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jdhauk's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders
Moderate: Mental illness, Animal death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Sexism and Alcoholism
kelly_e's review against another edition
challenging
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? Yes
4.25
Title: Bad Cree
Author: Jessica Johns
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: January 10, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Beautiful • Haunting • Layered
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Mackenzie, a Cree millennial, wakes up in her one-bedroom Vancouver apartment clutching a pine bough she had been holding in her dream just moments earlier. When she blinks, it disappears. But she can still smell the sharp pine scent in the air, the nearest pine tree a thousand kilometres away in the far reaches of Treaty 8.
Mackenzie continues to accidentally bring back items from her dreams, dreams that are eerily similar to real memories of her older sister and Kokum before their untimely deaths. As Mackenzie’s life spirals into a living nightmare—crows are following her around and she’s getting texts from her dead sister on the other side—it becomes clear that these dreams have terrifying, real-life consequences. Desperate for help, Mackenzie returns to her mother, sister, cousin, and aunties in her small Alberta hometown. Together, they try to uncover what is haunting Mackenzie before something irrevocable happens to anyone else around her.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Bad Cree was already on my TBR, yet it definitely got bumped up the list after landing on the 2024 Canada Reads shortlist. Marketed as a horror, I really wasn't quite sure what to expect, but a few bookish friends told me it wasn't 'horror' in the typical sense of the genre.
With poetic writing, I was instantly hooked by the opening scene of this deeply atmospheric and urgent story. Advancing at a slow meander, it was absolutely disturbing and unsettling at times, yet each of the characters were so real, leaping off the page. There is so much beyond the brutality - an underlying thread focusing on familial (particularly female) bonds, grief and generational trauma. Delving into the very real horrors POC continue to face as a result of systemic oppression, the social commentary never takes over.
I really appreciated getting to know more about Cree traditions and customs, the connections to the spiritual and natural worlds, and the role of dreams. Jessica Johns does a fabulous job portraying the isolating nature of grief - not only from death, but from the impacts of industrialization and colonization as well. Everything was just very well done to not detract from the plot.
Bad Cree is an exceptional and gripping debut from a rising Indigenous voice. It took me by surprise, and I will be keeping an eye out for what Jessica Johns is working on next. I suspect this one will fair quite well in the upcoming Canada Reads debates happening March 4th-7th. If I had to pick a winner, this would likely be it. Regardless of how it does, I definitely think this is one book all Canadians should read.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for something different
• realistic horror enthusiasts
• anyone looking for a new author
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"One thing they don’t tell you about when someone you love dies because of a sickness is that death happens in a million different ways in the lead up to the actual moment."
"That might be the worst thing about death: it doesn't stop anything. The world keeps moving, even though the pain is just as real as the day it settled in."
Author: Jessica Johns
Genre: Magical Realism
Rating: 4.25
Pub Date: January 10, 2023
T H R E E • W O R D S
Beautiful • Haunting • Layered
📖 S Y N O P S I S
Mackenzie, a Cree millennial, wakes up in her one-bedroom Vancouver apartment clutching a pine bough she had been holding in her dream just moments earlier. When she blinks, it disappears. But she can still smell the sharp pine scent in the air, the nearest pine tree a thousand kilometres away in the far reaches of Treaty 8.
Mackenzie continues to accidentally bring back items from her dreams, dreams that are eerily similar to real memories of her older sister and Kokum before their untimely deaths. As Mackenzie’s life spirals into a living nightmare—crows are following her around and she’s getting texts from her dead sister on the other side—it becomes clear that these dreams have terrifying, real-life consequences. Desperate for help, Mackenzie returns to her mother, sister, cousin, and aunties in her small Alberta hometown. Together, they try to uncover what is haunting Mackenzie before something irrevocable happens to anyone else around her.
💭 T H O U G H T S
Bad Cree was already on my TBR, yet it definitely got bumped up the list after landing on the 2024 Canada Reads shortlist. Marketed as a horror, I really wasn't quite sure what to expect, but a few bookish friends told me it wasn't 'horror' in the typical sense of the genre.
