Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

27 reviews

clarkg's review

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. 

---

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

carolynkwolff's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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

3.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Child death, Classism, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse

Minor: Sexual content and Sexual violence

mynameisrebecca's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.25

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Xenophobia, Physical abuse, Racism, Blood, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Police brutality and Bullying

Minor: Rape

theboricuabookworm's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

A gripping and intense (semi-paranormal) thriller that leaves me just a little wary of forests now. The book ends masterfully illustrating a point that Liz was trying to argue for the entire book: the world only cares and believes when the bad things happens to the white women even when the Black women have been the primary - and sometimes only - victims. Throughout the entire book, my suspects kept jumping and that is a credit to Adams ability to make us - and Liz - trust in different people every time. I'm not a thriller person much at all but Jackal is certainly one I will recommend.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, and Animal death

Moderate: Kidnapping and Child abuse

Minor: Vomit, Rape, and Violence

storyofmaryam's review

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

3.0

After reading the author's not it was really seeing how the life of the author heavily inspired the setting of the story. i learned a lot about Appalachian history from the story and a reminder of how class and race are used by wealthy elites to maintain control. The main theme was the struggles, tension and violence that manifest from white working class communities against black families how structures of oppression stoke and encourage it. I'm not too keen on thrillers so I would say the third act wasn't as satisfying but overall an informative read and I'm looking forward to reading more from this author 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Rape, Kidnapping, Murder, Child abuse, and Child death

goferreads's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

This book made me think in ways I wasn't expecting.  I'd love to read more by this author!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Gore, Violence, and Blood

Minor: Sexual assault and Child abuse

juliatindell's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

Jackal was an incredible book. A horror story with a mystery that kept me on edge and a message at the heart of it I won’t soon forget. Highly recommend!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, Child abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Pedophilia and Sexual violence

The mentions of child sexual assault are brief and not very detailed but are relatively frequent.

stephanielee's review

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? No

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Animal death, Violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Child death, Grief, Blood, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child abuse

jaymebeetus's review

dark emotional 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? N/A

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, Grief, Racism, Classism, Hate crime, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Child death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death and Mental illness

Minor: Rape, Child abuse, and Pedophilia

jaygabler's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

Thank you Random House for the free book. The debut novel by Erin E. Adams has a missing-girl mystery thriller setup, but don't let the plot details distract you from the characters and setting: whodunit is ultimately less important than what the protagonist will choose to do next.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Child death, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse

Minor: Child abuse