Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

131 reviews

edunbar87's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Injury/Injury detail, and Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide attempt, and Sexual assault

pollyem's review

dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Suicide attempt, Blood, Gore, Incest, Rape, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide, Violence, and Vomit

thndrkat's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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? Yes

2.5

Jones is a talented writer but this book was not for me. The lengthy passages of internal dialog got really tiresome and the wrap-up at the end was too easy and didn't make sense to me even in a bizarre slasher universe. Plus I felt like the gritty imagery and meaningful message of the book were fighting with and undercut by its super campy ingredients. It could have been half as long and just as clever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Violence, and Animal death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Rape, and Incest

emma_l_f44's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Murder, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Blood, and Domestic abuse

mlewis's review

challenging dark emotional funny informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Suicide attempt, Violence, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Murder, and Self harm

Moderate: Rape, Xenophobia, and Sexual violence

Minor: Vomit and Pregnancy

swamp_rat's review

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Cursing, Vomit, Rape, Pedophilia, Animal death, and Gore

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Abortion

chersonese's review

dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.25

Loved the characters, especially Jade, they're all so well-written and impact the story and Jade herself throughout.

The ending though not really a twist did feel like it fell a bit flat, and although I loved the end chapter and the imagery it invoked, it felt tacked on. The book already had a solid end before the forest fire, so it seemed strange to add this in last minute. Felt like SGJ either had to trim this to fit or added it on late when he realised it was a trope he hadn't touched on yet.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Suicide attempt, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Body horror, and Gore

Moderate: Gun violence and Animal death

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

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

victoriarose12's review

adventurous challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• 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: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Suicide, Self harm, Body horror, and Animal death

Minor: Rape and Incest

apestforwrens's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• 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

4.75

SGJ is an incredible writer and the way he presents Jade really lets the reader ride along with her. I literally stayed up all night to finish this book because I could NOT put it down. It is a horror book, so there is a lot of genre-typical heavy content, but it did not feel gratuitous to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Blood, Body horror, Violence, Gore, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Grief, Animal death, Colonisation, Pedophilia, Medical content, Gaslighting, Racism, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Classism, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Stalking

Minor: Rape, Cultural appropriation, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Suicidal thoughts