Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

21 reviews

tesshersh's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? Yes

4.5

I’m not sure if I extra enjoyed this book because I’ve read so many BAD books lately, or if it really IS that good, so take this with a grain of salt. But WOW. One of my only gripes is that it touches on some themes that I’m not 100% sure I love being talked abt from a teenage girl’s perspective written by a male author, but I think it was respectfully done. 
Spoiler for my other complaint:

I wish that the conclusion/reveal of the killer DIDN’T have a supernatural element. I think the author’s point of regarding real life not being like a horror/slasher movie, about things like gentrification & colonization being a type of horror and violence of their own, was backtracked a bit by letting jade’s theory of a supernatural element be true at the end.

Also: cannot recommend the audio book enough, cara gee was amazing

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Abortion, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Animal death, Blood, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Death, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Suicide, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Child death, Incest, and Gore

HUGE trigger warnings - not just in the gore/violence you would associate with a thriller but for other content as well, please check content warnings before reading

davidvd's review

adventurous emotional tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Blood, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Abortion, Child abuse, Violence, and Sexual assault

Minor: Colonisation and Death of parent

squrrlgrrl's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Self harm, Animal death, Body horror, Alcoholism, Blood, Gore, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Sexual harassment, and Violence

Moderate: Alcohol, Colonisation, Suicide attempt, and Addiction

Minor: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Child abuse

sarahmcg's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious 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

3.0

This one had been on my TBR for awhile and I’m glad I finally got to it! I think this maybe just isn’t my genre, so take my rating with a grain of salt because I think if you like horror, slashers, and don’t mind gore, you’d love it! I haven’t read books by Grady Hendrix but from what I hear in reviews of their books, maybe this is a similar genre!

I was highly entertained - the plot and the story were very interesting. Our FMC/narrator Jade was… so wild, an unreliable narrator for the books. I wasn’t sure if anything she was saying was real or a figment of her wild imagination/bloody daydreams.

I think finding out why Jade is the way she is gave me a lot of empathy for her and helped me to understand why she lives breathes and only talks about slashers. I also loved Hardy, Mr. Holmes, and Letha as side characters! What ever happened to Shooting Glasses though? I thought he might end up playing more of a role in the ending but he really didn’t.

Besides the gore (which was extensive and descriptive), I ended up feeling like the motives behind the violence got lost and there was just a lot of chaos going on so by the end I wasn’t even sure who killed who 🙈 also, the chapters were wayyyy too long for me!

Rep: FMC is Native American Indian, side FMC black. Most other characters are white besides the FMCs family’s.

⚠️ CW/TW: suicide attempt, violence, murder, blood/gore, injury detail, animal death, vomiting, alcoholism, misogyny, racism, reference to underage drinking, reference to pedophilia/rape/child abuse (in past), fire

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Gore, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Child abuse, Vomit, Alcoholism, Pedophilia, Racism, Mental illness, and Misogyny

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Colonisation

judassilver's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual harassment, Violence, Self harm, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Classism, Sexual assault, and Vomit

Moderate: Animal death, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Cursing, Death of parent, Grief, Body horror, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Colonisation, Misogyny, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Racism

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

amandadevoursbooks's review

challenging dark emotional sad 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? Yes

4.0

I loved the only good indians. So I was excited to pick this book up. We follow Jade who is almost about to graduate from high school but she's one class shy. She lives with her dad her mom's not really involved in her life and she works as a janitor in the school system that she attended. It's set in a town built on secrets. It's at the edge of a national forest and there's developers in town building new houses.

Jade's narration is chaotic, and I found it difficult to track at times. She's obsessed with horror films and slashers and she is convinced that there is a slasher cycles starting in her hometown. While she does her best to communicate the danger the adults around her don't believe her and neither do the other teenagers.

This book started slow, and like a Gothic it built up speed until it was barreling down the tracks towards the end. Unlike a Gothic, the setting itself wasn't oppressive. 

It also had an interesting narrative structure. The chapters were broken up between jade narrating present day and papers that Jade had turned into her history teacher. This works to break up the tension and also to reinforce Jade's knowledge and perception of this being a slasher cycle. 

If you're a person that likes horror films and knows a lot about them this book might resonate a little bit more. I feel like as a person who only is tangentially aware of horror films and who primarily reads horror instead of watching it I think some of the illusions and the meanings were lost on me.

Like all good horror it has a lot to say about the state of the world. It tackles classism, racism, and sexism,  all while telling and entertaining slasher story.

I'm looking forward to the second book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Gore, Suicide attempt, Violence, Colonisation, Sexual assault, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

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

theoldestbennetsister's review

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Suicide, Blood, Suicide attempt, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Gore

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Child death, Classism, and Rape

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Racism, Colonisation, and Vomit

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