Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

36 reviews

devilledgreggs's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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 is my second Stephen graham jones book and I have to say I’ve fallen in love with his writing style. This book wasn’t as scary as The Only Good Indians but I was much much more emotionally invested. I really loved Jade as a character, her framing the world through slasher movies along with her essays kept me really engaged. The first three quarters of the book is a more of a mystery narrative which explodes into a gore fest in the end. I genuinely didn’t know what would happen next. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Minor: Child death, Incest, and Rape

caitlyn_rehs's review

challenging dark funny slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

The writing was awful. The storyline wasn't too bad but I didn't care for the ending. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Blood, Murder, Vomit, Abandonment, Alcohol, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Child abuse, Body horror, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Cultural appropriation, Death, Fire/Fire injury, and Suicidal thoughts

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

blackcats_and_coffeecups's review

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Abandonment, Violence, Toxic relationship, Sexual violence, Murder, Death, Body horror, Self harm, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide attempt

val_so_'s review

challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Child abuse, Gore, Murder, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Vomit, Alcoholism, Grief, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, and Classism

yeffin's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Incest

Minor: Alcoholism, Abandonment, Alcohol, Cursing, Abortion, and Addiction

scoutee's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious sad fast-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? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Suicide, and Gore

Moderate: Pedophilia and Rape

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

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

readundancies's review

dark funny 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? No

5.0

 Uhm, fuck me, cuz this was QUALITY. 

The slasher vibes were real, the trope subversion was immaculate and Jade was a fucking fantastic lead character with the Author Notes just validating that sentiment to me even more when I read them. 

I immediately went and purchased a copy for my own collection and will be waiting in avid anticipation for the sequel. 

This bloody delivered in every way I wanted it to and every way I didn’t know I needed it to. 

Go read this. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Violence, Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Self harm, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Animal death, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Emotional abuse, Animal cruelty, Stalking, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Rape, Incest, and Sexual assault