Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

43 reviews

abbygrace226's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? N/A
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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b_reads's review against another edition

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emotional tense slow-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

3.0

This book is soooo outside my comfort zone! Hence my review will definitely be influenced by that. 

The story starts with a gripping first chapter, showing a glimpse of things to come. However, it then slows down to a crawl. Like nothing much happens till about 70% of the book. It was like the book couldn't decide whether to be character driven or plot driven! Then it just pours!

Jade is 17 year old half Indian, weirdo of the town, obsessed lover of Slasher movies with an encyclopedic knowledge of all things gore. She has an abusive father, no friends, and lives on the fringes of the society. She desperately wants a Slasher cycle to happen in her small lake town, and has her own theories about it. As people start dying, and a final girl candidate emerges at the same time, she's convinced it has started. With her vast knowledge of the slasher genre, she predicts what's going to happen. But as usual, everyone writes it off as ramblings of a weird girl. Can she save herself and others ? Or should she just let it all happen and fulfill her wish to see a slasher cycle being played out IRL?

I found the writing choices complicated. Jade's character development in the slow first part of the book shows us her vulnerability, fears, fierceness, loyalty. 
I was unprepared for the change in track when we learn someone's killing people, but it was rivetting. But suddenly it went from human slasher to supernatural horror, and that's what I couldn't digest.
 
The best parts of the book I think we're the Slasher papers 101 that Jade wrote for her history teacher. Filled with homage to the slasher/horror genre, I am sure it would be a fan's delight. I, not being a horror fan, did miss a lot of Slasher pop culture references though. 

If you're a horror fan, go for it. The payoff is immense if you can stick it out beyond 70%. 



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unphilosophize's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Going into it, I knew this book probably wasn’t for me bc I’m not a big horror fan. 
I loved the prologue, but I didn’t really enjoy the main plot of the book. I think the parts where they talk about slashers is the strongest part of the book. 
If you don’t like slasher you’ll probably find this book fairly alienating. 

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