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kingweirdo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
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
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, and Suicide attempt
burnyayhayley's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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
Thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster Canada and Gallery / Saga Press for allowing me access to this friggin' masterpiece.
This novel is about Jade, a horror-obsessed teenage Blackfeet girl, who moves through life largely rejected and dismissed by her peers and the adults around her. This compounds her love of the horror movie genre, it becoming the psychology that rules her life. So much so, that she is convinced a real-life-in-person slasher film plotline is about to unfold in her tiny Idaho town that borders Indian Lake.
Unfortunately, no one believes her, and she might be more correct than she knows...
The entire story of this novel pays homage to slasher films and the horror of the 70s and 80s (and even the 60s). What's even more brilliant is the fact that it does so while centring two young POC girls as the central heroes, the biggest subversion of the genre, and yet plays perfectly into the trope of the Final Girl (you'll hear more about this in the book, trust me). The characters feel real, easy to imagine, familiar, the lore and the trauma and painful history of the town are so palpable, every character rotates easily around it, even newcomers.
Jones has already made it clear that he is masterful in his writing, unleashing plots full of surprises but also logical conclusions, and writing that is so immersive and graphic that you feel tangled within the horror it depicts. This book only furthers this conclusion for me, surprising me by being even more impressive than The Only Good Indians, a book I thought to be so unique in voice and so unsettling in tone, unlike anything I have ever read.
Seriously, if you love horror or horror movies, this book is for you. It will grip your attention, right from the first canoe ride.
This novel is about Jade, a horror-obsessed teenage Blackfeet girl, who moves through life largely rejected and dismissed by her peers and the adults around her. This compounds her love of the horror movie genre, it becoming the psychology that rules her life. So much so, that she is convinced a real-life-in-person slasher film plotline is about to unfold in her tiny Idaho town that borders Indian Lake.
Unfortunately, no one believes her, and she might be more correct than she knows...
The entire story of this novel pays homage to slasher films and the horror of the 70s and 80s (and even the 60s). What's even more brilliant is the fact that it does so while centring two young POC girls as the central heroes, the biggest subversion of the genre, and yet plays perfectly into the trope of the Final Girl (you'll hear more about this in the book, trust me). The characters feel real, easy to imagine, familiar, the lore and the trauma and painful history of the town are so palpable, every character rotates easily around it, even newcomers.
Jones has already made it clear that he is masterful in his writing, unleashing plots full of surprises but also logical conclusions, and writing that is so immersive and graphic that you feel tangled within the horror it depicts. This book only furthers this conclusion for me, surprising me by being even more impressive than The Only Good Indians, a book I thought to be so unique in voice and so unsettling in tone, unlike anything I have ever read.
Seriously, if you love horror or horror movies, this book is for you. It will grip your attention, right from the first canoe ride.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, and Vomit
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