book recs, author services, general badassery
  • Blog
    • Free Romance Reads
    • Our Thoughts
    • 1-Click Wonders
    • Author on Authors
    • Chattin' with Authors
    • So You're New To...
  • Book Recs
  • Reviews
    • 5-Star Reads
    • Contemporary Romance
    • Historical Romance
    • New Adult Romance
    • Paranormal Romance
    • Romantic Comedy
    • Romantic Erotica
    • Romantic Suspense
    • Teen Young Adult
    • Hall of Shame
  • About
    • Contact
    • Review Policy
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Advertising on Romance Rehab
  • For Authors
    • Romance novel blurb help
    • Referral Program
    • Romance Author Services
    • Online Writer's Resources
    • Do It Yourself Blurb Help
    • Proofreading Test >
      • Proofreading Test Answers
  • Blog
    • Free Romance Reads
    • Our Thoughts
    • 1-Click Wonders
    • Author on Authors
    • Chattin' with Authors
    • So You're New To...
  • Book Recs
  • Reviews
    • 5-Star Reads
    • Contemporary Romance
    • Historical Romance
    • New Adult Romance
    • Paranormal Romance
    • Romantic Comedy
    • Romantic Erotica
    • Romantic Suspense
    • Teen Young Adult
    • Hall of Shame
  • About
    • Contact
    • Review Policy
    • Guest Post Guidelines
    • Advertising on Romance Rehab
  • For Authors
    • Romance novel blurb help
    • Referral Program
    • Romance Author Services
    • Online Writer's Resources
    • Do It Yourself Blurb Help
    • Proofreading Test >
      • Proofreading Test Answers
Picture

Why romance novels should have trigger warnings and disclaimers

3/9/2020

8 Comments

 
Why romance novels should have trigger warnings and disclaimers
I’m going to admit to a dirty little secret. I have author friends who spy for me in a bunch of author groups on social media. Nothing nefarious, of course. They just keep me posted on current events and give me a heads-up on stuff that’s bothering authors from one day to the next. And recently, one of my favorite spies told me that there was a particularly heated debate in one group about trigger warnings and disclaimers in romance novel blurbs. The authors overwhelmingly disliked trigger warnings and disclaimers and felt like they were “spoilers.”
Now, we’ve talked about trigger warnings before. At that time, I was fairly indifferent on the matter. And I’d never say that I want super detailed warnings on every book that give away important plot elements. But my reading time is so precious and valuable these days, and I have so many topics that are a “hard pass”, that I now NEED trigger warnings, people. And recently I came across a book that I NEVER would’ve wasted my time on had I known the subject matter. With that in mind, here’s where I stand on trigger warnings and why I think romance novel authors need to embrace them. 

(Sidenote: Here’s a full disclaimer of my own. I don’t have any personal triggers. I was never abused in any way. Nothing in a book will send me into a depressive state or hurt me in any way. There’s just stuff I don’t like reading about and don’t want to see in my romance novels. So, in my opinion, trigger warnings and disclaimers aren’t JUST about not wanting to hurt any readers—they’re also about helping me weed books out of my TBR pile. And trust me, if you’re an author who doesn’t provide a disclaimer/trigger warning and I run into one of my “hard pass” topics in your book, you’ll WISH you’d helped me weed it out of my TBR pile, because my review will NOT be flattering.)

Things that require trigger warnings (in my not-so-humble opinion)

via GIPHY

If these things are in a romance, I think audiences deserve a heads-up:
  1. Rape
  2. Domestic abuse
  3. Child abuse (ALL FORMS)
  4. Self-harm
  5. Suicide
  6. Extreme drug abuse/overdose
  7. Animal abuse

And if the hero or heroine dies at the end of a book and there’s no HEA, I don’t need a disclaimer or trigger warning. I’ll need the author to reclassify the book because IT’S NOT A ROMANCE.

They don’t actually spoil the plot

via GIPHY

I’m not saying authors need to provide a full dissertation of every plot point in their book that may or may not offend someone. I’m saying there are some hot button topics that should be disclosed (see above). And telling me that your story contains graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse (for example), does not spoil your plot in any way. Giving me that information doesn’t tell me who was abused, how that abuse impacted their lives, or what they’re going to do as a result. The plot is safe. But the child abuse disclaimer will keep me away from the book, which is a good thing (trust me) for everyone involved.

I don’t read romance for the trauma

via GIPHY

I’m OK with books that deal with some dark subject matter. Characters who have painful pasts and tragic histories don’t disturb me. But I read romance because, a) I love a happy ending, and b) I love character-driven stories that are emotional and centered on the romantic relationship of the main characters. I see very little reason for romances to contain graphic on-the-page violence/abuse. But I’m also not one to tell an author how to write his or her story. So, if an author feels that graphic scenes are necessary to tell their story, that’s fine. Just give me a heads-up. I don’t feel like that’s too much to ask. If I wanted to be shockingly traumatized, I’d watch Criminal Minds.

Lazy warnings are just as bad as no warnings

via GIPHY

The book I mentioned earlier that I would’ve NEVER picked up had I been properly warning? This was the warning: 

 “It deals with sensitive subjects some may find triggering.”

