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milktooth
Sorcha is over the hook-ups and gay haunts of her twenties. At thirty-one what she wants, more than anything, is to have a baby. Then she meets Chris― with her buttoned-up plaid, 90s heartthrob hair, and grand romantic gestures― and things get serious. Fast. Though Sorcha's friends find her new partner problematic, Sorcha has an explanation for everything.
As Chris's moods turn volatile and Sorcha becomes increasingly isolated, Chris paints an idyllic picture of domestic bliss in Cape Breton. Sorcha is all in: if her conservative religious upbringing taught her anything, it's how to save. Plus, Chris promises Sorcha the thing she wants most― a baby.
But when Sorcha becomes pregnant and Chris's abuse escalates, Sorcha realizes she must escape the life they've built together, just as she escaped her own stifling family years before.
When Sorcha's estranged Aunt Agnes, a retired midwife, messages Sorcha out of the blue, her bothy in the Scottish Highlands seems the perfect place to hide. As the bundle of cells in Sorcha's belly diligently divides, she daydreams that Agnes will deliver the baby and they'll stay in Scotland, where Chris can't find them. And where, just maybe, Sorcha could build the sort of family she's always ached for.
Exploring the clandestinity of queer abuse, the fierceness of friendship, and the magic of found family, milktooth is a bold, inventive, lyrical and darkly funny story about finding the strength to cut away what's harmed you and create something entirely new.
As Chris's moods turn volatile and Sorcha becomes increasingly isolated, Chris paints an idyllic picture of domestic bliss in Cape Breton. Sorcha is all in: if her conservative religious upbringing taught her anything, it's how to save. Plus, Chris promises Sorcha the thing she wants most― a baby.
But when Sorcha becomes pregnant and Chris's abuse escalates, Sorcha realizes she must escape the life they've built together, just as she escaped her own stifling family years before.
When Sorcha's estranged Aunt Agnes, a retired midwife, messages Sorcha out of the blue, her bothy in the Scottish Highlands seems the perfect place to hide. As the bundle of cells in Sorcha's belly diligently divides, she daydreams that Agnes will deliver the baby and they'll stay in Scotland, where Chris can't find them. And where, just maybe, Sorcha could build the sort of family she's always ached for.
Exploring the clandestinity of queer abuse, the fierceness of friendship, and the magic of found family, milktooth is a bold, inventive, lyrical and darkly funny story about finding the strength to cut away what's harmed you and create something entirely new.
280 pages, Paperback
First published May 6, 2025
14 people are currently reading
6336 people want to read
About the author
Jaime Burnet
2 books57 followersJaime Burnet's first novel, Crocuses Hatch From Snow, was published by Vagrant Press in 2019. Crocuses was shortlisted for the Thomas Raddall Atlantic Fiction Award and the ReLit Award. Her second novel, milktooth, will be published by Vagrant in May 2025.
Jaime lives with her family in Mulipjɨkejk/Herring Cove, Mi’kma'ki/Nova Scotia, where she writes, makes music, and walks by the ocean. She practices labour, employment, and human rights law in Kjipuktuk/Halifax.
Jaime lives with her family in Mulipjɨkejk/Herring Cove, Mi’kma'ki/Nova Scotia, where she writes, makes music, and walks by the ocean. She practices labour, employment, and human rights law in Kjipuktuk/Halifax.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 95 reviews
May 2, 2025
My fourth grade teacher would spend about half an hour a day reading out loud to our class. As someone that was already an avid reader by that point, this book-focused time was something that I both looked forward to and dreaded in equal measure. I looked forward to it because any time spent amongst the magical worlds of stories like Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, A Wrinkle In Time or even Where The Red Fern Grows was something that felt meaningful and necessary to my existence. They were an escape from those parts of the real world that would keep my eyes open at night - unable to calm my brain, unable to dream. But I also dreaded our time with those books because it meant that eventually, we would have to leave those worlds and wait an entire day to find our way back to them. I longed to skip ahead with my own copies of the books, but I felt some sort of allegiance to experiencing the stories at the same pace as the rest of the class and not ruining things.
As I grew up, I found solace in books where the worlds that were presented to me were quite a bit less magical and more grounded in some form of reality. Stories that enveloped themselves in pain and regret, stories that basked in the triumph and the fall of love, stories that didn’t shield me from their pulsing, damaged hearts and invited me inside to bathe me in warmth as they simultaneously ripped me to shreds. I began to live for stories that exemplified what the London-based band Shame once wrote, “They say ‘don’t live in the past’ and I don’t. I live deep within myself, just like everyone else.”
Despite the difficult subject matter of Jaime Burnet’s Milktooth, I mowed through it in two sittings over the course of one day, but then found myself pausing to write or post anything about it over the past…two months (?!?) as the intense struggle at the core of the story rattled around my brain like a handful of forgotten stray coins loosed from a pair of jeans in the dryer. Milktooth and it’s narrator, Sorcha, have lived with me over these past months in a sort of delicate balance of wanting to hold on to this story just for myself, while also feeling like I am bursting at the seams to talk about it, open up about it, connect it to every experience I’ve ever known - connect it to every feeling that I’ve ever hidden deep inside of myself.
In the first half of Milktooth, we are thrown into Sorcha’s current life as she spends her days working at a glorified mini-mart in the intensely gorgeous, but remarkably remote village of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Immediately, a number of hallmarks of abuse are present - the sheer panic she feels when missing a text from her partner, sneaking food that her partner wouldn’t approve of, the endless guilt of having to ask her partner to drive her anywhere, the disassociation that she works in a bookshop rather than a convenience store. As the story unfolds, we are given glimpses into the past where we allowed to see a happier, more outgoing and vibrant version of Sorcha in the larger city of Halifax as she immerses herself into a world surrounded by her found family of best friends.
Sorcha’s life is upended when she meets Chris, described early on as a lesbian Leonardo DiCaprio look-alike, and the two embark on an intense relationship that immediately consumes her and alienates Sorcha’s friends. Chris is jealous, possessive and becomes a wedge between Sorcha and her merry band of misfit friends and eventually convinces Sorcha that it would be best for them to move away from the distractions of the city to isolate themselves in a small town where they can work towards the process of starting a family together. Despite the lingering voice in the back of her head that she’s had enough of Chris’ constant emotional manipulation and her insistence that Sorcha choose her over her friends, she makes the decision to leave her life in the city and follow Chris just about as far to the east as she can go, to the middle of nowhere.
While what follows in the second half of the story becomes much more hopeful, that hope also presents itself attached to a significant amount of change and upheaval in Sorcha’s reality, which is, at times, absolutely gut-wrenching and nerve-wracking to read. Jaime does a phenomenal job of allowing us to live inside of the mind of someone being deeply emotionally abused and manipulated to the degree that you begin to feel it across your skin and in your bones. The tension and worry that she creates on behalf of the situation that Sorcha has found herself in is thick and I found that as I read along, all of my nervous tics came flaring outward in grand procession as I went along for the ride.
