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heresyourletter's review against another edition
- 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
But from the get-go, I was transfixed by Bad Cree. The fast-paced, unceasing tension; the creepy, unsettling dreams; the bonds between the main character and important women and non-binary people in her life — it was all an utter delight (which isn’t normally something I’d say about a horror book!)
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, and Death
Moderate: Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Addiction, Grief, Vomit, Gore, and Cursing
Minor: Alcoholism and Cancer
Not as gory as many horror books, since the focus is more on dreams and the supernatural.brotestantethic's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Unfortunately, the strong themes are diminished by poor execution. The pacing is dreadful — there is a long chunk in the middle of preparing for a big fight that is anticlimactic, derivative, and most importantly only a couple pages long. There are also some pretty solid gore scenes, but not enough to classify this as horror. Overall, the plot might have been strong if the writing was not so disappointing.
Graphic: Death, Gore, and Vomit
Moderate: Addiction and Alcoholism
biojesspj's review
- 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
Some parts are a bit gross in body horror ways (that fit the plot without being gratuitous), and there's plenty of suspense and developing mystery without feeling like your being strung along.
Graphic: Grief
Moderate: Gore, Death, and Body horror
Minor: Vomit and Alcoholism
Crows feature heavily, including a bird attack near the beginning. People have scary near-death experiences in dream states includinge_asw_97's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Vomit and Violence
kelly_e's review against another edition
- 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
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."
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 deathunusualsnowunicorn's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Death
Moderate: Alcoholism
Minor: Racism, Addiction, and Vomit
mollymisek's review
- 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
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Grief
Moderate: Animal death, Cancer, Vomit, and Murder
Minor: Car accident and Alcoholism
nikenacs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Vomit, Blood, Death, Body horror, and Gore
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders
Minor: Alcoholism
rmperezpadilla's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, and Blood
Moderate: Alcoholism and Gore
Minor: Vomit
claireparlee's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Vomit, Violence, and Child death
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, and Panic attacks/disorders
You may not expect it but there is some pretty intense horror and body horror if you’re super weak stomached