Reviews tagging 'Addiction'

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

7 reviews

clarklyn's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

3.0

I have lots of complicated feelings about this book. I really enjoyed the first part of the book but then it fell off the rails for me and I got lost. I don’t think it knew what it wanted to be…thriller, true crime, mystery, horror? 

It seemed like it was thriller/true crime but then I got ambushed by supernatural horror at the end. I wanted to like it, I appreciated the authors perspective and introspection on being a Black woman. However, to be honest, Liz wasn’t a super likable main character, although I was rooting for her and got incredibly frustrated with every obstacle she faced. The “best friend” was SO cruel to the main character but then they pick back up like it was nothing? Mel left Liz in the woods, the woods Mel KNOWS Liz is terrified of, after throwing her phone into the brush…what an absolute fucking asshole!!?

Sometimes the internal narrative was overly lyrical and flowery. It felt very forced and inauthentic and just isn’t my type of writing I don’t think. We spend more time in the main characters head than we do in the story. 

Another aspect to this review is that I listened to the audiobook which I would not recommend for this book. I think my experience would have been much different if I had read it and maybe I will give it a second chance one day. The narrator struggled when reading the dialog. The sentences ran together and it was incredibly difficult to tell who was saying what at times. Her voice, while pretty and soothing, was very hard to follow and listen to in regard to the story. She was very soft spoken and mumbled her words sometimes and I just couldn’t follow at certain points. 

I almost DNF’d at one point because I was so confused and frustrated. I powered through and while I didn’t *not* enjoy the book, it just wasn’t my favorite and I was left more confused than anything. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Gore, Kidnapping, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Classism, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Gaslighting, and Toxic relationship

clarkg's review against another edition

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: Murder, Torture, Violence, Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Stalking, Child death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Confinement, Excrement, Sexual assault, Vomit, Rape, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Suicide, Grief, and Sexual content

chefboyavi's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.0

This is one of those books I wish I could love. It has a strong premise but the writing style didn’t resonate with me. It’s overwritten in a way that makes me feel like the author doesn’t trust the reader to follow her where she wants you to go. I think if it were a bit more restrained, it would be a great book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Hate crime, Sexual assault, Addiction, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Classism, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Murder, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Violence

bkwrm1317's review against another edition

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, Racism, and Gore

Moderate: Addiction, Death, and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual violence

mistyknights's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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: Gore, Addiction, and Racism

michaelion's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative inspiring 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

5.0

This is the hardest review I've ever had to write.

This is the best book I've ever read.

This is the hardest review for me because I don't know what to say. I don't know how to say it all. It's too good. I can't talk about the amazing writing, the beautiful imagery, the twists the turns I fell for every time. It's so personal. It's everything I've ever been looking for. Not even a quarter of the way through I was recommending it to people. Please, please, do yourself a favor, please, read this masterpiece. Buy this masterpiece. Listen to the audio of this masterpiece! Thank me later. I love you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Domestic abuse, Animal death, Blood, Genocide, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Violence, Racial slurs, Addiction, Death of parent, Racism, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Classism, Animal cruelty, Death, Hate crime, Murder, Gore, Grief, and Stalking

Moderate: Gaslighting, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Trafficking, Xenophobia, Body horror, and Bullying

Minor: Eating disorder, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual assault

liblibby's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense 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? Yes

2.0

The premise of this book is so good: Girls continue to be "lost" in the woods outside of town. Who or what is taking them? There was so much potential here.

This was not for me. Horror isn't my typical genre--let's get that out of the way right off the bat. I've found that watching horror movies makes me so nervous, scared, and jumpy! But every horror novel I've ever read has just left me feeling confused and wondering, "Wait is this supposed to be a scary part?" 
Also in this book in particular I felt frustrated about certain things. Like, in the last 25% of the book the main character mentions a skill that she has that will be profoundly useful in defeating the villain--but this was never mentioned before now. Or one character will be described as, say,  full of unyielding energy and then a few lines later they're so exhausted they can barely move. These little things just kept me feeling frustrated as a reader and unable to get sucked in like I wanted to be.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Animal death, Murder, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Racism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Hate crime, Addiction, and Medical trauma