Rebecca Roanhorse's Reviews > My Heart Is a Chainsaw

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones
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it was amazing

Absolutely delightful, which may not be the way one expects a bloody, gory, seriously creepy and tense horror novel to be described. But I loved this book from the moment I met the protagonist, Jade, a half-Native girl in a small town obsessed with slasher movies and wondering (hoping) she's living in one, too. Only Jade doesn't see herself as any kind of hero; she's not the perfect virginal Final Girl who will save them all. That's her new schoolmate from across the lake where the wealthy elites are building their grand mansions and gentrifying this little corner of Idaho. And so the story spools out in a tour-de-force of voice and character, capturing Jade's horror-soaked world, not just in movies but horrific IRL where she's forced to live with her alcoholic father and be the town pariah...and the only one who sees what's coming.

This book might not be for everyone. After all, the last 1/4 of the book is true horror territory, but wow the character work and setting feel so damn real and I was sucked into the world from the beginning. The chapters are interspersed with Jade's extra credit work on slasher films, which helps give the uninitiated a grounding, but honestly I don't think it's necessary to get every reference to enjoy the story. You couldn't pay me to watch Friday the 13th or Scream again, but I'd give all my money to have Jade, earnest, heartfelt and so damn lonely, tell me about them. She's more Final Girl material that she realizes.
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Reading Progress

September 17, 2021 – Started Reading
September 17, 2021 – Shelved
September 26, 2021 – Finished Reading

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message 1: by J'aime (new)

J'aime This is a wonderful review. I'm too squeamish for horror, but this is almost enough to get me to stick my toes in to try again.


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