Trigger Warnings in Reviews: A Discussion

Unlike visual media such as TV shows and movies, trigger and content warnings or content notes are often not present in books. As reviewers, whenever we see such content that people might be sensitive to or might be triggering to readers, most of us try our best to identify it. With some books, the synopsis does a good enough job of presenting the main topic but with many stories, the potentially troubling content is more subtle and hidden within the story line. I originally wanted to create a scale similar to my reading experience graphic, to present content and trigger warnings for the books I read in a succinct manner. But things have changed since.

That first draft led to some very tough discussions with friends and I found that without even reading what I had written, my friends had opinions, fears and concerns about the matter. Though I have preferences about the kind of material I like reading in books, I would not consider myself sensitive to presentations of mental health, depression and suicide, to name a few. Others such as eating disorders and body image/weight issues I have no experience with at all. The dilemma that has been nagging me since my first draft is the following: As someone who is able to read such materials without being put in a position of harm, how can I do a good job of identifying triggers for books I am reviewing so that my readers can pick them up with some awareness (that is not evident from the book synopsis)? 

I did some research online and found that the trigger identification tools are aimed at helping people with triggers so that they can make informed decisions about the impact of the media on their mental health but as someone who reviews books and still wants to identify triggers for my readers, I find resources lacking. My knowledge of content triggers is also very minimal. I will never be able to read a book and identify every single situation in it which can be a trigger, and I will likely never be able to learn enough about them all. Does that warrant a ‘proceed with caution’ sign for every single book? Are we taking away something from the reading experience when we put trigger warnings? What value are they providing? I had never thought about these questions before because I had just assumed I would include the warnings when I found a book that warranted it but that’s my reading experience and my interpretation of the material.

As Malka wondered in her blog post about why trigger warnings matter to her: “The people who know the book best should be the ones to list all the details that might be triggering.” She mentions that Interlude Press has a link at the beginning of their books where you can look up content warnings for every book they publish.

I am neither a publisher, nor an author. All I have control over is my book review and the content that I own. Thus, my quest to answer my question on how to identify and present trigger warnings was leading me nowhere. I felt caught up in a debate that almost everyone has an opinion about. It had only generated more questions and why did I want to do this in the first place?

This is why, rather than telling you how I feel about trigger warnings, I want to share the discussion that I had with friends who have more experience with this than me. This is a discussion with readers, authors and reviewers and the idea is to bring as many sides of the topic together as possible, including answers to what readers look for in reviews, and the gaps that exist in the publishing world. No matter on which side of the conversation you fall on, I encourage you to be open minded to other sides of the story and share your views in the comments. Note that only relevant comments will be approved.

So many people have identified that something needs to change and I hope that this post will offer an insight into why, and possibly, what each of us can do to make this change happen. It starts with acknowledging the elephants in the room and knowing that each of us have individual power to affect the narrative.

A safe space to talk about Trigger Warnings

My friend, Joshua, was able to set up a safe space where people could share their experiences. We were all there to listen and provide support and love. In this safe space, I was welcomed and heard. In this space, I listened.

As I listened to the participants’ experiences with books they have read or tried to read without knowing what the triggers that existed in them, I felt a sinking feeling in my heart – there are so many things that happen in life and I am fortunate that I have not had many experiences that were shared.

We all know the power of words and how a story about a fictional character is able to conjure up images from our own memories or bring up deep seated fears. As I continued to be part of the discussion, I thought back to the books I had recently read and the kind of triggers that they had for the people I was interacting with. I never think twice about the use of alcohol in novels, or casual drug use. When I read a book that has miscarrage, loss of a pet, or a child getting lost in the woods, I have not experienced these first hand but these are fears related to loved ones that come up. How much of this do I put in words in a review and how much of it do I keep inside?

