mexcryptid's review
3.5
Taaqtumi delves into the expansive and varied world of arctic horror. Ancient beasts, haunted blizzards, and restless spirits both familiar and beyond understanding haunt the pages of this collection. While not all of its collected stories hit the mark, either from clunky structures or ending right before tension rolls into terror, others left me in awe of the arctic’s magnificent desolation and its capacity for horror. In particular, the collection’s final story, "Strays" by Repo Kempt, will not be one I soon forget.
chadh878's review against another edition
4.0
This was a very interesting anthology! I think only one of the stories really didn’t do it for me/was hard to follow but really liked the rest of them! Overall a good horror read!
sturgeonfish's review
dark
tense
fast-paced
3.5
really enjoyable!! obviously since it was compiled from different authors, the styles all varied and the pacings + writings etc etc. my favorites were revenge, utiqtuq, and the wildest game.
thisbookishcat's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Some of these stories were REALLY GOOD, but some were not for me to the point I had to step away from the book for a bit to recalibrate.
Good thing I didn't read any of these stories right before bed....
Good thing I didn't read any of these stories right before bed....
daisytracey's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Murder and Child death
sucreslibrary's review
2.5
unfortunately, none of the stories are all that interesting with only one standout for me (Strays, the final story). most of the writing is very amataeur, which made it hard to ever feel engaged with anything happening. the concept for this anthology is so cool, but the final product leaves a lot to be desired.
emperorcupcake's review
As with Dark Stars, I'm not rating this as it was a mixed bag. I love the idea of Arctic horror stories - "Taaqtumi" meaning "in the dark"- and some of these really brought home that desolate vibe. My favourites were "The Door," "Revenge," "The Haunted Blizzard" and "Sila." I enjoyed the Inuit language and culture woven in to the stories, it felt really immersive. Unfortunately the longest story in the collection was very sci fi, which is not my thing, and I DNFed it. It wasn't bad, just not for me. Also I could not deal with the cannibal story lol. Overall I'd say this is worth a read if you want a varied collection of wintry frights to tuck in with. Some will be your taste (so to speak) and some probably won't, par for the course with a short story collection. I'll definitely be checking out Aviaq Johnston's two middle-grade novels, they sound great!
This is my last read for the November #skodenreadathon , but far from the last piece of Indigenous lit I'll be reading in the near future. This month really solidified how much I enjoy Indigenous-authored books, and brought a bunch of new ones to my attention.
This is my last read for the November #skodenreadathon , but far from the last piece of Indigenous lit I'll be reading in the near future. This month really solidified how much I enjoy Indigenous-authored books, and brought a bunch of new ones to my attention.
lori_reads_everything's review
4.0
Taaqtumi (Inuktitut word for "in the dark") is a collection of horror stories written by indigenous authors from the North. The topics range from wheetago and ijiraujat (zombies), to a magical door, a giant polar bear, and even cannibalism.
As with any collection of stories, there were a couple that I didn't love as much, but overall I thought this collection was fantastic and more than one could have been a full length novel. I also really enjoyed that there was a glossary of Inuktitut words and phrases at the back of the book, to let you know how they are pronounced and what they mean.
Be prepared for anxious page turning and gory details.
(Side note: this is the most beautiful book cover I've ever seen)
As with any collection of stories, there were a couple that I didn't love as much, but overall I thought this collection was fantastic and more than one could have been a full length novel. I also really enjoyed that there was a glossary of Inuktitut words and phrases at the back of the book, to let you know how they are pronounced and what they mean.
Be prepared for anxious page turning and gory details.
(Side note: this is the most beautiful book cover I've ever seen)
raven168's review
2.0
By giving this book only 2 stars I'm not saying it was bad. Almost all of the stories were really interesting and completely different from anything I've read before, with some having me super curious as to what was going to happen. But there were a few that had such abrupt endings that it was more frustrating than not because it left me thinking "that's it??" Then there were some that were still interesting, but also pretty boring (mainly the longer ones). None of them were scary in the sense of horror I was expecting, but a couple of them were at least a little psychological horror I guess you could say. In the end it was a good glimpse into the stories of a life I know nothing about, but not something I'll ever read again. I absolutely love the cover though.
Copy provided by publisher via Netgalley.
Copy provided by publisher via Netgalley.