Do Better: SFF without Sexual Violence discussion

Hey everyone! Where did your reading journey take you in March? Let us know what you liked, didn't like and what (if any) you think might be suitable for the DB bookshelf-database

Pop by anytime this month and share. Elena and I will research/validate all member's suggestions for the DB bookshelf-database by the end of the month.

Note: For any books you are recommending, let us know of any common content warnings we should add. Here is our current list: (view spoiler)[

Animal abuse
Animal Death
Body Image - (fat shaming, eating disorders)
Bullying
Child Abuse
Child Death
Child Neglect
Graphic Violence
Homophobia (that is acknowledged)
Low female rep
Memory Manipulation
Oppression
Racism (that is acknowledged)
Self harm
Sexism (that is acknowledged)
Slavery
Transphobia (that is acknowledged)
Enbyphobia (that is acknowledged)
(hide spoiler)]

I have... ONE book that qualifies for DB among my March reads and... it's already on our shelf 😅 (It's Victor LaValle's The Devil in Silver)

Keeping my fingers crossed some of you would have had better luck!

Me too, Elena!


I read Goldilocks by Laura Lam which is already on our shelf. I can second that it doesn't have any SV. ⭐⭐⭐

I also read Network Effect, #5 in the murderbot series. While we don't add more than the first 2 of each series to our DB shelf, I don't believe any of the first 5 have any SV. ⭐⭐⭐⭐


Not recommending to DB:

Temper by Nicky Drayden - CW for (view spoiler)[ brief threat of rape, onscreen (hide spoiler)]⭐⭐⭐⭐

After the Fall, Before the Fall, During the Fall - CW for (view spoiler)[ ongoing threat of assault and one of the two pov's is from the potential perpetrator (hide spoiler)] ⭐⭐½
In this case, the CW actually spoiled the story for me

I think I've several for the shelf

Meet Me in the Future: Stories no SV CW (view spoiler)[ Animal Death, Graphic Violence, Oppression (hide spoiler)]

Sorry Please Thank You no SV possibly Low female rep but doesn't get into gender

This Alien Shore no SV I don't think any of the CWs apply either

Blood Heir no SV CW (view spoiler)[ Animal Death, Graphic Violence, Child Abuse (hide spoiler)]

I read a few novellas and books already on our list:
Axiom's End
A Dead Djinn in Cairo - short story
The Haunting of Tram Car 015 - novella
The Empress of Salt and Fortune - novella

One we don't have yet is Keturah and Lord Death - a novella Hades and Persephone retelling, with some sexism, but I don't think there was SV. So I'll propose this one (its my first) but let me know if this is not up to snuff!

A few others that might/probably do not qualify (perhaps you have already discussed these?):
The Deep - novella, slavery
Winter's Orbit - oppression, violence bordering on SV(?), memory manipulation
Black Sun - mutilation, oppression, violence

I finished 3 series that definitely do NOT qualify for DB:

The Invasion of the Tearling
The Fate of the Tearling

Godsgrave
Darkdawn

The Bear and the Nightingale - a bit of violence, sexism
The Girl in the Tower - a bit of violence, sexism
The Winter of the Witch - a lot of violence, particularly against women (well one woman in particular)

Soooo many goodies! Thank you both, Mary & Rebecca 😁

Jo & I will work on researching your suggestions and get back to you soon!

@Rebecca: I can already confirm (since I either read them or researched them for DB recently ) that your suspicions about The Deep, Winter's Orbit and Black Sun are correct: unfortunately, they don't make the DB cut because of (view spoiler)[mention of rape and violence for The Deep, forced marriage & abuse in Winter's Orbit and mention of sexual trafficking in Black Sun (hide spoiler)].

@Mary: I'm afraid Blood Heir doesn't qualify either, on account of (view spoiler)[Derek's past: while not described in as many details as it was in the main series, Kate Daniels, Blood Heir still has mentions of the abuses - of a sexual nature, too - Derek's family suffered at the hands of his father (hide spoiler)].

Elena C. wrote: "Soooo many goodies! Thank you both, Mary & Rebecca 😁

Jo & I will work on researching your suggestions and get back to you soon!

@Rebecca: I can already confirm (since I either read them or resear..."

