Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

13 reviews

marareading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

3.75

This book had me in a chokehold. I finished it in a day. I couldn't put it down! It is gripping. Liz goes home again for her best friend's wedding. She hates going back to her small hometown. The woods are eerie. Nothing ever feels good about it. Everything goes wrong at the wedding.... SO WRONG. 

The beginning has a slow build to it, and it's worth it. I'm still debating with myself how I feel about the very end of the book. I loved how all the characters were involved and the twists. However, the other elements threw me off and pulled me out of the story a bit. Overall I loved the book, but I'm debati if I loved that ending. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Kidnapping, Grief, Stalking, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

nicoleisalwaysreading's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

5.0

incredible!!!! defies genre boundaries and is provocative, creative, and brilliantly structured. i wanted to read it again already right after finishing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Racism

map_to_neverland's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

Rating: 4.5 / 5

Book Details:
-Genre: Horror
-Publication Date: October 4, 2022
-Setting: Johnstown, PA
-features creepy woods, a dark shadow, an eerie rhyme about the woods, and missing children

This horror novel contains many real world discussions, as many of the horrifying things that are happening are based in racism. It is an own voices author and I recommend looking to own voices reviews of the book as well.

It was a very creepy atmosphere. The author managed to blend more paranormal horror and real life horror. It was genuinely a very scary read. 

Told through many time periods, we get an interesting multiple POV storyline and get to see the experiences of many characters. This was one of my favorite parts of the novel, especially as it is unclear who the narrator is in sections (at first). 

Overall, if you are looking for something that is more horror (rather than thriller) and contains real world horrors, then this book would be a good fit for you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Stalking, and Pregnancy

Minor: Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, and Alcohol