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catsandbookstacks's review against another edition
3.0
Book three of the Indian Lake Trilogy pulls no punches with the esoteric horror movie references and elaborate deaths. I love Jade in My Heart Is a Chainsaw and Don't Fear the Reaper, so I had really high hopes for the final installment.
The first 30% had me riveted but then fell flat. With the change of POV between all the books, the first person point of view in this ended up being my least favourite. Jade wasn't back to her fever dream dialogue of book one but she just couldn't keep my attention with the meandering. There ended up being too many out of nowhere threads to wrap up and I lost my sense of caring. I don't know how I managed to be bored with chainsaws, bears, and "Chucky" but it happened.
Happy to have read and finished the trilogy, but I think I'll be imagining that it's only a duology.
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Death, Death of parent, Blood, Child death, Gore, Drug use, Murder, Animal death, Grief, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Medical content, Mental illness, Racism, Kidnapping, and Self harm
Minor: Ableism, Colonisation, Forced institutionalization, Rape, and Sexual assault
hydecircus's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Murder, Pedophilia, Racism, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Animal death, Death of parent, Blood, Child abuse, Classism, Death, Suicide attempt, Violence, Drug abuse, Gore, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Classism, Alcohol, Colonisation, Grief, Incest, and Car accident
poetsofsweetpea's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicide, Terminal illness, Fire/Fire injury, Cursing, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Animal death, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Alcohol, Blood, Child abuse, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, Body horror, Death, Drug use, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Gore, Kidnapping, Murder, Child death, Police brutality, Stalking, and Torture
bcvogel90's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Body horror, Death, Violence, Blood, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Murder, and Animal death
Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Suicide attempt, and Suicide
Minor: Child death, Incest, Pedophilia, and Self harm
annact's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
Graphic: Child death, Drug use, Death of parent, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Gore, Murder, Violence, Blood, Body horror, Grief, Gun violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Pedophilia and Animal death
Minor: Toxic relationship, Suicide attempt, Rape, Alcoholism, Bullying, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Self harm, and Sexual assault
readingwithkaitlyn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Graphic: Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Body horror, Gun violence, Murder, Death, Child death, Violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, and Grief
Moderate: Drug use, Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, Racism, Medical content, Mental illness, Self harm, Religious bigotry, Emotional abuse, Classism, Torture, and Animal death
Minor: Alcoholism, Rape, Genocide, Sexual content, Pandemic/Epidemic, Pedophilia, Car accident, Excrement, Alcohol, Confinement, Sexual assault, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Pregnancy, Suicide, Abandonment, and Ableism
danaslitlist's review against another edition
- 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
5.0
I wasn't sure how well this book would do in wrapping up the series and tying all the pieces together. Many a fan of books has experienced the pain of the final installment not living up to what was promised. However, I was beyond pleased and satisfied with this book....even if the bears were a surprise. This has to be the most off the rails book in the trilogy and I honestly believe that it took Stephen Graham Jones' talents to pull it off. In someone else hands, I don't see it falling into place correctly as it did in Mr. Jones.
The core of this story is facing demons and the successes and failures of ones past. And the way that everything is brought back to the beginning, the way the parallels are set up was beyond satisfying.
The Angel of Indian Lake kicks off with one of the most intriguing opening lines I've experienced and doesn't slow down from there at all. Reuniting with Jade, and by extension Stephen Graham Jones, is like being reunited with your best friend who is equally obsessed with slasher films as you are. The entire first chapter is a solid reintroduction to Proofrock and the absolute horrors that living there entails. I didn't think it was possible to really be able to love Jade more than I did from book one but there is something beautiful and transformative about Jade in this final installment.
Seeing how much Jade has changed and how much she hasn't is so reminiscent of Sidney Prescott. Jade has changed for the better. She isn't who she was in book one or book two. And yet, her core, her heart is forever Jade Daniels: slasher girl.
To see her trying so hard to NOT be the girl who cried slasher, to see her change who she is in order to survive, all the while her being completely oblivious to the fact that those choices and those changes ARE how a final girl behaves. That's how a final girl survives.
Jade has always been the final girl in defiance of the trope: not just because she defies the stereotypes (she's not the virgin, she's not the good girl, she's not the white girl) but because the way she survives is by defiance. We have to look at this trilogy how we would look at a slasher movie franchise. The events of the first two acts (books one and two) have now shaped our hero into the final girl. She has emerged.
Just like the rest of the series, The Angel of Indian Lake is a love letter to horror movies. This book is meant for the movie buffs who find themselves inexplicably drawn to slashers, drawn to their stories, and those who feel an understanding for the Jasons and the Carries, just as Jade does.
I truly believe that Jade Daniels will stick with me for the rest of my life and I will be returning to her over and over again.
Graphic: Self harm, Murder, and Gore
Moderate: Gore, Body horror, Medical trauma, Grief, Emotional abuse, Blood, Abandonment, and Fire/Fire injury
Minor: Child death
edoherty's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
It’s worth screaming about. It’s even more painful to read than the first book in the trilogy, which is saying something, and it’s brutal in many many MANY ways, but it’s unexpectedly beautiful even in its pain. It's not quite a perfect book - I have some questions about a few scenes and there were points when I was having trouble following the action - but I don’t particularly care.
I love these characters more than I thought I could. Jade is the most Final of Girls, and I love that Letha can see that even when Jade can’t. My heart breaks for them and much as I want to spend more time with them, I also hope that the presumed lack of any more stories about them means that they will finally have the time and space to heal that they so desperately need.
I loved this book.
Graphic: Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Blood, Gore, Grief, Death, and Death of parent
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Alcohol, Animal death, Child death, and Abandonment
Minor: Classism, Self harm, Confinement, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Kidnapping, and Pedophilia