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A review by boundforinfinity
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-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? It's complicated
3.5
My Heart is A Chainsaw was one of my most anticipated reads of 2022. I was really excited to start it. Unfortunately, the large majority of the book didn't love up to my expectations.
.
The main character, Jade, is a hard character to like. The assumption that you have to be "gothy" to like horror movies such as Saw, the $1 Billion dollar film franchise that's been running for almost two decades, was an annoying catch to the novel. Of course teenagers like horror movies - they need to prove their hard. (This is coming from one of said teenagers that never grew out of their gothy/horror phase).
.
The constant allusions to the famous slashers felt pretentious at times and I really struggled at times to read the book knowing that a good portion of the text could go over my head if I hadn't seen these other works.
.
Onto the good however, I really did enjoy the story and the twist ending. I loved the references to the Native American culture, Stephen Graham Jones own signature no doubt. The layout of an extra credit project alongside the actual story itself was refreshing and a fun way to engage the reader with Jade.
.
The main character, Jade, is a hard character to like. The assumption that you have to be "gothy" to like horror movies such as Saw, the $1 Billion dollar film franchise that's been running for almost two decades, was an annoying catch to the novel. Of course teenagers like horror movies - they need to prove their hard. (This is coming from one of said teenagers that never grew out of their gothy/horror phase).
.
The constant allusions to the famous slashers felt pretentious at times and I really struggled at times to read the book knowing that a good portion of the text could go over my head if I hadn't seen these other works.
.
Onto the good however, I really did enjoy the story and the twist ending. I loved the references to the Native American culture, Stephen Graham Jones own signature no doubt. The layout of an extra credit project alongside the actual story itself was refreshing and a fun way to engage the reader with Jade.
Graphic: Animal death, Blood, Child death, Genocide, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Death, Body horror, Grief, and Suicide attempt