Romantasy Spice Levels Explained (and How to Find Yours)
Eve Matsdotter · · 6 min read
What spice means, a 0 to 5 scale you can actually use, and how to check a book before it surprises you.
"Spice" is reader shorthand for how much sexual content a book has on the page, and how explicitly it is written. Romantasy spice levels run from none at all to very explicit, usually on a scale of chilli peppers or flames out of five. Nobody owns that scale. There is no official standard, so a three from one reviewer can be a two from another.
This guide gives you one plain scale, the vocabulary that goes with it, and a way to check a book before you buy it. It sits alongside my guide to romantasy tropes, because spice is the one label that tells you less than it seems to.
I have read books at both ends of this scale, so no judgement here.
What does spice mean in books?
The word is newer than the thing. I remember the days when spice used to be called "lemon" in fanfiction places.
Spice measures two things at once, and that is where the confusion starts.
The first is explicitness: does the scene happen on the page, and how plainly is it described? The second is frequency: is it one scene in five hundred pages, or a scene every few chapters?
A book can be explicit and rare. It can be mild and constant. One number has to carry both, and it does not carry them well.
Dustling isn’t out yet, but you can read Chapter One free.
A spice scale from 0 to 5
This is the scale I am using for this article. It is my own working scale and there is no industry rule behind it.
0. Clean (kisses only)
Longing, hand-holding, a kiss or two. Nothing sexual on or off the page.
1. Closed door, or fade to black
The characters are intimate, but the scene is not shown. The chapter ends, or the story cuts away.
2. Open door, not explicit
A scene happens on the page, written with soft, indirect language. You know what happened. You were not given the details.
3. Explicit scenes, but few
The language is direct. There are one or two such scenes and the plot does most of the work.
4. Frequent and explicit
Explicit scenes are a regular part of the book and a real part of its appeal.
5. Erotic or dark
Explicit throughout, or pairing explicit content with dark themes. Books here usually carry content warnings, and you should read them.
Why your three is not my three
Romance.io, one of the most used reference sites, runs a five-step "steam" scale: glimpses and kisses, behind closed doors, open door, explicit open door, explicit and plentiful. Other sites count from zero. Some rate on frequency, some on detail.
A Court of Thorns and Roses shows the problem neatly. Otherworld Tales gives it 2 out of 5, "mild", while also noting it contains one explicit open-door scene. Another guide calls the same book "moderate". Both are describing the same pages.
So treat any rating as one reader's reading. Then look at how that reader defines their scale.
The words you will see, and what they mean
Closed door. Intimacy is part of the relationship, but it happens off the page.
Fade to black. A close cousin. The scene begins to build, then cuts away before anything explicit. In practice the two terms are used almost interchangeably.
Open door. The scene stays on the page. Open door does not automatically mean explicit, which is why sites like Romance.io split it into "open door" and "explicit open door".
Smut. Informal reader slang for explicit content, usually said with affection. It is not a category a publisher would print on a cover.
Low spice. Usually levels 0 to 2 on the scale above. If you are searching for low spice romantasy, "closed door" and "fade to black" are the most useful phrases to search alongside it.
Slow burn versus low spice
Slow burn is about pacing: how long the couple takes to get together. Low spice is about content: what is shown when they do. A slow burn can end in a kiss or in several explicit chapters. Powerless is tagged as a slow burn and rated 1 of 5 for steam on Romance.io. Fourth Wing is widely described as building slow tension and then including explicit scenes. Same pacing word, very different books.
If the wait is what you love, I have a separate list of slow burn romantasy books.
YA, New Adult and Adult
Age category is a clue and nothing more.
Young Adult is written for teen readers, and its romance generally stays at the low end. New Adult covers protagonists of roughly 18 to 29 and the first years of adult life. The term dates to 2009, when St. Martin's Press went looking for a kind of older YA. It is often assumed to mean explicit, but that is not part of the definition. Adult has no ceiling and no floor: it can be level 0 or level 5.
One warning: a series can change level as it goes. The ACOTAR books are widely described as starting restrained and ending with A Court of Silver Flames as the most explicit instalment, rated "high" by one guide and 5 out of 5 by another. Check each book, not only the first.