With poetic writing, I was instantly hooked by the opening scene of this deeply atmospheric and urgent story. Advancing at a slow meander, it was absolutely disturbing and unsettling at times, yet each of the characters were so real, leaping off the page. There is so much beyond the brutality - an underlying thread focusing on familial (particularly female) bonds, grief and generational trauma. Delving into the very real horrors POC continue to face as a result of systemic oppression, the social commentary never takes over.
I really appreciated getting to know more about Cree traditions and customs, the connections to the spiritual and natural worlds, and the role of dreams. Jessica Johns does a fabulous job portraying the isolating nature of grief - not only from death, but from the impacts of industrialization and colonization as well. Everything was just very well done to not detract from the plot.
Bad Cree is an exceptional and gripping debut from a rising Indigenous voice. It took me by surprise, and I will be keeping an eye out for what Jessica Johns is working on next. I suspect this one will fair quite well in the upcoming Canada Reads debates happening March 4th-7th. If I had to pick a winner, this would likely be it. Regardless of how it does, I definitely think this is one book all Canadians should read.
📚 R E C O M M E N D • T O
• readers looking for something different
• realistic horror enthusiasts
• anyone looking for a new author
🔖 F A V O U R I T E • Q U O T E S
"One thing they don’t tell you about when someone you love dies because of a sickness is that death happens in a million different ways in the lead up to the actual moment."
"That might be the worst thing about death: it doesn't stop anything. The world keeps moving, even though the pain is just as real as the day it settled in."
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Death, Body horror, Blood, Gore, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Colonisation, Alcoholism, Murder, Vomit, Animal death, Violence, Addiction, and Mental illness
Minor: Cannibalism, Death of parent, Religious bigotry, Cancer, and Kidnapping
sibling deathbishopbox's review
emotional
hopeful
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? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Mental illness, and Gore
Moderate: Racism
maresuju's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Body horror, and Murder
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Abandonment, and Animal death
Minor: Abandonment, Addiction, Alcoholism, and Cannibalism
shadestate's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
What a wonderful, raw exploration of grief, community, and guilt. How avoiding deep pain doesn't make it disappear. It just gets a chance to linger and fester. I loved how Mackenzie, the main character, was deeply flawed. Anxious, avoidant, pushing people away because she feels like a burden. Unable to ask for help. Falling into the trap that pretending you're okay is the same as not making your loved ones worried. Yet still loved by her family and friends. Because we all have our flaws, the bad.
A five of cups book at its core. Definitely want to reread this late October, when I think the pages will speak even more than they did now, at the start of spring.
A five of cups book at its core. Definitely want to reread this late October, when I think the pages will speak even more than they did now, at the start of spring.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Abandonment, Addiction, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Colonisation
Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Racism, and Child death
Minor: Sexual harassment, Sexism, Body horror, and Murder
literallyjustjo's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.0
It's dark, it's spooky, it's everything the synopsis says it is. I highly recommend reading this book. Just not late at night and especially not while camping. You'll thank me later.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Cannibalism, Grief, Death, Colonisation, and Mental illness
Minor: Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Addiction
anapthine's review against another edition
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
This book was incredible. Just everything about it was amazingly done: the characters, the setting, the emotion and the plot. I was hooked: perched on the edge of my seat having to find out what will happen next. Johns clearly poured out their heart and soul into this book, emphasising the importance of indigenous voices: how they should be listened to and not ignored. The stories of generations and the Cree woven into this beautiful story. Some parts of it made my spine crawl, with it not being predictable and you always wanting to find out more.
Mackenzie has dreams of her dead sister, which begins to become more real forcing her to return home after leaving years ago. Crows seem to follow her - like some impending doom. Are these just dreams or is there more to it? What do they mean?
This is a must read. I have never read anything like it, and I doubt I ever will again. Jessica Johns is a beacon of indigenous voices and they will be heard.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Animal death, Gore, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Vomit
Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol
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