The StoryGraph Guide: How to Research Book Content, Ratings, and Warnings

If you love print books but hesitate to buy them because you're unsure about the content, you're not alone. I used to struggle to research book content before buying, until I discovered The StoryGraph. Although I'm not a member, I regularly use this great website to check out books before buying, especially print books that take up space. Here’s how I use The StoryGraph to research books before buying.

Search the Book Title

While The StoryGraph does have a community and some features you can sign up to access, you don’t need an account to access most features, including their content warnings. If you want to find out about content warnings, just go to TheStoryGraph.com, click "browse books" in the top right corner, and search the book’s title in the search box that appears in the top right corner of the search book page. You can also search the book’s title in a regular search engine, plus the phrase “content warnings” or “StoryGraph”, and The StoryGraph should come up as an option if the book is in their system.

Book Information to Check Out

Once you load the page with their information on the book you searched, you will find a collection of information. You will find genre categories that the book matches, reviews (both star ratings and text reviews), page count, year published, the number of editions (right below the title information), and a description. Note that some of the information available on the page, such as “browse similar books” and “who’s it for,” is only available if you are signed up and have a profile.

Content Details and Warnings

I can’t speak to being a member, as I don’t have an account. However, I love the content information The StoryGraph provides. For content details scroll to the “Community Reviews” section to see how people rated the content in percentages. For example, most readers found the first book in The Kingdom of Grit series to be medium to fast-paced. You'll see ratings for pace, plot or character-driven narrative, character development, lovable characters, diverse cast, and “flaws of characters as a main focus.”

If you want to find content warnings, it depends on whether you are on your phone or a computer. On your phone, look for a dropdown menu under each review. This shows all the content warnings the reader tagged for this book. If you are on your laptop, scroll to the bottom to find the “Content Warnings” section and click “view summary.” The dropdown lists ratings for graphic, moderate, and minor content, and clicking “view all” shows how many users tagged each warning.

Happy Reading

This is a great resource, and I was so happy to have found it. I hope it helps you as much as it has helped me. While I can't comment on features for members or the community, this is an awesome website! Most books I search for appear here, so you should be able to find a large library of information on the books you want. Happy researching and happy reading!

Resources: thestorygraph.com