Examples, where a source says so plainly
I have only placed a book where at least one reliable source states its level or category clearly. All of these are books I have read.
Level 0: The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins. Common Sense Media rates it 13+ and notes that characters kiss and have crushes. Throne of Glass, book one, by Sarah J. Maas: rated 14+ by the same site, with a couple of kisses. Powerless by Lauren Roberts: Young Adult, rated 1 of 5, "glimpses and kisses", on Romance.io.
Levels 1 to 2 (my own placement, no outside source): The Bodyguard by Katherine Center, which fades to black, and The Cheat Sheet by Sarah Adams. Both are contemporary romance, not romantasy.
Level 3: Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros. New Adult. So, how spicy is Fourth Wing? Widely described as 3 out of 5, with two open-door scenes late in the book (chapters 30 and 32, according to the guides) and a plot that does most of the heavy lifting. I would call it a 4, which rather proves the point about scales.
Levels 3 to 4: Quicksilver by Callie Hart. Rated 4 of 5, "explicit open door", on Romance.io, and tagged New Adult there.
Level 4: A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas, as above.
Level 5: Haunting Adeline by H.D. Carlton. A dark romance, rated 5 of 5 on Romance.io, with a content warning that covers graphic violence and non-consent. Not romantasy, but it is the clearest picture of what the top of the scale means.
For levels 1 and 2 I found no outside source that placed a book from my shelves cleanly, so the two names there are my own call. The middle of the scale is exactly where reviewers disagree most.
My own take on these, as one reader's reading:
The Hunger Games is part of my childhood. Throne of Glass I haven't finished as a series (I'm fighting to get through it before the next ACOTAR book comes out...). Powerless was a lot like Red Queen and The Hunger Games, as so many people say, but I devoured it anyway. Tropes are tropes - and as far as I can tell, nobody has been able to establish that it was anything more than that. So not guilty until proven guilty.
Fourth Wing: I'd give it a 4 for spice! It's good, but it's not divine - though there are scenes in Iron Flame and Onyx Storm that I'd say are really good. ;) Quicksilver: hated it on first read, liked it better the second time, when I reread it before Brimstone. Spicy but not overwhelming. Haunting Adeline: incredible. Top spice, top MMC, fantastic FMC.
How to check a book before you buy
Start with the author. Many authors put a content note at the front of the book or on their website.
Use a content-warning database. The StoryGraph shows reader-tagged warnings sorted into graphic, moderate and minor, and also supports author-approved ones. Does the Dog Die is a crowdsourced site that answers yes or no questions about specific triggers. Romance.io lists a steam rating and reader-added warnings for romance titles. For younger readers, Common Sense Media gives an age rating with a short note on romantic content.
Read the reviews sideways. Skip the star rating. Search the reviews for "spice", "closed door" or "content warning", and read two or three that describe what is on the page.
Where I sit
It depends. I jumped from The Bodyguard (fade to black) to Beautiful Venom and then Wildfire. I really do read everything in romance, fantasy, romantasy and dystopian - it depends a bit on what mood I'm in and what I'm working on myself.
What I can say so far: Dustling is New Adult and a slow burn, and neither of those words tells you its spice level. The plan is open door, possibly explicit. Book one is not settled yet, so I can't give you a number.
FAQ
What does spice mean in books?
Spice is reader slang for sexual content in a book: how much of it is on the page, and how explicitly it is written. More spice means more frequent or more detailed scenes.
How spicy is Fourth Wing?
Fourth Wing is widely described as about 3 out of 5. It is a New Adult book with two explicit, open-door scenes late in the story, and the explicit content is a small part of the whole. If you have finished it, here is what to read after Fourth Wing.
What does fade to black mean?
The scene builds towards intimacy, then cuts away before anything explicit is shown. The reader understands what happened without reading it.
Is closed door romance the same as clean romance?
No. In a clean romance nothing sexual happens at all. In a closed door romance it happens, but off the page.
Is slow burn the same as low spice?
No. Slow burn describes how long the couple takes to get together. Low spice describes how much is shown. A slow burn can sit anywhere on the scale.
Find your own level
Your level is allowed to move.
So tell me: where do you sit on the scale, and has a book ever surprised you in either direction?
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