Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

65 reviews

almostqualified's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, and Blood

rachaelwho's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

First of all, this cover blurb: 

I read this thriller that is Get Out meets The Vanishing Half in one night." BuzzFeed

is just racist. This book bears nearly no resemblance to either of those except that they were written by Black people and there is a paranormal element. This pissed me tf off when I realized how inaccurate it was, you're just naming two Black things you're aware of. Gross. 

Anyway. 

I mostly *really* liked this despite not being into thrillers-- until the wheels came off in the last third. The first 2/3 got ~4 stars, and the final 3rd is like a 2. There were so many threads, a few of which felt like they belonged to an earlier draft, and they got yanked together clumsily.

The supernatural elements didn't feel earned, and there was a weird "both sides" tone in the closing that undercut the nuanced work it had been building around racism, the legacy of segregation, and anti-Blackness from within the community and the self. It also didn't quite deal with Liz's dangerous secret alcoholism. Also, I get that they were going for Anubis, but the jackal didn't quite work-- there are no jackals in the US and they're tiny, like fox-sized. And Anubis wasn't evil? It just didn't really work and was explained away by "uhh... It's your imagination!" Also, these mfks are still racist, and the police just suddenly say the jig is up, guess we'll follow up on all this, our b...??? A lot of the book had a deft touch so idk what happened here toward the close.

 

ETA: The audio performance by Sandra Okuboyejo was fantastic, hope to hear from her again. She really gave it a lot of feeling that even many very good voice actors wouldn't. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Vomit

stellenelcielo's review

dark emotional tense fast-paced

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

5.0

This was an excellent book. It really kept me on the edge of my seat, and I finished it in three days. 

The themes were spread evenly throughout the book so that no reveal was really that "woah, where did that come from??" but more "well, shit!" and the supernatural theme? Phenomenal. Beautiful. Creepy. On point reflection of how society does not and has never taken the murders/disappearances of Black women and girls seriously.

Honestly, great addition for spooky season reads.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Misogyny, Racism, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Death, and Gore

cdomzalski's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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: Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Blood, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

phantomgecko's review

challenging dark mysterious medium-paced

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

5.0

Really hard to put down. I needed to find out what happened next, to unravel the mystery. Well written, messed up.

Definitely the type of thriller where I kept changing my mind on what was happening because new information just kept coming. Twisty but in a good way.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

brittgeorge's review

adventurous dark mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

Achingly beautiful writing. There’s an entire universe to explore inside this story about Johnstown, but what a ride this was! Especially the final 40 pages; I nearly held my breath arriving at the conclusion.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Kidnapping, Grief, and Gaslighting

errie's review against another edition

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Injury/Injury detail

ventellina's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Blood, and Murder

lilawsahar's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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

Holy crap. Must read. 

Liz goes back to her hometown for her best friends wedding. When on watch of her friend’s kid, Caroline, Caroline goes missing. Liz learns that there is a history of young black girls going missing in her town. She must recover what she forgot in the woods so long ago to discover what happened to Caroline. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

starryfruits's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Genuinely LOVEDDD. A mix of past and present events, full of mystery and clue piecing with a supernatural aspect that keeps the hair on your nape on edge. 
It's sad and all consuming and looks into the politics of small towns run by class and race.
I can EASILY see this getting a TV show adaptation with how well structured it is.
Note: my listening to the audiobook GREATLY helped my understanding and enjoyment of the novel. There were 2 narrators which was a first but helped in differentiating POV/overall narration. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Hate crime, Racism, Blood, Kidnapping, and Classism