Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Don't Fear The Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

43 reviews

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship

sdsmith80's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad 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? No

5.0

<strong>Exhilarating!</strong>

I've been waiting for this book for what feels like forever. Its arrival wound up perfectly timed with a minor surgery, so I was able to spend part of my recovery in Proofrock, Idaho, with Jade Daniels. 

This book starts off with a bang and just keeps rolling on an exhilarating ride through town. While there is some confusion as to who the killer(s) is/are, that isn't 100% cleared up in my mind at the end, it is such an exciting read. I literally couldn't stop myself from talking to my husband about this or that segment, even though I'm not supposed to be talking, haha. 

I can't wait to see what comes next for Jade and the denizens of Proofrock. Especially after this killer ending. I can only wish that time goes faster so the final book in this trilogy will be in my hands a little sooner. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Gun violence, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Alcohol

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

poetsofsweetpea'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? Yes

4.75

Jade, Jade, Jade!  Here she is again not seeing who she really is.  I love a full cast narration and enjoyed listening to this book.  There was a good follow up of the living characters from My Heart is A Chainsaw but also a lot of new story.  This was not a rehashing but a continuation.  I always listen to the very end of a book and was glad I did.  The authors acknowledgements provided even more depth and if possible endeared me even more to these characters. My only complaint is that there may have been too many POV's and that mannerisms or voice bled through them all, perhaps to the detriment of the story.  I did love it though and Stephen Graham Jones is quickly becoming my favorite horror author.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Blood, and Alcohol

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

xennial_reader's review against another edition

dark fast-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

“Because she’s Jade fucking Daniels. And a thousand men like you can’t even reach up to touch her combat boots” 

Happy Pub day!!
Thank you to netgalley & to Simon & Schuster for the eARC.

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it did not disappoint! Although it did very much gross me out 😆 I’m not usually a fan of slashers, but if anyone’s going to get me to read one, it’s Stephen Graham Jones. 

We’re back with our final girl Jade, 4 years down the road, freshly out of prison and most importantly, no longer going by Jade- she’s back to Jennifer. With no place left to go after being released, she has to abandon her dream of escaping her hometown and head back. And this time with a new (to us) serial killer on the loose and the whole town trapped in with him during a blizzard, of course.

This story goes off like a bullet and does not let up. SGJ is a master at weaving emotional depth with horror and social commentary. Jennifer/Jade is such a badass, flawed heroine you love to root for. She’s real, she’s angry, she’s sad and she’s just struggling to stay alive. Age, the forced time away and having been under trial for the past few years has made her much more toned down and self aware. With the escape of Dark Mill South (and possibly other killers in the mix??) it’s once again up to Jade to save her small town. She’s still insisting she’s not the final girl, yet again, even with all the signs she’s willfully ignoring. But, to save who she can, she has to tap into her old self which she’s been trying to forget and repress while she was away. 

The growth of this character and the trauma processing (whether healthy or not) from everyone involved gave this story so much emotion and depth. I loved being back with my favorite final girl in Proofrock and being dragged along (honestly sometimes kicking and screaming it felt like) for this wild ride. 

The only thing that didn’t make this a 5 star read for me was that, while I really liked the multi-POV, I absolute hated having to read the killers’ POV. The gore level was also well past my comfort zone, more so than the first book. 

In any event, I’m simultaneously excited and terrified for the final installment of the Lake Witch trilogy. Stephen Graham Jones has become an auto-buy author for me and I can’t wait for the next one!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide attempt

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Vomit

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

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

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

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

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Body horror, Confinement, Gun violence, Medical content, and Stalking

Minor: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Chronic illness, Drug use, Genocide, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Self harm, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

benreadshorror'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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror

Moderate: Animal death

horrorandscience's review against another edition

adventurous dark tense slow-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

4.0

It’s always hard to review a sequel to a book without spoilers, but in this case, Don’t Fear the Reaper is less of a sequel and more of a second novel in the same universe. It works as a standalone, but I do highly recommend reading My Heart is a Chainsaw before reading Reaper. The plot doesn’t follow much into Reaper, but you do learn a lot about the characters in Chainsaw.

I gave Chainsaw a 4.5 star rating, and I’m going with a 4 star rating for Reaper. One of the biggest reasons for this is because I felt we didn’t get to see Jade as she truly was. She was (pardon the pun) quite jaded as she returned to town after her time in prison. However, Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favorite writers, and I loved everything about the story. I just wish we had more Jade. 

I’m excited to read the third book and conclude the series. I think it’s possible my issues with the second will solve themselves in the third, as it tends to happen with middle books in a trilogy. 

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books/Saga Press for the advanced review copy! Don’t Fear the Reaper releases on February 7th. 

TW for blood, gore, injury, death, murder, grief, trauma, racism, animal cruelty, animal death, and an adult/minor relationship

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Racism, and Self harm

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide, and Grief

grimdark_dad's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, and Blood

Moderate: Gun violence, Sexual assault, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ninjamuse's review against another edition

dark tense slow-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? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, and Vomit

Minor: Adult/minor relationship and Incest