Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns

61 reviews

leannanecdote's review

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dark hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.5

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lawbooks600's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

3.0

Representation: Native American characters
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.
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musicalpopcorn's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.75

When MacKenzie starts having terrifying dreams, she decides to return home to try and get to the bottom of the mystery.

I enjoyed this story. It was spooky and layered. I did find that the book got a bit repetitive with the secret keeping and lying. It kind of felt like MacKenzie and her family had to learn that lesson more than once. Apart from that, the characters were interesting and had a lot of dimensions. I was very intrigued in where the story would go. Nice one for a spooky afternoon read. 
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dragongirl271's review against another edition

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dark mysterious 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

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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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

This book is so beautifully written and deeply haunting. It made my scalp tingle a few times. 

Mackenzie is a young Cree woman who is suddenly able to take things from her dreams and bring them into the waking world. Her dreams are of the past and they are trying to tell her something. 

Her best friend encourages her to talk to her family about what she’s going through and after a phone call with one of her aunties she knows she needs to go home. 

As Mackenzie starts trying to mend her relationships with her family they all begin to learn they have more in common than they ever realized. 
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allikay14's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

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alice52's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring reflective 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

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jdhauk's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.25

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mikki_9's review against another edition

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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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prologues_epilogues's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

This was such a lovely (and relatable) exploration of grief and the way it affects family relationships and daily life. Especially depending on how people grieve differently and how it causes strengths and weaknesses in personal relationships 🥲. I loved it. The supernatural and magical realism elements made the story so interesting and fun to read, and the different types of connection with reality through dreams was so enthralling. I liked how concise and consistent the writing style was while still being able to portray imagery and symbolism well. It was very fast paced. And it made me emotional in a way I haven't been while reading for a long few months.
The horror elements weren't too 'scary', but they did creep me out quite a bit reading this at night. The Wh*etigo spying on Tracy through the bloody rag freaked me out a bit, as well as the "decomposition(?)" of her body while she was alive and the quick regeneration of it.
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