If you’ve been hanging around Bookstagram or checking out authors on Facebook, you might have come across a post or an article about Sibylline by Melissa de la Cruz. This YA romantasy (from Penguin/Putnam House) has drawn a lot of backlash, and many reviewers are raising concerns. Why? Because of the content. The author included graphic sexual content with a threesome (a girl and two boys), one of whom is either asleep or dead. I’ve only read a brief clip of the scene, but based on some extra information on the plot and some help from AI, I believe he’s dead.
There are several problems with all of this.
- If the character is dead, that makes this scene necrophilia.
- If the character is alive but asleep, what happens to him is rape and nonconsensual.
- Regardless of whether he’s alive or dead, this kind of content is for much older audiences and is unacceptable for YA.
- This material passed through at least one editor, a publisher, and several promoters.
- Good Morning America picked the book as their YA Book Club Pic and interviewed the author.
- ARC readers raised concerns after reading it, claiming it was too adult for YA.
The YA genre targets readers aged 12-18, and readers can be as young as 8 or 9. There is a broad crossover market, with 74%-78% of YA readers being over the age of 18. But why include it at all? No one at Penguin/Putnam suggested a rewrite or revision. There’s no warning anywhere on or in the book that this is for adult readers. During Good Morning America’s interview with Melissa de la Cruz, the content was never mentioned, and GMA still has a post up on their website supporting the book. The ARC reviews raised concerns, but nothing was changed.
So with all the disregarded opportunities to correct a mistake, I have lots of questions: Why label it as YA and not adult? Is there any genre where necrophilia or nonconsensual sex is acceptable? How did this material bypass the editors/promoters/publisher? Are publishers specifically targeting younger readers with graphic content? If Melissa de la Cruz and her publisher see nothing wrong with this kind of content, where does it stop? If publishers feel there NEEDS to be “sex on the page” in YA**, the days of picking a book off the shelf at B&N are gone.
An interesting fact is that the author shut down comments and issued no apology. I also noted this book is the first in a duology. Will a publisher release a second book if the first is rated so poorly? (On Goodreads, over a quarter of readers gave it a rating of 1 while 50+% of Amazon readers gave it a 1. Clearly, this isn’t something the reading public wanted.)
I wish I could offer a solution to avoid all the garbage that’s being pushed onto the shelves and into our and our kids’ hands. Here are a few things I do:
- Read books by authors who promise a clean read. There are plenty. Just beware of those that promise the confusing blend of “sweet and spicy.” See below for my list of indie and traditionally published authors.
- Check the Amazon reviews—there’s a section above the reviews for each book that reads Looking for specific info.? I’ll type “smut,” “spicy,” “language,” or “violence” to see if there are other reviews mentioning these words.
- Read books recommended by other authors. I try to recommend mostly clean reads, and if they’re not, I’ll tell you what I found between the pages.
** In a newsletter last month, I mentioned author Lorie Langdon’s most recent message from her publisher—her newest YA manuscript wouldn’t sell unless it had sex on the page. I’m wondering who’s asking for this kind of content. I know of plenty of readers who are looking for the opposite—stories with a riveting plot, action, and interesting characters. No smut/spice needed.
Below, I have a list of clean traditionally published authors and a list of small press/indie authors just for you. 🙂
Clean Traditionally Published Authors:
Some are Christian authors. If the author doesn’t write consistently clean books, I’ve included the clean titles for you.
- Rebecca Ross (Letters of Enchantment Duology–sex is mentioned but not explicit and the characters are married.)
- C.J. Redwine
- Lorie Langdon
- Brandon Sanderson
- Marissa Meyer (The Lunar Chronicles)
- Brigid Kemmerer
- Shannon Hale (Princess Academy and The Goose Girl)
- Gail Carson Levine
- Nancy Campbell Allen
- Kathy Tyers
- Nadine Brandes
- Lisa Bergren
- Rachelle Nelson
- Morgan Busse
- Jamie Foley
Clean Independent or Small Press Authors
- Janeen Ippolito
- Sarah Delano White
- Mary Meacham
- Laura Zimmerman
- Carrie Ann Noble
- H.L. Burke
- Haley Reese-Chow
- E.A. Hendryx
- Savannah Jezowski
- E.J. Kitchens
- Sarah Ashwood Blackwell
- Savannah Goins
- Pam Halter
- Dawn Ford
- J.M. Hackman 😊
If you have kids, protect them. My oldest child was a bookworm, and it was really difficult to stay on top of what she was reading. Unfortunately, we can’t rely on the publishers to keep explicit content from our kids.
In my newsletter this month, I chatted about why I’m choosing to pursue independent publishing. I have several reasons. One reason was because a freedom, one I always assumed would be available, seems to be on shaky ground.
Last month, I played around with ChatGPT, an artificial intelligence bot. I asked for poorly written paragraphs for an editing exercise I was planning. On a whim, I asked for a Christian fiction example. What I got didn’t look anything at all like Christian fiction. There was no mention of faith, grace, or mercy, no life-changing events. It mentioned the sun rising and feeling positive as a new day began. I would categorize the paragraph inspirational, although I didn’t find any of the vague drivel truly inspiring.
There’s an audience for every subgenre of romance—romcoms, suspense, military, sports, bully, motorcycle clubs, and mafia (Don’t even get me started on those last three–that’s a whole ‘nother post!) Anyway, my point is whatever your preferred subgenre, there’s a sizeable group on social media that stands with you. Almost every romance subgenre references “book boyfriends,” as well. Readers dive into the fandom and enjoy these fictional characters with new content, fan art, book clubs, and discussions. The characters are perfect, swoony, and say and do all the right things (as long as they’re written and edited correctly!) 😉
Nashville influencer Kierra Lewis shared enthusiastic (and sometimes explicit) BookTok posts about the Seattle Kraken and player Alex Wennberg. The Kraken flew her out to see Game 4 of the second–round playoff series against Dallas. She held up a sign during the game with “Krack My Back” emblazoned across it. (A riff on the saying “Break my back,” which references vigorous… well, I’m sure you can fill in the blank.) When the Kraken lost, they flew Lewis home and stopped posting BookTok content. It was just as well, since they had received complaints about the players being objectified.
When Alex let it be known he was uncomfortable because of the “aggressive language”, the Kraken team issued its own statement. “Social media provides us with a great opportunity to connect with new audiences and we originally engaged with the BookTok community in this spirit. However, this is a good reminder that unintended consequences may arise. It is disappointing that a small percentage of online commenters crossed a line.”