Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

171 reviews

blacksphinx's review

dark informative mysterious 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Death, Suicide, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Animal death, Rape, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Vomit, Alcohol, Alcoholism, and Pedophilia

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Racism

bookcaptivated's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Alcoholism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Animal death, Blood, Death, and Gore

Moderate: Racism, Mental illness, Stalking, Sexism, and Vomit

Minor: Fire/Fire injury and Sexual assault

lee_brahms's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Suicide attempt, Gore, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Cursing, Rape, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Incest, Animal death, Pedophilia, Alcoholism, Blood, Murder, and Self harm

Minor: Confinement, Vomit, Colonisation, and Fire/Fire injury

sarahbw2's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense 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? It's complicated

3.75

It’s definitely a love letter to the horror genre and I recommend it if you like horror movies. I had to DNF the book before because it is pretty slow in the first half but it really picks up in the second half.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Child abuse, Grief, Rape, Blood, and Body horror

charliebk_2's review

dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Blood, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Domestic abuse, and Death

juliana18's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful informative mysterious sad 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Murder, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

snazzy_suze's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad slow-paced

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

In "My Heart is a Chainsaw", Stephen Graham Jones hides a poignant and complex set of narratives behind a blitzkrieg of slasher facts. It was at times tedious to get through, and my perseverance paid off mostly in despair; however, this feels like a story that will stay with me so I'm glad that I read it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Child abuse, Gore, and Animal death

bookishwondergoth's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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

This was an incredibly beautifully written book with a truly unique narrative device in that the main character's worldview revolves entirely around slasher films. I haven't decided upon my rating yet as I'm still letting my thoughts percolate a little bit, but I'm very much hovering around the 4.5-5/5 stars. The prose is choppy, confused and broken in the best and most atmospheric way, and my mind is a little bit blown about just how much there is to unpack here in terms of themes and subtext. I need processing time!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Death, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Sexual assault, and Rape

Minor: Abandonment, Racism, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Classism

akmay17's review

adventurous dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicide attempt, Rape, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Alcoholism, Animal death, Incest, Violence, Alcohol, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault

Minor: Vomit

foldingthepage_kayleigh's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

4.75

This is the 4th book I’ve read by Stephen Graham Jones (SGJ) and I think it’s my favourite so far.

While it was full of slasher references to movies I hadn’t seen, it didn’t make me feel lost for not having seen them, if anything it was a crash course in the genre. As someone who doesn’t watch horror movies, SGJ made me want to delve into the lore, and convinced me to watch Halloween!

Jade is my hero and I loved hearing her soliloquies on horror as she tried to piece together what was going on in Proofrock. There were so many red herrings that I couldn’t possibly guess what was going on, and was very surprised with how it ended on a cliffhanger. Luckily, the next book is coming out in a few months so I don’t have to wait that long.

Overall, this book was scary, slasher-y, colloquially academic, with an exploration of systemic racism and trauma that I keep ruminating on. Loved it and I can’t wait for more to come in this trilogy!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit