Sensitivity Readers

A new term has popped up on the publishing landscape—sensitivity reader. These are different from beta readers who scrutinize a manuscripts for content, grammar, and flow prior to publication. Sensitivity readers, however, are specialized. They concentrate on cultural inaccuracies, representation issues, bias, stereotypes, or problematic language and their voices are increasingly heard in literature meant for juveniles.

Recently, news hit the publishing world of a young adult novel

pulled shortly before publication because of perceived slights and cultural biases. Prior to this, the author of Blood Heir, Amélie Wen Zhao, had hit the publishing jackpot. After winning a Twitter pitch she scored a six–figure book deal for a YA trilogy, a culturally diverse retelling of Anastasia with magical elements. Princess Anastacya’s father was murdered and she lives in secrecy because she shares the arcane talents of the enslaved Affinites. The pre-publication buzz was strong with good reviews and then the Twitter hit the fan.

Certain Twitter accounts with large followers accused Zhao of racial insensitivity. It blew up into a storm with people taking both sides, but was the criticism justified? Among the complaints is that a black girl was rescued from the slave trade and subsequently died so that the white protagonist could live. However, according to those who read the book and the author herself, the character is only described as having blue eyes and either tan or coppery skin with dark curly hair. I have a Greek friend who fits that description just fine.

An additional criticism concerns the portrayal of slavery, but Zhao, who was born in China and raised in Europe explained, “Affinite indenturement…represents a specific critique of the epidemic of indentured labor and human trafficking prevalent in many industries across Asia, including in my own home country. The narrative and history of slavery in the United States is not something I can, would, or intended to write, but I recognize that I am not writing in merely my own cultural context.”

The United State is not the only country that has had to deal with the stain of slavery. Europe, Africa, and Asia have had slave histories that were longer than and as torturous as ours, but, unlike the rest of the world we still deal with the dark aftereffects. Perhaps, that also affects the ability of sensitivity readers. Do they read from one cultural perspective without being able to see Zhao’s point of view? I don’t know the answer. The result of this criticism is that Zhao issued an apology for any unintended offense and asked Delacorte, to pull the book. Delacorte put Blood Heir on hold, but stated they were open to publishing the book in the future. Perhaps there will be rewrites and a new publication date, so that the rest of us can see what all the fuss was about.

I didn’t read the book, so can’t answer the question why were there so many positive advance reviews and things changed so suddenly when criticism from a few caused a Twitter storm. Blood Heir isn’t the first book to be pulled pre-publication date. In 2016 the release of the YA novel The Continent was stopped when online reviews criticized portrayals of people of color. In that case the book was reedited and released with numerous changes. Last month, Sourcebooks stopped the release of the YA historical novel, A Place for Wolves by Kosovo Jackson for depictions of the Kosovo War, genocide, and Muslim characters. The future of the book is undetermined.

Is all this brouhaha just censorship or do sensitivity readers fill a need? Sure they do. We need fair and equal representations of diverse characters in books. When writing from another person’s cultural perspective, especially a minority, it helps to have an unbiased opinion from someone in the know. This isn’t censorship but compassion and common sense. Considering the feelings of others won’t thwart an author’s ability to tell a compelling story, but, hopefully make it more engaging for all readers.

L. A. Kelley writes science fiction and fantasy adventures with humor romance and a touch of sass. She enjoys smacking insensitive people upside the head.