Curious what “no spice” means in books? In this post I am breaking down the bookish term for what “spice” in books means.
You may have seen an author advertise themselves as a no spice author. (See my website header). And you may be wondering, what does no spice mean? Let’s break it down:
What is a “spicy” book?
To answer the question, it helps to first understand what people are talking about when they call a book spicy. Spicy relates to the sexual content found in a book. Also known as “open door” books. If there is a lot of open-door scenes, readers refer to it as “smut.” In these books, the sexual content often rivals the actual plot and can better be grouped into the erotica genre of books.
Spice in Young Adult Books
Unfortunately, spice in books marketed to young adults is becoming more and more prevalent. As a mother to teens myself, I do not believe having open door scenes where sex is explicitly described on page is appropriate for young adults. The target audience for YA is considered as young as 13 up to 18.
While adults often read YA, I do not want my thirteen-year-old reading graphic, sexual content. Because of this, many authors have started to expressly state whether or not their books contain these “spicy” scenes.
Spice Levels
Things can get pretty nuanced when readers are discussing intimacy in books. Some readers, when looking for no spice books, don’t want any romance at all. Others want only light kissing, or “fade to black” romance. This is where intimate scenes are implied but not explicitly described on page. Thus, the meaning of spice can vary for each reader. As a result, there has been a movement to further define spice levels in order to help authors reach their ideal readers. While there is currently no universal level for all no spice authors, many readers have come up with ways to help other readers identify how spicy a book is.
The Chili Pepper System
There are two main ways readers have helped to identify spice levels in books. The first is the chili pepper system. Readers will leave reviews that include a chili pepper rating signaling the amount of spice in a book. It’s a very subjective system, but typically, a green pepper 🫑 means it has no spice. And one red chili pepper 🌶️ means it has little spice. Again, it varies depending on the reader’s individual rating system but usually it refers to the amount of open door scenes. One chili pepper for one open door a scene, two for two, and so on. These chili peppers can go all the way to 5 chili peppers signaling that there is a lot of sexual scenes described on page.
The Database System
Another way readers have found to help each other identify the amount of spice in a book is by creating a database of no spice books. These databases are usually closer to having no spice meaning the books they include have only light kissing to fade to black scenes. Typically, books with intimate scenes described on page aren’t included.
Where to Find No Spice Books
So where can you find these no spice books? As I’ve said, there are many authors who are now making it obvious that their books do not contain spice by clearly identifying themselves as no spice authors. (Me! Hiii 😉 Have you read The Chronicles of Tanithor series? Be sure to check it out if you haven’t!
Other ways to find no spice books is to browse these databases I mentioned. I know of only a few, but they are a good place to start searching for no spice books or checking to make sure a book you want to read has no spice in it. The first is Brittany Wang’s no spice fantasy book directory. She screens books and gives them a specific level of spice that she outlines on her website. She screens every book before putting them in the database so you can be sure of what you’re getting. The best part? It’s completely FREE!
The second database is the Closed Door Romance website. This database focuses more on romance books but can include fantasy romance as a sub-genre. My books are in this database along with hundreds of other no spice authors. However, there is a monthly fee to access the database and while the books are ‘verified’, the database owner has not read every single book in the database and is relying on the author filling out a form honestly in order to appropriately define the book’s intimacy levels.
How to Screen for Spice (and other content) in Books
It takes a little bit of research, but you can very well screen for spice in books on your own. The first is to read the description of the book. Since spice has become so prevalent and there’s been a movement to clearly define it in books, many authors are including warnings at the bottom of the description box for a book that has spice. However, not all books will have such warnings.
Therefore, another way to screen for spice in books is to read reviews on Amazon or Goodreads. Like I said, many readers are now including spice levels to help others identify spice levels in books. Of course it’s not a perfect system with how subjective it can be, but look for green peppers or one chili pepper to help narrow it down. You can also actually search the reviews for terms like “spice” or “clean” or “closed door” and it will pull up any reviews mentioning those key words.
Another way to screen for spice in books is to do a search in the book itself. This works especially well if you have a kindle and a Kindle Unlimited subscription because you can download the book and search it for specific words that relate to intimate moments. Think specific body parts or explicit language that often relates to intimate acts. If your search results come up with nothing, then chances are there’s no explicit content. If it does bring up those words, you can simply return the book to Kindle Unlimited and choose a different book. This is not a fool proof method, but it’s something.
Finally, joining the online bookish community is a great way to screen books for spicy content. Bookstagrammers are usually pretty good about clearly defining how they rate spice in the books they read. The Real Life Book Reviewer has gone as far as rating the books for spice with a clearly defined chili pepper system, but also noting what specific chapters to skip if you still want to read the book but avoid the spice.
Conclusion
What does no spice mean? Spice refers to the sexual content found in books and can vary by level according to each reader. Parents, be warned that Young Adult books now often include explicit descriptions of intimate acts on page. You can easily find no spice books and authors by reading reviews, browsing no spice book databases, or following social media accounts who warn readers of explicit content in books.
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