Reviews tagging 'Gun violence'

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

17 reviews

justjenna's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Gun violence, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, and Vomit

Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault

weirdow's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.75

I didn't love all of the writing in this, but I think it mostly served purpose and added to the tone. Very, very fun wrap up.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Suicide attempt, and Murder

tifftastic87's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny tense medium-paced

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

5.0

 Content Warnings: suicide attempt, violence, gore, death, murder, off page SA of a minor, alcoholism, animal death

In Proofrock, Idaho, Jade is the resident horror girl. Escaping her life by spending hours watching, thinking and writing about slasher films. The summer of her senior year, as the land across the lake grows McMansions at a supernatural rate, Jade feels the start of a slasher beginning around her. 

I was worried in the beginning this was going to be a “not like other girls” story, and it kind of was but in the most tragic way. Jade doesn’t fit in, because she’s half Indian, because she likes horror, because her home life is rough and she doesn’t know how to make friends. She’s always watching from the outside until she meets Letha. The way she latched on to her was so easy to understand and tugged so hard at my heart. 

I don’t think this has as much to say about race or socio-economic class as some of his other works, but feels more about being an outsider and a survivor. About how important it is to feel like you have control over your own story, to control the narrative. Jade is written with such emotion that I cried for her, even when she couldn’t. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Incest, Racism, and Sexual assault

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

kingsteph's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Violence, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Child abuse, Gun violence, Rape, and Murder

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

shaunnow38's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Incest, and Rape

chersonese's review against another edition

dark funny fast-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

4.25

Loved the characters, especially Jade, they're all so well-written and impact the story and Jade herself throughout.

The ending though not really a twist did feel like it fell a bit flat, and although I loved the end chapter and the imagery it invoked, it felt tacked on. The book already had a solid end before the forest fire, so it seemed strange to add this in last minute. Felt like SGJ either had to trim this to fit or added it on late when he realised it was a trope he hadn't touched on yet.

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal death and Gun violence

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Cultural appropriation

ehmannky's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.75

So. So good. It's one of the books where I can see where it lost people and is not going to appeal to everyone, but I loved it. The first 75% of the book I was just loving being in Jade's head (it was very dense though and I did have to go back and read things a few times to make sure I got it all right). And the last 25% of the book is simply wild and unexpected and had a twist I just honestly didn't see coming (even though looking back the clues were there!). It's a horror book and it's about the ways that buried trauma left untouched and untreated will simmer until it burns and slashes through in a burst of violence. It's so good. 

My second read through of this book and it's honestly better on a second read. Jade's longing for someone to care for her, her desire for safety in her life, the emphasis on what parents should do are just all so well done. Beautiful writing, beautiful characters, just a beautiful story. I also appreciated the ending so much more than I did the first time. 

The way Tab rises from behind Jade on the lake mimics the horror fantasy Jade plays out during her suicide attempt? The way she is the final girl of her dreams and can't see it? The last chapter where she goes and saves the town and sees the mother bear protect her cub and it just emphasizes that she's never had that? It's all so, so heartbreaking.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Racism

squigleyline's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

cinderrunner's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.5

PLEASE CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THIS BOOK

This book is just okay. Its very slow moving and long winded. The action doesn't pick up til about 50 pages from the end. The suspense to get there and the buildup felt very weak. I do think its important to note that (according to a google search) the author is native american. The book features a lot of negative stereotypes that would feel very racist coming from an author who was not indigenous. I find this grown man's way of handling writing a story about underage girls to be uncomfortable. When we get introduced to our "final girl" he uses weirdly sexual language when describing her (who again, is only a HS student). There is also a very weird gay baity vibe with Letha and Jade that I don't appreciate. Jade's tragic backstory felt like it came out of left field and felt entirely unnecessary, especially comint from a grown man writing about an underage girl. The SAME effect, that one could try to use to justify why it was valid to have Jade have been through that, could have been achieved by with different less vile means. I think its an authors responsibility when writing about marginalized groups they don't belong to to check themselves on if this story is really theirs to tell and if using these plot points is just exploitative instead of genuinely adding to the story or shedding light on what that group (in this case women and young girls) go through. 100% Jade did not need to be

sexually abused by her father when she was fucking 11. Taking it from general child abuse to the level of rape in a society where females are so disproportionatelyimpacted by rape culture isnt warranted by anything in this plot.

The book does have good bones. It offers interesting themes around stuff like self victimization, accountability, how society will vilify and refuse to help people who function on the outskirts of it, and so on. I like what the author was trying to do and succeeded in doing to a degree. I get what having a heart that is like a chainsaw means and i find it rather poetic. A lot of this book could have been rather poetic and beautifu. But the execution just went flat bordering into being offensive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Suicide attempt, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail