Reviews with content warning for Abortion - My Heart Is a Chainsaw

An ode to the slasher, this novel really stole my heart pretty quickly. I enjoyed the MC (and maybe related to her a little too much…) The reason this isn’t a 4⭐️ for me is that the first 100 pages and last 100 pages where so fun but in between it was rather dense. As someone who has loved the slasher genre ever since Scream graced my eyeholes for the first time, I really enjoyed exploring the mind of the MC and all the slasher input she had on the genre, but I think this could be a harder read for most general audiences. The second book in the trilogy comes out this month and I’ll be excited to see how the story continues.

Content Warnings

yeffin's review against another edition

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dark emotional tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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charliebk_2's review against another edition

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dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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rhyanashah's review against another edition

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dark tense slow-paced

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

1.25

I spent more time frustratedly talking to others about this book than I did reading it. I've never DNF'd a book but this is the closest I'd ever been

From the absolutely infuriating main character, incredibly slow moving plot, messy finale, and a bordering obscene amount of referencial head-nodding that makes Ernest Cline's Oasis/Wade Watts series look timid.

I struggled with every aspect of this book, and it's genuinely a shock considering how this book has almost everything i love.
Horror, non-white protagonists who must personally grow in spite of trauma, small town secrets, potential Queer storyline.

Instead i have.... whatever thiw was. An insufferable lead, about 200 unnecessary pages and a lot of loose threads that were "Yada-Yada"'d through at the end. How can i be bored when there's MURDER happening? And yet. The "sisterly" relationship between our main and another character just came across like "historians will say they were friends" energy.

Also TW/Spoiler warning

did not enjoy whole scenes of our protagonist being effectively deadnamed and outed as a child victim whilst 4 other characters try and force them to confront/confess allegations against their parent.

I must also add that i never EVER feel comfortable about men writing from the perspective of young women/female children who have been S/A'd or R****d.

Whilst not all of the topics i've put in the content warning are Graphic, they are all frequent and i do emplore anyone considering reading this book to consider if they will be affected by these topics, and to avoid if that is the case.

In a summary, i think the book is about 50% too long and i was disappointed by about 150 pages in, but continued on. The ending was VERY disappointing. I only said "medium paced" because 300 pages are slow and 150 aren't but there is no "inconsistently paced" option.

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lh_reads's review against another edition

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dark 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

4.75

This was definitely a rollercoaster to listen to but I loved it. I really loved Jades character

my favorite parts when she explained slasher lore between chapters. At some points it felt like a friend telling you about there hyperfixation which I loved.

it really kept me in the edge of my seat and didn’t expect the ending 100% I really love the authors writing and definitely will be adding only good Indians to my tbr. It’s really cool especially if you aren’t into slashers it still a fun read.

Content Warnings

demon_catheter's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.25

Really fun read, a bit confusing at times but not in a bad way. Keeps you asking questions right along with Jade and really sucks you in. Also loved how fleshed out the setting was, I’ve never been to a town at a high elevation in Idaho but My Heart is a Chainsaw makes me feel like I have.

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regaliaofchaos's review against another edition

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dark mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

5.0

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mmatvey's review against another edition

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mysterious fast-paced

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

4.0

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