Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

110 reviews

shelise3's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, and Colonisation

kmerrow's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

No one who can listen to the audiobook should be doing anything but that. I'm sure it is an interesting read, but the audio is something other-wordly. I have never heard someone give themselves entirely to an audiobook in this way, and most if not all chapters are lead out by Tanya Tagaq's throat singing. She imbues the words with so much emotion and her tone shifts appropriately throughout. I cannot emphasize enough how important it is to listen to this book read by the author.

Note: it is NSFW or literally any other environment so you want to listen with headphones on or somewhere with thick walls.

That being said, this is undoubtedly the weirdest, most fucked up thing I've ever read. And I mean that as a term of endearment. It also makes it fucking real. This writing is unapologetic. She writes in such a poetic and at times whimsical way, sometimes about truly horrific things. It is fantastical while also dealing with very hard realities like child sexual abuse, which is an overriding theme. It is extremely sexually explicit, whether detailing abuse, consensual sex, sex with animals, and even the northern lights.

If you're easily offended or squeamish, this is not the one for you, but I'd still recommend it to you because it's unforgettable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Grief, and Pregnancy

Minor: Addiction, Bullying, Death, Death of parent, and Colonisation

lottifus's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Alcoholism

keelin's review against another edition

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

barf_mobile's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

haley1999's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Child death

laurenmiller100's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.75

“Fear is learning to run from me. Not the other way around.”

Someone on Goodreads called this book the thorniest of roses, and I have to agree. As others have mentioned, big time trigger warnings on this. It’s vulgar, disturbing, beautiful, brutal, mysterious, magical, and deeply upsetting. Definitely a unique read, but one that I struggled with because the content is so difficult. The plot can be winding, vague, and hard to follow because it’s written as poetry. I don’t have much of a mind for poetry even though I love it, so I don’t know that I really followed all the events of this story. That said, what did make a huge impact on me is the feeling that Tagaq is trying to get across. The ending is beautiful and horrible. Tragic and disquieting. I am glad I read it, and I hope to never read it again.

“We are reverberations of our ancestors and songs of our present selves. It is very quiet in the future as it is in the deep past. The quiet. We always live among the dead. It’s scary but the quiet is our true home. This is why we must make the most of our gristle and meat. We must celebrate being harnessed into our bodies. We are a product of the immense torque that propels this universe. We are not individuals but an accumulation of all that lived before.”

• Characters: 6
• Atmosphere/Setting: 10
• Writing Style: 8
• Plot: 7
• Intrigue: 8
• Logic/Relationships: 4
• Enjoyment: 2

6.2/10 = 3.75 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Murder, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Alcohol

Descriptions are extremely graphic and disturbing.

drs's review against another edition

The writing is fantastic. The content is not what I want to read right now though. Ever since I became a parent I can’t handle stories with violence against children and this one has multiple instances of it in the first 15 pages.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

kodi_rae's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Part autobiography, part narrative fiction, part magical realism, etc. with some tough themes about SA, trauma, etc. One of the things that makes “Split Tooth” beautiful is the way Tagaq talks about the environment, animal spirits, the northern lights, etc. and how it ties into the narrative and cultural beliefs and practices. I read in other reviews that if you listen to the audiobook she narrates it herself and incorporates throat singing between each section which I imagine would lend itself to a whole new, raw experience. I think it would be worth revisiting. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Drug use, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Minor: Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, and Terminal illness

milliemark's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault