Why don’t books have content ratings?

We have them for movies. We have them for TV. We have IMDb parental guides, Common Sense Media, MPAA ratings, and a thousand different ways to figure out whether a movie is appropriate before you sit down to watch it.

But books? Good luck. Hope you enjoy wandering blindly into the smut mines.

In episode 2 of Narrative Decay, Rebekah Edwards and Seth Cordle are joined by Rebekah’s husband, Joshua Edwards, to talk about why books desperately need better content details—not censorship, not bans, not pearl-clutching panic, but clear information so readers and parents can make their own choices.

We get into the difference between content warnings, trigger warnings, and content details, why “only 6% smut” is still a lot of smut, why sexual content often hits differently on the page than on the screen, and why readers should be able to know what they’re picking up before they’re already attached to the characters.

We also talk ACOTAR, Assistant to the Villain, Hunger Games, Project Hail Mary trailer spoilers, Harry Potter and witchcraft ratings, political content in fiction, Christian readers, parents trying to keep up with voracious kids, and Rebekah’s in-progress book rating app that may or may not be powered by her AI son, Clanker.

PLUS, we ask the real question: does wanting content details mean you’re afraid of being challenged, or does it just mean you’re a grown adult who gets to decide what you want to put in your own brain?

In this episode:

📚 Why books need content ratings/content details

🎬 Why movie ratings don’t translate perfectly to books

🔥 The problem with smut being hidden until you’re already hooked

👨‍👩‍👧 Why parents need better tools for teen and YA books

⚠️ Content warnings vs. trigger warnings vs. content details

🧙 Harry Potter, witchcraft, religious themes, and rating nuance

🚫 Why knowing what’s in a book is not the same thing as banning it

🤖 Rebekah’s book rating app and the rise of Clanker

🦁 Why Lion Publishing wants to be upfront about our own books

Follow Lion Publishing:

Website: https://lionpublish.com/

YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Lion-Publishing

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lionbookpublishing/

X: https://x.com/lion_publish

TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lionbookpublishing

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lionbookpublishing/

Follow the hosts/authors:

Rebekah: https://rebekahedwards.com/links/

Seth: https://linktr.ee/sethcordleauthor

Support the launch:

BackerKit: COMING SOON

Like, subscribe, and share as we push back against Narrative Decay — one good story at a time.

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.