steamy or spicy. It\u2019s also putting down those who might like a different kind of romance.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Emphasis mine.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n
The voice of reason<\/a>:<\/div>\n

I don\u2019t love the word \u201cclean\u201d, either, but it has one thing going for it: It\u2019s a very efficient term. [ \u2026 ] \u201cClosed door\u201d and \u201cfade to black\u201d only apply to certain books, since some books have no reference to sex at all. I guess \u201cno steam\u201d would work, but I feel like \u201csteam\u201d is slowly becoming less popular than \u201cspicy\u201d, so I\u2019m not sure if it will hold up long term. TLDR I\u2019m okay with \u201cclean\u201d because everyone knows what it means<\/em><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

Emphasis mine.<\/span><\/span><\/span><\/div>\n<\/blockquote>\n

THE SOLUTION.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re an author who doesn\u2019t like trigger warnings, but still need to be precise for readers who are looking for exactly<\/em> what you\u2019re selling, the solution is very simple:<\/p>\n

\n
genre \u2192 subgenre \u2192 tropes in a spoiler tag<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n\t\t\t\t
Show list of tropes<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t
\u201cThis is a dark romance that includes dub-con, graphic depictions of torture and violence, and sexually explicit scenes. If any of this content is triggering for you, please do not read this book.\u201d<\/p>\n

abduction
\nabuse
\nattempted somnophilia
\nBDSM
\nbody modification
\nbondage
\nblood and gore
\ncannibalism
\ncar crash
\ncastration
\nchild abandonment
\nchild sexual abuse
\ndegradation
\ndismemberment
\ndrugging
\ndubious consent
\nelectrocution
\nexhibitionism
\ngrief and loss
\nhumiliation
\ninappropriate use of power tools [LOL]
\nknife play
\nmale genital mutilation
\nmental illness
\nmurder
\norganized crime
\norgan trafficking
\norgasm denial
\nprimal play
\npsychological abuse
\nPTSD
\nrevenge
\nrape
\nserial killing
\nsexual assault
\nstepbrother
\ntorture
\ntrafficking
\ntrauma
\nviolence
\nvoyeurism<\/p>\n

\u201cReader discretion is advised. If you find any of these topics distressing, please proceed with caution or consider choosing a different book. Your mental health matters.\u201d<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n

It\u2019s efficient.<\/p>\n

Just \u2026 don\u2019t be this guy:<\/p>\n

\n
\n
\"Image

Yes, this really appeared on my screen one day. I screenshot the exchange.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\n

______________________________<\/p>\n

1<\/a>.<\/span>   My general review policy has changed over the years. I went through a phase of reading fluffy mid-life matrons\u2019 newly divorced adventures with magic<\/a>. I love<\/em> these things. While they have recurring themes of a woman\u2019s worth, grieving relationships, kid problems, feminism, and having to figure out what you want to be when you grow up when you\u2019re 45, they\u2019re fun and easy. I switched my review criteria from \u201cSerious Books Deserve Serious (Possibly Harsh) Critique\u201d and \u201cFluffy Books Get 3\/5 Stars Because They\u2019re Fluffy\u201d to \u201cWhat is this book\u2019s purpose and did it fulfill it?\u201d If yes, 5 stars. If no, then<\/em> I might pick it apart if I\u2019m pissy enough about having wasted my time.<\/p>\n

2<\/a>.<\/span>   The current throttling of Certain Words by first TikTok, then YouTube, is maddening. Sewerslide, grape, self-delete, unalive, and cull are just the tip of the iceberg.<\/p>\n

3<\/a>.<\/span>   Nobody<\/em> likes discomfort. Whether you like it or not isn\u2019t the point, so if \u201cimmature\u201d offends you, you may be the dog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

4<\/a>.<\/span>   This was first published in 1980. I don\u2019t know if the summary was different then.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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That\u2019s a you problem<\/a>.<\/p>\n