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megandherbook's review against another edition
- 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
4.0
Jade Daniels, now going by Jennifer, returns to Proofrock after spending the past 4 years in prison due to the infamous events that people call the 4th of July massacre. Right when she returns, a convicted serial kill named Dark Mill South escapes his prison transfer convoy right near Proofrock during an intense blizzard. Jade (or Jennifer) is thrown right back into the world of slashers and will have to use her vast knowledge of horror movies that she's tried to forget to save her and the others in this town. But as before, Proofrock and Indian Lake are never quite what they seem.
First, I want to say that if you are a fan of horror movies, especially slashers, at the very least you'll appreciate the vast knowledge Stephen Graham Jones includes in this series. It's a dream for horror aficionados - I even wrote quite a view titles down that I wasn't familiar with.
While I enjoyed the first book, it was exhausting being inside Jade's head the whole time. Sometimes it was hard figuring out what was fact and what was just in Jade's head. I very much enjoyed how this book jumped between narrators. While it may seem confusing (and could be at times) I felt like I had a better understanding of what was going on. It also really allowed me to get a sense of just how impactful the Lake Killings of 4 years prior were to the town and people in it as a whole. The amount of characters are a lot, however, each one serves an important purpose and helped the many moving parts of this book to come together. This book also solidified my love for both Jade and Letha.
Overall, I highly recommend this horror series. To fully appreciate Don't Fear the Reaper I recommend reading the first book My Heart is a Chainsaw first.
Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Death, Gore, Torture, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
Moderate: Vomit and Gun violence
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Child death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Animal death, Death of parent, and Animal cruelty
val_so_'s review against another edition
- 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
3.75
Graphic: Blood, Body horror, Death, Medical content, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Cursing, Death of parent, Torture, and Adult/minor relationship
Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Addiction, and Sexual assault
juliatindell'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
5.0
Graphic: Death of parent, Blood, Body horror, Mental illness, Murder, Vomit, Death, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Torture, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
caitlinn3's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, Racism, Torture, and Violence
annact'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
5.0
"It's Jade, sir," Jade says back
Jade Daniels, the woman that you are...
Graphic: Murder, Body horror, Child death, Torture, Death of parent, Blood, Violence, Death, Physical abuse, Vomit, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Car accident, Alcohol, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Self harm, Sexual assault, Addiction, Gun violence, and Medical content
poetsofsweetpea'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
4.75
Graphic: Alcohol, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, and Blood
Moderate: Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Sexual assault, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, and Murder
xennial_reader's review against another edition
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Happy Pub day!!
Thank you to netgalley & to Simon & Schuster for the eARC.
This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and it did not disappoint! Although it did very much gross me out 😆 I’m not usually a fan of slashers, but if anyone’s going to get me to read one, it’s Stephen Graham Jones.
We’re back with our final girl Jade, 4 years down the road, freshly out of prison and most importantly, no longer going by Jade- she’s back to Jennifer. With no place left to go after being released, she has to abandon her dream of escaping her hometown and head back. And this time with a new (to us) serial killer on the loose and the whole town trapped in with him during a blizzard, of course.
This story goes off like a bullet and does not let up. SGJ is a master at weaving emotional depth with horror and social commentary. Jennifer/Jade is such a badass, flawed heroine you love to root for. She’s real, she’s angry, she’s sad and she’s just struggling to stay alive. Age, the forced time away and having been under trial for the past few years has made her much more toned down and self aware. With the escape of Dark Mill South (and possibly other killers in the mix??) it’s once again up to Jade to save her small town. She’s still insisting she’s not the final girl, yet again, even with all the signs she’s willfully ignoring. But, to save who she can, she has to tap into her old self which she’s been trying to forget and repress while she was away.
The growth of this character and the trauma processing (whether healthy or not) from everyone involved gave this story so much emotion and depth. I loved being back with my favorite final girl in Proofrock and being dragged along (honestly sometimes kicking and screaming it felt like) for this wild ride.
The only thing that didn’t make this a 5 star read for me was that, while I really liked the multi-POV, I absolute hated having to read the killers’ POV. The gore level was also well past my comfort zone, more so than the first book.
In any event, I’m simultaneously excited and terrified for the final installment of the Lake Witch trilogy. Stephen Graham Jones has become an auto-buy author for me and I can’t wait for the next one!!
Graphic: Gore, Car accident, Child death, Murder, Violence, Animal death, Torture, and Blood
Moderate: Suicide attempt
Minor: Sexual assault, Adult/minor relationship, Vomit, Child abuse, and Rape
readingwithkaitlyn'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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Blood, Misogyny, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Stalking, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Violence, Torture, Gore, Death, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Sexism
Moderate: Medical content, Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racial slurs, Addiction, Medical trauma, Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Fire/Fire injury, Animal death, and Racism
Minor: Classism, Child death, Police brutality, Hate crime, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Drug abuse, Self harm, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Trafficking, and Emotional abuse
PTSD, privacy invasion, mention of animal torture, s slur, MO lynching, MO Dakota 38, MO residential schools, drowning, car accident.