Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

16 reviews

fkshg8465's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.75

Such a sad story packaged in a terrible tale! I was excited to read this trilogy, but I'm reconsidering. I heard the third book is really good, which means I'll now need to read the second first. Better be worth it!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

ghostinyourcellar's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Racism, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Incest, Infidelity, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Cultural appropriation, Sexual harassment, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

janetpants's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense

• 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

torturedreadersdept's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Dysphoria, and Injury/Injury detail

plantybooklover's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional

• 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

4.25

 Ahhhh 5 stars for really great writing. bumped down to 4.25 because the conclusion... was not entirely satisfying to me.
My Heart is a Chainsaw is indeed, as most have mentioned, a celebration of the Slasher/Horror film genre, as told by Jade, a 17 yr old who is singularly focused on them, after experiencing a traumatic life event.
The author toggles between Slasher 101 chapters and the current events of Jade's life in a small town of Proofrock, Idaho (and YES- I hope ProofRock is a nod to T. S Eliot's Prufrock....it sure seems to be) - In the Slasher 101's we are treated to all sorts of Slasher lore, key elements (like mask, weapons, back stories, revenge plots and final girls. In Jade's life chapters- we are reminded how hard it is to be the odd one in a small community, and we are see the actual... slasher is it? evolve and gradually devolve gloriously on the 4th of July with some confessions from Jade and just abject horror, we have dead animals, dead people, macabre misuse of construction tools, (and chainsaws as well)... It was so hard for me to decide if the murders were actually occurring or if Jade was just kind of having a psychotic episode, as both seemed equally possible by the end of the book. There was probably quite a bit of symbolism that just flew over my head, especially as I was using an audio book, and thus was not always 100% focused only on the narrative.
Because I don't like Slashers at all, I didn't really find this book funny- like many did. It seemed more to me a tragedy, but, for the right audience, I think it's both hilarious and tragic. And even though it's a slow build up, the writing is always on point.
Will I read book 2? yeah... I am entirely hooked. I'm rooting for Jade. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Vomit, and Alcohol

Moderate: Body horror, Bullying, Blood, and Abandonment

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Car accident

cottagecorecabbage's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicide, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Bullying and Cultural appropriation

lancemama's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal death

maryellen's review against another edition

adventurous challenging 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? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Bullying, Death, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, and Alcohol

Minor: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault

fatherprozac's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I loved the premise of this book going in but found the writing style difficult to enjoy--just not my cup of tea. It was also hard to feel any positive feelings while reading because everything just seems to go so unfairly wrong for Jade. This kept me from getting overly invested because it was just too painful to read about her continued misfortune at the hands of willful misunderstandings.

I also really did not appreciate Mr. Holmes being framed so endearingly--this is a man who withheld graduation from a student for missing homework due to her SUICIDE ATTEMPT.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Bullying, Hate crime, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Cultural appropriation

mr_cain's review against another edition

challenging 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

3.0

Very slow paced in the beginning and too quickly paced at the end. I found the ending kind of confusing and an out of left field plot twist.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gore, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Body shaming, and Racism

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Cultural appropriation