Reviews with content warning for Cancer - Bad Cree

Reviews tagging 'Cancer'

leannanecdote's review

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dark hopeful mysterious sad 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

3.5

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musicalpopcorn's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective 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

3.75

When MacKenzie starts having terrifying dreams, she decides to return home to try and get to the bottom of the mystery.

I enjoyed this story. It was spooky and layered. I did find that the book got a bit repetitive with the secret keeping and lying. It kind of felt like MacKenzie and her family had to learn that lesson more than once. Apart from that, the characters were interesting and had a lot of dimensions. I was very intrigued in where the story would go. Nice one for a spooky afternoon read.

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dragongirl271's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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theverycraftyvegan's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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

5.0

This book is so beautifully written and deeply haunting. It made my scalp tingle a few times.

Mackenzie is a young Cree woman who is suddenly able to take things from her dreams and bring them into the waking world. Her dreams are of the past and they are trying to tell her something.

Her best friend encourages her to talk to her family about what she’s going through and after a phone call with one of her aunties she knows she needs to go home.

As Mackenzie starts trying to mend her relationships with her family they all begin to learn they have more in common than they ever realized.

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heresyourletter's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional 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? Yes

4.5

As someone who’s struggled to transition from YA to adult fiction, I often struggle to find adult-oriented books I enjoy.

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!)

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kelly_e's review against another edition

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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."

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mollymisek's review

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challenging dark hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

This ends up being equal parts chilling and heartwarming, but the heartwarming bits take awhile to surface. I especially loved the Auntie characters and the focus on estrangement / reuniting with family after loss. Johns could have leaned harder into some of the horror aspects, but this is definitely approachable for those who wouldn’t always veer toward scary stories.

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livlamentloathe's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-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

I didn’t know what to expect cause I’d not heard much about this before I borrowed the audiobook but I really liked it! I enjoyed learning about Cree culture and how important family is.

I also appreciated that Jolee’s pronouns weren’t ever explained. They used they/them and they were Mackenzie’s best friend and that’s all that mattered.

A great, twisty monster story about greed and family and loss.

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