You know what? Sometimes I feel triggered when the grocery store moves aisles around after I’ve finally figured out where everything is. I think Disney’s choice to kill off Ben Solo after establishing that he’d been abused since childhood was a “sensitive subject” that often triggers me into lengthy rants. Those things are different than on-the-page, graphic descriptions of child sexual abuse, which is what this book featured. The lazy trigger warning that could apply to a million different possible triggers of various intensities was useless. It should’ve been spelled out. ​

And don’t tell me to do the research myself!!

via GIPHY

Another book I stumbled across recently told me that it contained some possibly upsetting content and that I should check out the reviews to take care of myself. Why should I have to scroll through reviews to figure out what the author is cryptically trying to warn me about? Just give me a clear warning, darn it! I don’t have the time or the inclination to read all the reviews looking for that one kind reader who is willing to tell me what the author is hinting at.
​

So, long-story-short, brief-but-clear trigger warnings and disclaimers in romance novel blurbs: 
  1. Are necessary to help readers weed books they’ll hate out of their TBR piles
  2. Are necessary to help protect readers who have suffered horrific abuse and trauma in their lives
  3. Don’t spoil anything

But that’s just my opinion. What’s yours? Let’s discuss. 

8 Comments
Sarah
3/9/2020 09:02:00 am

I'd add miscarriage/infertility/etc to this list... It can be such a deeply painful topic for some people and I can't even tell you the number of times I've come across it with no hint in the blurb or reviews!

Reply
Lin
3/9/2020 11:11:44 am

I don't really have any triggers as I've never been a victim thankfully, but I was appalled by the graphic child abuse in LJ Shen's latest book.

In truth, it does have a disclaimer that says 'It deals with sensitive subjects some may find triggering' but I think this one might have been a bit more detailed in its trigger warning; like I said, I never had to deal with child abuse but I was nonetheless quite upset reading about it in such graphic detail.

Reply
Caro link
3/11/2020 02:26:25 pm

I agree with you 100% on this. I also have been reading/writing fanfic for long enough that I’m used to reading both the warnings and the tags on AO3 to see if the story is something I’m interested in reading at that moment, or if it’s a permanent hard pass. I don’t read romance for trauma, either, and while I can enjoy some good death and destruction in a mystery/thriller, there are still things I don’t want to read because, hey, limited time. A well written trigger warning doesn’t spoil the story, but gives me a heads up that this isn’t necessarily something I want to deal with.

In contrast, if it’s a historical event, I’m not quite as concerned about warnings. I’ve seen some people issue warnings of major character death for Hilary Mantel’s conclusion to her Cromwell series, and I’m “What did you expect? You can look it up on Wikipedia without spoiling the novel itself.” And, yes, I have seen people who are against trigger warnings ask if we have to put them on historical fiction. (I’m not talking about warning for graphic violence, rape, child abuse, etc., but that a major character who’s a historical figure dies.)

Reply
Leslie @ She Reads Romance Books link
5/25/2020 07:26:08 pm

I absolutely agree with your three points. There are certain topics I don’t enjoy reading and it would help me with my TBR pile to weed those out. I get so flustered when I start a book and then get hit with something I really didn’t want to think about. I had reached out to Goodreads awhile back and asked if they would consider a trigger warning...

Reply
Emmy George link
11/26/2021 03:48:45 pm

Any chance I can link to this page from my site? I'll be posting about things related to reading/writing that resonate with me. As a reader (and so now as an author) I think CWs/TWs are super important for all the reasons you mentioned. I would like to link to this as something I've read/agreed with.

Reply
Jennifer, Romance Rehab
11/26/2021 04:27:56 pm

As long as you credit Romance Rehab, link and share away! Thanks so much, Emmy!

Reply
Diana Pillay
9/4/2022 04:03:35 pm

Yes, child abuse takes me out of the story completely, I skip any Hh intimate scenes afterwards as they are difficult to stomach in close proximity to the decription of the abuse. Some authors are better than other at keeping those events very distant. I've read too many recently where child abuse is an unexpected part of the backstory, and it becomes really awful to think this could be someone's real story. Taking pleasure in the book (or anything) seems heartless for a while afterward. We need romance for the guarantee of happiness

Reply
Mj
9/18/2022 10:57:06 pm

I agree with you completely. It makes me wonder, if the author doesn't offer an effective trigger warning for something like graphic child abuse, what is the point of calling it a romance? Its already not a romance and any review will be bad or non existent. If people are not giving a bad review, why not? Who are these people. It says a lot about an author, spoiler made.

Reply



Leave a Reply.

    Romance Rehab newsletter sign up

    FOLLOW US 
    Reedsy Top Book Reviewer 2019

    RSS Feed

    Archives

    February 2025
    January 2025
    July 2024
    May 2024
    April 2024
    March 2024
    January 2024
    November 2023
    September 2023
    July 2023
    June 2023
    May 2023
    April 2023
    March 2023
    February 2023
    January 2023
    December 2022
    November 2022
    October 2022
    September 2022
    August 2022
    July 2022
    June 2022
    May 2022
    April 2022
    March 2022
    February 2022
    January 2022
    December 2021
    November 2021
    October 2021
    September 2021
    August 2021
    July 2021
    June 2021
    May 2021
    April 2021
    March 2021
    February 2021
    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017

Picture

BLOG
FREE Romance books
​Book Recommendations

Our Thoughts
1-Click Wonders
5-Star Reads
Authors on Authors
Chattin' with Authors
So You're New To...
What Not to Read
REVIEWS
​
Contemporary Romance
Historical Romance
New Adult Romance
Paranormal Romance
Romantic Comedy
Romantic Erotica
Romantic Suspense
Teen/Young Adult
ABOUT
Contact
Review Policy
Guest Post Guidelines
Advertising on
​Romance Rehab

​
FOR AUTHORS
Online Writer's Resources
Proofreading Test
ROMANCE AUTHOR SERVICES 
Romance novel blurb help
Romance Remedy program

Referral program

Romance author services
  • Book cover critique
  • Animated book covers and social media graphics
  • Beta reading
FREE Romance Rehab newsletter: ​Subscribe here
KnockinBooks LLC is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com.
​© 2020 KnockinBooks LLC