Milktooth is a piece of art that examines how the abuse that you accept from the people you trust implicitly early on in your life - your family - can translate into a reality where you will continue to accept that level of abuse until you work to break the cycle…and even then, it never fully disappears. As her story unfolds and she finds herself handcuffed even further to Chris via an IVF pregnancy, Sorcha discovers family secrets that unlock doors in her mind that had always been closed off to her and help guide her to the people in her life that have her best interests at heart without any expectation of receiving anything in return outside of love.
With Milktooth, Jaime has crafted a document that shines an essential and bright light on queer relationships, the machinations of abuse and the lifetime of trauma they create, the human ability to fight and to survive at all costs and the beauty of finding your place among a found family and allowing yourself even an infinitesimal shard of happiness. Milktooth is a force of nature in the shape of a novel that I will have planted in my brain for many years to come.
Thank you to Vagrant Press, Nimbus Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this highly important work of art.
As I grew up, I found solace in books where the worlds that were presented to me were quite a bit less magical and more grounded in some form of reality. Stories that enveloped themselves in pain and regret, stories that basked in the triumph and the fall of love, stories that didn’t shield me from their pulsing, damaged hearts and invited me inside to bathe me in warmth as they simultaneously ripped me to shreds. I began to live for stories that exemplified what the London-based band Shame once wrote, “They say ‘don’t live in the past’ and I don’t. I live deep within myself, just like everyone else.”
Despite the difficult subject matter of Jaime Burnet’s Milktooth, I mowed through it in two sittings over the course of one day, but then found myself pausing to write or post anything about it over the past…two months (?!?) as the intense struggle at the core of the story rattled around my brain like a handful of forgotten stray coins loosed from a pair of jeans in the dryer. Milktooth and it’s narrator, Sorcha, have lived with me over these past months in a sort of delicate balance of wanting to hold on to this story just for myself, while also feeling like I am bursting at the seams to talk about it, open up about it, connect it to every experience I’ve ever known - connect it to every feeling that I’ve ever hidden deep inside of myself.
In the first half of Milktooth, we are thrown into Sorcha’s current life as she spends her days working at a glorified mini-mart in the intensely gorgeous, but remarkably remote village of Cape Breton, Nova Scotia. Immediately, a number of hallmarks of abuse are present - the sheer panic she feels when missing a text from her partner, sneaking food that her partner wouldn’t approve of, the endless guilt of having to ask her partner to drive her anywhere, the disassociation that she works in a bookshop rather than a convenience store. As the story unfolds, we are given glimpses into the past where we allowed to see a happier, more outgoing and vibrant version of Sorcha in the larger city of Halifax as she immerses herself into a world surrounded by her found family of best friends.
Sorcha’s life is upended when she meets Chris, described early on as a lesbian Leonardo DiCaprio look-alike, and the two embark on an intense relationship that immediately consumes her and alienates Sorcha’s friends. Chris is jealous, possessive and becomes a wedge between Sorcha and her merry band of misfit friends and eventually convinces Sorcha that it would be best for them to move away from the distractions of the city to isolate themselves in a small town where they can work towards the process of starting a family together. Despite the lingering voice in the back of her head that she’s had enough of Chris’ constant emotional manipulation and her insistence that Sorcha choose her over her friends, she makes the decision to leave her life in the city and follow Chris just about as far to the east as she can go, to the middle of nowhere.
While what follows in the second half of the story becomes much more hopeful, that hope also presents itself attached to a significant amount of change and upheaval in Sorcha’s reality, which is, at times, absolutely gut-wrenching and nerve-wracking to read. Jaime does a phenomenal job of allowing us to live inside of the mind of someone being deeply emotionally abused and manipulated to the degree that you begin to feel it across your skin and in your bones. The tension and worry that she creates on behalf of the situation that Sorcha has found herself in is thick and I found that as I read along, all of my nervous tics came flaring outward in grand procession as I went along for the ride.
Milktooth is a piece of art that examines how the abuse that you accept from the people you trust implicitly early on in your life - your family - can translate into a reality where you will continue to accept that level of abuse until you work to break the cycle…and even then, it never fully disappears. As her story unfolds and she finds herself handcuffed even further to Chris via an IVF pregnancy, Sorcha discovers family secrets that unlock doors in her mind that had always been closed off to her and help guide her to the people in her life that have her best interests at heart without any expectation of receiving anything in return outside of love.
With Milktooth, Jaime has crafted a document that shines an essential and bright light on queer relationships, the machinations of abuse and the lifetime of trauma they create, the human ability to fight and to survive at all costs and the beauty of finding your place among a found family and allowing yourself even an infinitesimal shard of happiness. Milktooth is a force of nature in the shape of a novel that I will have planted in my brain for many years to come.
Thank you to Vagrant Press, Nimbus Publishing and NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read an advanced copy of this highly important work of art.
March 24, 2025
my rating ➸ 4
I received a free copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
definitely an interesting read, it’s a bit slow to start and jumps in between different memories of sorcha’s. it was definitely a hard read at times, watching chris’s behavior towards sorcha escalate. despite how rough certain parts are, there are hopeful parts as well. my favorite part was being able to see sorcha connect with her aunt. the ending was a bit abrupt, but made sense since the story is less about closure and more about watching someone start to redevelop a sense of self after going through a difficult time.
I received a free copy from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
definitely an interesting read, it’s a bit slow to start and jumps in between different memories of sorcha’s. it was definitely a hard read at times, watching chris’s behavior towards sorcha escalate. despite how rough certain parts are, there are hopeful parts as well. my favorite part was being able to see sorcha connect with her aunt. the ending was a bit abrupt, but made sense since the story is less about closure and more about watching someone start to redevelop a sense of self after going through a difficult time.
April 19, 2025
This was so painfully & beautifully written. If you’re in a toxic relationship & need some extra strength to move on, please read this. You travel through the life of a woman who falls too fast for the wrong person, and cheer her on as she digs herself out of it. She can do it. You can do it too. It puts into perspective how grateful we should be for our “chosen family” 🖤 Get yourself a cup of tea, a scone & a comfy chair cause you’re going to want to eat this book up as fast as you can.
Thank you Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for this ARC!
Thank you Netgalley, the publishers, and the author for this ARC!
March 8, 2025
I had no idea what to expect when I picked up Milktooth, but I quickly learned that sometimes the most unexpected covers hold the deepest, most gut-wrenching stories. I love a sad girl book, especially when the cast is almost exclusively queer. That cool cover and the promise of a story about a woman finding herself—mixed with the literariness (litfic) I adore—had me hooked from the start.
Sorcha, now in her early 30s, is determined to leave behind the fleeting hook-ups and gay haunts of her twenties. All she’s ever wanted is the stability and love of a family—a dream that seems just within reach when she meets Chris. With her buttoned-up plaid, 90s heartthrob hair, and grand romantic gestures, Chris sweeps Sorcha into a whirlwind romance that quickly turns serious. Despite the concerns of her friends, Sorcha clings to the hope that this could be the real-life fairy tale she’s longed for.
