Reviews - Don't Fear the Reaper

2.35k reviews for:

Don't Fear the Reaper

Stephen Graham Jones

4.15 AVERAGE

hikenbooks's review against another edition

3.0

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

rachellelikestoread's review against another edition

4.75

challenging dark mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

Why am I in tears at the end of this book?!?!!!

This was a brilliant follow up to My Heart is a Chainsaw. Jade/Jennifer's story develops even further, her character pushing forward to new depths through every sad and terrifying discovery.

The style won't be for everyone - it's once again almost a stream of consciousness story - but if you really take the time and read slowly, a beautiful story emerges. As with the first, the "killer" and the "final girl" are really only uncovered in the final 2-3 chapters, which is nice. And clues along the way are carefully crafted in so it's hard for the audience to guess what's going on.

This book soared to even greater heights than the first, and I look forward to reading the final installment. Just... after a little while, because the gore in this one literally had me gagging at one point.

Content Warnings

kaydenj's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional funny tense fast-paced

emkue's review against another edition

DID NOT FINISH

dark medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

fmradio's review against another edition

4.0

dark mysterious tense 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: Complicated

teagie's review against another edition

4.5

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

trashfae's review against another edition

5.0

After reading My Heart Is A Chainsaw, I was both expecting so much, and also expecting nothing (because how could you possibly make a sequel that even compares to such a great original?). But in perfect slasher sequel form, Don't Fear The Reaper escalates its action and its emotional turbulence. While My Heart Is A Chainsaw is a raw gut punch in its tragedy and pain, Don't Fear The Reaper takes that same amount of suffering, but instead spreads it out like a thousand paper cuts throughout the characters, delving into the ways each person deals with the trauma caused by the events of the first book. So many of the characters have become echoes of Jade, but instead of "hiding behind the shelves in the video store," they each have their obsessions and distractions, their own way of obfuscating and dealing with the ache of their world.

Letterboxd List of Movies mentioned in the book: https://letterboxd.com/trashfae/list/movies-in-stephen-graham-jones-dont-fear/