Reviews tagging 'Rape'

Carry: A Memoir of Survival on Stolen Land by Toni Jensen

5 reviews

amandacssingh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Rape

jayisreading's review

challenging emotional reflective slow-paced

4.25

Carry is moving and heartbreaking, written from the perspective of a Métis woman who also happens to be white-passing. I really appreciate how Jensen presented her insights with this in mind and its relations to the various topics she covers ranging from gun violence to domestic abuse. She doesn’t shy away from sensitive topics but never sensationalizes them. There’s a lot of care that went into each chapter, especially as Jensen considered the impact various circumstances and issues had on her own life.

I would say it’d be more accurate to describe this book as a collection of essays tinged with personal anecdotes as opposed to a memoir due to its structure. Not that this is a bad thing, since I still enjoyed this memoir (of sorts). Something I really appreciate about Carry is Jensen’s unique voice and writing style. It was very clear that she found her rhythm, which allowed each chapter to come together as beautifully as they did.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Classism, Trafficking, and Racism

Minor: Genocide, Rape, and Suicide

sarah984's review

challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

3.0

Essay collections are always hard to rate for me. Some of the essays were brilliant, searing looks at the meaning of violence, but others had clearly been published elsewhere before and didn't fit in as well with the rest of the content. The parts about COVID felt kind of tacked on and strange.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Dementia, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Mental illness, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Pregnancy, and Racism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Addiction, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Trafficking, and Stalking

Minor: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Rape, and Suicide

amandaquotidianbooks's review

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.0

Toni Jensen’s memoir Carry weaves together her childhood memories as a white-passing Métis, her interest in etymology, nature writing and a discussion of land and gun violence in America.

Jensen explores her evolving relationship with her alcoholic, abusive father, made complicated by his recent diagnosis of Lewy body dementia. We piece together moments of her life with the ebb and flow of quiet meditation. Some essays are more experimental, using second person perspective to directly engage the reader.

Jensen looks at examples of gun violence, past and present, in the places she calls home. She describes each city through this violence, but also recognizes the natural beauty to be found there. This is a topical, well-rounded nonfiction, blending fact with poetry to deliver an introduction to contemporary indigenous life in America.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism and Animal cruelty

Minor: Rape and Trafficking

cristy's review against another edition

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

A plethora of content warnings here. J speaks in depth about not only her personal trauma, but of our collective trauma; her people, her family, and our country as it stands today. The text moves around as she does, including to University of Central Florida and Orlando itself. The Pulse shooting is specifically addressed.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Mass/school shootings, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Rape, and Suicide

Moderate: Medical trauma

Minor: Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, and Grief