However, beneath the veneer of domestic bliss promised in Cape Breton, dark truths begin to surface. Chris’s volatile moods and manipulative behavior reveal her true nature. As Sorcha becomes increasingly isolated, the very person who promised her a baby and a life of stability becomes the architect of her emotional and physical confinement. For anyone who’s ever seen their own past traumas echo in present relationships, Chris’s character resonates all too painfully.
Yet, this is not just a story of destruction. Milktooth is also about the possibility of rebuilding from the ruins. When Sorcha’s estranged Aunt Agnes—a retired midwife with a mysterious past—reaches out, it offers Sorcha a lifeline: a chance to retreat to a bothy in the Scottish Highlands and piece together a new life. Amid the pain, moments of fierce friendship, raw intimacy, and the beauty of found family shine through. The narrative is painted in stunning, lyrical prose that marries trauma with tenderness, and even in the darkest moments, hope glimmers.
Set against the evocative backdrops of Halifax, Cape Breton, and Scotland, every location becomes a character in itself, reinforcing the book’s themes of isolation, identity, and transformation. The subtle exploration of Gaelic language and evolving sexual identity further enriches the story, making it both a cultural and emotional journey.
Milktooth is a compelling testament to survival—the journey from yearning to entrapment and ultimately to liberation. It forces us to confront the lies we tell ourselves to justify staying in harmful situations and reminds us that sometimes the hardest step is believing we deserve better. This beautifully tragic story, with its raw honesty and unforgettable characters, has already claimed its place as one of my favorite reads of the year.
Highly recommended for lovers of litfic, queer narratives, and anyone who’s ever struggled to break free from the chains of a toxic past.
Thank you to NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing | Vagrant Press for the eARC.
Sorcha, now in her early 30s, is determined to leave behind the fleeting hook-ups and gay haunts of her twenties. All she’s ever wanted is the stability and love of a family—a dream that seems just within reach when she meets Chris. With her buttoned-up plaid, 90s heartthrob hair, and grand romantic gestures, Chris sweeps Sorcha into a whirlwind romance that quickly turns serious. Despite the concerns of her friends, Sorcha clings to the hope that this could be the real-life fairy tale she’s longed for.
However, beneath the veneer of domestic bliss promised in Cape Breton, dark truths begin to surface. Chris’s volatile moods and manipulative behavior reveal her true nature. As Sorcha becomes increasingly isolated, the very person who promised her a baby and a life of stability becomes the architect of her emotional and physical confinement. For anyone who’s ever seen their own past traumas echo in present relationships, Chris’s character resonates all too painfully.
Yet, this is not just a story of destruction. Milktooth is also about the possibility of rebuilding from the ruins. When Sorcha’s estranged Aunt Agnes—a retired midwife with a mysterious past—reaches out, it offers Sorcha a lifeline: a chance to retreat to a bothy in the Scottish Highlands and piece together a new life. Amid the pain, moments of fierce friendship, raw intimacy, and the beauty of found family shine through. The narrative is painted in stunning, lyrical prose that marries trauma with tenderness, and even in the darkest moments, hope glimmers.
Set against the evocative backdrops of Halifax, Cape Breton, and Scotland, every location becomes a character in itself, reinforcing the book’s themes of isolation, identity, and transformation. The subtle exploration of Gaelic language and evolving sexual identity further enriches the story, making it both a cultural and emotional journey.
Milktooth is a compelling testament to survival—the journey from yearning to entrapment and ultimately to liberation. It forces us to confront the lies we tell ourselves to justify staying in harmful situations and reminds us that sometimes the hardest step is believing we deserve better. This beautifully tragic story, with its raw honesty and unforgettable characters, has already claimed its place as one of my favorite reads of the year.
Highly recommended for lovers of litfic, queer narratives, and anyone who’s ever struggled to break free from the chains of a toxic past.
Thank you to NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing | Vagrant Press for the eARC.
September 21, 2025
★★★★★
(J'ai adoré!)
Ce livre est une petite perle!
Jaime Burnet est une auteure à surveiller! Elle réussi à construire une histoire remplie de douceur et de moment cozy, malgré le fait qu'elle soit centrée autour d'une relation amoureuse toxique. Ce livre nous fait vivre un tourbillon d'émotion ; en même temps de nous faire suffoquer et d'espérer que le personnage s'échappe de son calvaire, on expérimente la simplicité de vivre dans petit village et la tendresse d'une communauté.
Les personnages sont tellement intéressants, uniques et complexes. La manière de penser et les agissements étranges de Sorcha font d'elle un personnage authentique auquel on s'attache énormément.
Une véritable découverte pour moi.
🥛🏡🦎🥐🛩✉️
*.✧Merci à Nimbus Publishing et NetGalley pour l'ARC en échange d'une critique honnête.
**Je change ma note pour un 5☆, parce que même après plusieurs mois, j'y pense encore souvent. C'était vraiment un excellent livre, probablement un de mes coups de coeur de l'année!
(J'ai adoré!)
Ce livre est une petite perle!
Jaime Burnet est une auteure à surveiller! Elle réussi à construire une histoire remplie de douceur et de moment cozy, malgré le fait qu'elle soit centrée autour d'une relation amoureuse toxique. Ce livre nous fait vivre un tourbillon d'émotion ; en même temps de nous faire suffoquer et d'espérer que le personnage s'échappe de son calvaire, on expérimente la simplicité de vivre dans petit village et la tendresse d'une communauté.
Les personnages sont tellement intéressants, uniques et complexes. La manière de penser et les agissements étranges de Sorcha font d'elle un personnage authentique auquel on s'attache énormément.
Une véritable découverte pour moi.
🥛🏡🦎🥐🛩✉️
*.✧Merci à Nimbus Publishing et NetGalley pour l'ARC en échange d'une critique honnête.
**Je change ma note pour un 5☆, parce que même après plusieurs mois, j'y pense encore souvent. C'était vraiment un excellent livre, probablement un de mes coups de coeur de l'année!
May 10, 2025
ARC |
“It felt like walking in a neighborhood you think you know, and then after a while you’re lost but you can’t remember where you took a wrong turn.”
What a devastating read. A fair warning to those who choose to read it, it can be triggering if you have been in an abusive relationship of any kind. However, the way the book was able to capture the reality of an abusive romantic relationship, especially in a sapphic couple, was great. It’s something that you don’t see in a lot of books but it’s a very real thing that happens. It’s also hopeful toward the end which I enjoyed because it’s good to remind survivors of DV or DA that it will not be the end and that good things are still to come.
“It felt like walking in a neighborhood you think you know, and then after a while you’re lost but you can’t remember where you took a wrong turn.”
