Is this something,

That could be fixed later?

I had just finished my YA cyberpunk/portal fantasy, with an unrequited love and self-hate subplot.

I'm having a hard time rationalizing all the decapitation references. I'm thinking strongly, of reducing it to only a couple every ten chapters (of twenty five chapters).

As it is, it regretfully feels more like a slasher, which isn't exactly the take away I'm wanting. More accurately an SF romance that focuses on style and character arc. And yes I'm aware of how a lot of YA has a lot of death. But I'm wanting it to be a quieter sort of dystopia with less death.

Yea I only have like two or three off screen ones.

Yea I would almost call it a decapitation theme. Like there isn't anything on screen, it's more the overall mood.

A lot of the arc is driven by undoing loss, and stuff like that.

Then yea I would say a motif for decapitation.

In the same sort of way Night In Terror Tower has a decapitation motif. Very few if anybody decapitated, but the general menacing feeling is there. Not sure how I'm going to revise this to make it less of one.