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A review by house_of_hannah
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Well, this isn't what I was expecting based on the blurb. The first chapter starts off fantastic, and instantly had me hooked. However, we then spend the next 3/4 of the book hanging out in the mind of the main character, Jade, as she goes on tangents constantly, and tries to live out a slasher film fantasy. I honestly found her to be quite frustrating in the beginning, but she does get better as a character in the last 1/4.
Content Warning:Jade tries to commit suicide in the first 30 pages of the book. It is obvious that she is struggling with a lot mentally and emotionally. The scene caught me a bit offguard.
I was a bit bored with the story until that last 1/4 where it sucked me back in. However, I then ended up disliking the ending. It just wasn't what I wanted, and left us with some unanswered questions such asWhy the hell was Letha's father killing people with a nailgun? It's not addressed after the climax, and left me quite confused.
Something else that bothered me a bit, is that the book makes it seem like you have to have some traumatic reason for watching/liking horror. It's personally my favorite genre, and has been for as long as I can remember. It's just a preference, and I don't believe you need to have some huge reason for enjoying it.
One thing that confused me about the book, is that for most of it the lake that everything takes place on seems rather small. However, during the climax this lake might as well have been an ocean ! I just couldn't wrap my head around how big this area was supposed to be in the end.
Overall I finished this book feeling a bit confused, and unsatisfied. It's definitely gory, but it takes so long to get into the meat of it (heh), that it's hard to care by the end. If you do not like slow-burns, and are not knowledgable at all about Slashers, then I would not pick this up. There are a ton of name drops, including movie titles, so you'll end up just skimming over a lot of the book if you don't get the references.
Content Warning:
I was a bit bored with the story until that last 1/4 where it sucked me back in. However, I then ended up disliking the ending. It just wasn't what I wanted, and left us with some unanswered questions such as
Something else that bothered me a bit, is that the book makes it seem like you have to have some traumatic reason for watching/liking horror. It's personally my favorite genre, and has been for as long as I can remember. It's just a preference, and I don't believe you need to have some huge reason for enjoying it.
One thing that confused me about the book, is that for most of it the lake that everything takes place on seems rather small. However, during the climax this lake might as well have been an ocean ! I just couldn't wrap my head around how big this area was supposed to be in the end.
Overall I finished this book feeling a bit confused, and unsatisfied. It's definitely gory, but it takes so long to get into the meat of it (heh), that it's hard to care by the end. If you do not like slow-burns, and are not knowledgable at all about Slashers, then I would not pick this up. There are a ton of name drops, including movie titles, so you'll end up just skimming over a lot of the book if you don't get the references.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Animal death, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, and Suicide attempt
Moderate: Vomit and Stalking
Minor: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape