Review: Bad Cree

Bad Cree by Jessica Johns
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This is another entry in my summer of Indigenous fiction (and non-fiction) reading. Set in B.C. and Alberta, this novel explores family and, especially, sisters within a context of grief, family breakdown and, well, economic and environmental crisis. The novel also veers into the paranormal horror genre as the lead character, Mackenzie, explores what has gone wrong in her life, her family and her community.

I really liked this novel, although I was really weirded out at first. The early dreams that Mackenzie has as well as the disturbingly pervasive ravens following her around are, frankly, creepy. Well, of course it is, it's horror. But I remember as I was reading it, I actually had to avoid reading it just before going to bed because I kept getting bad dreams (oddly with ravens in them). That is a testament to Johns' evocation of the paranormal, but it's also a warning to anyone not especially used to horror (like me).

Yet, what I really loved about the novel is that, despite the horror motifs, it is ultimately a really hopeful novel. It is about finding resolution and a place to belong and I have so much space for that. Without giving the end away, it also serves as an allegory for the problems we face today in the exploitation of the Land and how communities have to face up to that legacy. Here it was an Indigenous one, but it is a legacy we all have to face up to.

So, yes, definitely, a good read and worth dealing with all those ravens to get through.

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