You'll love this one...!! A book club & more discussion

One of the group reads for January is Jackal by Erin E. Adams. Please discuss the book in this thread.

Katrisa will be leading the discussion.

In order to receive a badge you must:
1. have read the book before or during January 2023.
2. discussed it in this thread. Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favorite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc. You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread. Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.
3. Report that you have read AND discussed the book in the reporting thread (include a brief summary of what you thought of the book).

A note on discussion: Discussion must be more than "I read the book and I liked it". Discussion requires something more substantial and analytical of what you read, for example, thoughts, opinions, impact it had on you, what was your favorite part, was it what you expected it to be like etc.

In addition to this, the group reads are meant to be a "read along" so it is preferable that you discuss the book as you read rather than wait until you've finished the book.

And finally, discussion is not about just listing your thoughts. Please interact with the other group members, comment on their thoughts, and if they comment on yours, respond to them. This is what makes a good book discussion!

You may also like to review the book and post a link to the review in this thread.

Please refer to our group spoiler policy for further information.

General Rules:
1. Please mark your spoilers with the spoiler tags along with mentioning what stage of the book you are at so other's don't get a nasty shock. Chapter numbers/titles are generally best as they are the same across all formats and editions. See our spoiler policy
2. The book may be combined with the Year Long Challenge, Topplers, and Monthly Challenges.

Happy reading! And Happy New Year!

I am starting this book today!

I stopped right when it really started to pick up! I am through ch 6. (view spoiler)[I like the main character. I sympathize with her having to go to a wedding with a broken heart. I find it hard to believe that they ruled Keish'a death accidental when her heart was ripped out! I feel like an animal would have done more than just that. Also it seemed like she wasn't gone very long before they found her, but maybe I am wrong about that. (hide spoiler)]

I didn't realize that that the book is divided into sections and there are other chapter 6s. My last post was the first ch 6 from "The Heart" section.
Today I am in ch 4 of "The Feather" section. (view spoiler)[I feel like I would be extra super freaked out that someone went missing in the same woods where someone I went to school with died. We are getting a little more of Liz's story from Keisha's death. So I guess she was the last person (other than the killer) who saw Keisha alive, but she has a blacked out memory. I don't know if this is a supernatural thriller, but it seems like it might be heading that way with the shadows/fangs/eyes.
I was a little confused when the Morgan part came around. So I backtracked and realized that I was mixing up the first story with Keisha's story. The mom was Tenisha but the girl was Alice. So we have 1985 with Alice, 2002 for Keisha and 1994 for Morgan.
I feel like the author is trying to cast suspicion on Mel's father with the whole hunting thing, but I think that's too tidy. (hide spoiler)]

Well with each girl's snippet we get a bit more information. I am in the 11th chapter after the Kayla story - still in the feather section.(view spoiler)[So far the most information I feel like I have gotten is from Kayla's story. They went a bit more into the legend with the poem and she saw something even though it was her sister that ended up taken. The part where the "hunters" were talking - to each other? confused me. It does seem like it's hinting toward supernatural. Liz is meeting with the other mothers (and Kayla) to hear their stories and realizes that one girl goes missing every summer.
I still think the connection to Mel's dad is too convenient, but it might have something to do with her family as that is where the girls either go missing or a re found - I don't quite remember. I do understand Mel not wanting to hear Liz's theories about serial missing girls when her daughter is still missing though. (hide spoiler)]

I am in ch 18 of The Feather section. (view spoiler)[ Masn I didn't finishe the chapter yesterday when I posted and just listened to it on my way home from work tonight. That fight that Mel and Liz had turned pretty savage! I mean I was waiting for Mel to blame Liz - I knew it was coming but that was kinda brutal. SO they still aren't talking. I am wondering what the summer star connection is. Liz has remembered some more of what happened that night - is there like a werehound?
I am a bit suspicious of Nick.
Then there's the history of the town highlighting the racial struggles of the region. I am looking forward to seeing how this all ends! (hide spoiler)]

My library holds only one copy of this one and there are 3 people in the waiting list. I don't think I will get it on time. I liked that it is set in PA, where I live.

Ya I ended up buying this one because library holds were long

I finished "The Feather" section. I am looking forward to finishing tomorrow! Things are really coming together now. (view spoiler)[ So someone left a dead deer in Liz's mom's house. Chris has some suspicious things pointing at him, but I don't think it's him. There's some weirdness with Liz. Why is the killer/hunter whatever obsessed with her? What is up with her being able to run without getting winded? She had some animal sex with Chris. Was her DNA planted or is she part of it?
Poor Doug has lost his job and after the original anger passed thinks it's an Oswald. Liz convinces him to try to find Caroline - who Chris has maybe seen. (hide spoiler)]

It took me an extra day to finish but I really enjoyed it! (view spoiler)[ I was wondering why the sections were labels like they were but the whole Anubis thing cleared it all up and now I can't believe that I didn't make more of a connection! Though I am more used to Maat being the one to weigh the heart and feather on the scales, but Egyptian mythology isn't my strongest mythology - though I am going to read an Egyptian mythology book for one of the tasks this year. I was sad that Mel didn't make it. I thought the ending with Liz was pretty badass though! (hide spoiler)]

I feel like this is weird! I haven't been part of a monthly read where no one read it! I know it's only halfway through the month but no one but Sandra even has said they may be planning it.

That is a little strange. There hasn't been much going on in the Just Get Home thread either.

I just went to check the poll. It had three votes including you. The other two were Casceil and Jane. Maybe they are still planning to read it? If either of you see this can you just let Katrisa know if you are planning to read the book or if your plans have changed?

Katrisa wrote: "I feel like this is weird! I haven't been part of a monthly read where no one read it! I know it's only halfway through the month but no one but Sandra even has said they may be planning it."

That happened to me when "we" read The Indifferent Stars Above: The Harrowing Saga of a Donner Party Bride'".

Sorry I'm late to the party! Had to wait for the hold at my library to be available. I listened to the entire audio book yesterday. The chapters were very confusing on the audio so I'm just going to discuss the book as a whole.

I started this book without re-reading the description or genres and was not expecting the direction it went! I thought it was a thriller and I think I would have liked it better if it had been. The horror elements didn't quite land for me.
Keisha - (view spoiler)[ Her death really did not seem like an accident at all! I was getting angry that no one helped her family seek justice. I kept wondering why Liz didn't say more about what happened, then we learn little pieces at a time about that night. (hide spoiler)]
Mel's family - (view spoiler)[ I agree that it seemed too neat to have them be the killers. Also, I did not want to imagine they could murder their own family member simply because she was half black! That was more hatred than I wanted to imagine. It was bad enough they disowned their own daughter for awhile. I don't understand people like that. (hide spoiler)]
Chris - (view spoiler)[ I was suspicious of him, but it just never seemed to fit quite right. (hide spoiler)]
Doug - (view spoiler)[ I was totally oblivious that he was the killer, until he injured Nick! I knew as soon as the radio went off that Doug was sabotaging the group. Now what he saw in Liz's eyes makes sense. I was confused by that part. (hide spoiler)]
I'm still thinking over how I feel about Jack. I'll be back tomorrow with more thoughts.

Jack - (view spoiler)[ Is this supposed to be a metaphor for hatred? Jack's existence confused me. I really think the story could have been better without this character. Evil humans performing an annual ritual in worship of some entity is plausible. All they had to do was say the girls were taken alive and only killed on the set date of the ritual. Caroline gets away on her own, they find her in the woods, the women fight Doug and Kirsten, win, the search party finds them, Doug's evil scheme is uncovered. Just my opinion, but I didn't like Jack's character. (hide spoiler)]
All the girls - (view spoiler)[ I liked the parts that discussed the girls and their families. I wish there had been more about how all these missing and dead girls just went unsolved. This happens in real life far too often to marginalized groups and it needs to be brought to light more often. (hide spoiler)]
Liz - (view spoiler)[ I loved how determined she was to find Caroline and how she grew through the book. She started to stand up for herself and fight. I wanted her to just tell her mom the truth and stop faking things. (hide spoiler)]

Yay Laura! I am glad you got to read the book! I have had family visitors and then covid over the last week so I didn't see your comments until just now.

Laura (Lclwags) wrote: "Jack - [spoilers removed]
All the girls - [spoilers removed]
Liz - [spoilers removed]"

RE: Jack (view spoiler)[I have mixed thoughts about it. I liked the supernatural element and I like when mythological characters are incorporated. But I wasn't convinced how an Egyptian god ended up in Pennsylvania. And also I thought it was the goddess Maat that weighed the hearts of the dead against the feather. (hide spoiler)]

RE: All the Girls (view spoiler)[I agree totally! I would have appreciated more about how so many girls went basically uninvestigated and the underlying reasons for that (hide spoiler)]

I’ve just got hold of the audiobook.
The author sounds like she has something to say with this book so I’m going to give it a try. Not sure what the direction will be, but I’m intrigued to find out.

Glad you could join us Annerlee!

Kristie wrote: "I just went to check the poll. It had three votes including you."

Yes, I didn't vote for it because I wasn't sure I could get it on time, which is what it is happening.

I'm glad to see Laura and Annerlee joining.

Katrisa wrote: "Laura (Lclwags) wrote: "Jack - [spoilers removed]
All the girls - [spoilers removed]
Liz - [spoilers removed]"

RE: Jack [spoilers removed]

RE: All the Girls [spoilers removed]"

It's been awhile since I read about (view spoiler)[ Egyptian gods. I found this when I searched Egyptian mythology weighing of hearts. After you died, on your way to your afterlife, you had to travel through the Hall of Maat. The god Anubis weighed your heart. The god Thoth recorded the findings. (hide spoiler)]

Laura (Lclwags) wrote: "Katrisa wrote: "Laura (Lclwags) wrote: "Jack - [spoilers removed]
All the girls - [spoilers removed]
Liz - [spoilers removed]"

RE: Jack [spoilers removed]

RE: All the Girls [spoilers removed]"

I..."

