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cryptkid's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, and Blood
slimshaedy92's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Gore and Grief
Moderate: Animal death
Minor: Addiction and Alcoholism
chrisie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Grief
Minor: Animal death and Injury/Injury detail
One scene of animal deathastridrv's review against another edition
"What else have we got to do with all this time but get it right?"
Also loved learning some Cree words and the fact that the chapter numbers were written in Cree. I initially picked this book because it is set in Vancouver, but most of it was set in the Prairies. Fortunately the writing translated the setting really well and I was immersed throughout.
Graphic: Body horror
Moderate: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Grief
Minor: Alcoholism
teddie_valetine98's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Cursing, Death, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, and Alcohol
tiannaprice's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, and Blood
Moderate: Grief and Colonisation
Minor: Violence and Vomit
avisreadsandreads's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Gore, and Blood
Minor: Vomit
quabbityash's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Minor: Animal death, Death, and Blood
leannanecdote's review against another edition
- 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
3.5
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Grief, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug abuse, Vomit, and Alcohol
lawbooks600's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Score: Six out of ten.
Bad Cree by Jessica Johns is what happens when a novel tries to have two moods, horrifying and introspective. It achieved the first one, but the second, not so much. I wanted to read a story outside my comfort zone, and Bad Cree looked promising, but when I closed the final page, I enjoyed some parts, but not others.
It starts with Mackenzie, a Cree woman, defending herself against a crow attack, where she kills one of the crows but it was only a nightmare and didn't happen. After that, the pacing slows, and for a book lasting under 300 pages, it can turn into a slow burn at times, but it does pick up steam toward the end.
For a piece of horror fiction, Bad Cree executes that aspect well because it was terrifying as I read it (no paranormal nonsense, ghosts or vampires here.) What should I call this, realistic horror? Somehow it's more petrifying than any typical supernatural horror. I was in Mackenzie's mind for the entire time and every few pages she experiences nightmares about animal attacks, seeing someone die or a near-death experience, or sometimes, dreams about her sisters, Kassidy, Tracey and Sabrina. Perhaps the most intriguing is the dream about Mackenzie trying to swim to be like her sisters, but after one uncomfortable experience she never learned how, so instead she wet her hair to convince her mother she swam. It's dreamlike in a way.
Bad Cree isn't only about horror, it's also about more contemplative subjects like the grief of losing a relative, first Mackenzie's grandfather, and then her sister, Sabrina, to a brain aneurysm. Since they died in the past I never knew them as well as I wanted to, adding a layer of disconnect. There's also a thriller part where someone pretends to be Sabrina on the phone, even though she died, which doesn't make sense, and I only got a glimpse into the harm of residential schools. The conclusion continues the unnerving mood as Mackenzie sees Sabrina, but it was only a vision. Suddenly, she could swim after years of being unable to. Why is that? Mackenzie says it was her fault she has these nightmares and needs some time to heal, a memorable finish.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Blood, and Grief
Full trigger warnings: Death of a sister and grandfather, blood, grief and loss depiction, animal attack and death