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A review by foldingthepage_kayleigh
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
challenging
dark
tense
medium-paced
4.75
This is the 4th book I’ve read by Stephen Graham Jones (SGJ) and I think it’s my favourite so far.
While it was full of slasher references to movies I hadn’t seen, it didn’t make me feel lost for not having seen them, if anything it was a crash course in the genre. As someone who doesn’t watch horror movies, SGJ made me want to delve into the lore, and convinced me to watch Halloween!
Jade is my hero and I loved hearing her soliloquies on horror as she tried to piece together what was going on in Proofrock. There were so many red herrings that I couldn’t possibly guess what was going on, and was very surprised with how it ended on a cliffhanger. Luckily, the next book is coming out in a few months so I don’t have to wait that long.
Overall, this book was scary, slasher-y, colloquially academic, with an exploration of systemic racism and trauma that I keep ruminating on. Loved it and I can’t wait for more to come in this trilogy!
While it was full of slasher references to movies I hadn’t seen, it didn’t make me feel lost for not having seen them, if anything it was a crash course in the genre. As someone who doesn’t watch horror movies, SGJ made me want to delve into the lore, and convinced me to watch Halloween!
Jade is my hero and I loved hearing her soliloquies on horror as she tried to piece together what was going on in Proofrock. There were so many red herrings that I couldn’t possibly guess what was going on, and was very surprised with how it ended on a cliffhanger. Luckily, the next book is coming out in a few months so I don’t have to wait that long.
Overall, this book was scary, slasher-y, colloquially academic, with an exploration of systemic racism and trauma that I keep ruminating on. Loved it and I can’t wait for more to come in this trilogy!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Violence, and Vomit