Reviews tagging 'Self harm'

Don't Fear the Reaper by Stephen Graham Jones

14 reviews

lancemama's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Torture, Death, Death of parent, Forced institutionalization, Body horror, Violence, Child death, Bullying, Alcoholism, Gore, Abandonment, Animal death, Blood, Classism, Genocide, Grief, Alcohol, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

devilledgreggs'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

4.25

Stephen graham jones I love you

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Medical content, Gun violence, and Alcoholism

Minor: Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Sexual content, Mental illness, Incest, Cultural appropriation, Sexual assault, and Dementia

ghost_story's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Violence

Moderate: Self harm, Pedophilia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship

ehmannky's review against another edition

dark emotional slow-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 totally get that this book isn't for everyone. It's a gore-filled, violent, dense book that has prose that often twists into itself so often that I had to keep going back to see what I missed. But I loved it. I honestly think it's better than My Heart Is A Chainsaw--something about Jade and her crew being grown up and them dealing with this trauma and violence that is at the heart of the American West and the small towns just hit right. And I didn't know if I would love the multiple character POV, but it worked so well. It also had these moments of dark humor that made me chuckle amongst the horror that I just loved (Jade being indignant about a slahser using a gun was very good). I am not particularly familiar with slasher movies (I can read gore, but I can't watch it), but that didn't really turn me off anything in this book. 

My only criticism is that I felt that the fantastical element was as seamlessly integrated into the plot as it was in the last one. But I'm so excited for the third book in this series it's been so good so far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Murder, Violence, Gore, Blood, Death of parent, Mental illness, Torture, Body horror, Death, and Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Self harm, and Animal death

Minor: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide attempt

teaxmillions's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Violence, Gore, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Mental illness

Minor: Racism, Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Pandemic/Epidemic

megandherbook's review against another edition

dark hopeful sad tense medium-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

 The second book in the Indian Lake Trilogy did not disappoint. In fact, I think I enjoyed this read better than the first.

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

sarah984's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I preordered this book and then proceeded to not read it for months. "Chainsaw" had what I consider the perfect ending and it was hard to imagine what a sequel could bring to the table. Now that I've finished the book I regret not giving it a chance earlier. 

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.

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Content Warnings

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

turtleofhades's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

annact's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0

"Jennifer goddamn Daniels," Hardy finally says. 

"It's Jade, sir," Jade says back

Jade Daniels, the woman that you are...

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Content Warnings

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

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

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