Romance prominence
How central the relationship is to the plot and emotional payoff. A book can have low explicitness but still be strongly romance-forward.
Reader-fit methodology
How We Rate Spice, Romance and Romantasy
Our labels help readers compare heat, relationship focus, and fantasy weight. They describe a reading experience; they are not age ratings or universal objective grades.
Spice level
The existing site uses a comparative five-point scale. It estimates frequency and explicitness together, so two books at the same level can still feel different in tone or timing.
| Level | Label | What it means |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Minimal | Little or no on-page sexual content. |
| 2 | Mild | Romantic intimacy is present but generally limited or less explicit. |
| 3 | Moderate | Some open-door or clearly described intimacy without dominating the book. |
| 4 | High | Multiple explicit scenes or a consistently strong on-page heat level. |
| 5 | Very high | Frequent or especially explicit sexual content is a major part of the reading experience. |
Fantasy prominence
How much the reading experience depends on magic, worldbuilding, politics, quests, warfare, or other speculative plot elements.
Explicitness
How directly intimate content is described. This is related to spice, but separate from how often scenes occur.
Open-door vs closed-door
Open-door scenes remain on the page with some detail. Closed-door or fade-to-black presentation moves away before explicit detail.
Content notes
Notes flag themes a reader may want to investigate, but they are not guaranteed to be exhaustive content-warning lists.
Series variation
Heat and romance can change from one volume to the next. A series-level label is a range, while a book comparison should identify progression.
What the ratings do not mean
A spice score is not an age classification, a quality score, or a promise that every reader will perceive a scene the same way. Romance and fantasy prominence are also comparative editorial judgments, not mathematical measurements.
Corrections and source changes
If a guide misses meaningful context or applies a label inconsistently, send the page URL and specific concern through the contact page. See the editorial policy for how factual corrections and editorial judgments are handled.