What a devastating read. A fair warning to those who choose to read it, it can be triggering if you have been in an abusive relationship of any kind. However, the way the book was able to capture the reality of an abusive romantic relationship, especially in a sapphic couple, was great. It’s something that you don’t see in a lot of books but it’s a very real thing that happens. It’s also hopeful toward the end which I enjoyed because it’s good to remind survivors of DV or DA that it will not be the end and that good things are still to come.
December 29, 2025
4 Stars
The pace was a bit dragging. The author’s choice for prose was bold and uncommon but effective for the story- a bit disconcerting due to its heavy theme but mixed in with dry humour. The only thing that was dragging the story was the pace.
The pace was a bit dragging. The author’s choice for prose was bold and uncommon but effective for the story- a bit disconcerting due to its heavy theme but mixed in with dry humour. The only thing that was dragging the story was the pace.
March 24, 2025
I originally applied for an ARC because I loved the cover, specifically the salamander, and the Scottish Highlands setting. That was enough to spark my interest, but the plot pulled me in from page one. Easily a top five read for me this year so far.
The story moves from the weight of an abusive relationship to the warmth that comes with healing. The writing is so captivating and vivid, I found myself easily immersed in Sorcha’s world. There’s a natural, conversational flow to the character’s dialogue. The familiarity really drew me in, as if I was overhearing a genuine moment between friends. At its core, this is a story of resilience and the strength it takes to shape the future you want.
The emotional abuse Sorcha faces is written with such heartbreaking realism. The slow erosion of self, the isolation, the constant feeling of walking on eggshells. Chris manipulates her into believing that if she just tried harder, if she was a little better, there would be no cause for anger. If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to meet someone like Chris, you’ll recognize how well the author captures the dynamic of control and manipulation. Sorcha’s list of things to remember struck a deep chord with me. These seemingly small rules, survival tactics disguised as considerations, serve as a painful reminder of how easy it is to shrink yourself just to keep the peace. Ultimately, this story delves into the lies we tell ourselves to justify staying in toxic situations and highlights that sometimes the hardest step isn’t leaving. It’s t’s believing we deserve something better, and finding the courage to take that first step.
I loved Sorcha’s fiercely loyal friends who stand by her and continue to offer unwavering support. Their presence is a reminder of the importance of true friendship. And then there’s her Aunt Agnes, the kind of family everyone hopes for. I absolutely adored her. Agnes consistently supported Sorcha in whatever she chose, providing both encouragement and the space needed for Sorcha to heal while gently guiding her toward building a future of her own. There were so many tender, sweet moments between Agnes and Sorcha that brought tears to my eyes.
As someone who’s been to the Highlands, it truly does feel like a magical. The quiet, the small-town feel, the remoteness. It’s the kind of place where you can breathe a little easier, where burdens feel lighter just by being hidden away in such a beautiful pocket of the world. The author captured that feeling so well, making the setting just as important as the story itself.
I absolutely loved this book, and found myself highlighting so many passages. Beautifully written, emotionally wrecking, and deeply resonant.
Thank you so much to NetGally and Nimbus Publishing for the ARC!
The story moves from the weight of an abusive relationship to the warmth that comes with healing. The writing is so captivating and vivid, I found myself easily immersed in Sorcha’s world. There’s a natural, conversational flow to the character’s dialogue. The familiarity really drew me in, as if I was overhearing a genuine moment between friends. At its core, this is a story of resilience and the strength it takes to shape the future you want.
The emotional abuse Sorcha faces is written with such heartbreaking realism. The slow erosion of self, the isolation, the constant feeling of walking on eggshells. Chris manipulates her into believing that if she just tried harder, if she was a little better, there would be no cause for anger. If you’ve ever been unfortunate enough to meet someone like Chris, you’ll recognize how well the author captures the dynamic of control and manipulation. Sorcha’s list of things to remember struck a deep chord with me. These seemingly small rules, survival tactics disguised as considerations, serve as a painful reminder of how easy it is to shrink yourself just to keep the peace. Ultimately, this story delves into the lies we tell ourselves to justify staying in toxic situations and highlights that sometimes the hardest step isn’t leaving. It’s t’s believing we deserve something better, and finding the courage to take that first step.
I loved Sorcha’s fiercely loyal friends who stand by her and continue to offer unwavering support. Their presence is a reminder of the importance of true friendship. And then there’s her Aunt Agnes, the kind of family everyone hopes for. I absolutely adored her. Agnes consistently supported Sorcha in whatever she chose, providing both encouragement and the space needed for Sorcha to heal while gently guiding her toward building a future of her own. There were so many tender, sweet moments between Agnes and Sorcha that brought tears to my eyes.
As someone who’s been to the Highlands, it truly does feel like a magical. The quiet, the small-town feel, the remoteness. It’s the kind of place where you can breathe a little easier, where burdens feel lighter just by being hidden away in such a beautiful pocket of the world. The author captured that feeling so well, making the setting just as important as the story itself.
I absolutely loved this book, and found myself highlighting so many passages. Beautifully written, emotionally wrecking, and deeply resonant.
Thank you so much to NetGally and Nimbus Publishing for the ARC!
March 4, 2025
I have never picked up an arc quicker, I started it as soon as possible after being approved and I'm so glad I did as this was phenomenal.
I completely fell in love with these characters, with Sorcha our main character who I understood and saw myself in from page one. I also loved her friendship group, Agnes, and even the unlikeable characters were so well developed and intriguing. This was perfect for a character-driven reader like me. I also learned a lot about Nova Scotia through the lush description of setting, as well as the language of Scottish Gaelic.
I was fully immersed and invested in the story arc, it was difficult to put this book down. There is so much humour and heart and heartbreak poured into these pages, it was a very emotional but healing read.
This book is no less than 5 stars, one of the easiest I've ever given out and it has made it into my top 10 favourite books of all time, in 6th place! I am very much looking forward to buying a physical copy for my own bookshelves and I will reread this in the future as there are so many beautiful quotations I want to annotate. I would highly highly recommend this book but please, as always, check trigger warnings as this delves into some sensitive topics.
5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley, Nimbus Publishing and Jaime Burnet for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.
I completely fell in love with these characters, with Sorcha our main character who I understood and saw myself in from page one. I also loved her friendship group, Agnes, and even the unlikeable characters were so well developed and intriguing. This was perfect for a character-driven reader like me. I also learned a lot about Nova Scotia through the lush description of setting, as well as the language of Scottish Gaelic.
I was fully immersed and invested in the story arc, it was difficult to put this book down. There is so much humour and heart and heartbreak poured into these pages, it was a very emotional but healing read.
This book is no less than 5 stars, one of the easiest I've ever given out and it has made it into my top 10 favourite books of all time, in 6th place! I am very much looking forward to buying a physical copy for my own bookshelves and I will reread this in the future as there are so many beautiful quotations I want to annotate. I would highly highly recommend this book but please, as always, check trigger warnings as this delves into some sensitive topics.
