Content Guidance & Advisory
What Is Content Guidance?
Ever see a NSFW warning? Just like a “Not Safe For Work” label, content guidance isn’t about censoring or limiting content, but about giving a heads up so people can make informed decisions.
Jami Gold’s books often explore the gray area between “good” and “bad” and include situations we wouldn’t want to experience in real life â and just like any story, they’re not for everyone. Yet while some readers appreciate a heads up of content that might be uncomfortable for them, many readers want to experience a story without any hints of what’s to come.
To accommodate both those who appreciate warnings and those who wish to avoid any spoilers, content information about Jami’s stories has been collected here. Those who want an advisory heads up can find the information in this centralized location, and those who don’t can skip this page.
Below, those readers who want guidance information can find overall content descriptions for each series, as well as details specific to each story. While every attempt has been made to minimize spoilers, here are a few tips:
- Want a general idea of content without spoilers of specific details? Check the Overall Guidance & Advisory toggles below, as well as the story description and list of tags on each book's individual page.
- Want more detailed information (potentially with spoilers)? Check the more Specific Guidance & Advisory for Each Story toggles below.
Don't worry about scrolling down on this page. Each overall category of concern and each specific story's details are hidden behind toggles so those wishing for guidance in one area aren't exposed to potential spoilers in other areas.
Also note that many of Jamiâs books contain characters and elements from different races and cultures. Although she uses sensitivity readers to identify and fix issues that might be disrespectful or harmful to those who have been historically marginalized by society, no group is a monolith. Therefore, itâs possible that some references are disrespectful or harmful in ways that she (and her sensitivity readers) didnât anticipate. She welcomes feedback and continues to learn and grow in hopes of avoiding problems in the future.
Found content within Jami's stories to add to these warnings? Or have feedback about her content or warnings? Please share your thoughts!
Content Notes for the Mythos Legacy Series
Overall Guidance & Advisory
(Get the Gist without Spoilers)
The novels in this series would be rated R in the movie world for very-spicy-to-hot sexual content, as they each contain approximately three open-door sex scenes. In addition, some sex scenes include unique/edgy elements that might make some readers uncomfortable, such as consensual domination activities or magic-fueled sexual activity between human and shapeshifter characters.
While the short stories in the series donât contain a sex scene, they still include sexual content with heavy kissing and references to sex.
Note: The sex scenes usually canât be skippedâat least not easilyâas theyâre not âgratuitous.â Instead, theyâre designed to show character development and advance the romance relationship and/or the plot. However, all sex scenes focus on consent and are fully consensual, despite the âalphaâ or dominant tendencies of some characters.
The bad guys in this series are truly villains, so they use tactics such as bullying, manipulation, death threats, abduction, abuse, assaults, and torture. Some of their threats and assaults also include a sexual component, but no rape occurs.
The fights against these villains often result in scenes of gore, with blood and graphic injuries.
Before they find their happy ending, the characters in the series are all âbrokenâ in various ways. So the characters have a history of trauma, such as child abuse/neglect, deceased/murdered family members, and manipulation/gaslighting. These traumas are all mentioned and explored on the page.
In addition, some characters experience poverty or a less-than-middle-class existence, and minor depictions of the living situations, struggles, and limitations of poverty are on the page.
Some characters in the series freely swear, and others use only mild swear words. Some use made-up profanity based on the magic and mythology of the Mythos world, and others profane with Earth-based religious terms. In general, Jami attempts to avoid gratuitous and/or frequent use of profanity and relies on what makes sense for each character, but swearing is present in all her stories.
Specific Guidance & Advisory for Each Story
( *** Spoilers in Toggles Below *** )
The story Unintended Guardian is short enough to not require additional warnings for its specific content. The overall advisories above are enough to provide guidance.
For the novels of the series, find specifics for each book below. Please note, these specific warnings for each book are more likely to contain spoiler-type information.
(To instead get just vague hints of each book's contents, check out the storyâs description and list of tags on its individual page: Treasured Claim, Pure Sacrifice, Ironclad Devotion, and Stone-Cold Heart.)
In addition to the overall content notes above, this story also contains a reference to racism from a minor character, accusations of stalking, mild suicidal thoughts, and a negative-but-compassionate portrayal of a violent character with possible mental illness.
Most notably, thereâs also a scene that the point-of-view character interprets as rape but the would-be victim vehemently denies it, expressing strong consent and a demand to recognize their agency. Clues are given so readers know the true nature of the encounter, but some readers might find the point-of-view characterâs perspective distressing.
In addition to the overall content notes above, this story also contains blatant racism from a minor character who might later be seen as âgood,â references to magic that some readers might interpret as too reminiscent of lynching, cult/religious-belief-based behavior (including a significant focus on virginity), drugging of a character, non-villain-related death of a significant character, and an exploration of stalking.
Most notably, while much of the violence in the series is due to the magical world, this story also graphically depicts a set-in-the-real-world assault on a main character. Also note that the hero, a shapeshifting unicorn, doesnât identify as Blackâin the Mythos story world, unicorns just happen to have dark skin in human form. However, the mythology of unicorns and the real experiences of Blacks in our society can create uncomfortable parallels that might be disturbing to some readers.
In addition to the overall content notes above, this story also contains references to gang and drug-related issues, mentions of serious abuse and sexual assault of a child character, drugging of a character, heavy use of guns, exploration of slavery and exploitation, and mild suicidal thoughts.
Most notably, Navajo beliefs are explored within the framing of the story world. However, these beliefs are portrayed respectfully (as befitting a current-day culture) and not as âdead mythology.â As part of the exploration, characters debate whether the beliefs overlap with the magical world, characters perform rituals that are meant to be different-but-similar to real-world ceremonies, and the main characters differ on whether a Navajo characterâs actions are justified due to their beliefs.
In addition to the overall content notes above, this story also contains references to genocide, real-world warfare and military maneuvers, terrorism/suicide bombing, extreme scarring, mild suicidal thoughts, and a negative-but-compassionate portrayal of a violent character struggling with extreme grief.
Most notably, a main character suffers from PTSD, and their portrayal includes graphic depictions of panic attacks, nightmares, and PTSD-triggered hallucinations. In addition, some readers might find a female main character unlikable for her attitude toward violence and aggression.