Aahhhhh! Makes sense.

I’m listening to this on audiobook and finding it hard to keep track of where I’m at. According to the chapter listing I’ve just finished the section entitled ‘The Heart’

Some thoughts so far.

Struggling a bit with making sense of Liz’s experiences
(view spoiler)[ I’m reading this as a white person who has never been to the US. I’m finding it hard to put many of Liz’s experiences into my own context.

I’m struggling a little here, so please bear with me if I say something that shows my ignorance.

I keep hearing about how black girls have it hard and am presented with Liz’s mistrust of the whiteness around her. I’m sure this is completely valid and I really feel for her.

I do relate to some of the things she is describing. Examples are, being bullied at school and being the outsider, changing the way I speak to fit in, the problem of feeling like a girl, but being viewed as a woman by males around me and being told by my mother that I’d better get my act together and behave in a manner befitting a ‘young lady’ when my brothers could still behave as they wanted etc.

Normally, my own experiences would help me relate.. And I think I do. But the book suggests that the problems described are different to mine because they are black girl problems. Maybe I dont understand at all.

Am I belittling the author’s experience or discounting it unfairly when I find myself thinking… no, these are universal problems. I obviously dont know what its like to be black in a town like Johnstown. I find myself wanting to ask lots of questions but have no black friends that I can speak to.

Does anyone understand what I’m trying to say? This is bothering me quite a bit

(hide spoiler)]

Re looking away.
(view spoiler)[ There is a saying in Johnstown that you are safe as long as you look away. This seems to be a theme so far.

Liz scolds herself for looking at the shadowy figure in the woods. is this some type of mythical creature that only takes form if you look at it?

Liz’s friend Mel didn’t look away at school when Liz was being spat at. She is now involved with Liz. this brought her disadvantages at school, but is surely positive too? or are we to believe that not looking away is ultimately detremental to Mel too - that her daughter may have experienced the evil that Liz and the other black girls did?

Living in a small island community, I understand how many people know other people’s business but choose to gossip and look away rather than get involved directly. The aim is to keep the peace and preserve balance in the community even when there’s a problem that should really be addressed.

I am intrigued to find out whether this is developed furthe and how.

(hide spoiler)]

I am loving the talk about hair and find it fascinating: hair braiding, wigs, short cuts, combing out curls, musky hair oil etc This is all new to me.

Annerlee wrote: "I’m listening to this on audiobook and finding it hard to keep track of where I’m at. According to the chapter listing I’ve just finished the section entitled ‘The Heart’

Some thoughts so far.

St..."

(view spoiler)[ Honestly I think everyone uses their own experiences to try to make sense of others' experiences, so I think that identifying with Liz as an outsider doesn't mean that you aren't taking her experience as valid, just that you use what you know to connect to the experience.
And as I am not a black girl either, I am also putting my own spin on the story, but I feel like one of the differences is that being Black in America - especially in certain areas your "otherness" is forced on you and it is kind of a relentless tide that is always trying to push you down in one form or another. One of the reasons I love books is because I get to have insight into other lives that I can never experience but we can still make connections through story. (hide spoiler)]

Annerlee wrote: "Re looking away.
(view spoiler)..."

(view spoiler)[I think the "look away" thing for Jonestown is meaning both don't look too hard into anything - keep the veneer of perfect little town - and also a reaction to whatever is taking these girls for so many years. (hide spoiler)]

Katrisa wrote: "Annerlee wrote: "I’m listening to this on audiobook and finding it hard to keep track of where I’m at. According to the chapter listing I’ve just finished the section entitled ‘The Heart’

Some tho..."
I also love reading things that are outside my own experiences to give me more insight into the lives of others! I think readers often have more empathy for our fellow humans because we are used to putting ourselves in someone else's shoes through the books we read.

Just popping back to say I’m still reading this. I’ve just started reading about Kayla.

Finding the book quite hard going and not really looking forward to going back to it. It’s well written and I think its worth reading but the subject matter is difficult to spend lots of time with.

Kayla. The shadow and the rhyme - thoughts; (view spoiler)[ if you look it becomes real - look away. lots of half revelations here.

The man in the woods is not the narrator of the girl chapters! there is a shadow and a man working together. one for violence, one for a heart. And Liz is a pet to the shadow because she got away?

Liz’s story in the next chapter gives more background.

There seems to be something supernatural here. And the star constellations bring it on… I’m thinking werewolf type creature that appears when the constellation does.

(hide spoiler)]