5 stars
Thank you to NetGalley, Nimbus Publishing and Jaime Burnet for the opportunity to read this advanced reader copy.
August 8, 2025
i really loved this! it was very devastating at parts but i really appreciated how there was a distinctly hopeful ending and how sorcha was so loved by so many people and wasn’t alone. i loved how the author described the warmth between sorcha and her friends and agnes. i ALSO personally loved and connected to the descriptions of halifax and how special it feels to move here as a young adult and build friendships and a full life here. i thought the whole book was so incredibly beautifully written
July 7, 2025
This book was so beautifully written, it felt like it was almost historical fiction because of the writing style. It evoked real emotion in me, I felt angry at Chris and scared for Sorcha and I cried when she went into labor and Agnes had to phone in instead of being there. I loved that it was set in Halifax and I could see and hear the things she was describing. It was a fantastic book and the shame of discussing abuse in the queer community was fantastically approached.
March 5, 2025
thank you netgalley and nimbus publishing for this book
while slow to start, i read the last 70% in one sitting and actually may have even shed a tear at the end???
the most wonderful character driven book about queer identities, family, friends, love, relationships both good and bad and what it means to become yourself.
i loved so much of the easy education about the gaelic language and nova scotia and all the nods towards other pop culture references. i truly did not expect to find so much of myself in these pages, i did not expect to love this book as much i did. a very strong ending. a good read.
while slow to start, i read the last 70% in one sitting and actually may have even shed a tear at the end???
the most wonderful character driven book about queer identities, family, friends, love, relationships both good and bad and what it means to become yourself.
i loved so much of the easy education about the gaelic language and nova scotia and all the nods towards other pop culture references. i truly did not expect to find so much of myself in these pages, i did not expect to love this book as much i did. a very strong ending. a good read.
June 13, 2025
Wow. Wow. Wow. I am honestly just at a loss of words of what this book made me feel. Sorcha would have a panic attack, I’d have a panic attack. Sorcha would silently wail, I would silently wail. A painfully universal story, written so bluntly yet so delicately.
I was sucked in so soon and weaved in all the way through.
Jaime Burnet is a damn good writer, I cannot wait to read more of hers!
I was sucked in so soon and weaved in all the way through.
Jaime Burnet is a damn good writer, I cannot wait to read more of hers!
January 7, 2026
this was one of the best books i have ever read in the most beautiful devastating way
November 9, 2025
A very difficult read, and yet somehow, still sweet and often cozy. A warm hug when everything is awful. A beautiful and hopeful story that doesn’t glaze over the hard parts. A love letter to found queer family. And beautiful descriptions of Scotland! And baking and pastries that will make you veeeeery hungry.💕💕💕
January 22, 2026
This book captivated me the moment I started reading it! So lucky that I was able to hear the author read a passage aloud last year!
The topic of emotional abuse in queer relationships may be hard to read, borderline triggering, but I found reading it to be therapeutic. The mental acrobatics the main character Sorcha goes through to justify her abusive partner's behavior and her reasoning to stay is super relatable. Sorcha's story reveals how someone could get into such a situation and how difficult it is to get out. Reading this helps me put into words what happened to me and also further understand how others could get into such situation. Bonus, finally there is an author who writes about a trans character without making it a big deal and deadnaming her.
Every situation Sorcha found herself in was very realistic, it felt like I was reading a thriller. I found it exhilarating as my reading speed accelerates to find out what Sorcha will do in the end. My favorite thing is her theme of dairy woven in the plot as Sorcha's secretive rebellion against Chris; but truly it stands for the little bit of Sorcha that she has left, that she still holds onto, and eventually will help pushing her to the breaking point.
The topic of emotional abuse in queer relationships may be hard to read, borderline triggering, but I found reading it to be therapeutic. The mental acrobatics the main character Sorcha goes through to justify her abusive partner's behavior and her reasoning to stay is super relatable. Sorcha's story reveals how someone could get into such a situation and how difficult it is to get out. Reading this helps me put into words what happened to me and also further understand how others could get into such situation. Bonus, finally there is an author who writes about a trans character without making it a big deal and deadnaming her.
Every situation Sorcha found herself in was very realistic, it felt like I was reading a thriller. I found it exhilarating as my reading speed accelerates to find out what Sorcha will do in the end. My favorite thing is her theme of dairy woven in the plot as Sorcha's secretive rebellion against Chris; but truly it stands for the little bit of Sorcha that she has left, that she still holds onto, and eventually will help pushing her to the breaking point.
December 1, 2025
(rounded up from 3.75)
This is a story about Sorcha, a researcher who specialised in salamanaders and has a lovely group of queer friends and wants to be a mother someday soon. She meets Chris at the farmers market, who is a butch lesbian with floppy Leo DiCaprio 90's hair and a well-paying job and they end up moving together to Nova Scotia very quickly after, despite Chris showing signs of being rather controlling and kind of an asshole to Sorcha's friends.
The portrayal of how controlling and abusive partners slowly gain a foothold in your life and cut you off from friends and support networks while using their own insecurities to emotionally blackmail you into forgiving them is really subtle and naturally portrayed here and Sorcha is naive but sweet and wanting so hard to have a loving relationship with someone who she can co-parent with someday that it's hard to not root for her as she slowly understands her situation and makes an escape plan while pregnant. There are some really sweet subplots about found (and re-found) family, being desperate to find an uncomplicated and wholesome love, and also finding your way back to yourself after being emotionally abused so much that you're afraid to trust yourself to literally drive despite being perfectly able to drive.
I would very much recommend this for the subject matter since it is a great portrayal of how this happens and a wholesome story of a woman clawing her way out of this situation. One of my favourite reads this year!
This is a story about Sorcha, a researcher who specialised in salamanaders and has a lovely group of queer friends and wants to be a mother someday soon. She meets Chris at the farmers market, who is a butch lesbian with floppy Leo DiCaprio 90's hair and a well-paying job and they end up moving together to Nova Scotia very quickly after, despite Chris showing signs of being rather controlling and kind of an asshole to Sorcha's friends.
The portrayal of how controlling and abusive partners slowly gain a foothold in your life and cut you off from friends and support networks while using their own insecurities to emotionally blackmail you into forgiving them is really subtle and naturally portrayed here and Sorcha is naive but sweet and wanting so hard to have a loving relationship with someone who she can co-parent with someday that it's hard to not root for her as she slowly understands her situation and makes an escape plan while pregnant. There are some really sweet subplots about found (and re-found) family, being desperate to find an uncomplicated and wholesome love, and also finding your way back to yourself after being emotionally abused so much that you're afraid to trust yourself to literally drive despite being perfectly able to drive.
I would very much recommend this for the subject matter since it is a great portrayal of how this happens and a wholesome story of a woman clawing her way out of this situation. One of my favourite reads this year!
January 29, 2026
Sick day read. Maybe 4.5? Loved this
February 9, 2025
milktooth by @jaimeburnet
✅ARC #gifted to me by @nimbuspub for review
Oh my god I loved this book so much. From the very first page I couldn’t put this beautiful book down and I truly didn’t want it to end.
