Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Night of the Living Rez by Morgan Talty

16 reviews

lizzie24601's review

medium-paced

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

2.0

Some of the stories about David as a child are good (especially the two about Paige's pregnancies), but overall nothing very exciting.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Alcohol, Drug use, Addiction, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Alcoholism, Dementia, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Miscarriage, Violence, and Grief

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, Blood, Racial slurs, Excrement, and Injury/Injury detail

bjdarby's review

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism and Addiction

Moderate: Mental illness, Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Child death, Racism, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Rape

lilias's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

4.25

I started reading 𝘕𝘪𝘨𝘩𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘓𝘪𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘙𝘦𝘻 purposefully. It was the night they caught the mass shooter whose name I’m omitting, and I wanted to read a book that was quintessentially Maine. Author Morgan Talty is a Penobscot writer. He teaches at UMaine Orono, which is where my husband went to school.
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I am also reading haunting or horror books this month and thought this was a horror book because of the title. It’s not! I mean, yes it deals with the horrors of marginalization, poverty, and addiction, but it wouldn’t be found in the horror section.
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I found myself smiling at moments and cringing at others. Talty’s characters are very human, sometimes unbearably so. Family, friendship, and love are themes that move them along with and against each other. This book broke my heart and at the same time satisfied my urge to want to read something beautifully Maine.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Child death

Moderate: Sexual violence, Cursing, Violence, Toxic friendship, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Pregnancy, Dementia, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Death, and Alcohol

samkcs's review

reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Sexual violence and Racism

kvokolek's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, and Child death

Moderate: Dementia and Sexual violence

Minor: Colonisation and Pregnancy

natashaarvanitidis's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

A+ storytelling

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Addiction, and Racism

percyu's review

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• 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: Violence, Drug use, Vomit, Drug abuse, Alcohol, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Death, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Child death, and Sexual violence

jayisreading's review against another edition

dark emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

These interconnected stories were so raw yet tender. Focusing on friends and family, generational trauma, life on the reservation, and just the general pains of growing up, Talty explores these themes through David, who serves as a protagonist of sorts for each story. Each story has its pain and grief that the characters go through, but there’s always space to show love still exists, despite everything.

Talty is a phenomenal storyteller, tugging at your heartstrings during some moments due to heart wrenching loss, but then having you laughing at others. These stories resist glamor and comfort in favor of presenting everyday life as is, the realities of one Penobscot boy’s/man’s world. This isn’t to say that the writing is plain— Quite the contrary, Talty has a really wonderful way with words, especially when it comes to dialogue; you really get a sense of each character’s persona and beliefs from these conversations.

I think the one thing that threw me off a little was the jumping around in time, which, in turn, affected the pacing a little. In some instances, we’re looking at the world from David’s perspective as a boy. In others, he’s a young man. It was a little hard to get into the stories at times, as a result, but I will say that I don’t think I was in the right headspace to fully appreciate these stories.

Whatever the case, I’m looking forward to what more Talty has in store for his readers. This collection of short stories really packed a punch. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Drug abuse, Addiction, Alcohol, Drug use, Child death, Dementia, Alcoholism, and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism, Car accident, Vomit, and Violence

Minor: Sexual violence and Blood

carliethompsonwriting's review

challenging dark emotional funny slow-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Child death, Sexual violence, Racism, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Sexual harassment

catapocalypse's review

challenging emotional funny reflective sad medium-paced

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

5.0

First I'd like to point out that this collection is mostly literary fiction rather than the horror many assume. There are scattered moments of haunting or dread, but it only seemed prominent in the last couple stories.

Mostly, these are interconnected stories narrated by the same man at various points of his life on the Penobscot Reservation. They focus on the complex connections he has with his family and friends, and frequently involve themes of sickness and healing as well. There's pain and heartbreak, but also compassion, and so much great humor throughout. The writing is beautifully crafted, and the characters so vividly real, I feel as though I'll miss them now that I've finished reading, mess and all.

This is one of my favorite reads of this year. I look forward to the novel Talty's working on now! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Alcoholism, Addiction, Drug abuse, and Dementia

Moderate: Miscarriage, Racism, Violence, and Child death

Minor: Sexual violence, Vomit, and Blood