Reviews tagging 'Pedophilia'

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

15 reviews

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

laasenpai's review against another edition

adventurous challenging inspiring mysterious reflective tense 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? Yes

5.0

Quickly draws the reader in. Split perspectives. One perspective is very mysterious. There is a lot of depth to the main characters and the authors paints the settings beautifully. Huge plot twist at the end. The main character is very strong and is always planning the next step. She is very inspiring 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse, Racism, and Kidnapping

Minor: Pedophilia

clarkg's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Overall, I found this book to be a pretty compelling thriller with a decent twist ending. It's explorations or race, class, gender, and the geography and topography of the land were unlike anything I have read before and I valued Erin Adams' unique creative vision. That said, some moments felt heavy-handed and trope-y, which took me out of it a bit. Even with that caveat, I would still recommend it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Confinement, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Excrement, Vomit, Grief, and Alcohol

shannonbauchat's review

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault

juliatindell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Jackal was an incredible book. A horror story with a mystery that kept me on edge and a message at the heart of it I won’t soon forget. Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Kidnapping, and Murder

Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual violence

The mentions of child sexual assault are brief and not very detailed but are relatively frequent.

jaymebeetus's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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? N/A

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Child death and Mental illness

Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

kerrygetsliterary's review

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

sampetsdogs's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Death, Hate crime, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual assault, Blood, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Eating disorder, and Gore

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Alcohol

Minor: Bullying, Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, and Vomit

Misogynoir. Missing person/child. Descriptions of corpses (human and animal).

himpersonal's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

5.0

OMG. I want to teach a class just on this book!!!! Part historical fiction, part horror, part suspense, part  allegory, and all of it…what is the right word…around, because, triggered by, integrated with, embodies by…racism. This book was a mind bender, and I loved every minute of it, even the gruesome, because there was a point to it all.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, and Gaslighting