You're totally right about Blood Heir, Derek's past was glossed over in this book, but yeah that was bad. Good thst we have these checks 👍

Only read a few books and all of them are not recommended to be in the shelves:

Never Have I Ever
SV (view spoiler)[rape (hide spoiler)]

A Hero Born
SV (view spoiler)[rape threat (hide spoiler)]
CW (view spoiler)[sexism, child abuse, oppression, animal abuse, animal death,slavery (hide spoiler)]

David Mogo, Godhunter
SV (view spoiler)[implied sexual slavery (hide spoiler)]
Can't remember the CW

Mary wrote: "You're totally right about Blood Heir, Derek's past was glossed over in this book, but yeah that was bad. Good thst we have these checks 👍"

Yeah, I was honestly relieved IA toned it down a notch, Derek's past always struck me as being a tad gratuitously gruesome.

I'm honestly super satisfied with our collective system as well, Mary 😁 I've been quite surprised at realizing the amount of SV that slips past by my own memory more often than not (since we created DB I started taking notes about it!)

Silvana wrote: "Only read a few books and all of them are not recommended to be in the shelves"

Awesome titles, though!

I really enjoyed "The Outside," (Hoffman) a SF space opera with AI themes. Neurodivergence is explored, and there was no sexual violence whatsoever.

I read The Salvage Crew and want to recommend it for the bookshelf.
It does deal with body autonomy as a secondary topic, but in a (probably spoiler for the story) (view spoiler)[human-machine-way (hide spoiler)] and not in any sexual way.

And I think The Man in the High Castle is also elligible, although I am not completely sure.

You guys should recommend these books for our shelf in the rec thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/...

Thanks all! We'll be researching all of your recs this week 😁

Eva wrote: "You guys should recommend these books for our shelf in the rec thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

Either spot is fine 😉

Eva wrote: "You guys should recommend these books for our shelf in the rec thread: https://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/..."

I already did, a few weeks ago. :D

Once again, thanks everyone for sharing your monthly reads with us! We have completed the research for April and here are the results of what has been added to our bookshelf database, our pending list or our excluded list based on our agreed upon group guidelines.


Mary:
My book slump self is envious of all of your great looking reads 😉

Meet Me in the Future: Stories - ✔️ No issues found. Added to bookshelf database with CW for (view spoiler)[graphic violence, sexism (hide spoiler)]

Sorry Please Thank You - ✔️ No issues or CW found. Added to bookshelf database.

This Alien Shore - ✔️ Already on DB shelf, thanks for seconding!

Blood Heir - ✖️ You already discussed excluding this with Elena for CW (view spoiler)[ mention of childhood sexual abuse (hide spoiler)]



Rebecca:
Looks like you had a rich reading month! Elena outlined a few had already been excluded for not meeting our groups agreed upon guidelines. Here are the results of the rest of our research:

Axiom's End - ✔️ Already on DB shelf, thanks for seconding!

A Dead Djinn in Cairo - ✔️ No issues found. Added to bookshelf database with CW for (view spoiler)[ sexism, suicide (hide spoiler)]

The Haunting of Tram Car 015 - ✔️ Already on DB shelf, thanks for seconding!

The Empress of Salt and Fortune - ✖️ Already on our exclusion list for (view spoiler)[dubious sexual consent, forced marriage, forced sterilization (hide spoiler)]

Keturah and Lord Death - Our group focuses on adult SFF. We are willing to make exceptions for books listed as YA that are more adult in theme and tone. While it was nominated for a bunch of YA awards, the reviews do seem to agree it quite YA in tone. If you feel strongly that it reads more adult, were willing to make an exception, let us know.



Caroline:
Oohh, Glad to hear you liked this one, it's on my tbr 😁

The Outside - ✔️ Already on DB shelf, thanks for seconding!



Ines:
I'm also adding Salvage crew to WBTM, we don't have it listed yet!

The Salvage Crew - ✔️ No issues found. Added to bookshelf database with CW for (view spoiler)[graphic violence, sexism (hide spoiler)]

The Man in the High Castle - I'm with you, I'm not sure either. While the book seems intended as a commentary on hate/racism, I found many reviews that felt it would offend many modern readers due to the racist language used.....I think we'll err on the side of caution of exclude it ✖️

Thank you, Beige!

Agreed, thank you!!

😊😊😊

Thanks! I think you'll have to add a CW for (view spoiler)[animal cruelty (hide spoiler)] to The Salvage Crew. I'm not sure about the (view spoiler)[sexism (hide spoiler)], I don't remember it, but if it was in the reviews, I might have forgotten or not realized.