Milktooth is about queer and unlucky in love Sorcha. She’s in her early 30s and tired of the messy relationships of her past and ready to settle down, maybe become a “real” adult whatever that means. Enter Chris—Leonardo Dicaprio lesbian lookalike, who seems like the type of person she could make a life with, if only Sorcha could be a little better at pleasing her and her mercurial moods, or stop provoking her into sullen jealous fights, get her friends to accept her, or figure out how to tiptoe around the triggers buried like mines around them…… right?
When Sorcha and Chris move to rural Cape Breton to start building that idyllic life together, alone and isolated, things reach a breaking point, a crossroads, and Sorcha must step into the only future she can live with. But what does that look like—and at what cost?
What a compelling read this was! Set in Halifax, Cape Breton and Scotland, the locales were perfect side characters to this gloomy story of the insidious and quiet abuse that can exist in relationships—and the way you rearrange reality in your mind to make it something you can accept and live with. I loved the characters, Sorcha is so relatable and the way her mind is described as having little workers in it were so endearing and quirky. All the relationships in this story were so authentic and felt real to me and the way the plot unfurls felt inevitable in the best way.
I loved the showcase on Gaelic language and the way sexual identity and preference is explored and allowed to evolve. Just a really gorgeous story with beautiful writing. This is probably going to be my favourite cover of the year and I’m so glad the story lived up to it! I think this book might be the one to beat this year!
Highly recommend for lovers of litfic, sad girls, queer relationships, ppl struggling at adulting, and found family.
Waaaah I want to read more of Sorcha 😭 also yes I did cry at the end. 5 stars and my whole heart
✅ARC #gifted to me by @nimbuspub for review
Oh my god I loved this book so much. From the very first page I couldn’t put this beautiful book down and I truly didn’t want it to end.
Milktooth is about queer and unlucky in love Sorcha. She’s in her early 30s and tired of the messy relationships of her past and ready to settle down, maybe become a “real” adult whatever that means. Enter Chris—Leonardo Dicaprio lesbian lookalike, who seems like the type of person she could make a life with, if only Sorcha could be a little better at pleasing her and her mercurial moods, or stop provoking her into sullen jealous fights, get her friends to accept her, or figure out how to tiptoe around the triggers buried like mines around them…… right?
When Sorcha and Chris move to rural Cape Breton to start building that idyllic life together, alone and isolated, things reach a breaking point, a crossroads, and Sorcha must step into the only future she can live with. But what does that look like—and at what cost?
What a compelling read this was! Set in Halifax, Cape Breton and Scotland, the locales were perfect side characters to this gloomy story of the insidious and quiet abuse that can exist in relationships—and the way you rearrange reality in your mind to make it something you can accept and live with. I loved the characters, Sorcha is so relatable and the way her mind is described as having little workers in it were so endearing and quirky. All the relationships in this story were so authentic and felt real to me and the way the plot unfurls felt inevitable in the best way.
I loved the showcase on Gaelic language and the way sexual identity and preference is explored and allowed to evolve. Just a really gorgeous story with beautiful writing. This is probably going to be my favourite cover of the year and I’m so glad the story lived up to it! I think this book might be the one to beat this year!
Highly recommend for lovers of litfic, sad girls, queer relationships, ppl struggling at adulting, and found family.
Waaaah I want to read more of Sorcha 😭 also yes I did cry at the end. 5 stars and my whole heart
July 9, 2025
Wow wow wowww I was addicted to this book. I love u Sorch and I love dairy🥛
May 30, 2025
This was fantastic!
Sorcha you are hilarious, flawed, a survivor and I have the upmost respect for the journey you were on! I thought the author did a fantastic job of writing Chris as the villain, because she is such a gaslighter, manipulative, and so harmful. I was SOOOOO MAD most of this book.
To see Sorcha fall into this relationship after having already been in an abusive relationship was hard to watch, but when she does become pregnant, I was cheering for her.
I really appreciated that we had Ruth who represents our Transgender community and that she was such a wonderful friend to Sorcha when it was hard to be her friend.
Agnes is the family that we all need and played such a crucial role in Sorchas healing/taking back her own power.
This is going to be anyone who loves lithic, gay stories that will have you not wanting to put the book down.
Thank you NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for the ARC!
Sorcha you are hilarious, flawed, a survivor and I have the upmost respect for the journey you were on! I thought the author did a fantastic job of writing Chris as the villain, because she is such a gaslighter, manipulative, and so harmful. I was SOOOOO MAD most of this book.
To see Sorcha fall into this relationship after having already been in an abusive relationship was hard to watch, but when she does become pregnant, I was cheering for her.
I really appreciated that we had Ruth who represents our Transgender community and that she was such a wonderful friend to Sorcha when it was hard to be her friend.
Agnes is the family that we all need and played such a crucial role in Sorchas healing/taking back her own power.
This is going to be anyone who loves lithic, gay stories that will have you not wanting to put the book down.
Thank you NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for the ARC!
September 13, 2025
I loved this book so much. And that is saying a lot because it is one of those stream of consciousness, no quotation marks kind of books. And I am giving it 5 stars despite typically hating that format.
Check TW as there are portrayals of emotional and physical abuse throughout the entire book.
Check TW as there are portrayals of emotional and physical abuse throughout the entire book.
March 12, 2025
I do not know how I feel about this book. How can this book be defined by star value? I am going to write out my typical review format, and hope that it will help me decide.
SUMMARY:
Sorcha is in her early 30s. Apparently this is the time all women decide to make stupid decisions in order to have a baby before they become a spinster at 40. Idk man ask me in 7 years. Sorcha's stupid decision is named Chris.
Chris sucks, y'all. She is just all the signs of emotional abuse. It is like googling "Signs You Are In A Toxic Relationship." Her name will show up. But she is RICH! And when you are a lesbian who needs to pay to have a child, that is good enough reason to stay with someone.
Let it be known that these wild opinions are Sorcha's, not mine. She grew up in an abusive household then jumped straight into abusive relationships. Pour one out for Sorcha folks. And by one I mean a gallon of milk.
Anyway, Sorcha gets pregnant first try. She INSTANTLY is like. I have made a terrible decision. Chris takes her phone and she is like alright. Time to flee the country. Enter Scotland and Aunt Agnes.
MY THOUGHTS:
What did I think about this book. Um. I have spent a lot of time thinking about it. Yet I am left reeling a bit. I guess I will talk about the easy stuff first.
Ruth? That is my girl. Love her. Aunt Agnes as well. I want to be her when I grow up.
This book is very funny. Which is crazy because I also felt like I might cry several times.
Alright. Let's talk about Sorcha. Have you ever hated a character and then realized it is because you are afraid you might BE that character, if only a little? It is like hearing the villain of your story go "You and I are more alike than you realize." I am Luke Skywalker and I have seen my face in the mask and been shamed.
