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chloseencounter's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I was so excited to get my hands on this novel and it did not disappoint, I felt as if a lot of the things I wanted more of in My Heart is a Chainsaw where delivered to me on a silver platter in this sequel. More slashing and more Jade and Letha being a duo. The book was actually longer than the first and yet I flew through it in no time. My Heart is a Chainsaw sort of dragged a bit in the middle but it all paid off in this sequel because I already went in loving these characters, which made it all the more enjoyable. As a slasher girl myself I have such deep love and empathy for Jade as a MC and I was so happy to hear from her again, like an old friend, (actually, we graduated the same year so we would’ve definitely been friends in high school.) There were literally moments in this book that made me internally cheer for my girls! Jade and Letha will always have my heart. I’ll be eagerly awaiting the end of the Indian Lake trilogy and of Jade’s journey.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Murder, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence
rusereviews's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones is a literary horror thriller and the second book in the Lake Witch trilogy.
I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at a little over fifteen hours and is narrated by a full cast including Isabella Star LaBlanc and fifteen others. While the first book in the series has a singular point-of-view, this installment is heavily multi-POV.
Jade--now going by her birth name Jennifer--Daniels has returned to her hometown of Proofrock after her murder conviction was overturned. Convicted serial killer Dark Mill South has also found himself in town, after escaping from his prison transfer during a blizzard. Over the next day and a half, many bodies hit the floor and Jade and her friends must figure out what is happening.
Please read the first book in this trilogy, My Heart is a Chainsaw before picking this one up. Jones mentions in his Acknowledgements that he looked to The Two Towers and The Empire Strikes Back to figure out how to craft the middle part of a trilogy and I think he landed that pretty well.
SGJ is an amazing observational writer. He has such a way with descriptions that I feel I can nearly see a perfect image in my head while I am reading. I was pleased that this book also contains interludes with essays written by a student to their history teacher, a lovely reference to a similar plot device in the first book.
And boy oh boy, the themes in this book. There's a focus on trauma, and how differently people process it (or specifically do not process it and just ignore it). There's the usual examples of humans also being monsters, and a hefty dose of trope subversion.
The only downsides to this one is that in part due to the many POVs the plot was a little confusing to me at times. The first book in the series meandered a bit, but was a great character study of Jade, especially when it picked up in the back half of the novel. Similarly, the back half of this one also picks up the thread a bit more, with an almost manic dash to the end that keeps up.
If you're a fan of the slasher genre, you might like this series!
Tropes in this book include: slashers, local legends, revenge plot, isolation in blizzard
CW: blood, gore, murder, firearms, implied abuse, body horror, body fluids
I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
I listened to the audiobook, which clocks in at a little over fifteen hours and is narrated by a full cast including Isabella Star LaBlanc and fifteen others. While the first book in the series has a singular point-of-view, this installment is heavily multi-POV.
Jade--now going by her birth name Jennifer--Daniels has returned to her hometown of Proofrock after her murder conviction was overturned. Convicted serial killer Dark Mill South has also found himself in town, after escaping from his prison transfer during a blizzard. Over the next day and a half, many bodies hit the floor and Jade and her friends must figure out what is happening.
Please read the first book in this trilogy, My Heart is a Chainsaw before picking this one up. Jones mentions in his Acknowledgements that he looked to The Two Towers and The Empire Strikes Back to figure out how to craft the middle part of a trilogy and I think he landed that pretty well.
SGJ is an amazing observational writer. He has such a way with descriptions that I feel I can nearly see a perfect image in my head while I am reading. I was pleased that this book also contains interludes with essays written by a student to their history teacher, a lovely reference to a similar plot device in the first book.
And boy oh boy, the themes in this book. There's a focus on trauma, and how differently people process it (or specifically do not process it and just ignore it). There's the usual examples of humans also being monsters, and a hefty dose of trope subversion.
The only downsides to this one is that in part due to the many POVs the plot was a little confusing to me at times. The first book in the series meandered a bit, but was a great character study of Jade, especially when it picked up in the back half of the novel. Similarly, the back half of this one also picks up the thread a bit more, with an almost manic dash to the end that keeps up.
If you're a fan of the slasher genre, you might like this series!
Tropes in this book include: slashers, local legends, revenge plot, isolation in blizzard
CW: blood, gore, murder, firearms, implied abuse, body horror, body fluids
I received a copy of this book to review. All opinions contained herein are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Gore, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual harassment and Gun violence
annemariemulksibb's review against another edition
dark
tense
fast-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
5.0
Don't read this if you haven't read My Heart is a Chainsaw yet.
While Jade didn't need to be loveable (and I didn't love her at first) in order for me to root for her and whoever she was rooting for in Chainsaw, I absolutely loved her in Reaper. Her obsession with slashers in the first book was just a lot and annoying, and I expect that this was intentional. It was effective. I loved in Reaper when Armitage comes along and his obsession has Jade wondering if she was ever that annoying. Lol. "Yes, you were. But I better understand you now for it."
I expected Reaper, once you got through the first scene, to take off as slowly as Chainsaw, but no. The first scene took off, and it never slowed down. I can't count how many times I audibly gasped while reading this book.
