Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

Split Tooth by Tanya Tagaq

113 reviews

cluckieduck's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective fast-paced

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

4.5

 Oof. This is a beautiful book, but I can't say I enjoyed it. In fact, I don't think it's written for you to enjoy; it's a harsh, brutal reality of a life in an isolated community that many people are sheltered from knowing, and whether that's good or bad, I'm not one to say.

Tanya Tagaq has such a way with her prose. The juxtaposition of lyrical, poetic flow and crass, vulgar descriptions is really engaging. This was a quick book to read, but the subject matter is far from easy. It is rife with triggering content masked beneath mythical stories that make you question if what you really read just happened, but not wanting to go back and double-check. Some things are better left uncovered.

Empathy is for those who can afford it. Empathy is for the privileged. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

lizaliza5's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

wow. if you think you are ready, just read it. and get the audiobook and listen to it while you read. you need to hear her read the words and you need to hear her singing and to see the illustrations. this book was an experience that will stick with me forever.

" The Land has no hierarchy. The Land has no manners; you only obey and enjoy what is afforded to you by her greatness. Only logic and great care ensure your survival. Only the patterns of skills gifted by our ancestors keep us living in harmony. We obey or we succumb." INSANE. you need to read this. (but of course be aware of the EXTENSIVE content warnings and proceed with caution. It can get DARK.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Sexual harassment

amandaworld's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This is a difficult book to read & it took me a while to finish because I had to keep setting it down to breathe. Read the content warnings. Don't read before bed. 
Still, it's a beautiful story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug use, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Murder

abookishlesbian's review against another edition

5.0

Speechless. This was not an easy read, it forces you to confront the brutality of life in such a beautiful yet disorienting way. Tagaq does not spare the pain or the horror, but cradles you in moments of love, beauty, and laughter. The way she was able to express hard hitting topics such as child abuse, sexual abuse, addiction, etc through a combination of memoir, magical realism, and poetry, i experienced more emotional whiplash from this work of art than anything I've read in a very long time. This was truly a book I will never forget, and one I'd highly recommend but please proceed with caution. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Gore, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, and Vomit

lainz's review against another edition

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

merrieberrie's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Violence, and Pregnancy

ringofkeyz's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Body horror

Minor: Drug use and Sexual violence

lailybibliography's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective fast-paced

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

5.0

Arqsarniq. I sing for you. Humming shakily at first, thin tendrils of sound. The trepidation dissolves and a throbbing vibratory expulsion of sound emerges. Thicker, richer, heavier. Sound is its own currency. Sound is a conduit to a realm we cannot totally comprehend. 

Devastating, powerful, heartbreaking. I’m genuinely at a loss for words at the horrific beauty of Tanya Tagaq’s Nunavut and the near-mythic, brutal nature of life in the Great North. Humanity stripped to its barest essence, Tagaq describes a world where the material and spiritual coexist in violent harmony; where the Northern Lights are an everyday occurrence intervening in the lives of those living underneath its luminescence. One where the frigid cold and perpetual winter darkness renders lays bare the dispassionate, carnivorous soul of humankind fighting for its survival against foxes and bears and other assorted creatures all desperate to scratch out a sliver of an existence in an unforgiving environment.

The life Tagaq describes would be unbelievable to anybody living outside the Arctic circle. There’s a general air of chaos and danger permeating even the simplest of events. There’s no pretence of innocent to shield children from the cruelties of adulthood. Alcoholism and substance abuse runs rampant, and sexual abuse of children is so prevalent that Tagaq feels insecure when schoolteachers molest her some female classmates before her. There’s a definite whiplash that comes with reading about, say, institutionalized sexual abuse of children, then immediately moving on to visions of ancient folklore rendered in aurorae and astral projections with ancestors and descendants across time.

I could honestly go on and on raving about the gorgeous prose and heart-pounding narrative Tagaq weaves here. This should be considered a modern Canadian classic, required reading in our high school and university curricula. My favourite read of 2024 so far.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

Minor: Genocide and Colonisation

birdsandships's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

Such a challenging, gut wrenching book. Disorienting, disturbing, enchanting magical realism. The audio book adds a lot to the experience as Tagaq reads it herself with interludes of throat singing. Very non-linear. One that is going to stay with me for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcohol

thecandlelightlibrary's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

2.0

This is probably one I should not have picked up, but here we are. While the poetry itself was often stunning (and, if you are going to pick this up, I definitely recommend the audiobook version read by the author), there was just so much else I didn't enjoy. Other reviewers have mentioned that they'd be interested in reading more poetry by this author but not another novel, and that's kind of how I feel after finishing this blend of both.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Drug use, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail