Content warnings in books: what they are and how to use them

A content warning is a short list of difficult topics a book contains: violence, abuse, suicide, the death of someone close, and so on. It is not a rating and not a judgement on the book. A hard book can be a wonderful one. The warning is there so you can decide whether to read it, and when.

Content warnings, trigger warnings, content notes

You will see three names for the same idea. Trigger warning (TW) came first and comes from trauma: a scene that can bring a painful memory back. Content warning (CW) is broader: anything a reader may want to know about before starting, whether or not it is linked to trauma. Content note (CN) is the gentlest of the three. The lists under each name look the same.

The most common content warnings

Every author and reviewer has their own list. These are the ones Storyfeel offers, grouped by theme, with the names you see in the app:

• Violence and harm — Violence · Sexual violence · Abuse · Kidnapping · Torture.
• Mental health — Trauma / PTSD · Self-harm · Suicide · Addiction · Eating disorders.
• Loss and illness — Death of a loved one · Grief · Terminal illness · Pregnancy / loss.
• Relationships and sex — Infidelity · Explicit sexual content.
• Language — Strong language.

Other common ones are not on that list: animal death, the death of a child, medical scenes, racism, war. You can add any of them yourself. And for how explicit the sex in a book is, readers use a separate scale: see what each spice level means.

Warnings and spoilers

A warning can give the plot away: "death of a loved one" in a romance tells you more than the blurb does. That is why many authors put their list at the back of the book or on their website, and why many reviewers hide it behind a spoiler tag. If you only worry about one or two topics, look for those and skip the rest of the list.

How to find a book's content warnings before you read it

• The book itself. More and more authors include a note at the front or the back, often called "content warnings" or "a note to readers".
• The author's website. Many keep a page with the warnings for each of their books.
• The book's description. Some publishers add them at the end of the description.
• Reviews and reader databases. Many reviews start with a list of warnings, and some book sites let readers add warnings to each book.
• Each book in a series. One book's warnings say nothing about the next.

One thing to keep in mind: no list does not mean nothing to warn about. It may only mean nobody wrote it down.

How to note content warnings yourself

When you finish a book, or while you read, note what is actually on the page. Three tips:

• On the page or only mentioned? A suicide in the characters' past is not the same as one described in detail. Write it down if it helps: "Suicide (mentioned)".
• Note what matters to you. Your list is for you, so add what you would want to know next time, even if it is not on anyone else's list.
• Your own words. If a warning you need is not in the list, type it in.

What warnings can and cannot do

A 2023 review of the research found that warnings do not make difficult material hurt less, and that they can make people a little more anxious beforehand. Most of those studies were not with readers who have lived through what the warning names, so they do not settle everything. But they point to what a warning really gives you: a choice. To read the book now or another week, in daylight, or with a chapter skipped. And putting a book down is always allowed: in Storyfeel, it goes to DNF. More on when to DNF a book.

Research summary checked in November 2026: Association for Psychological Science, "Caution: Content warnings do not reduce distress, study shows".

Content warnings in Storyfeel

• Note them. Open a book. On the Spice · Tropes · Content warnings card, under Content warnings, choose from the list, or type your own and press Enter. Storyfeel remembers your own: on your next book they are in the list too, under Your own warnings. It works for books on your TBR too, which is where warnings matter most: before you start.
• Speed fill. At the top of a book's card, once you have picked the book, this button reads the book's description and suggests genre, mood, tropes, content warnings and a summary. For warnings, it suggests only the ones the description states outright, never guesses from the plot, and always says so: Only what the description states outright — not a full check. When the description names none, it says that too: The description mentions no content warnings — that doesn’t mean there are none. Nothing goes into the book until you press Add selected.
• Nothing arrives pre-filled. Books you import from Goodreads come without warnings, and Storyfeel never adds one you did not choose.
• Filter by them. In Stories and in your TBR, the Content warnings filter has two groups: Hide books with and Only books with. It lists only the warnings your books carry. Hiding takes away only the books where that warning is noted: a book with no warnings noted still shows. In the TBR, Pick for me chooses only from what you can see.

Warnings say what is in a book; tropes say what kind of story it is. Here is our list of book tropes.

Questions

Why does Storyfeel not add warnings to every book for me?

Because a guessed warning is worse than none. A missing one reads as "this book is safe", and an invented one keeps you away from a book for nothing. So warnings come from you, or from what the book's own description says.

Can anyone see my content warnings?

No. There is no public profile in Storyfeel: your warnings, like the rest of your library, are for you.

Is this on the free plan?

Yes. The Content warnings field and its filters have no free-plan limits. Speed fill is part of the paid plans.

To keep what each book made you feel, start with how to keep a reading journal, or simply try Storyfeel free.