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zosiablue's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
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
4.25
Man, marry me, Stephen Graham Jones. He's just the best. Like all his stories, this one has full heart and gorgeous writing and campiness and tragedy and action and total respect for the genre. He's the only my writer I know who can do textual jumpscares. This is true horror but it's exhilarating because it follows slasher-horror rules until it doesn't and the rule breaks are totally earned. Can't wait for the next one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts
lennybiird's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Child death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Drug use
kyra_joy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
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
4.5
So while I did enjoy this book I think it’s hard to compare sequels to the first and I definitely enjoyed the first book a lot more, I found the multiple character point of view a lot less enjoyable, and I also found that it felt at times like there was just too much going on. The end also wasn’t great and felt a bit rushed. However it was still very enjoyable and a good book !
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Murder
katie_luder's review against another edition
dark
4.75
I loved that this book brought in some other voices along with Jennifer(Jade)'s POV. I didn't like it quite as much as the original, and the audiobook changed narrators for Jade, which infuriates me as an audiobook reader. I loved that it brought in more voices but they should have kept the same actor for Jade.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Incest, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
bjlinard's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, and Murder
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Suicide attempt
foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
magellen's review against another edition
dark
funny
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
If this book was a slasher, it'd be tripping over its own dark robe every three feet and you'd stand there shaking your head rather than running.
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.Having a teenager find solace from abuse via slashers and wishing it into the world had a much better punch than circumstantially dropped in serial killer does some killing but there's also a corrupted final girl out killing and for some reason movie rules get applied to the real world killer even though like...sigh what? The book runs itself in too many directions. Even with the mirror of Armitage and Cin, the mirror of obsession with vengence, it grapples to get the comparison out clearly.
Because of the narrative clutter(honestly, Letha? Aside from her brief foiling of Jennifer not yet Jade, she feels like an after thought, a PPS - hell, Jade feels like an after thought at times, and sure a slasher progresses to next gens, but the juggling of Cin and Gin and Gal is uh...uninspiring. ) , the book reads much how a car drives with one incredibly flat tire on a potholed road. It gets some speed and drags behind, we change location endlessly, aimlessly, trying to find an ending. The references don't land as well, largely because they're reaching to put movie logic over an already established 'irl' killer. Yes, Jade is more aware, more critical of her slashers as she applies logic to ground the narrative somewhat, but it veers off hard time and again. (and then the stuff with Melanie? And Hardy? Just...unless it's coming around in book three, it didnt have the emotional punch to float).
SGJ is *very good* at writing the conversation this book wants to be, and I wonder where it got lost along the way.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Gun violence and Vomit
Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, and Death of parent
val_so_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Torture, and Death of parent
Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, and Abandonment
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Gore, Violence, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Ableism, Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Gun violence, Racism, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, and Colonisation
Minor: Body horror, Confinement, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury