Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

49 reviews

hanlov's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

I’ll start by saying I’m definitely not the target audience for this as I’ve seen like one slasher movie in my whole life and don’t enjoy the genre. This definitely relies on pop culture/slasher movie references for the plot so I kinda figured it wouldn’t be my cup of tea. Jade really frustrated me as a narrator, the pacing was painful, and the r*pe bit made my stomach churn. It’s not for me but I suppose I can sorta see why people liked this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Incest, Animal death, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment

goblinghost_39's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

 

I think I benefited from listening to the audiobook for this one. Jade is a rambling mess, and it was much easier to just listen to her while I was working instead of taking the time to sit down and read. The actual plot that happens outside of her head was a bit of a letdown. I didn't really understand Letha at all.

HOWEVER. Jade herself was fascinating to get to know and, in a way, I could relate to her hyperfocus on something dark as a way to cope. I say "in a way" because I'm white and can't relate to her being Indian in what seems like a predominantly white town.

I did, though, have a parent who was both emotionally abusive and neglectful at the same time. So still not as traumatic as what Jade went through. But I was (and still kind of am deep down) an angry and emotionally distressed kid. Didn't really have any friends. Any adult ever saw me and basically shrugged. So I was left to my own devices without any of the tools to actually deal with...everything? Anything? So teenage me coped, with what was still probably the worst time of my life, by way of escapism. And that included horror. And also self-harm, but that feels like a whole different story that we don't need to get into right now. But let me tell you, regardless of what it is you get into that helps you cope, at that age that kind of internal isolation does some wonky shit to your brain. Jade comes off as kind of a loon. But it's not the slasher films. It's the fact that she's more-or-less been left alone for years while her brain is still developing.

So I 100% see you, Jade. I am also a bit of a loon due to some not-so-nice events and people. And it is that sole reason that this book gets 4 stars instead of the 3 I was considering.

Will definitely read more from this author. And since this is a trilogy, I'll be sure to check out the next one. I just hope we get to know Jade on an even deeper level that isn't just how many times she can reference Friday the 13th.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Incest, Classism, Gaslighting, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Emotional abuse

catriona176's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pedophilia, Murder, Gore, Sexual assault, Addiction, Classism, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Rape

amieleigh8919's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Self harm, Violence, Emotional abuse, and Murder

clrouse's review

dark mysterious tense slow-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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion, Classism, Cursing, Mental illness, and Abandonment

shysheepys's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad 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

4.0

I love Jade Daniels and I want nothing but the best for her. 
I'm personally not a slasher fan, but I love horror and wrote a few college papers on slasher tropes and the theories behind slashers and why slashers are popular. I loved being able to read this without having to think to hard about the things Jade was talking about, because I already knew them too, and it all made sense. For someone that hadn't done research on slashers, though? I can't imagine them being able to read this easily. 

But anyway, I love Jade Daniels. I love this book. I can't wait to read the next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Suicide, Body horror, Grief, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Incest, Murder, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, and Self harm

Moderate: Pregnancy, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Racism, and Death of parent

Minor: Abortion, Classism, Cultural appropriation, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, and Colonisation

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

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

2.0

The Details:
Narrated by Cara Gee
Unabridged

Unexpectedly angsty and for some reason, I didn't know what was going on. I think I was thrown off by how horror movie central it was - like there were essays as in between chapters - and I just haven't consumed enough of the classics to really appreciate it.

I also found Jade really unlikeable and because I had issues with following along with the plot, this wasn't something I could bypass over. Also the ending just seemed to appear out of no where, and made no sense.

I did manage to grasp some of the deeper tones and that's another reason I kept listening. I do think a revisit at some stage could encourage a better reading experience for me.

I am disappointed I didn't enjoy this one, I possibly could have just dnf'd this one and contemplated doing that a few times, but I enjoyed the writing. So in saying that, I would like to try The Only Good Indians, but I think I'd try that as a physical read rather than an audio. Depending on how I get on with that one, I may come back to this title to reread in a different format. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Grief, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Body horror, Blood, Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Incest, Murder, and Rape

moonlitemuseum's review

adventurous challenging dark funny reflective sad 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

Hey man I love Scream too

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Blood, Child abuse, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Self harm, Animal death, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Body horror, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, and Vomit

incestuous father-child rape is alluded to as part of the protagonist's history

lottieingham's review

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Vomit, Animal death, Death, Gore, Self harm, Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Cursing, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Rape, and Incest

chloseencounter's review

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

4.0

An ode to the slasher, this novel really stole my heart pretty quickly. I enjoyed the MC (and maybe related to her a little too much…) The reason this isn’t a 4⭐️ for me is that the first 100 pages and last 100 pages where so fun but in between it was rather dense. As someone who has loved the slasher genre ever since Scream graced my eyeholes for the first time, I really enjoyed exploring the mind of the MC and all the slasher input she had on the genre, but I think this could be a harder read for most general audiences. The second book in the trilogy comes out this month and I’ll be excited to see how the story continues. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Confinement, Abortion, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Misogyny