Published: 10/4/2022
Pages: 336
A young Black girl goes missing in the woods outside her white Rust Belt town. But she’s not the first—and she may not be the last. . . .
It’s watching.
Liz Rocher is coming home . . . reluctantly. As a Black woman, Liz doesn’t exactly have fond memories of Johnstown, Pennsylvania, a predominantly white town. But her best friend is getting married, so she braces herself for a weekend of awkward and passive-aggressive reunions. Liz has grown, though; she can handle whatever awaits her. But on the day of the wedding, somewhere between dancing and dessert, the bride’s daughter, Caroline, goes missing—and the only thing left behind is a piece of white fabric covered in blood.
It’s taking.
As a frantic search begins, with the police combing the trees for Caroline, Liz is the only one who notices a pattern: a summer night. A missing girl. A party in the woods. She’s seen this before. Keisha Woodson, the only other Black girl in school, walked into the woods with a mysterious man and was later found with her chest cavity ripped open and her heart missing. Liz shudders at the thought that it could have been her, and now, with Caroline missing, it can’t be a coincidence. As Liz starts to dig through the town’s history, she uncovers a horrifying secret about the place she once called home. Children have been going missing in these woods for years. All of them Black. All of them girls.
It’s your turn.
With the evil in the forest creeping closer, Liz knows what she must do: find Caroline, or be entirely consumed by the darkness.
Interesting book, the cover of this book is fantastic, and when I read the blurb, I was just over the moon like, OMG, this is going to be amazing! Well, the supernatural part of it threw me off a bit as I was not expecting that, and did find myself lost a bit when our point of view changed in the story.
I didn't fully understand it, but as we got to the end, I understood. I still really enjoyed the storyline.
Liz, one of our main characters, returns home to attend her best friend's ceremony. What happens next no one expects, and it will be a race against time trying to find a little girl. What is uncovered is more than Liz ever wanted to know about the town she grew up and the woods that are always forbidden.
For years African American females have gone missing, and sadly in this small town, the police dept. just sorta brushes it off. Though when little Caroline goes missing, well it seems that they will have to figure out what is going on now because Liz is not putting this to rest. I can't imagine living near the woods and being scared of it. Yet, this is what the girls in this town are told. There is racism in this small town, and you can just feel the town is not welcoming to anyone who is a P.O.C.
Liz's character was interesting. I saw her struggle a lot within herself because of what she had within her. It was something foreign, something not of this world. I felt sorry for Liz because of how her best friend treated her. It wasn't something I would have expected.
Erin E. Adams is a first-generation Haitian American writer and theatre artist. She received her BA with honors in literary arts from Brown University, her MFA in acting from The Old Globe and University of San Diego Shiley Graduate Theatre Program, and her MFA in dramatic writing from NYU Tisch School of the Arts. An award-winning playwright and actor, Adams has called New York City home for the last decade. Jackal is her first novel.
