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A review by saintsunshine
My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
Did not finish book. Stopped at 62%.
I feel bad doing this, especially when I genuinely enjoyed The Only Good Indians. My Heart is a Chainsaw feels like a book that was meant for me (I, too, am a neurodivergent brown girl obsessed with horror) but Chainsaw is inevitably less refined and enjoyabl than Indians.
Jade is a protagonist I do genuinely enjoy, but her internal monologing eventually crept into the territory of an author indulging in his own knowledge. Where Indians was distant from its troubled protagonists, Chainsaw spends most of the time in its protagonist's thoughts — so much that the third-person narration feels a bit pointless at times. Jade herself is a morally gray character — someone who eagerly predicts and watches the violent action that inevitably takes place. Most of the book is rather uneventful, so much that most of the thrill was just wondering if Jade's predictions would inevitably come true. But by the time the action really started up, I was disappointed in the turn of events.
I'm sure there would be more twists and surprises down the road. But unfortunately I couldn't bring myself to care.
Jade is a protagonist I do genuinely enjoy, but her internal monologing eventually crept into the territory of an author indulging in his own knowledge. Where Indians was distant from its troubled protagonists, Chainsaw spends most of the time in its protagonist's thoughts — so much that the third-person narration feels a bit pointless at times. Jade herself is a morally gray character — someone who eagerly predicts and watches the violent action that inevitably takes place. Most of the book is rather uneventful, so much that most of the thrill was just wondering if Jade's predictions would inevitably come true. But by the time the action really started up, I was disappointed in the turn of events.
I'm sure there would be more twists and surprises down the road. But unfortunately I couldn't bring myself to care.
Also the book kinda lost me when there was an entire chapter dedicated to characters debating whether or not Jade was sexually abused as a child.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt and Blood
Moderate: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Alcoholism, Self harm, Gore, and Animal death
Minor: Vomit and Drug use