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bi_n_large's review against another edition
- 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
3.25
Graphic: Gore, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Child death, and Alcoholism
Minor: Pregnancy
mr_cain's review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide
Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, and Racism
Minor: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Bullying, Cultural appropriation, Incest, Pedophilia, and Rape
boundforinfinity's review
- 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
3.5
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The main character, Jade, is a hard character to like. The assumption that you have to be "gothy" to like horror movies such as Saw, the $1 Billion dollar film franchise that's been running for almost two decades, was an annoying catch to the novel. Of course teenagers like horror movies - they need to prove their hard. (This is coming from one of said teenagers that never grew out of their gothy/horror phase).
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The constant allusions to the famous slashers felt pretentious at times and I really struggled at times to read the book knowing that a good portion of the text could go over my head if I hadn't seen these other works.
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Onto the good however, I really did enjoy the story and the twist ending. I loved the references to the Native American culture, Stephen Graham Jones own signature no doubt. The layout of an extra credit project alongside the actual story itself was refreshing and a fun way to engage the reader with Jade.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Body horror, Grief, and Suicide attempt
badvision'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
3.75
Graphic: Death of parent, Gore, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Self harm, Alcoholism, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, Vomit, Incest, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
drjoeby's review
- 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? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Self harm, Blood, Child abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Child death, Death, Body horror, Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts
Moderate: Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
animalsmals's review
- 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
4.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Violence, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Blood, Child abuse, and Cursing
Moderate: Rape, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual violence, Vomit, Animal death, Child death, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Animal cruelty, and Incest
heroicfrenzies'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
5.0
- If I did, I probably wouldn’t fully appreciate each book I’ve read individually, I like taking my time with my reads, even the rereads.
- This book deals with some heavy shit, as can be inferred by the list of content warnings. And some people get a seasonal boost to their regular ol’ depression and sometimes heavy shit just feels a whole lot heavier.
- It’s just a kind of book that’s really complemented by a muddy Michigan, I don’t know what to tell you, it just feels like it was the right time to read it.
Graphic: Violence, Child death, Pedophilia, Deadnaming, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gore, Murder, Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Classism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Death
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Rape, Incest, Vomit, and Sexual assault
libraryofdoe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
On one hand, I found Jade’s story excellent and riveting and genre-defiant yet so obviously reverent of all the slashers that came before it and so, so raw. I found parts of myself in Jade that I almost didn’t want to see. I really like Jones’ writing style and the way he approached the story.
On the other hand I really didn’t like the whodunnit
I may come back and change this rating on further thought, but for now 4 stars feels about right, if a lot lower than I anticipated 75% of the way in.
Graphic: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit
Minor: Abortion, Bullying, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Hate crime, Incest, Medical content, Pedophilia, Mental illness, Ableism, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Racism, Pregnancy, and Drug use
foolzerrand'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Violence
seawarrior's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
I felt the most gratifying piece of this story was the slow reveal as to why Jade loves slasher movies so much in the first place. She devotes her life to analyzing them from a lens that provides her the emotional catharsis she desperately needs and has long been going without from other avenues. Jade is far from the only mistreated and lonely kid to find kinship in endlessly vengeful monsters, the girls who survive them, or both symbols at the same time, which is part of why she was such a believable protagonist to me. Her story in this first book concluded abruptly, but on a resounding note, and it will be difficult to wait until next year for it to continue.
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Rape, and Sexual violence