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siobhanward's review against another edition
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
I'm sad to have to give this one a low rating, but the style really didn't work for me - the screenplay-style writing made the book really hard to follow. The plot was ok but definitely would have been more effective in a regular novel style, at least in terms of being able to follow what was happening.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Child death, Gore, and Murder
readthesparrow's review
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Style is interesting, and on a technical prose level is is excellent. However, the heavy references can make it difficult to follow at times, even for a horror/slasher lover. Style, despite being interesting and being thematically appropriate, was also difficult to follow at times and often exhausting, even for a 200 page novel. Normally I would blaze through a 200 page novel, but this took me five days to read because I could only get through around 20-40 pages at a time before having to take a break.
Liked the story and the characters, but it was just. Too much at times.
Also,the final college epilogue was really goofy. Did I like it? Eh. Sure. It's camp. I think I was mostly just glad it was over.
Interesting to see the bones it shares with MHIACS.
Liked the story and the characters, but it was just. Too much at times.
Also,
Interesting to see the bones it shares with MHIACS.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Sexual content, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, and Animal cruelty
frannysal's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Animal cruelty, Death, Animal death, Blood, Gore, and Violence
podanotherjessi's review
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
It's abundantly obvious to me that my enjoyment of this book was adversely harmed by having only seen all of about half of a slasher film in my life. This is a referential story to it's core, and if you aren't a fan of slashers, there's half a dozen references per page just about that are going to go right over your head. I literally had know idea what people were talking about half the time. This overall took me out of the story and made it hard, at times, to really get into it at all.
That said, when I was into it, I was really into it. There's some reall cools sequences and the style is very evocative. There are definitely things I didn't like - the oversexualization of the girls, dropped plot points, confusing action sequences - but I got the feeling those things were intentional nods to the slasher genre. I also felt it was mostly predictable, but I think don't think that's necessarily a negative.
That said, when I was into it, I was really into it. There's some reall cools sequences and the style is very evocative. There are definitely things I didn't like - the oversexualization of the girls, dropped plot points, confusing action sequences - but I got the feeling those things were intentional nods to the slasher genre. I also felt it was mostly predictable, but I think don't think that's necessarily a negative.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Alcoholism
lostinworlds's review against another edition
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.5
Honestly the only thing I liked about it was the ending. Once the moment the girls head gets popped off is when I laughed and then proceeded to find the rest amusing. Only reason I contiued to listen to the audiobook was I figured I should have a 1 star under my belt this year lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Fire/Fire injury, and Torture
Minor: Police brutality
sallysimply's review
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, Animal death, and Blood
navayiota's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
The writing of this book is so unique and meta, I really liked it. I loved the use of tropes and self awareness, really just super interesting. The only reason I gave it 3 stars is I don't like slashers, so I found it a bit boring sometimes. It being an audiobook really helped.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Alcohol
nicolewhopickedthisbook's review
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
I just love the way Stephen Graham Jones tells a story. It's different every time and the twists always get me. While I was reading this book, it really felt like I was watching a movie in my head. Super intriguing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, and Murder
chibichapters's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Gore, Murder, and Death
Minor: Mass/school shootings
queergoth_reads's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
I only really recently discovered Stephen Graham Jones and I really enjoyed the other books I've read by him but this one wasn't my favourite. It's written as if someone is describing a film to you, which is really interesting but I found it hard to follow in some places.
While parodying the convoluted slasher franchises we have all come to love, it feels exactly like one which is both good and bad. I get my slasher fix but I also find it hard to view it as anything other than a b-movie slasher. I don't know how to explain that well over text but basically I'm finding it hard to rate higher than I rate a slasher sequel.
Honestly, I might have loved this more if I hadn't read My Heart Is A Chainsaw first. It has a lot of the same elements but MHIAC has so much more that I couldn't help comparing the two.
While parodying the convoluted slasher franchises we have all come to love, it feels exactly like one which is both good and bad. I get my slasher fix but I also find it hard to view it as anything other than a b-movie slasher. I don't know how to explain that well over text but basically I'm finding it hard to rate higher than I rate a slasher sequel.
Honestly, I might have loved this more if I hadn't read My Heart Is A Chainsaw first. It has a lot of the same elements but MHIAC has so much more that I couldn't help comparing the two.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Murder, Gore, and Violence