I have just finished a trilogy and went on Goodreads to express my thoughts and appreciation. I did skim through the reviews to see what others thought of the books, as one does when stumbles onto the biggest book review site. What I have found is that people leave one star reviews saying "it has sexual slavery in it" "it has rape in it" "it has lots of mention of gay sex in it" "it contains dubious consent" etc etc. so it contains what is otherwise known as triggers in it. Now, this series' description is quite clear that it has mature content, it has slavery and that this is an enemies-to-lovers, fantasy with M/M romance in it. So assuming one doesn't blindly grab books from the bookshelf/download random stuff to their e-reader it is safe to say that readers are well aware of the summary before diving in, thus giving themselves and the writer consent to deal with and read about such unpleasant or out-of-the-ordinary themes.
If you know you are sensitive to slavery then why do you choose a book that has it as a main plot driver then go online and moan about it? Nobody forced you to pick this story, nobody forced you to keep on reading. It's like knowing you don't like milk in your tea, but ordering a milky tea then complain about not liking it. Or if you are not sure whether you like milk in your tea and you want to be adventurous and order one, then realise after a sip that this is not for you, you can just leave it and have one made in a way you know you enjoy. Not forcibly slurp it up then go complain about it.
Leaving negative reviews because, let's say, the writing style is not up to your standards or you find the story boring or the characters one-dimensional, that is fair enough and when you see thousands of people saying the same thing chances are their opinion has merit.
What really grinds my gears that when it comes to less-known or rising writers working with indie or small publishing houses these, frankly undeserved reviews can cut deep. It will only encourage writers to put themselves in a carefully constructed box of mainstream, acceptable themes and stories, and that is pretty much the death of artistic freedom for the sake of what? Political correctness? If we know anything about human history is that it is full of suffering, struggling, pain and bravery in the face of adversity; all of these include and caused by things modern societies view as triggers. I don't want to live in a world where books are being censored or cleansed for the sake of enlightened modernism.
To quote a classic:
“But I don't want comfort. I want God, I want poetry, I want real danger, I want freedom, I want goodness. I want sin.”
