Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

33 reviews

reggiethebird's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

I wasn't a fan of the main character when they were monologuing or thinking to themselves, and I wasn't a fan of the dialog between characters. Unfortunately, thats pretty much all of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Rape, Abandonment, Blood, Incest, Death, Alcoholism, Suicide attempt, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Pedophilia, Self harm, and Suicidal thoughts

thewellbitch's review against another edition

dark funny 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? It's complicated

4.5

I went in knowing nothing about the story and was pleasantly surprised. Perfect for spooky season if you like slasher movies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Suicide attempt, Classism, Violence, Blood, Body horror, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual assault, Abandonment, and Alcoholism

Minor: Child abuse

hanlov's review against another edition

dark tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I’ll start by saying I’m definitely not the target audience for this as I’ve seen like one slasher movie in my whole life and don’t enjoy the genre. This definitely relies on pop culture/slasher movie references for the plot so I kinda figured it wouldn’t be my cup of tea. Jade really frustrated me as a narrator, the pacing was painful, and the r*pe bit made my stomach churn. It’s not for me but I suppose I can sorta see why people liked this. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Incest, Animal death, Murder, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Violence, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Rape

Moderate: Abandonment

goblinghost_39's review against another edition

adventurous dark 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

3.5

 

I think I benefited from listening to the audiobook for this one. Jade is a rambling mess, and it was much easier to just listen to her while I was working instead of taking the time to sit down and read. The actual plot that happens outside of her head was a bit of a letdown. I didn't really understand Letha at all.

HOWEVER. Jade herself was fascinating to get to know and, in a way, I could relate to her hyperfocus on something dark as a way to cope. I say "in a way" because I'm white and can't relate to her being Indian in what seems like a predominantly white town.

I did, though, have a parent who was both emotionally abusive and neglectful at the same time. So still not as traumatic as what Jade went through. But I was (and still kind of am deep down) an angry and emotionally distressed kid. Didn't really have any friends. Any adult ever saw me and basically shrugged. So I was left to my own devices without any of the tools to actually deal with...everything? Anything? So teenage me coped, with what was still probably the worst time of my life, by way of escapism. And that included horror. And also self-harm, but that feels like a whole different story that we don't need to get into right now. But let me tell you, regardless of what it is you get into that helps you cope, at that age that kind of internal isolation does some wonky shit to your brain. Jade comes off as kind of a loon. But it's not the slasher films. It's the fact that she's more-or-less been left alone for years while her brain is still developing.

So I 100% see you, Jade. I am also a bit of a loon due to some not-so-nice events and people. And it is that sole reason that this book gets 4 stars instead of the 3 I was considering.

Will definitely read more from this author. And since this is a trilogy, I'll be sure to check out the next one. I just hope we get to know Jade on an even deeper level that isn't just how many times she can reference Friday the 13th.

 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Rape, Self harm, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Incest, Classism, Gaslighting, Addiction, Blood, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Death, and Emotional abuse

hintermost's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-paced

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

1.0

Fucking hell, this book has so many issues. Jade Daniels is far and away one of the most annoying protagonists I have ever bore witness to. So much so, that by the time her trauma gets revealed by the end of the book, you can barely sympathize with her, you just want the book to be over with already. If I have to read the phrase "final girl" or get another "well I'm an outcast!11!!" one more time, I'd be liable to pull my own hair out.

The book setup itself is an overly-bloated mess, getting quite exhausting to read in the middle chapters. This issue is exasperated further by the usage of the "Slasher 101" sections between chapters. I know this is meant to further allow the reader access to Jade's horror knowledge and her relationship with Mr. Holmes, but it's just grating - especially when most of it is irrelevant to the plot.

As a result of the bloated, poorly planned plot, the actual horror doesn't occur until the tail end of the novel. When it finally happens, it seems like less of a well-planned ending point, and more "cobbled-together-to-meet-a-deadline."

I have no intention of reading the sequels, as this first novel was and annoying, unfocused, bloated mess of a work.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Incest, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Death, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Sexual harassment

catriona176's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Pedophilia, Murder, Gore, Sexual assault, Addiction, Classism, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Rape

clrouse's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-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? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt, Violence, Gore, Murder, Self harm, Blood, and Death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault

Minor: Abortion, Classism, Cursing, Mental illness, and Abandonment

devilledgreggs's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

This is my second Stephen graham jones book and I have to say I’ve fallen in love with his writing style. This book wasn’t as scary as The Only Good Indians but I was much much more emotionally invested. I really loved Jade as a character, her framing the world through slasher movies along with her essays kept me really engaged. The first three quarters of the book is a more of a mystery narrative which explodes into a gore fest in the end. I genuinely didn’t know what would happen next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Blood, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Violence, Death, and Self harm

Moderate: Sexual harassment, Abandonment, and Child abuse

Minor: Child death, Incest, and Rape

caitlyn_rehs's review against another edition

challenging dark funny slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Murder, Rape, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Cultural appropriation, Addiction, Death, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Racism, and Self harm

chloseencounter's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-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

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Rape, Cultural appropriation, Abandonment, Confinement, Abortion, Blood, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Self harm, Violence, Vomit, Incest, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, and Misogyny