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A review by seawarrior
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I found this book difficult to read for a variety of reasons, Jade sometimes sounds nonsensical, her thinly hidden history of surviving incestuous rape is harrowing, and the gore she describes witnessing is revolting. Yet I poured over her story within the span of a night, rapidly turning the pages as their mystery unraveled. The most striking element of My Heart Is a Chainsaw is unarguably Jade's voice. Jade is a pathological believer in the structure of slashers, and though her first person monologues are repetitive, winding, and hiding a deeper wound, her admiration for the mythology of these movies and determination to sway others to her perspectives of them are unwavering. Jones maintains Jade's authentic voice through emotional and physical tortures alike, even providing a number of essays on slasher lore written by our scarily knowledgeable protagonist. Each of these essays sheds light onto Jade's opinions, but also the situations that led to their development. Every word within them is written with the impatient excitement of a teenager who is immensely passionate about her material, but not for the formalized essay form she's meant to present it in.
I felt the most gratifying piece of this story was the slow reveal as to why Jade loves slasher movies so much in the first place. She devotes her life to analyzing them from a lens that provides her the emotional catharsis she desperately needs and has long been going without from other avenues. Jade is far from the only mistreated and lonely kid to find kinship in endlessly vengeful monsters, the girls who survive them, or both symbols at the same time, which is part of why she was such a believable protagonist to me. Her story in this first book concluded abruptly, but on a resounding note, and it will be difficult to wait until next year for it to continue.
I felt the most gratifying piece of this story was the slow reveal as to why Jade loves slasher movies so much in the first place. She devotes her life to analyzing them from a lens that provides her the emotional catharsis she desperately needs and has long been going without from other avenues. Jade is far from the only mistreated and lonely kid to find kinship in endlessly vengeful monsters, the girls who survive them, or both symbols at the same time, which is part of why she was such a believable protagonist to me. Her story in this first book concluded abruptly, but on a resounding note, and it will be difficult to wait until next year for it to continue.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Sexual harassment, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Incest, Rape, and Sexual violence