Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Break by Katherena Vermette

68 reviews

emmacristina's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault

a_islandcriptid's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense 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? It's complicated

5.0

This is an amazing book, it tells a very powerful and pogniant story of community, family, history, and trauma. It is a rough read and deals very well with so many difficult and emotional things, and is stunningly written 

Warning that it is a very heavy, dark, emotional story so take care of yourself and be cautious of triggers.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Colonisation, Cursing, Addiction, Alcohol, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Rape, Drug use, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Sexual violence, Racism, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Medical content, and Mental illness

Moderate: Self harm, Child abuse, Classism, Drug abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, and Police brutality

emilyjayne96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

raybudbury's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense 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

3.75

Book club book that I didn’t complete on time but completed an hr after the meeting 😭. 

Very hard but important read. Be mindful of the content warnings especially sexual abuse, child abuse, and the rest. Really liked this one. I was listening to this at a very fast pace to be able to go to book club (hit 88% rip) and so may have missed some. Not an easy read to listen to as character pov jumps at a break neck speed so be mindful of that. 


I didn’t read the actual novel but saw copies of it during the book club meeting and I love that there is a family tree in it. Which would be useful as a lot of the characters go by nicknames of their actual names so it can get confusing w that as well! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Domestic abuse, and Drug use

Minor: Alcoholism

alexefontaine's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Drug use, Violence, Sexual violence, and Alcohol

bookishvanessa's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Addiction

kaitlynbarrett's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism and Addiction

madelynh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

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

4.0

I struggle with books that are this tragic and I definitely need to read more in general from Indigenous authors to balance it out, but I do think that this is a very good book. It’s hopeful but also complicated, it leaves you with so much unfinished because who knows how life will go, but also with a sense of possibility that for some of these characters things might get better. And also in a lot of ways things are okay as they are. But also that recognition is clear in the unfinished stories that the personal community and healing here isn’t enough to actually fix everything. It’s a lot but that’s what the world is. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Racism, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism, Alcohol, Toxic relationship, and Addiction

siobhanward's review against another edition

emotional medium-paced

• 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

3.5

 This was a solid but heavy read. Definitely check trigger warnings before reading. Overall, the plot was good and the characters were great. Vermette created an interwoven cast of characters, each with their own story, although it took most of the book for me to figure out who was who and how everyone was connected.

The book definitely dragged in the middle, and it could be confusing as the book moved quickly through different characters, but overall this was a solid read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Child abuse, Medical content, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death of parent and Drug use

Minor: Pregnancy

margardenlady's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.0

Heartwrenching story of abuse, woven tightly with a story about the communal strength of women and their love for family. This novel is a complex quilt of life in a neighborhood populated primarily by indigenous families. Narrators of each chapter are identified by name and by  weaving their separate narratives together, we ultimately see the whole story. Lots of triggers: alcoholism, child abuse, abandonment, sexual abuse, discrimination. These are dealt with honestly and without flinching, while deep connections of love and cultural traditions provide a strong base for relationships [although sometimes ignored by the characters].

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment and Child abuse