There it was — her uncle’s book. Senior Manasi Prasad, at the time only ten years old, curiously reached for the novel she had seen her uncle reading during their vacation in South India on the bedside table. She glanced in the general direction of where her parents’ voices were just audible above the sounds of the forest before carefully flipping to the text on the back of the novel. Architects? Elite art guild? The blurb sounded really interesting, she decided, and didn’t hint at any inappropriate content that her parents wouldn’t want her reading — may as well read it to kill time. But after a while of being lost in the pages and characters, Prasad furrowed her brow at the passage before her. What are those characters… doing? Prasad had stumbled across an example of the genre of books featuring explicit sexual content, dubbed “smut” by readers. 

Smut has been developing as a genre for a long time, with a popular example being “Fifty Shades of Grey” by E L James that was published in 2011. However, it has been rising in popularity since 2020. Smut is considered to be a form of pornography due to its descriptive scenes of sex. With the emergence of BookTok, a growing community on TikTok that discusses a multitude of books, new interest is being sparked for smut through its promotion of books like “Twisted Games” by Ana Huang and “Fourth Wing” by Rebecca Yarros, which are marketed specifically for their explicit sexual content. These books often go “viral,” breaking out of BookTok’s niche to become national bestsellers.

However, there is nothing inherently “wrong” about the genre or its increasing prevalence; in fact, the rising popularity of smut could be considered a product of increasing acceptance of female sexuality, a sign of progress for women who are still combating harmful sexual stereotypes. And generally, as long as BookTok’s promoted smut stays on adult romance shelves, it is inoffensive. Despite that, if you walk into your local Target’s children’s books section, you may be surprised to find a book like “Icebreaker” by Hannah Grace sitting on the shelf next to casual reads like “Babysitters Club” or “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” “Icebreaker”’s cute, cartoonish cover and lack of content warnings is one infamous example of many books promoted on BookTok that feature covers that make no indication of the sexual content within and blend in between children’s books or young adult novels. 

While it may be a creative decision by the author or marketing teams, the unassuming outward facades of smut books can lead to misunderstandings about the intended audience or genre. Like Target, many stores end up selling BookTok smut books like “It Ends With Us” or “A Court of Thorns and Roses” by Sarah J. Maas in sections besides romance or adult fiction. This can lead to instances of parents or school libraries unknowingly buying or lending explicit books to children due to their misleading outward presentation. Additionally, the young adult (YA) genre, which many BookTok books are sorted into, encompasses a younger age range of 12-18 years old demographic. 

“There’s a lot of young adult fiction or fantasy books that are for kids who used to like fantasy from a middle school level, like ‘Wings of Fire’ or ‘Harry Potter,’” Prasad said. “They’re looking for more books like that. But they tend to stumble upon explicit content because smutty romance books are mismarketed.”

Being exposed to explicit content in books early on can have a significant impact on younger children. According to the Institute for Family Studies, the average age of exposure to pornographic content is 12, and this low average could be contributed to by the presence of smutty books in places accessible to children. Additionally, this early exposure takes a toll on the children that read it. They tend to have more body issues and acceptance of sexual harassment. Kids tend to hold themselves to a similar standard of what they read, which may lead to body issues due to the description of women in some explicit books. Additionally, many books promote unhealthy standards when it comes to sex, such as a male lead constantly chasing the female lead, making any real-life sexual harassment seem normal. These effects can develop and lead to other mental health issues as they grow older, if the initial effects are not treated early enough, only worsening the consequences of encountering explicit content at such a young age.

The issue with explicit content in books compared to other forms of media is that it’s harder to regulate; there is no way of knowing what is exactly in the book until you read it. Unlike the stricter TV rating system, there are no clear content warnings in most books unless they are extreme cases, like when there is triggering content related to abuse or violence. However, this is not enough for readers to understand what kind of content is in the book unless they conduct extensive research online, a task that most readers do not do.

“For movies, if they have explicit content, we keep them away from the children and we say, ‘Hey, this has mature content, so we’re gonna make it R-rated,’” Prasad said. “So I think the same should be done with books.”

At MVHS, it’s important to acknowledge the dangers that come with reading explicit books. Series like “Throne of Glass,” a fantasy series involving corruption and politics, but also explicit romance, are available at our library, so students can access them without knowing what they are in for. The covers of the books, which have a hooded character holding a weapon and in a stance ready to fight, imply that it is a fantasy series, making it seem like an interesting read, but it gives no warning for the explicit romance that unfolds throughout the series. It’s important to recognize that these types of books are within students’ reach and to prevent any unwanted exposure, adequate research must be done before reaching out to grab a book from the shelf. Even a simple Google search about the content can provide some insight about the inappropriate material in a book.

In the end, the issue of misleading marketing in the book industry is something that can’t be ignored. The solution is not just about more research and caution, but rather publishers, bookstores and authors being responsible for the content they are producing. They should be more transparent about the content in these books through their marketing and should be held responsible for including “content warnings” on their book covers. They must be aware of the fact that books are sold based on covers, summaries and titles, which initially mask the explicit content. It’s not enough to label it as “YA” and expect readers to understand the maturity of the content. Having clearer warnings will help parents, students and teachers make informed decisions on what they read. Ultimately, no one should be exposed to explicit content before they are ready, especially not through a book they thought would be an escape.