Reviews tagging 'Terminal illness'

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

11 reviews

beccaburchett's review

adventurous dark 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug use, Racism, Terminal illness, Vomit, Cannibalism, Car accident, and Alcohol

daniellekat's review against another edition

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

2.0

I saw that this was originally a short story and I wish it had stayed that way. The storytelling was repetitive and so descriptive. I hated the intense overuse of similes. This style of writing would have been more palatable in a short story. The characters were annoyingly unlikable because they consistently made the same mistakes and choices with little to no growth. The ending felt rushed and wrapped up too quickly for me given how long we spent on the build up. I thought the gore was well placed and I did enjoy the horror elements of the story. The narration of the audiobook was also great.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Racism and Self harm

Minor: Terminal illness

essiie's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Grief

Moderate: Gore, Blood, Vomit, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Drug use, and Terminal illness

mikki_9's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gore, Blood, and Grief

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Addiction, Death, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Colonisation

akevaa's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Terminal illness

katiewhocanread's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful 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? Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror and Grief

Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, and Colonisation

Minor: Alcoholism and Drug use

abitbetterbooks's review against another edition

challenging 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Terminal illness and Vomit

Minor: Alcoholism

bookmaddie's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.0

a bit scary for wimpy me. i teared up many times.
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What a mysterious, gripping, emotional story! I love how this is a story of a haunting—and a creepy one at that—and a tender story of family and strength. Johns explores what happens when you try to push away your family and history to try and stand on your own, rather than relying on others to help lift you when you need it. The supernatural elements make this family story unique, and emphasize the power of community. There is so much emotion packed into a spooky, pacy, and well-written story. I ate it up.

I do wish Mackenzie's relationship with her mom was explored a bit more—I feel like we got close to them speaking deeply a few times, but always danced around it a bit. But I did love Mackenzie's journey to find healing and joy in her life again. It was beautiful to read in such a dark story, and brought light to this intense tale. Highly recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Grief

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Terminal illness and Vomit

spineofthesaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism, Cannibalism, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Colonisation

mshiiken's review

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

5.0

Y'all, this book is magic. It's an incredible debut and I'm thrilled to see what Jessica Johns puts out next. If you want a story about family ties, healing from trauma, and deeply scary stuff, this is the book for you. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Grief, and Cannibalism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Terminal illness

Minor: Vomit and Alcohol

These things are mentioned in the context of the story and reflect real things that happen to Indigenous/First Nations people around the world. It's tough, but it's necessary to tell the story fully and to help you understand the characters.