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mulletapologist's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Animal death
Moderate: Vomit
cebadgley's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Blood, Death, and Murder
Moderate: Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Animal death
Minor: Sexual assault, Vomit, and Child abuse
cyndakeel's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Graphic: Vomit, Body horror, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Colonisation, Sexual assault, Rape, and Child death
Minor: Cultural appropriation
lizzardbreath's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Murder, and Child abuse
Moderate: Vomit, Cursing, and Sexual assault
genevakelly's review
- 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
Moderate: Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual violence, Violence, Vomit, Rape, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault
himinotebook's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This one is really for the horror movie girlies, I'm a film fan above all else and this one really really spoke to me, it was a passionate love letter to the slasher genre that could only have been written by someone who lives and breathes it. I was constantly delighted and surprised by the observations it made about the form and how it turned them on it's head. I was also enamoured with the writing style, Stephen Graham Jones really throws some sentences down that made me go "damn I wish I could write something that poetic." The world of My Heart Is A Chainsaw feels textured and alive, like it's some great half-dead and decaying eldritch creature that the characters are crawling around on the back of.
The character work was also smooth as silk, this book uses the expanded scope of the medium of literature to do what slasher movies often can't, which is really put us in the main character Jade's head. You find yourself empathising with her and following the logic of even the admittedly bad decisions she ends up making because her mental state and who she is as a person is just so seamlessly communicated in every other facet of the writing.
My only minor criticism was this book had some slightly odd... I guess spatial pacing issues? I'll concede this might have been a me problem but I often found myself losing track of where characters were supposed to be, how they got from one location to another, how long it would take them to do so, whether it was still day or night etc. etc. A minor gripe but really not one that significantly detracted from my overall reading experience.
Also worthy of note that when I finished this, I closed the book, lay there for a minute on the couch and just burst into tears for like 10 minutes, the ending is so frenetic that the emotional gut punch of what was actually happening didn't hit me until I had a moment of peace.
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Vomit, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Racism, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
torturedreadersdept'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
4.0
Graphic: Body horror, Cursing, Alcohol, Death, Murder, Rape, Animal death, Bullying, Death of parent, Dysphoria, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Excrement, Fire/Fire injury, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit
flexolo's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Addiction, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Vomit, Animal death, Blood, Death, Incest, and Suicidal thoughts
plantybooklover's review against another edition
- 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? Yes
4.25
My Heart is a Chainsaw is indeed, as most have mentioned, a celebration of the Slasher/Horror film genre, as told by Jade, a 17 yr old who is singularly focused on them, after experiencing a traumatic life event.
The author toggles between Slasher 101 chapters and the current events of Jade's life in a small town of Proofrock, Idaho (and YES- I hope ProofRock is a nod to T. S Eliot's Prufrock....it sure seems to be) - In the Slasher 101's we are treated to all sorts of Slasher lore, key elements (like mask, weapons, back stories, revenge plots and final girls. In Jade's life chapters- we are reminded how hard it is to be the odd one in a small community, and we are see the actual... slasher is it? evolve and gradually devolve gloriously on the 4th of July with some confessions from Jade and just abject horror, we have dead animals, dead people, macabre misuse of construction tools, (and chainsaws as well)... It was so hard for me to decide if the murders were actually occurring or if Jade was just kind of having a psychotic episode, as both seemed equally possible by the end of the book. There was probably quite a bit of symbolism that just flew over my head, especially as I was using an audio book, and thus was not always 100% focused only on the narrative.
Because I don't like Slashers at all, I didn't really find this book funny- like many did. It seemed more to me a tragedy, but, for the right audience, I think it's both hilarious and tragic. And even though it's a slow build up, the writing is always on point.
Will I read book 2? yeah... I am entirely hooked. I'm rooting for Jade.
Graphic: Vomit, Violence, and Alcohol
Moderate: Abandonment, Blood, Body horror, and Bullying
Minor: Child abuse, Car accident, Sexual assault, Animal death, and Mental illness
bre_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Blood, Self harm, Death, Gore, Suicide attempt, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
Moderate: Animal death and Alcoholism
Minor: Sexual assault, Abortion, and Vomit