Bad Cree by Jessica Johns [Family Reads]

Why we chose Jessica Johns’ Bad Cree

While we were driving home from a winter activity during Christmas holidays, we heard a countdown on CBC Radio of the top selling Canadian books of 2023. Bad Cree came in at number 6. Johns spoke about how the novel originated as a short story. She described how the story grew around a woman who found herself bringing objects from her dreams into the waking world. Dad and I were both intrigued, so we agreed to select this book as our first Family Reads of 2024. When we placed Bad Cree on hold, it was on the longlist for Canada Reads 2024. It has since made the shortlist. While we were the reading the book, it also won an Alex Award (awarded to the best adult books that appeal to teen audiences) at the ALA Youth media Awards.

When Mackenzie wakes up with a severed crow’s head in her hands, she panics. Only moments earlier she had been fending off masses of birds in a snow-covered forest. In bed, when she blinks, the head disappears.

Night after night, Mackenzie’s dreams return her to a memory from before her sister Sabrina’s untimely death: a weekend at the family’s lakefront campsite, long obscured by a fog of guilt. But when the waking world starts closing in, too—a murder of crows stalks her every move around the city, she wakes up from a dream of drowning throwing up water, and gets threatening text messages from someone claiming to be Sabrina—Mackenzie knows this is more than she can handle alone.

Traveling north to her rural hometown in Alberta, she finds her family still steeped in the same grief that she ran away to Vancouver to escape. They welcome her back, but their shaky reunion only seems to intensify her dreams—and make them more dangerous.

What really happened that night at the lake, and what did it have to do with Sabrina’s death? Only a bad Cree would put their family at risk, but what if whatever has been calling Mackenzie home was already inside?

Goodreads

Our Discussion 💬

“This book is weird”

I remember being at my parents’ house one evening when Dad started reading Bad Cree. He put down the book, stood up, and muttered “This book is weird”. I asked whether that thought persisted through his reading. Dad didn’t like the story much at first. He thought it was too out there. Were Mackenzie’s dream experiences real, or were they just a dream? Did she truly bring a severed crow’s head from her dream into the physical world? What was going on? The story does jump right into things with the opening lines, “Before I look down, I know it’s there. The crow’s head I was clutching in my dream is now in bed with me.” So things are touch and go for awhile – if you’re looking for clear delineation of what’s real or not, you have to read on for some ways.

Pacing

I enjoyed the story more as it progressed. I found it slow in the beginning, at least up to and possibly even some ways past when Mackenzie returns home. There was too much time spent, imo, in Vancouver, just being sad and not doing much. But I can appreciate the context that gives to the later part of the novel, when Mackenzie finally returns to her family. We had heard the book began as a short story. I theorized maybe that’s why the first is so long and a bit boring – it was necessary to expand the short into a novel. I had the impression, at one point, that I might enjoy the story more as a TV mini-series, rather than a novel.

Dad became used to the premise as well. He probably would have DNF’d if it he wasn’t reading it for a buddy read. He didn’t find it a hard read once he got going, but he found quite a few moments jarring. As in, things appeared to happen/come out of nowhere. The story didn’t flow as smoothly as books by other authors which he enjoys (David A. Robertson was one author he cited).

Genre??

Bad Cree was promoted as a horror book but neither of us found it especially scary… apart from several graphic moments that I described as “zombie stuff”, lol. At one point, I did note “Ghost Sabrina is so spooky”. But those moments were only heart-quickening for a page or two at a time. The story doesn’t carry a sense of horror throughout.

We discussed what genre this book might be best described as. Searching “Bad Cree genre” on Google brings back horror, suspense, thriller, and fairy tale. I thought suspense might be closest to the mark. But it’s drawn-out suspense for the most part and I think that might be an oxymoron. Dad noted that the story focuses on family dynamics and living out grief and guilt. He read somewhere that it’s an “ode to female relationships”. We agreed that that short phrase encapsulates the bulk of the story. I found it to be quite an introspective family story, with some strong emotional moments. Dad appreciated how the story explores the impact of people coming and going in Indigenous communities through the perspective of one who has left and returned, if only temporarily.

YA Crossover

I mentioned to Dad that Bad Cree had won an Alex Award. We both could see the appeal of this book to teenagers. It’s not too long, the prose is easily digestible, it’s got some creep factor without being too dark, but it’s also got a strong focus on family relationships. The plot may be a bit basic (we found the conclusion too quick and easy), but again – it’s more about relationships than the horror plot.

Final Thoughts 💭

I gave this book ★★★½ and Dad gave it ★★★. Recommended for readers who enjoy slow-paced, family-focused stories and don’t mind a touch of horror.

Further Reading 📰

🍂 Read an excerpt
🍂 Author website
🍂 Interview @ The Next Chapter on CBC Radio
🍂 Reviews: Tammy @ Books, Bones, and Buffy, Laura @ Laura Tisdall, Quinn @ What Is Quinn Reading, Jordan @ Forever Lost in Literature
(While I typed up notes from our discussion, Dad looked up other reviews. He began to read one out. Me: I think I’ve read that one? Dad: It’s from Books, Bones, and Buffy. Me: THAT’S TAMMY I KNOW HER!! 😆)
🍂 Related: Another book by an Indigenous author which Dad and I discussed for Family Reads is Richard Wagamese’s Starlight.

Do you prefer horror-driven or character-driven stories?