Why is THAT scene in your book?

Have you ever read a book that was difficult to get through? Not because the writer lacked talent, but rather because the content of the book made you uncomfortable?
 
I have. Many times. As a young, voracious reader I was at a college reading level by 8th or 9th grade. I regularly wandered into the adult section of my local library, seeking out nice, fat books (usually fantasy) to keep my attention longer than the bite-sized Young Adult novels I could read in a few brief hours. I was a book-devourer with a hyper-fast reading ability, and I always wanted MORE. (Anybody else relate?) Wandering into the adult section meant I had a higher chance of running into “adult” material. I am a good, Christian girl. Some of that adult content went over my head. Some of it didn’t, and it sank deep into my soul and made me feel VERY uncomfortable. At that moment, I would make a value judgement.
 
Was it worth reading? Even with that one sex scene, or that sexual abuse or rape, or that violence or language, was it WORTH something? Was it worth risking that there could be more scenes like it in that same book, if I continued?

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