Scan barcode
A review by bookedupandbusy
Jackal by Erin E. Adams
4.0
A young black girl goes missing in the woods. She’s not the first and won’t be the last. Liz Rocher is noticing a pattern, black girls going missing on the same day, each year in the same place. When her God Daughter Caroline goes missing, she takes the investigation into her own hands.
The story is chilling because it is so true to life. Girls missing and not making national news because of the colour of their skin.
The majority of the story is a thriller but there are some horror elements. I didn’t find the horror aspects of the novel scary, it was manageable, so don’t worry, just read it in the day time. It is fast paced with a plot twist.
Liz is of Haitian decent and it was nice to see Creole throughout, a language I haven’t read much of in books.
Liz is a strong character, she is determined to find her God Daughter even though she has to face her own fears of the woods. We also learn about her own experiences in the woods when she was younger, which is heartbreaking. During her search, Liz encounters racism and a lack of cooperation from the police and Caroline’s family (Caroline is mixed race).
There are SO MANY underlying messages about race and class and the reason for black girls disappearing. There was also a slight undertone surrounding the privileges of being mixed race in both the abductions and during the investigation which was interesting to read.
Towards the end there are some supernatural elements which are confusing. It was disappointing that the book made this shift but I have a theory about this, but can’t discuss as it is a spoiler. I think the supernatural elements may come off better as a screen adaptation.
The story is chilling because it is so true to life. Girls missing and not making national news because of the colour of their skin.
The majority of the story is a thriller but there are some horror elements. I didn’t find the horror aspects of the novel scary, it was manageable, so don’t worry, just read it in the day time. It is fast paced with a plot twist.
Liz is of Haitian decent and it was nice to see Creole throughout, a language I haven’t read much of in books.
Liz is a strong character, she is determined to find her God Daughter even though she has to face her own fears of the woods. We also learn about her own experiences in the woods when she was younger, which is heartbreaking. During her search, Liz encounters racism and a lack of cooperation from the police and Caroline’s family (Caroline is mixed race).
There are SO MANY underlying messages about race and class and the reason for black girls disappearing. There was also a slight undertone surrounding the privileges of being mixed race in both the abductions and during the investigation which was interesting to read.
Towards the end there are some supernatural elements which are confusing. It was disappointing that the book made this shift but I have a theory about this, but can’t discuss as it is a spoiler. I think the supernatural elements may come off better as a screen adaptation.