I think a lot of us can probably relate to Sorcha a bit. She is us if we made the worst choice in every bad situation. I kind of loved her, by the end. You just want her to be happy.
LET HER BE HAPPY. "Bakers don't wear rings." GOD. We were rooting for you, we were all rooting for you, how dare you?!
I think this book might be the best??? I don't know. It just made me feel so many feelings.
I love that this book is able to be like. Yeah, non-straight non-cis people are also just people. Like, that person sucks. That one is awesome. This other one is just kind of mid. So often in media writers are afraid to have their minority characters be less than perfect. This was just great. I look forward to seeing people write full on dissertation level essays about it. 4 hour youtube video essay when??
FINAL OPINION:
I think I am going to give this book 5 stars. Is it my favorite book of all time? No. Will I ever read it again? I don't know. I don't think so. But I also know I will gladly recommend it to people. I feel like this is a book you have to read at least once. I can easily see it becoming a classic. The writing is so beautiful. The feeling of reading it is so unique. I can see this being discussed in a classroom setting. And this is only her second book!!! I can't wait to read her first.
Thank you to NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
SUMMARY:
Sorcha is in her early 30s. Apparently this is the time all women decide to make stupid decisions in order to have a baby before they become a spinster at 40. Idk man ask me in 7 years. Sorcha's stupid decision is named Chris.
Chris sucks, y'all. She is just all the signs of emotional abuse. It is like googling "Signs You Are In A Toxic Relationship." Her name will show up. But she is RICH! And when you are a lesbian who needs to pay to have a child, that is good enough reason to stay with someone.
Let it be known that these wild opinions are Sorcha's, not mine. She grew up in an abusive household then jumped straight into abusive relationships. Pour one out for Sorcha folks. And by one I mean a gallon of milk.
Anyway, Sorcha gets pregnant first try. She INSTANTLY is like. I have made a terrible decision. Chris takes her phone and she is like alright. Time to flee the country. Enter Scotland and Aunt Agnes.
MY THOUGHTS:
What did I think about this book. Um. I have spent a lot of time thinking about it. Yet I am left reeling a bit. I guess I will talk about the easy stuff first.
Ruth? That is my girl. Love her. Aunt Agnes as well. I want to be her when I grow up.
This book is very funny. Which is crazy because I also felt like I might cry several times.
Alright. Let's talk about Sorcha. Have you ever hated a character and then realized it is because you are afraid you might BE that character, if only a little? It is like hearing the villain of your story go "You and I are more alike than you realize." I am Luke Skywalker and I have seen my face in the mask and been shamed.
I think a lot of us can probably relate to Sorcha a bit. She is us if we made the worst choice in every bad situation. I kind of loved her, by the end. You just want her to be happy.
LET HER BE HAPPY. "Bakers don't wear rings." GOD. We were rooting for you, we were all rooting for you, how dare you?!
I think this book might be the best??? I don't know. It just made me feel so many feelings.
I love that this book is able to be like. Yeah, non-straight non-cis people are also just people. Like, that person sucks. That one is awesome. This other one is just kind of mid. So often in media writers are afraid to have their minority characters be less than perfect. This was just great. I look forward to seeing people write full on dissertation level essays about it. 4 hour youtube video essay when??
FINAL OPINION:
I think I am going to give this book 5 stars. Is it my favorite book of all time? No. Will I ever read it again? I don't know. I don't think so. But I also know I will gladly recommend it to people. I feel like this is a book you have to read at least once. I can easily see it becoming a classic. The writing is so beautiful. The feeling of reading it is so unique. I can see this being discussed in a classroom setting. And this is only her second book!!! I can't wait to read her first.
Thank you to NetGalley and Nimbus Publishing for the ARC! All opinions are my own.
September 27, 2025
Milktooth is an unflinching novel that explores queerness, survival, and the ties of chosen family. At its center is Sorcha, caught in a relationship with Chris, a partner whose manipulations and cruelty overshadow nearly every part of her life.
The writing has a steady, deliberate pace. Where some might find it slow, I found it immersive and truly enjoyed the story being told. Sorcha herself doesn’t undergo a huge transformation. She remains mostly consistent throughout, which can be read as intentional, but also left me wanting more depth to her journey.
Chris is a striking character, though not in a layered way. She’s less a complex partner and more a constant villain, almost cartoonishly cruel from beginning to end, with a sprinkle of sweetness here and there. To me, she read like a narcissist fully aware of her behavior, a character who is simply “nasty to everyone” with little shading. This sharpness does make her memorable, but it also flattens the dynamic of the central relationship, Sorcha feels stifled, but Chris feels like she is almost lingering on one-note.
What resonated most was the theme of found family and queerness. Amid the heaviness, there’s comfort in the moments of solidarity, love, and belonging Sorcha discovers outside of Chris’s shadow. These glimpses remind us that survival is never just about enduring harm, but also about finding the people who make life livable.
In the end, Milktooth is raw and truly unsettling, but for me, some of its character work and dynamics felt like they needed a bit more time. It’s a book that has a great story, loveable characters, and just enough edge to keep you wondering what will happen next.
The writing has a steady, deliberate pace. Where some might find it slow, I found it immersive and truly enjoyed the story being told. Sorcha herself doesn’t undergo a huge transformation. She remains mostly consistent throughout, which can be read as intentional, but also left me wanting more depth to her journey.
Chris is a striking character, though not in a layered way. She’s less a complex partner and more a constant villain, almost cartoonishly cruel from beginning to end, with a sprinkle of sweetness here and there. To me, she read like a narcissist fully aware of her behavior, a character who is simply “nasty to everyone” with little shading. This sharpness does make her memorable, but it also flattens the dynamic of the central relationship, Sorcha feels stifled, but Chris feels like she is almost lingering on one-note.
What resonated most was the theme of found family and queerness. Amid the heaviness, there’s comfort in the moments of solidarity, love, and belonging Sorcha discovers outside of Chris’s shadow. These glimpses remind us that survival is never just about enduring harm, but also about finding the people who make life livable.
In the end, Milktooth is raw and truly unsettling, but for me, some of its character work and dynamics felt like they needed a bit more time. It’s a book that has a great story, loveable characters, and just enough edge to keep you wondering what will happen next.
September 7, 2025
I started reading this book last week and forgot to add it to goodreads until yesterday!
Like some of the other reviews say, this book highlights really well the cycle of abuse and trauma when you live it at an early age. But what really made this book 5 stars for me is how well Jaime writes about love, people loving you unconditionally, and rediscovering that love after you leave an un-loving relationship.
Seeing Sorcha re-discover and reaffirm that love, I don't know how to describe it. The little moments that the author writes Sorcha experiencing- like when her grandmother asks her to list off the things that bring her joy and realizing that even though she's starting from zero (in a physical sense), she has so many people around her that she loves and who love her as well.
