Hi all,
I am generally a compulsive reader, for me, reading is very much an obsession, but I have found a number of books over the past year or so, that I feel, though they are good books, some of them should come with a health warning. As an example, I read “Always in December” by Emily Stone, it is an amazing book, about a woman called Josie Morgan, it’s set at Christmas time, going to mail a letter she has an accident & runs into Max, they go for drinks & end up spending a very special Christmas together, then Max leaves, but fate keeps throwing them back towards eachother, I absolutely loved it, but, (Spoiler alert,) at the end, Max dies of a brain tumor, 
, my mom died of a brain tumour, in the book there was absolutely no warning this was coming till right at the end, & sadly it brought up some traumatic memories of my mom collapsing, things like this make me feel they should put some kind of warning notice on the back of books when they include content that involves subjects like cancer, car accidents, self harm, abortion or miscarriage, alcoholism, abuse or violence, so those of us who have been through such traumas can be prepared if it contains this kind of content.
That’s a tricky one@pandaprincess because I suppose there so many things that would be traumatic to someone it wouldn’t be feasible to warn of all of them Though I do recognise what you are saying and have felt the same random things any time any place Just cause me distress Even seeeing someone wearing certain clothing off a certain age and build and I have decided I am better to just look away or if it’s on the to or radio, turn off, or in a newspaper or magazine or book, I just stop reading and ntdo t return to it.
It’s not easy
I completely agree. They do it for films, so why not for books. Like, genuinely, why not.
However, for me I can’t watch films because it seems as though all of them contain parental loss. I can’t even watch The Lion King, now!! 
Perhaps because films and books are about the human condition mostly and inherently encompass all of what it is to be human with all the joy and all the suffering so it’s to be expected there’s going to be something someone will experience as distressing Books though do generally I find have quite a bit of information in the jacket about what’s contained in the book I find that helpful And I have a quick scan through to see what’s there that I don’t want to read I avoid films I know will have themes I will find distressing and read reviews to be sure I’m not going to be taken by surprise
It hurts when something suddenly is there in front of you you would rather avoid
Hi,
Thanks for your replies.
@Burgled I agree 
, if they can do it for movies, why not do it for books, valid point. I know what you mean about the lion king, the last movie I saw at the movies with my mom was Disney Pixar’s “onward”, brothers Barley & Ian go on a quest to find a phoenix gem, so they can speak to their dad who passed away years ago, it’s an amazing movie, but now I can’t watch it without crying 
.
@Bluebell1 very insightful, life experiences are often inspiration for many books & movies, though I agree with you that there will always be things in life that bring up certain memories, & we can’t baby proof the world to avoid all the bad stuff, but at the same time, to me, my reading is like a safe space for me to indulge & forget the bad stuff for a while, it wouldn’t hurt to at least give us a heads-up when it contains upsetting content.