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Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'
Never Whistle at Night: An Indigenous Dark Fiction Anthology by Shane Hawk, Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
20 reviews
tainolibrary's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Classism
rubl_b's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Murder
pigeonmellow's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
If you’re considering reading it, you’ll likely find something to enjoy!! It’s an anthology with over 20 short stories by as many authors, so you’re bound to find a story and an author you connect to.
I enjoyed hearing all the different writing styles (I listened to the audiobook version), and especially loved the voice actor Sheldon Elter, who voiced several of the stories. Sheldon Elter brought the characters and action to life with his emotion and voices — and none of his skillful spice distracted from the heart of the story, only served it. Sheldon Elter — you rule!
This book swerved for me towards the end. First, because I wasn’t aware when I picked it up that SA would be a major element in two stories (there was something that border-lined sexual violence in a third one, but it wasn’t viewed as a assault by the character who experienced it). Some readers can get through SA in their stories, but for me, it’s a trigger I can’t get past. Speaking of which: I completely skipped the second to last story (I think it was that one?) because, without warning, it opened with a first-person description of child SA in progress. I couldn’t do that one.
Second — as someone with a mental illness, I’m always hesitant when it comes to horror stories that paint mentally ill people as monsters or mental illness as a supernatural evil. At best, it’s tired — at worst, it’s perpetuating a harmful stigma. So yeah — for me personally, it’s not enjoyable to find that the “horror” of the story is a character being mentally ill and not taking their medication. In this anthology, there was one story that disappointed me in that way.
Lastly, I wasn’t ever creeped out by any of the stories, or on the edge of my seat with any of them — something I was looking forward to, as it was a horror anthology. Maybe that’s because I was listening to the audiobook version, and not reading in silence?
Huge trigger warnings for colonization, racism, white supremacy, racial slurs, talk of genocide and all of that directed at Indigenous people. If that is something that is a trigger for you, just know that all of those topics come up in almost every story. As one would expect, likely, given that these are horror stories written by Indigenous people, about Indigenous characters from this real world, where all of these horrors make up the real past and present.
Okay. ALL THAT BEING SAID: I did *really* love learning more about indigenous culture, and hearing about the fears, battles, resilience and triumphs of indigenous people. I am very interested in continuing to read my fav authors from this anthology! I learned a LOT I didn’t know before, and so much of the writing was so visceral, which I enjoyed immensely. This book has further motivated me to continue reading work by indigenous authors featuring indigenous characters and stories.
I want to note here, too, that horror stories deal with complicating and disturbing topics. So (apart from painting mental illness as an “evil”), I understand that my displeasure at some of these topics mostly means I’m a bit of a picky horror reader!
Graphic: Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Cannibalism, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
kellymacbrown's review against another edition
Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Abortion, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail
cadence99's review against another edition
- 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
4.25
Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Police brutality, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
bex4dayz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
4.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Torture, Forced institutionalization, and Cannibalism
justagir1's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
Moderate: Addiction, Body horror, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Slavery, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Police brutality, Trafficking, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
elephantsoups's review against another edition
The fact that content like that is presented without content warnings at any point? or a general note at the beginning? They’re topics I can handle in small bites but not as surprises and not constantly and ideally not without justice. Maybe they get lighter or change but I’m not interested in finding out.
Graphic: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Kidnapping, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism
ceallaighsbooks's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
“I should leave. This was my chance to escape, to run. I looked at the other students clustered in the living room, trying to see if anyone else was going to make a break for it too. They were all laughing and smiling. No one was looking at the heads. No one seemed bothered or on edge. All of them acted like they did in class. Was it in my imagination? Why was no one else upset?“ — from “Collections” by Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
“Chicago hitched ever so slightly but breathed the same as it ever did; in the normal course of things, that honky donkey carload would never tell their grandchildren what they'd done, even as they tilted out of their caskets into the long chute down to Hell while middle-aged Marys and Josephs ate wake-scented ham salad sandwiches and caught up on their kids' sad Little League triumphs and news of other white mediocrities. The city sighed along, settler sons and daughters telling its tale for a while, but not forever.” — from “The Longest Street in the World” by Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
“But what feels like an even better explanation for why we tend to like our stories to end like that, with bleeding over, bleeding across, haunting *us*, it's that it feels kind of fake and wrong and all too American to throw up walls between what's real and what's maybe not real. So, telling ourselves stories about the world being bigger than we thought, big enough for bigfoot and little people, that's really kind of saying to the so-called settlers that, hey, yeah, so you took all that land you could see. But what about all this other territory you don't even *know* about, man? Or, really: Why you don't come over here into the dark with us, *into* that other land? We can show you a thing or two, maybe. About the way things really are. And about the way they should be. The way they can be. The way they will be again.
I can't wait.”
— from the Foreward by Stephen Graham Jones
- TAAQTUMI edited by Neil Christopher
- THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones—TBR
- BAD CREE by Jessica Johns
- THE REVENGE OF BRIDGET CLEARY by Mathilda Zeller—TBR
- VENCO by Cherie Dimaline
- FUNERAL SONGS FOR DYING GIRLS by Cherie Dimaline—TBR
- GREEN FUSE BURNING by Tiffany Morris—TBR
- MOONFLOWERS edited by Samantha Kolesnik—TBR
- more Royce K. Young Wolf
- more Theodore C. Van Alst Jr.
- NIGHT OF THE LIVING REZ by Morgan Talty—TBR
- WHEN THE LIVING HAUNT THE DEAD by Carson Faust—TBR
- THERE THERE by Tommy Orange
- ELATSOE by Darcie Little Badger
- more Amber Blaeser-Wardzala
- MOON OF THE CRUSTED SNOW by Waubgeshig Rice—TBR
Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Torture, and Abortion
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Miscarriage, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Body shaming, Bullying, Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Medical content, Cannibalism, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Abortion, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Excrement, Car accident, Death of parent, and War
Residential schools, MMIWG2S.