Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

23 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. 

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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

zgreyz's review against another edition

dark 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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Stalking and Murder

Minor: Sexual content, Sexual assault, Vomit, Trafficking, and Rape

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

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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

sargasso_c's review against another edition

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? It's complicated

4.75

This book is a marvel and should be taught in literature classes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death, Racism, Animal death, Gore, Grief, and Murder

Moderate: Stalking, Racial slurs, Sexual content, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Animal cruelty, Eating disorder, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Vomit, Abortion, Medical content, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, and Bullying

laguerrelewis's review

challenging 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? Yes

4.5

Jackal was a powerful read, offering both an engaging thriller tale and a rumination on Black womanhood in predominantly white spaces. Adams’ writing is dripping in atmosphere, and Liz is a protagonist I cared for immensely. The mystery elements were surprising and kept me on my toes until its very satisfying conclusion, and the tension really builds in a way that keeps pages turning while still allowing for reflection and rumination. A perfect read for a chilly Halloween!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Body horror, Alcohol, Gore, Blood, Child death, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Animal death, Murder, Police brutality, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, and Violence

Minor: Vomit, Sexual content, and Rape

talonsontypewriters's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Kidnapping, Body horror, Hate crime, Grief, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Blood, Gore, Child death, Gun violence, Death, and Classism

Moderate: Physical abuse, Death of parent, Sexual content, Child abuse, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicide, Bullying, Eating disorder, Sexual assault, Fatphobia, Pedophilia, Rape, Racial slurs, and Vomit

Misogynoir. Missing person/child. Descriptions of corpses (human and animal).

dustghosts's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Overall, I really enjoyed reading this— easy to devour and I found myself hanging on to the mystery. The writing style struck a strange balance between being too straightforward (telling not showing, as the phrase goes 🙄) and too vague, which left me a bit unsure at the beginning. The story and themes feel big, ambitious, like they are tackling a lot of different, lived aspects of classism, racism, and misogynoir at once— some more successfully than others. I actually quite liked the supernatural aspects, here— my only complaint being that I think the author could have left them more open-ended/vague, as I think what lets that part down is the same aspect I mentioned earlier (too clean to be unclear, too vague to be satisfying). This is a bit of a romp and appropriately troubling and thoughtprovoking throughout. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Death, Hate crime, Child death, Toxic friendship, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Alcoholism, Racism, Racial slurs, Violence, Gore, and Body horror

Moderate: Animal death, Sexual content, Classism, Gaslighting, Blood, Violence, Vomit, Misogyny, and Grief

traa's review

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Grief, Racism, Sexual content, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, Death of parent, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Pedophilia, Vomit, Rape, and Eating disorder

Minor: Slavery and Cannibalism

mfrisk's review

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

4.0

I really enjoyed this book. It touches on the history of the area, has a good build up of thriller elements, and a lot of social commentary around race and class. Where it gets a bit confusing is the more supernatural/horror elements that while interesting I’m not sure are weaved into the story enough early on for them to feel fully realized. That being said I really look forward to reading more from this author given that this was a debut. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Racism, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Blood, Murder, Grief, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Eating disorder, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Sexual content

emzhay's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Gore, Murder, Racism, Animal cruelty, and Animal death

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Alcoholism

Minor: Sexual content