soobooksalot's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Bad Cree is a story of loss, grief, family bonds, and culture. Literary fiction with a side of horror.
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for my gifted copy for review.
Mackenzie is a young Cree woman troubled by the dreams she's had since her sister Sabrina's death. Dreams in which she even brings back items when she wakes. Are these nightmares, communications with spirits, or a creature based in legend?
I love Jessica Johns' writing style. Bad Cree is smart, crisp, and atmospheric. The perfect fusion of characterization and tension.
The story is filled with cultural insight of growing up Indigenous - the challenges, but also tradition and kindred connection.
This is a book to be experienced. I'll absolutely be keeping my eye out for future releases from this author.
Recommended!
For release on Jan. 10.
Thank you to HarperCollins Canada for my gifted copy for review.
Mackenzie is a young Cree woman troubled by the dreams she's had since her sister Sabrina's death. Dreams in which she even brings back items when she wakes. Are these nightmares, communications with spirits, or a creature based in legend?
I love Jessica Johns' writing style. Bad Cree is smart, crisp, and atmospheric. The perfect fusion of characterization and tension.
The story is filled with cultural insight of growing up Indigenous - the challenges, but also tradition and kindred connection.
This is a book to be experienced. I'll absolutely be keeping my eye out for future releases from this author.
Recommended!
For release on Jan. 10.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Alcohol, Cancer, Grief, Gore, Violence, Chronic illness, Animal death, and Murder
lezlie's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
3.0
"Maybe dreaming is just a series of small deaths."
Author Jessica Johns hooks you up to a pair of jumper cables and gives it the gas for a great jump start beginning for readers eager for the supernatural horror the book description teases. Heart racing, blood pumping - there's no better way for a horror novel to start, in my opinion.
Once we get past that initial rush and fall into the book's regular pacing, it slowed down a little too much for me. I loved Mackenzie's huge family - I would have loved to have spent more time getting to know them a touch more. Honestly, I'd read a whole book on them alone. I loved reading about the Aunties and their grandmother's sayings, I loved the loud hustle and bustle when they were together - I could feel the love and warmth rolling off the pages in waves. I also enjoyed the tidbits of Cree beliefs, customs and traditions that were sprinkled into the narrative. Again, I would have loved more! Without getting into spoilers, there were some things mentioned that I did end up on the internet researching myself, just for personal education and to better understand what our characters were dealing with. Pretty scary stuff....that's actual. That took this one up a level for me with that nugget of lore.
There were a lot of convenient plot devices that ate at me and stayed on my mind long enough to pull me out of the story and distract me. I'd read something and 10 pages later, would still be thinking "There's no way in this particular day and age that x would happen like that." I can suspend my belief when it comes to the horror and supernatural elements, but the mundane everyday stuff....I have a little bit harder time with.
I had a love/hate relationship with Mackenzie's coming-of-age story. There was some great growth and development, but again, the pacing just took too long to get us there. There were so many times Mackenzie would think of acting on an emotion, only to decide not to. So many times.
All that aside, this book had an excellent premise and I will absolutely read more by Jessica Johns - especially if Johns continues in the vein of Indigenous horror/supernatural genre.
Special thanks goes to Doubleday Books for providing an ARC via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review!
lipsticktoliterature's review against another edition
4.0
Mackenzie leaves home (Alberta CA) after the death of her Kokum (grandmother) and moves to Vancouver. Her sister Sabrina dies while she is living in Vancouver and she doesn't return home for the funeral. When she wakes up one morning after a particularly real dream (I'd call it a nightmare
joreadsbooks's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
Content warnings: death of a sibling, brain hemorrhage, discussion of alcoholism, blood, gore, violence against animals (birds, the dog does not die), drowning. generational trauma
Mackenzie lost her older sister, Sabrina, several years prior in what seemed like a natural cause. But recently, horrible nightmares have been plaguing her sleep, including items being pulled from the dreamscape into the real world. Turning to her remaining sister, cousin, mother, and aunties for help, perhaps she can quiet the supernatural disturbance once and for all.
