Reviews tagging 'Racism'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

69 reviews

creativeerosion's review against another edition

adventurous funny medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Body shaming, Child abuse, Deadnaming, Racism, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

squrrlgrrl's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Minor: Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

sarahmcg's review against another edition

dark funny mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

This one had been on my TBR for awhile and I’m glad I finally got to it! I think this maybe just isn’t my genre, so take my rating with a grain of salt because I think if you like horror, slashers, and don’t mind gore, you’d love it! I haven’t read books by Grady Hendrix but from what I hear in reviews of their books, maybe this is a similar genre!

I was highly entertained - the plot and the story were very interesting. Our FMC/narrator Jade was… so wild, an unreliable narrator for the books. I wasn’t sure if anything she was saying was real or a figment of her wild imagination/bloody daydreams.

I think finding out why Jade is the way she is gave me a lot of empathy for her and helped me to understand why she lives breathes and only talks about slashers. I also loved Hardy, Mr. Holmes, and Letha as side characters! What ever happened to Shooting Glasses though? I thought he might end up playing more of a role in the ending but he really didn’t.

Besides the gore (which was extensive and descriptive), I ended up feeling like the motives behind the violence got lost and there was just a lot of chaos going on so by the end I wasn’t even sure who killed who 🙈 also, the chapters were wayyyy too long for me!

Rep: FMC is Native American Indian, side FMC black. Most other characters are white besides the FMCs family’s.

⚠️ CW/TW: suicide attempt, violence, murder, blood/gore, injury detail, animal death, vomiting, alcoholism, misogyny, racism, reference to underage drinking, reference to pedophilia/rape/child abuse (in past), fire

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Vomit, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Cultural appropriation and Colonisation

dreamy_demon's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Incest, and Racism

Moderate: Rape and Sexual assault

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Grief, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Misogyny, Racism, Religious bigotry, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation

sydneyns1990's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.5

This book absolutely did not work for me.  The character’s inner monologue annoyed me so bad. It was like a stream of consciousness rather than prose. I feel like the things that were done to her were handled so irresponsibly and nobody handled her with the care she obviously needed. Including the beloved teacher and sheriff that were supposed to be functioning adults and were written to actually care about this girl. Could’ve fooled me. Also, the ending was not my favorite. It felt like a cop-out.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Vomit, Suicide attempt, and Murder

emco_0's review

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child abuse, Child death, Rape, and Fire/Fire injury

shysheepys's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I love Jade Daniels and I want nothing but the best for her. 
I'm personally not a slasher fan, but I love horror and wrote a few college papers on slasher tropes and the theories behind slashers and why slashers are popular. I loved being able to read this without having to think to hard about the things Jade was talking about, because I already knew them too, and it all made sense. For someone that hadn't done research on slashers, though? I can't imagine them being able to read this easily. 

But anyway, I love Jade Daniels. I love this book. I can't wait to read the next.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Pregnancy

Minor: Drug use, Abortion, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

The Details:
Narrated by Cara Gee
Unabridged

Unexpectedly angsty and for some reason, I didn't know what was going on. I think I was thrown off by how horror movie central it was - like there were essays as in between chapters - and I just haven't consumed enough of the classics to really appreciate it.

I also found Jade really unlikeable and because I had issues with following along with the plot, this wasn't something I could bypass over. Also the ending just seemed to appear out of no where, and made no sense.

I did manage to grasp some of the deeper tones and that's another reason I kept listening. I do think a revisit at some stage could encourage a better reading experience for me.

I am disappointed I didn't enjoy this one, I possibly could have just dnf'd this one and contemplated doing that a few times, but I enjoyed the writing. So in saying that, I would like to try The Only Good Indians, but I think I'd try that as a physical read rather than an audio. Depending on how I get on with that one, I may come back to this title to reread in a different format. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

knightressx's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My Heart Is A Chainsaw is the evocative and captivating story of Jade Daniels, a biracial indigenous (Blackfoot) teenage outcast residing within the small town of Proofrock, Idaho. Living and breathing horror movies-slashers in particular-Jade immerses herself within the genre as a means of protection from the real world horrors that surround her: a mother who abandoned her, an abusive father who wants her gone and a town that generally ignores her presence until she sporadically reclaims its attention.

Jade is a compelling protagonist: with an angry and dark exterior that masks the depths of her hurt and yearning for an acceptance that was never given. Although she longs for what the slasher represents-the personification of vengeance wielded against the one who wronged her-despite everything she experiences, she doesn’t slide into callous nihilism. 

Brimming with meticulous details, My Heart Is A Chainsaw is a love letter to the slasher subgenre. After reading the Stephen Graham Jones’ Acknowledgments at the end of the book, I can truly appreciate the profound emotional and mental effort that lead to the book’s final creation. The writing is excellent, with a slow-burn quality that continues to build, while also leaving the reader questioning their perception as events unfold. 

The conclusion is unbridled in its gore and heart-wrenching nature and yet moments of hope still remain. After reading it for the first time, I was very happy to learn that there would be a sequel to My Heart Is A Chainsaw, as I truly wanted to see Jade’s story continue. 

Thank you very much Saga Press Books and NetGalley for this free ebook.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Child abuse, Racism, and Sexual assault