There were several times I had to reread passages to really understand what was happening. This was a combination of my having difficulty understanding spatial descriptions and the truly bizarre and unbelievable scenarios Stephen Graham Jones has his characters die in ("Wait, what just happened?!?")
I loved reading this book, and I wish it wasn't over. I wish I didn't have to wait for however long to read the third book.
Oh yeah, and there's more elk.
While Jade didn't need to be loveable (and I didn't love her at first) in order for me to root for her and whoever she was rooting for in Chainsaw, I absolutely loved her in Reaper. Her obsession with slashers in the first book was just a lot and annoying, and I expect that this was intentional. It was effective. I loved in Reaper when Armitage comes along and his obsession has Jade wondering if she was ever that annoying. Lol. "Yes, you were. But I better understand you now for it."
I expected Reaper, once you got through the first scene, to take off as slowly as Chainsaw, but no. The first scene took off, and it never slowed down. I can't count how many times I audibly gasped while reading this book.
There were several times I had to reread passages to really understand what was happening. This was a combination of my having difficulty understanding spatial descriptions and the truly bizarre and unbelievable scenarios Stephen Graham Jones has his characters die in ("Wait, what just happened?!?")
I loved reading this book, and I wish it wasn't over. I wish I didn't have to wait for however long to read the third book.
Oh yeah, and there's more elk.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Gore
Minor: Child death and Forced institutionalization
siobhanward's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I love Stephen Graham Jones but I was a little let down by this book. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoyed it, but not nearly as much as his other works. This definitely felt a lot like the middle book of a trilogy - extending some events from the first book and setting things up for a third.
Like My Heart is a Chainsaw this book had a lot of references to horror films, specifically slasher movies. While the references do get explained, I feel like I would have gotten more out of the book had I seen any of the movies that were mentioned. I'm excited to see what happens in the third book and I hope it's a little stronger than this one.
Like My Heart is a Chainsaw this book had a lot of references to horror films, specifically slasher movies. While the references do get explained, I feel like I would have gotten more out of the book had I seen any of the movies that were mentioned. I'm excited to see what happens in the third book and I hope it's a little stronger than this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and Violence
thetruthatallhazards's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Violence
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, and Pedophilia
maryellen's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Gore, Grief, Violence, Animal death, and Blood
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
juliatindell's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
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? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
caitlinn3's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
5.0
I really enjoyed this sequel. I had no idea it was going to be part of a trilogy and now I can’t wait for the third and final one. Just a word of warning about this book, it is super graphic. Like right from the start. If you are squeamish at all you may need to skip those parts. It is not for the faint of heart.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Racism, Torture, and Violence
valmai's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
I need the third book IMMEDIATELY. Also, read the acknowledgments because SGJ writes terrific horror and is also the sweetest man ever and obsessed with his wife.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Blood
gladiolus17's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Another solid book by Stephen Graham Jones. I absolutely loved My Heart is a Chainsaw and when I found that the second book was coming out soon, I had to nab it.
This book follows Jade after the events of the first books. Freshly out of jail, she returns to Proofrock only to find another slasher happening.
SGJ’s writing is kind of like a seesaw, or a rollercoaster, or something that goes back and forth really fast. You have to use your brain to read it. I read a lot of literary fiction so this was not a problem for me, but if you want easily accessible horror, this is not for you.
If you like slashers, this IS the book for you. (I actually don’t like slashers, but this did not hamper my enjoyment.) It’s chock full of slasher trivia and references. The story itself is a nod to the genre.
My two favorite characters, Letha and Hardy, appear once again. Idk, I just like badass girls and father-like figures? Handing in Hardy’s perspective really hit me in the feels at times.
Speaking of which, I really enjoyed the form of this book. We’re floating through the perspectives of many characters in Proofrock. Each one is like its own mini-story within the story. SGJ does an excellent job of making you feel for each character (whether affection or disgust).
I enjoyed the first book better, and I think it was because we had a lot of time in Jade’s head, so I had an emotional impact on ending with her dad etc., but this time the familial aspect was a little muted. I still had a good time though, and highly recommend!
This book follows Jade after the events of the first books. Freshly out of jail, she returns to Proofrock only to find another slasher happening.
SGJ’s writing is kind of like a seesaw, or a rollercoaster, or something that goes back and forth really fast. You have to use your brain to read it. I read a lot of literary fiction so this was not a problem for me, but if you want easily accessible horror, this is not for you.
If you like slashers, this IS the book for you. (I actually don’t like slashers, but this did not hamper my enjoyment.) It’s chock full of slasher trivia and references. The story itself is a nod to the genre.
My two favorite characters, Letha and Hardy, appear once again. Idk, I just like badass girls and father-like figures? Handing in Hardy’s perspective really hit me in the feels at times.
Speaking of which, I really enjoyed the form of this book. We’re floating through the perspectives of many characters in Proofrock. Each one is like its own mini-story within the story. SGJ does an excellent job of making you feel for each character (whether affection or disgust).
I enjoyed the first book better, and I think it was because we had a lot of time in Jade’s head, so I had an emotional impact on ending with her dad etc., but this time the familial aspect was a little muted. I still had a good time though, and highly recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship