Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Jackal by Erin E. Adams

20 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

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

jane_moriarty's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Hate crime, Child death, Racism, Gore, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Eating disorder, Alcoholism, Classism, and Alcohol

Minor: Sexual violence and Rape

Mention of eating disorder only in one flashback chapter, can be skipped

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!

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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.

tey_lynn's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Cursing, Death, Grief, Gore, Racial slurs, Animal death, Death of parent, Animal cruelty, Blood, Racism, Confinement, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

bkwrm1317's review

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

literarylion's review

It felt like Adams doesn't trust the reader to locate clues, so she makes their significance painfully obvious, which sucks the mystery out of the plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Stalking, Grief, Racism, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Hate crime, Death, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Gore, and Child death

Moderate: Blood

isa_acevedo's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death

Minor: Sexual violence

mollieweitzman's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

This book was really good and the first two acts were amazing but by the third there just got to be so many plot twists and plot holes that it kind of just felt overwhelming. And little things too that got on my nerves like can a nine-year old really recite that many names from memory? A little unrealistic. Some of the magic didn’t really make sense, a lot left unexplained and not in a mysterious way like in an unfinished thought way with the ends not tied up. Overall a really good thrilling read with a supernatural element. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Murder, Violence, Racism, and Stalking

Moderate: Sexual violence

whimsicalish's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad fast-paced

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

3.5

For the most part, I enjoyed this ride. I don't read many horror but Adams did a great job with the atmosphere and describing the evil in the forest. The writing is descriptive enough to get a sense of dread, while being easy to read.

When I was getting to the climax, I was worried the book was heading to an overdone direction. I was pleasantly surprised finding something new!

There are a few pieces of info that either, don't get an explanation or just the sake of a red herring. My biggest feedback/negative is a line from the MC that states her "reasoning" about the innocence of a man.

MC is very much attracted to this man from her childhood. She later deems he is innocent because he's attractive and his emotions show in his eyes. (Adams also states MC is in her 30s and consumes a ton of true crime.) Umm? There are serial killers KNOWN for their charisma and conventional attractiveness by society. What a strange thing to write...I am utterly baffled with the MC not trusting anyone, then quickly okays this man; simply because he's hot and doesn't have cold, dead eyes?

Adams does a great job creating dialogue in this story about racism. Even weaves real history from Johnstown, Pennsylvania into Jackal.

I am interested if Adams has more stories in the future. I hope they continue to write and grow.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Racism, Murder, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, and Sexual violence