Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

22 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

amalas_bookstop's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This has been the best thriller I have read all year. There is something about a black horror novel, that is strangely right up my alley. I enjoyed every bit of this ride. The author is able to worked the realness of racism and the fear that brings in and of itself with the magical realism that is going on in the woods. I am going to be on the hunt to read more thrillers like this one.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Vomit

tayliie's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.5

This book covers some important struggles that Black people (specifically, Black women) face in America. I thought the content of this book was important to have represented in media. My only complaints is that some of the dots were just not connecting for me when we got down to the "who dun it?" part of the book and I kind of wished the author took some more time to tie in the Egyptian mythology side of this story. The pacing was a little inconsistent to me. 

However, all things considered, this is an excellent debut novel! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, and Kidnapping

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

carolynkwolff's review

challenging dark emotional 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual violence

jane_moriarty's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Rape and Sexual violence

Mention of eating disorder only in one flashback chapter, can be skipped

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.

tey_lynn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gore, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Child death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

bkwrm1317's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Great debut thriller/horror novel that will make you afraid of the woods and the dark. You think you heard something? 

No you didn’t. Blending supernatural and cultural horrors of what it means to live in this country right now, particularly for Black and Brown folks, the reader is faced with the horrors of this country’s basis in wealth and racial inequity. The central through line ringing loud in the readers’ mind is and should be: how is it that women of color, Black women in this instance, go missing without anyone blinking an eye? 

Inventive, haunting, and original, great debut by Adams. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, and Racism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Death

Minor: Sexual violence

literarylion's review

It felt like Adams doesn't trust the reader to locate clues, so she makes their significance painfully obvious, which sucks the mystery out of the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Blood