Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Don't Fear The Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

3 reviews

henrygravesprince's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This is a stunning follow-up to Chainsaw, serving as the slasher literature’s equivalent of the premier slasher film sequel (which, to be clear, is Scream 2, no contest). I was expecting it to be a 5-star follow-up, and it was. The writing is strong, the flow is fun (SGJ pulls off the ping-ponging perspectives like a champ), the audio cast is stellar. While the first book is patterned after the classic slasher, slow to ramp up and then all at once, this is patterned after the traditional slasher sequel: gorier, jumping straight into the action with a quicker, more persistently relentless pace. This book deals with cycles—cycles of trauma and of brutality, cycles of nature, of the beginning and the ending and starting again, emphasized by the slasher cycle and the murder cycles

of Dark Mill South

. Rebirth, and the connections forged in its fire, in friendship, in family; lineage in the wake of colonization and gentrification, and the lineage of the final girl; finding yourself again after rejecting who you are in order to survive. Getting more of Proofrock’s history was a delight, and the town is as much of a character here as anyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Violence, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Death of parent, Racism, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Animal death and Ableism

Grooming; Brief discussion of antisemitic tropes; very brief mention of implied defilement of dead bodies

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

I preordered this book and then proceeded to not read it for months. "Chainsaw" had what I consider the perfect ending and it was hard to imagine what a sequel could bring to the table. Now that I've finished the book I regret not giving it a chance earlier. 

While Jade is still the star of the show, this book expands to show other characters' POV, and all of these characters just feel so perfectly human. One of the early victims' internal monologue stuck with me for the entire rest of the book. There are a lot of moving parts and things going on in the book, but somehow it all slots together in a way where you couldn't take any of it out.

I really loved this. Fantastic sequel.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Gore

Moderate: Animal death, Drug use, Medical content, Grief, Ableism, Addiction, Child death, Stalking, Car accident, Colonisation, Death of parent, Racism, and Gun violence

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Pedophilia, Body horror, Confinement, Self harm, Incest, Sexual assault, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Racial slurs, and Suicide attempt

readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Misogyny, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Stalking, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Torture, Gore, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Sexism

Moderate: Medical content, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Addiction, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Racism

Minor: Classism, Child death, Police brutality, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Trafficking, and Emotional abuse

PTSD, privacy invasion, mention of animal torture, s slur, MO lynching, MO Dakota 38, MO residential schools, drowning, car accident.