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foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
- 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
4.5
Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Gun violence, Genocide, Violence, Vomit, Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Death, Body horror, Death of parent, and Murder
magellen's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
What a bummer follow up- I say that with love, as I'm obviously still reading the third when it drops, but oof what a precipitous drop off after the first.
Where Chainsaw succeeds beautifully in tying horror and slashers to catharsis and processing trauma, Reaper tramples the dialog between healing and relapse/generation trauma into memes.
Because of the narrative clutter
SGJ is *very good* at writing the conversation this book wants to be, and I wonder where it got lost along the way.
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Grief, Body horror, Gore, Death, and Death of parent
megandherbook's review against another edition
- 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
Jade Daniels, now going by Jennifer, returns to Proofrock after spending the past 4 years in prison due to the infamous events that people call the 4th of July massacre. Right when she returns, a convicted serial kill named Dark Mill South escapes his prison transfer convoy right near Proofrock during an intense blizzard. Jade (or Jennifer) is thrown right back into the world of slashers and will have to use her vast knowledge of horror movies that she's tried to forget to save her and the others in this town. But as before, Proofrock and Indian Lake are never quite what they seem.
First, I want to say that if you are a fan of horror movies, especially slashers, at the very least you'll appreciate the vast knowledge Stephen Graham Jones includes in this series. It's a dream for horror aficionados - I even wrote quite a view titles down that I wasn't familiar with.
While I enjoyed the first book, it was exhausting being inside Jade's head the whole time. Sometimes it was hard figuring out what was fact and what was just in Jade's head. I very much enjoyed how this book jumped between narrators. While it may seem confusing (and could be at times) I felt like I had a better understanding of what was going on. It also really allowed me to get a sense of just how impactful the Lake Killings of 4 years prior were to the town and people in it as a whole. The amount of characters are a lot, however, each one serves an important purpose and helped the many moving parts of this book to come together. This book also solidified my love for both Jade and Letha.
Overall, I highly recommend this horror series. To fully appreciate Don't Fear the Reaper I recommend reading the first book My Heart is a Chainsaw first.
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit and Gun violence
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
val_so_'s review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Torture, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Addiction, and Sexual assault
sarah984's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
bananafreckles's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Murder, Animal death, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Cursing, Death of parent, Gore, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
turtleofhades's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Cursing
Moderate: Vomit, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, and Stalking
Minor: Self harm, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Gun violence, Child death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, and Addiction
rusereviews's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.5
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.
Moderate: Violence, Murder, Gore, and Body horror
Minor: Sexual harassment and Gun violence
juliatindell's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
annact's review against another edition
- 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
"It's Jade, sir," Jade says back
Jade Daniels, the woman that you are...
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Child death, Torture, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Vomit, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Self harm, Sexual assault, Addiction, Gun violence, and Medical content