Scan barcode
nightmarebees's review against another edition
4.0
a singular reading experience for me, in that i both couldn’t put it down but also felt like i was only about 60-70% what was going on at any given point. that being said, SGJ is an incredibly talented writer and there are so many lines here that are burned into my brain.
jade as a main character fascinates me. her unreliability as a narrator extends to her own memories and trauma, leading us to question not only what she thinks she’s seen but also WHY she thinks she’s seeing it. at the same time she’s endearing and in my humble sapphic opinion, definitely crushing on letha.
this is the definition of a slow burn: we spend the first 75% unsure if a slasher is actually taking place, and then the third act is an absolute whirlwind of action and gore. there are some things left unexplained that i would’ve liked to see more of (what happened to letha’s mom, theo’s motivation, did hardy actually Do That), but overall i felt satisfied with this as a first installment to a trilogy. i probably would be harder on the ending if i didn’t know there were two more books to look forward to.
jade as a main character fascinates me. her unreliability as a narrator extends to her own memories and trauma, leading us to question not only what she thinks she’s seen but also WHY she thinks she’s seeing it. at the same time she’s endearing and in my humble sapphic opinion, definitely crushing on letha.
this is the definition of a slow burn: we spend the first 75% unsure if a slasher is actually taking place, and then the third act is an absolute whirlwind of action and gore. there are some things left unexplained that i would’ve liked to see more of (what happened to letha’s mom, theo’s motivation, did hardy actually Do That), but overall i felt satisfied with this as a first installment to a trilogy. i probably would be harder on the ending if i didn’t know there were two more books to look forward to.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore and Violence
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Incest, Rape, and Sexual assault
hashbrownhedgehog's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
Confusing. Would be less so and probably more enjoyable if you have in-depth knowledge of slasher movies
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
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.
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
fujiopples's review against another edition
challenging
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
3.5
i love jade (despite her many flaws)! this book makes me realize that i need to watch more slashers...
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Death of parent
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Self harm, and Suicide attempt
Minor: Incest, Rape, and Vomit
yodisborg's review against another edition
dark
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graham Jones plays with thr slasher like Alan Moore played with superheroes. There is a love and deep knowledge of slashers and their cheap trashy thrills. He explores the u deli g pathos that can lie with them and shows that slashers can have something g to say just like ghost stories. Does reach the emotional and resonate heights of Obly Good Indians nor its horror, this is a fun and scary read. The ending is wild.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, and Murder
fionamclary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Whew, I kind of have to catch my breath after finishing this one. Wow. I have zero familiarity with the slasher genre, and still don't think I'd like to see one, I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The third-act "bodydump" was a crazy, over-the-top, high-speed ride, the body horror was horrific, but more than anything I am full of glee for having gotten to be in Jade Daniels's head for 400-ish pages. She's absolutely unhinged, at once instantly easy to fall in love with and be repulsed by. I appreciated her constant slasher infodumps given my lack of background – she's not exactly autistic-coded, but her narration feels like listening to your autistic friend monologue about their special interest, and that's always fun. She's the epitome of morally gray and is utterly fascinating for it. Although at a certain point I was practically screaming, you are so clearly the real final girl! Despite the narration taking place firmly within her POV (except for the first chapter which is really just a prologue), we are not exactly privy to all her thoughts. This makes sense as the book goes on – there are things she isn't thinking about on purpose, things that are buried, and so even her own mind is not the open book it might be otherwise, to us or to herself. The Big Reveal is twofold, a double unveiling happening in the same scene: the unmasking of the killer, and the revelation of what Jade's been keeping buried in her memories all these years. The latter is quiet, heartbreaking, and brutal, its full impact only achieved by the guardedness of Jade's POV.
My Heart is a Chainsaw is not just a sophisticated slasher, however – it's also a quietly yet steadily raging manifesto about Indigenous generational trauma in white small towns, about what parents are supposed to do for their children and how they hurt and fail them instead, about the defiance of survival in a world that doesn't want you to exist. I hope to see this continue in the rest of the series.
There are some unanswered questions that I hope also get addressed in future books. What happened to Letha's mom? Why didn't Jade live with Kimmy after her parents split? DidRexall make it? Was it Stacey who killed the construction guys? A weapon doesn't seem to be her style given that we only see her killing with her hands .
My only real criticism of the book is that Jade is so clearly queer, but it doesn't seem that SGJ was aware of this while writing her. Maybe this becomes apparent in later books, but like, no way is this girl with the dyed hair and the combat boots and the obvious barely-supressed crush on Letha straight.
My Heart is a Chainsaw is not just a sophisticated slasher, however – it's also a quietly yet steadily raging manifesto about Indigenous generational trauma in white small towns, about what parents are supposed to do for their children and how they hurt and fail them instead, about the defiance of survival in a world that doesn't want you to exist. I hope to see this continue in the rest of the series.
There are some unanswered questions that I hope also get addressed in future books. What happened to Letha's mom? Why didn't Jade live with Kimmy after her parents split? Did
My only real criticism of the book is that Jade is so clearly queer, but it doesn't seem that SGJ was aware of this while writing her. Maybe this becomes apparent in later books, but like, no way is this girl with the dyed hair and the combat boots and the obvious barely-supressed crush on Letha straight.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Self harm, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, and Abandonment
Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, and Colonisation
The content involving child sexual assault does not occur on-page and is only described semi-graphically once, but CSA is mentioned/alluded to multiple times throughout the book. A survivor of CSA (lavenderwitch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
informative
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
aggbutterfly's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? No
3.25
This was ok. I liked seeing Jade be delulu about how she is living out a slasher. I feel like I didn't know enough about slashers to understand all of Jade's references and it sorta took me out of the story. It also took me a while to differentiate the names of the town members and founders. I think I was also confused sometimes on how X would lead to Y. I was interested in how the ending would be revealed I was anticipating the supernatural element throughout the novel and the ending was also pretty gory with some of the descriptions.
"Growing up, staring out over the water, what she'd always imagined was some monster fish spurting up through the glistening surface, snatching a bird or three, then splashing back down. Anything to break the boredom"
"Growing up, staring out over the water, what she'd always imagined was some monster fish spurting up through the glistening surface, snatching a bird or three, then splashing back down. Anything to break the boredom"
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide attempt
Moderate: Child abuse and Physical abuse
Minor: Rape
aiden_mr2's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
This book is a love letter to all Slasher Movies. The ending of the book kinda gets confusing but it was definitely worth it to see it all the way through.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Self harm, Blood, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Child death and Death of parent
Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia
shedevls'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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Suicide attempt, and Murder
Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, and Sexual assault
Minor: Incest, Vomit, and Cultural appropriation