Johns masterfully uses dreams as both a narrative and a plot device to tell the story of trauma both personal and generational with a focus on finding support in one’s family and community for respite and healing.
At its core, this is a book about grief and regret, and how self-isolating under the false pretense of healing can lead to more problems than not. Johns does not shy in depicting the ways it can put its claws in people, regardless their interrupted sleep. The theme of finding healing through community and family shines strong here, though it doesn’t shirk away from the thorns everyone else carries on their own healing journeys. I loved the dynamic between Mackenzie and the women in her life, but also as importantly, her relationship with Joli whom she befriended upon moving away from home. No person is an island, and even when the supernatural tries to put wedges between Mackenzie and those she cares about, there is fierce love in the pushback.
In terms of the scares, the imagery is disturbing in a way that’s both dreamlike and incredibly grounded. Safety becomes twisted and taking control of oneself in a dreamlike state seems impossible. Johns does such cool things working with dreams as a literary device in introducing new details and providing further context for everyone’s hurt, not just Mackenzie’s. I’d almost go so far as to say that it’s the primary vehicle of the plot, but I’ll refrain from saying much else because that would be spoilers.
A treat for folks who enjoy their horror to explore the uneven path of healing from grief and folkloric scares, definitely not one to miss when building a horror to-be-read list.
lozzcatt's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
I really enjoyed this book. I loved learning a little about Cree culture through the characters and story, it never felt forced but just presented and explained in a very natural way. The themes of family, grief and and community were brilliantly held together with the backdrop of a ghost story. I will absolutely be keeping an eye out for more work from this author.
yeehawhunnyreads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
bad cree is an absolutely stunning debut. a captivating story of love, loss and the power of family. the book completely pulls you in from the first page. set between vancouver and alberta this dreamy story delicately weaves in and out of the waking world, past and present. i found myself so immersed in the writing it was suspenseful, captivating, and visceral. a definite page turner. the characters are raw, emotional, complex. though the book is eerie and unsettling it felt grounded through the theme of familial roots and cultural identity.
this book beautifully explores the horror genre bending between supernatural, folk, and domestic. i can’t say enough good things about this book.
bad cree has undoubtedly become one of my favourite novels. i will be recommending this one forever.
jay_mone's review against another edition
The prose is full of redundant sentences, and the main character doesn't sound like an adult.
acarter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
I'm certain that BAD CREE will draw a lot of comparisons to Erika Wurth's WHITE HORSE, another recent horror novel featuring a young Indigenous woman plagued by terrifying dreams and attempting to unravel the painful mystery of a lost family member all while struggling to navigate increasingly complicated relationships with her friends and family. Unfortunately, I'm not sure that BAD CREE will shine in that context.
This is a shame, as I do think Johns' debut has quite a lot to offer its readers! The overall voice and tone of the novel are gripping, and Mackenzie's relationships with her family members are so beautifully rendered. The nightmarish moments are suitably scary and compelling, even if the ultimate plot payoff isn't quite as big as I'd hoped. Ultimately, I found the pacing of the novel to fall apart in the last third -- it wrapped up just when I wanted it to explore more deeply. That being said, it was a debut novel I could not put down, and I will certainly keep an eye out for Johns' next title!
This is a shame, as I do think Johns' debut has quite a lot to offer its readers! The overall voice and tone of the novel are gripping, and Mackenzie's relationships with her family members are so beautifully rendered. The nightmarish moments are suitably scary and compelling, even if the ultimate plot payoff isn't quite as big as I'd hoped. Ultimately, I found the pacing of the novel to fall apart in the last third -- it wrapped up just when I wanted it to explore more deeply. That being said, it was a debut novel I could not put down, and I will certainly keep an eye out for Johns' next title!
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, and Death
tinamayreads's review against another edition
5.0
Thrilling and evocative! Full review soon!
Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for my advance review copy!
Thank you to Harper Collins Canada for my advance review copy!