Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

20 reviews

catapocalypse's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

The description of the book doesn't do it full justice; the book is a mix of brief sections of prose, poems, and Jaime Hernandez's illustrations. The narrative is equally fragmented, but forms a powerful whole that is both fierce and vulnerable. Tagaq draws inspiration from her own life in this depiction of growing up in Nunavut that is brutally honest yet shrouded in spirits and visions. The girl at the center of the narrative roams the town and surrounding wilderness through the extended daylight of northern summers and endless night of the winters. She tries to escape the demons plaguing the adults, including alcoholism and sexual abuse. She encounters spirits with varying intentions, and at seventeen one such encounter leads to an unusual pregnancy.

I had to sit with this for a bit, because reading poetry is not something I have enough experience with. Much like Tagaq's music, it's haunting, beautiful, and explores a wide range of emotion and experience. Despite the vast difference between these experiences and my own, there were things that deeply resonated with me.

The brief length of the book and the quick pace the short sections make of it suggest a fast read, but I recommend taking your time to sit with each section, especially if you're inexperienced with poetry or more unconventional narrative styles. Please look up the content warnings if you need, as well; there is a lot of trauma explored, but also a lot of healing.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Homophobia

bardic_llama's review against another edition

challenging dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Lesbophobia

lilcoppertop's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, and Alcohol

eafiu's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body horror, Misogyny, Racism, and Sexism

lorrel's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, and Grief

joshlegere's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Cursing

knkoch's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Moderate: Drug use, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts

btaylorb's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

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

5.0

I don't really know how to describe this book except to say that it is beautifully written. It details a young Inuit woman's longing for connection with her cultural heritage and history, and her feelings of isolation from her family and peers as she starts experiencing shamanic visions and powers. There are descriptions of nature and the protagonist's interactions with nature that are poetic, sometimes verging on hallucinatory. It's an introspective story that is funny, harrowing and bittersweet, and I loved it. The short chapters are interspersed with poetry that hint at some of the more painful aspects of life for many indigenous women. While these descriptions are brief and not always explicit, they are a common thread that tie the chapters together.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Rape, and Suicidal thoughts

sarah984's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.0

Parts of this book were beautifully written and lyrical, but the content was so viscerally unpleasant that it's hard to recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

Moderate: Alcoholism, Homophobia, Blood, and Grief

callmeamelia's review against another edition

challenging emotional inspiring reflective medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Drug use, and Self harm

Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence