I knew going into it that SAVAGE TONGUES was going to be a tough read.  The story follows our main character Arezu who is returning to an apartment she has inherited from her father.  Roughly 20 years earlier, Arezu spent a handful of weeks in the apartment and had a disturbing “relationship” with an older man—a friend of her father.  I put “relationship” in quotes because it was by no means a healthy situation for Arezu (content warnings for grooming and sexual assault).  The book jumps a lot between present day and flashbacks in a stream of consciousness that can be really difficult to read at times.  I think I know what the author was going for with the writing style (the trauma haunts her so it’s always on her mind), but I found the story to be a bit repetitive by the end.  If you are someone who is looking for a plot driven story, this is probably not for you.   If you are more of a literary fiction fan this may be of interest to you, though the subject matter can be difficult to stomach at times. Thank you HMH for the ARC of Savage Tongues!