It's so joyful if/when people who flee abuse have the opportunity to run into the arms of people who love them, but it's also sad to think that a lot of people don't have as robust of a system as Sorcha had. I've seen it, and it's often a cycle that is extremely difficult to leave.
Thank you Jaime for this beautiful story
Like some of the other reviews say, this book highlights really well the cycle of abuse and trauma when you live it at an early age. But what really made this book 5 stars for me is how well Jaime writes about love, people loving you unconditionally, and rediscovering that love after you leave an un-loving relationship.
Seeing Sorcha re-discover and reaffirm that love, I don't know how to describe it. The little moments that the author writes Sorcha experiencing- like when her grandmother asks her to list off the things that bring her joy and realizing that even though she's starting from zero (in a physical sense), she has so many people around her that she loves and who love her as well.
It's so joyful if/when people who flee abuse have the opportunity to run into the arms of people who love them, but it's also sad to think that a lot of people don't have as robust of a system as Sorcha had. I've seen it, and it's often a cycle that is extremely difficult to leave.
Thank you Jaime for this beautiful story
January 16, 2026
This book was really good! It was interesting to see how IPV/DV also plagues queer relationships. I also found it super cool that it was partially set in the city that I live in, which made me have more of a personal connection to it! It broke even through its dark themes by the frequent dry humour, which I was a fan of!
*SPOILERS-ISH*
I have very few problems with this book, but here are two off the top of my head:
1. Sorcha’s Scottish straight girl era… mostly because… like why? Uncalled for… I felt a lot of the characters introduced as her coworkers from the bakery were very surface level and didn’t add tons to the story (it would have been fine without her hooking up with her cishet male coworker… maybe I’m biased because I prefer to read about queer relationships…)
2. The ending felt a little rushed… :/ made me want to know more about the Chris fiasco, hear Agnes-Sorcha dialogue and more about the Salamander now that they’re real! But maybe the beauty of it is that it ends abruptly with the cliffhanger!
*SPOILERS-ISH*
I have very few problems with this book, but here are two off the top of my head:
1. Sorcha’s Scottish straight girl era… mostly because… like why? Uncalled for… I felt a lot of the characters introduced as her coworkers from the bakery were very surface level and didn’t add tons to the story (it would have been fine without her hooking up with her cishet male coworker… maybe I’m biased because I prefer to read about queer relationships…)
2. The ending felt a little rushed… :/ made me want to know more about the Chris fiasco, hear Agnes-Sorcha dialogue and more about the Salamander now that they’re real! But maybe the beauty of it is that it ends abruptly with the cliffhanger!
March 16, 2025
I am obsessed with this story! Being a straight woman I was not sure I would connect with the same sex couple but I was pleasantly surprised to have such a deep connection with the main character and the ups and downs of the (extremely) manipulative and emotionally abusive relationship.
The beautiful imagery of Cape Breton (even the gloom and doom of winter) helped set the scene, and the quirky characters from the small town helped provide some consistency and friendship vibes for the main character.
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I will leave it at that for now. I was able to read this book over the course of two days, and will carry it with me for many more. This is truly beautiful and moving story, with some light evening out the dark spots. The theme of dairy (milk in particular) throughout was put to excellent use as a small rebellion.
Off to read this authors first book now, I’m hooked on her writing style!
The beautiful imagery of Cape Breton (even the gloom and doom of winter) helped set the scene, and the quirky characters from the small town helped provide some consistency and friendship vibes for the main character.
I don’t want to spoil anything, so I will leave it at that for now. I was able to read this book over the course of two days, and will carry it with me for many more. This is truly beautiful and moving story, with some light evening out the dark spots. The theme of dairy (milk in particular) throughout was put to excellent use as a small rebellion.
Off to read this authors first book now, I’m hooked on her writing style!
May 9, 2025
This was a borderline weird girl book. It was about a lesbian couple named Sorcha and Chris. Without giving up too much of the story, Chris becomes emotionally and verbally abusive. We follow the POV of Sorcha, who is desperate to have a family but also not to bring a child into a volatile relationship. The author did a great job of depicting what feeling stuck in this situation would feel like.
I did enjoy this book. It made me actually get to know and care about the characters. I liked the tooth drawing at the start of the chapters. However, I didn't love how it was written. Sometimes, it would be hard to understand when someone was talking with the lack of quotation marks. Sometimes, it would float around too randomly, and I would get lost as to what was going on and how much time had passed.
Thank you, Jaime Burnet, NetGalley, and Nimbus Publishing, for the ARC of this book.
I did enjoy this book. It made me actually get to know and care about the characters. I liked the tooth drawing at the start of the chapters. However, I didn't love how it was written. Sometimes, it would be hard to understand when someone was talking with the lack of quotation marks. Sometimes, it would float around too randomly, and I would get lost as to what was going on and how much time had passed.
Thank you, Jaime Burnet, NetGalley, and Nimbus Publishing, for the ARC of this book.
August 26, 2025
I’ve been re-reading one of my favorite books, Agatha of Little Neon, and I went straight from finishing one of its chapters to picking up Milktooth. Going between the two felt oddly seamless. I’m not sure I would have connected these two books otherwise, but there is something similar about the way we access Sorcha’s brain, as we do Agatha’s. Both of them are lost souls, though they make very different choices in the attempt to live their best lives.
It’s always hard to read about abusive relationships, especially when it seems so blindingly obvious that the abused should walk away. But as I’ve aged (read: gotten my heart ripped open) I have developed a deeper understanding for us humans and our need to be loved, and how we will cling to people who are not right for us.
Regardless of the pain it inflicted, I couldn’t put this book down. I love books where I am really in someone’s brain—as long as I like the person. I certainly did like Sorcha and loved getting to read her story. Which, I don’t think is a spoiler to say, has an ending that felt real and full of hope.
It’s always hard to read about abusive relationships, especially when it seems so blindingly obvious that the abused should walk away. But as I’ve aged (read: gotten my heart ripped open) I have developed a deeper understanding for us humans and our need to be loved, and how we will cling to people who are not right for us.
Regardless of the pain it inflicted, I couldn’t put this book down. I love books where I am really in someone’s brain—as long as I like the person. I certainly did like Sorcha and loved getting to read her story. Which, I don’t think is a spoiler to say, has an ending that felt real and full of hope.
September 23, 2025
I looooooved this book!! -1 star just because the ending felt pretty rushed.
This novel was witty, heartbreaking, comforting, and terrifying all at the same time. By the end of the novel you can’t help but feel such immense happiness and pride for Sorcha, I could actually feel it in my chest while reading it.
I didn’t want this book to end, I wanted to stay in Sorcha’s little Scottish bubble forever.
This novel was witty, heartbreaking, comforting, and terrifying all at the same time. By the end of the novel you can’t help but feel such immense happiness and pride for Sorcha, I could actually feel it in my chest while reading it.
I didn’t want this book to end, I wanted to stay in Sorcha’s little Scottish bubble forever.
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