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scary_carrie's review
dark
emotional
funny
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
chessakat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
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
4.25
jmarchi's review
dark
emotional
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? Yes
5.0
katie_burgert's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
kelleyannelyse's review
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
stonedgirlreading's review
challenging
dark
emotional
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? Yes
4.5
aedoran08's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
thereadingrambler's review against another edition
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- 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 Was a Teenager Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones
One Sentence Review: This was a fascinating take on the slasher genre that proposes a way of looking at the slasher (the figure and the genre) that I have never encountered before.
I have been deep in Stephen Graham Jones’s bibliography lately and his approach to the slasher. The Indian Lake trilogy plays with the concept of the final girl in interesting ways, and this book turns the lens on the slasher himself. Seventeen years after his killing spree, Tolly is telling the story of what he did and why. Telling a villain story can be executed so poorly, especially when that villain is a slasher, a breed of villain who is so mindlessly evil that any tragic backstory is irrelevant compared to his crimes. Tolly does not shy away from the fact he did many evil things, but the circumstances through which he becomes a slasher are unlike anything I’ve encountered before and, to me, paint the genre in an entirely new light.
This has Jones’s distinctive writing style that he has developed in the recent years of his career (as compared to books like Mongrels or Only Good Indian). The conceit of an adult man recounting what happened when he was a teenager can often fail, falling into traps of weird nostalgia, excuses for behavior, and the many other kinds of rose-colored glasses we put on when we look back at our youth. But Jones balances an adult’s perceptions (and fully developed brain) with the choices of a scared and hurt teenager. I sympathized with both the teenage and adult versions of Tolly and the things he went through. And yes, Tolly is a sympathetic character even though he is the slasher (as is obvious from the title). He is both the mindless force of evil and a complex human figure struggling with a series of complex choices, none of which are good options.
If you are someone who is fascinated by the slasher genre not because of its goriness and violence but because of the complex ideas about culture that are presented through this genre, I would highly recommend this book.
One Sentence Review: This was a fascinating take on the slasher genre that proposes a way of looking at the slasher (the figure and the genre) that I have never encountered before.
I have been deep in Stephen Graham Jones’s bibliography lately and his approach to the slasher. The Indian Lake trilogy plays with the concept of the final girl in interesting ways, and this book turns the lens on the slasher himself. Seventeen years after his killing spree, Tolly is telling the story of what he did and why. Telling a villain story can be executed so poorly, especially when that villain is a slasher, a breed of villain who is so mindlessly evil that any tragic backstory is irrelevant compared to his crimes. Tolly does not shy away from the fact he did many evil things, but the circumstances through which he becomes a slasher are unlike anything I’ve encountered before and, to me, paint the genre in an entirely new light.
This has Jones’s distinctive writing style that he has developed in the recent years of his career (as compared to books like Mongrels or Only Good Indian). The conceit of an adult man recounting what happened when he was a teenager can often fail, falling into traps of weird nostalgia, excuses for behavior, and the many other kinds of rose-colored glasses we put on when we look back at our youth. But Jones balances an adult’s perceptions (and fully developed brain) with the choices of a scared and hurt teenager. I sympathized with both the teenage and adult versions of Tolly and the things he went through. And yes, Tolly is a sympathetic character even though he is the slasher (as is obvious from the title). He is both the mindless force of evil and a complex human figure struggling with a series of complex choices, none of which are good options.
If you are someone who is fascinated by the slasher genre not because of its goriness and violence but because of the complex ideas about culture that are presented through this genre, I would highly recommend this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Gore
dreamer626's review
challenging
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? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
This was the first book that I ever read by this author. The reason I decided to pick it up is because I made a promise to myself to read more genres outside of my comfort zone, one of these genres being horror. The synopsis also intrigued me.
I would say that the beginning of this book was the most interesting to me. I read that first 50ish pages so quickly. After that my interest started to fall off again until something happened in the plot. The last third wasn’t too bad either. Where this book suffers is the middle.
At times it was also hard to follow where the plot was going. I think that would be its biggest weakness. Overall not bad for my first book from this author and I will be reading more of his work in the future.
This was the first book that I ever read by this author. The reason I decided to pick it up is because I made a promise to myself to read more genres outside of my comfort zone, one of these genres being horror. The synopsis also intrigued me.
I would say that the beginning of this book was the most interesting to me. I read that first 50ish pages so quickly. After that my interest started to fall off again until something happened in the plot. The last third wasn’t too bad either. Where this book suffers is the middle.
At times it was also hard to follow where the plot was going. I think that would be its biggest weakness. Overall not bad for my first book from this author and I will be reading more of his work in the future.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
always_reading_ashley's review against another edition
5.0
This is an absolute masterpiece! An extremely riveting read full of wit and dark humor. This has an 80s slasher vibe but is told from the perspective of the slasher. And not just any slasher, but a friendly, somewhat reluctant slasher, Tolly Driver. And as far as main characters go, Tolly is easily one of my favorite fictional characters ever. It was so much fun rooting for the slasher. Everything from the plot to the setting to the character development was flawless. I highly recommend it; it is easily one of my top reads of 2024 so far.