Content for shock value

How many times do we see on the Internet advertisements to sell your writing? Do this and your blog will see more followers! Grow your following! The publishing industry is no different. The Mentor by Lee Matthew Goldberg did a good job of presenting that side of things (see my book thoughts with updated content notes under the synopsis). It isn’t even about what might trigger people – it is about the things that authors write in their book sometimes just for shock value, whether it is extensive focus on child abuse or killing off someone just cause. When writing has a point, when the description of these sensitive situations is articulate and sensitive, readers are able to read the book, maybe even learn from it. 

In her blog post about trigger warnings in reviews, Kathryn points out how books that have triggers can still be therapeutic and provide potential closure or strategies to work with a situation. This resonated with me, and added further dimension to what I had heard. People do give up books that they feel might harm them, and trigger warnings do not stop them from picking it up in the first place. They are respectful to future readers and those who will be recommended this book.

Ultimately, whatever material we engage in has the potential to teach us something. At the same time, we have the control over whether we wish to continue to engage with something, knowing that it can potentially have a personal impact on us that someone else will not be able to predict.

By putting up content warnings we can identify, we give our readers the chance to make an educated choice.

I feel that the content warnings are a MUST when writing is for shock value. Content warnings give people the choice to not experience something they might not be ready for, or to gather up their support group if they really have to read the book (school doesn’t offer much choice unfortunately).

The Gap in Publishing

Similar to how we know where the price of a book is located, there should be a place in books where people can go to to check the trigger warnings. Currently, most books do not have such warnings and it falls on the reviewers to mention them in their reviews. But think about how much time and energy we are wasting by tagging books over and over again with the same content warning. Would it not be good to just have a place to go to where you can check if any warnings exist and add your own in case something is missing?

While we work as an industry on bringing about some form of consistency:

• If you are an author: please make potential trigger information available somewhere. You don’t have to put them in the blurb. You can leave them on your website if you like. But have them somewhere people can find them.

• If you are a reader: Please add content warnings to your reviews. Don’t worry about identifying everything – work with what you have. It is just a couple more words and something that your readers will be thankful for if they look for trigger warnings in reviews. If you end up not finishing a book because it contained triggers you were not  warned about, please still review the book and help increase awareness.

Maybe publishers and authors will start adding content warnings if they notice that readers care a lot about them.

How I have changed & You can help

I learn something new about book blogging everyday. There are so many unsaid expectations that authors, publishers, reviewers and readers have of each other, and I often get overwhelmed by the amount of responsibility on my shoulders – this is when I am half a year into book blogging. Trigger warnings are one of those expectations.

An author writes a book but every reader of the book has a unique experience of reading it. All my reviews are focused around my reading experience of the book.  I read and review for fun and ultimately, I can only speak for the material that I find I am sensitive to. Thus, going forward, after the synopsis, you will find content notes for the book. I will try to go back and do this for my prior articles as well.

As a reader of my review,

• If you want to pick up the book but have concerns about it having difficult matters, you are always welcome to comment and ask me!
• If you have read the book already and know there are content warnings that I might have missed that people should know about, add that to the comments and I’ll make sure to update my post.

My comment section is always open. 🙂

Rather than expecting people to know, we have to start building our collective knowledge and be willing to share it.

For future review requests on my website, I am asking authors to declare any triggers that I should be aware of. I might not experience them, but it would be respectful to my readers to know going in.

What’s coming up

What I present here is a collection of ideas and experiences from multiple people. These are the voices of readers and writers. I did not get a chance to talk to publishers and editors and will try my best to bring that conversation to you in the future. Goodreads is an integral part of both readers and authors, and as a result, I will be working on a possible petition so that trigger warnings can be added to book information easily. Will keep you posted on that as well!

This conversation is not about whether trigger warnings should be present or not. If you see value in them, I hope this offered further insight to you into the conversations that have been happening in pockets of the reading community. If you do not see value in them, you are welcome to not use them, however, I hope that this article offered you a different outlook on these warnings and why they matter.

Thank you for reading. 🙂

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Cover image: Photo by Scott Webb on Unsplash
Image with ‘grow’: Photo by LUM3N on Unsplash
Image about destination: Photo by Hello I’m Nik on Unsplash