I can not recommend this book enough! I read My Heart Is a Chainsaw in one day. This thriller/suspense book is one of best books of 2021.. I appreciate net gallery and selected publishers for this early copy

Jade Daniels is an angry, half-Indian outcast with an abusive father, an absent mother, and an entire town that wants nothing to do with her. She lives in her own world, a world in which protection comes from an unusual source: horror movies And then the story takes off from there. It wasn’t for me. I will say that. But it is a good book. Thank you for allowing to read it

This book was really slow. It was well written and very creative but I found it to be lacking in the excitement department. Fans of horror and slasher movies might like this a tad more. I wasn't impressed with the ending either. The main character, Jade, is a teenager and we suffer through all her thoughts and anguish. Some of it read like a young adult novel. Four hundred pages of this was just too much for this reader to enjoy it. I can see there being a place for this on some people's bookshelves but it wasn't for me.

Thank you to Net Galley and to the publisher for approving my request for an advancec review copy.

Full disclosure, this is not an unbiased review. I think Stephen Graham Jones is one of the best writers out there right now, a master a top of his game. His combination of voice, style and subject matter just works for me. So it’s no surprise that I loved My Heart is a Chainsaw.

17 year old Jade is obsessed with slasher films and believes that one is playing out real time in her small town. You have to give this one some time to build, but when it gets to the payoff, man does it pay off. And no spoilers, but wow, what an ending.

There have been a few great slasher books released over the last few years, but for my money, this one stands out from the bunch.

This is not a horror story for everyone. This is a flowery, sometimes florid love letter from Stephen Graham Jones to slasher films. The gang's all here, from Psycho to Scream, and beyond. I'm at a disadvantage because I don't watch horror movies. So I'm not the intended audience to geek out over the encyclopedic knowledge and level of detail packed within the book. I am coming to the conclusion that Jones' work may be a bit too cerebral for me. I adore a scary novel, but I just don't want to work this hard for it.

After opening with a bang, the book goes into cruise control while we learn more about our main character Jade, her hometown of Proofrock (and it's history, and the current gentrification efforts), more about the summer camp and lake, and maybe the dangers of communal eyeliner. Now, all of this does pay off, eventually, but it's a long time coming. The end of the book is action packed and fantastic, but unless you're already a fan, or very patient, you might not even make it there.

I do really love Jones' snarky, biting sense of humor. I'm not giving up on his material just because I haven't found the exact right piece for myself yet. My Heart is a Chainsaw is a good book if you can hold your horses, a great book if you're a nerd for slasher films, and an outstanding book if you like social commentary with your horror. Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books/Saga Press for the chance to review this advance copy.

I was surprised to see yet another book celebrating the infamous "final girls". Maybe I shouldn't have attempted this one since I just read the new Hendrix book a couple of weeks ago, but I do love this author. I will say up front that I didn't finish this one. I'm about 1/4 of the way through, and despite a chilling start, I'm giving up. I am just not interested in another novel on this subject that is just too clever for it's own good. It's a good schtick, it's just too much. Much like the other final girls novel, this one seems to be forgetting to tell me a good story. So I will check in with this author with his next book and move on from this one.

A story about a loner, outcast girl obsessed with slasher films who is suddenly in one. Every time I thought I knew where this book was heading it changed direction. I wasn’t sure I could trust who was telling it, or if was even happening. I truly had no idea how it was going to end.

So I stopped trying to figure it out. And what I got was an absolutely heartbreaking horror story overflowing with love for the genre, outcast kids, and yes, tons of the gore that I came for. Plus more emotional depth and devastation than I ever expected. There was more than one tragedy that played out. This gory, violent horror book made me cry, and I was definitely not expecting that.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this arc and giving me the opportunity to read and review this book.

I was drawn to this book because of the slasher genre. Jade was an interesting character. Her home life is awful due to an alcoholic dad and an absent mother. Jade is on her own for the most part. She is half Native American growing up in a small Idaho town. She uses slasher horror movies to escape the reality of her own life. But when the perfect “Final Girl” arrives at her high school as a new student, Joan fictional life becomes real. Chainsaw is a story within a story. It’s slasher movie invading real life. It’s quite a good read and I recommend it, especially if you are drawn to the slasher genre.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

Jade Daniels is a bit of an outcast with a peculiar obsession: slasher films. She has been waiting her whole life for a slasher to arrive in her hometime of Proofrock, and it appears she's finally gotten her wish. Thanks to her movie expertise, she is able to predict how the massacre will play out. Unfortunately, everyone around her believes it all to be a cry for help from a troubled young woman. Can Jade convince them to take it seriously before it's too late?

This was arguably one of my most anticipated reads of the year and I have to say it just didn't quite do it for me. I wish the synopsis mentioned how OBSESSED Jade is with Final Girls, as I'm kind of played out on that at the moment. (Seriously, it's like... the whole plot).

I will say Stephen Graham Jones is a fantastic writer, his style is just not for me. Several times I'd read a page or two and wonder "what even just happened?" Honestly I felt kind of dumb reading it the whole time because a lot of the book went so far over my head.

Without spoiling anything, the ending was so far-fetched it almost made me angry. I do feel this book may have suffered a case of mis-marketing as the synopsis and what I actually read don't totally jive.

Thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books, and Stephen Graham Jones for the digital ARC in exchange for my honest review. My Heart is a Chainsaw is on bookshelves near you August 31!

Very slow buildup. It took like 70% of the book before anything really happened. Awesome ending. Just not enough to make me love it like his precious book!

My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a very, dark twisted love letter to the horror genre. It follows Jade Daniels an half- Indian girl with a hard family life and no real friends. She lives in her head a lot and creates a narrative filled with horror references. The horror genre is Jade's safe space. This story was a bit confusing and slow at first but once I hit 50% it really found it's ground. Once I got into this story I couldn't put it down. I think any fan of horror movies will love this story! My Heart Is a Chainsaw was a well written and unique story.

In parts I really enjoyed this. But overall it was quite a messy read.
Warning spoilers below

Still some questions linger in my mind after reading it like at the end how certain folks survived despite the massacre around them. Someone is able to stand on the pier and film. In any horror film that person would have bit it and accidentally filmed their own death, either with a phone (modern) or camcorder (retro)

It also made no sense to me what Theo Mondragon was doing. If he wasn’t the culprit why was he shooting random people with a nail gun? Possession? Who knows. Who built the elk cave again and dragged in the men Theo killed? Did Shooting Glasses survive after he lifted the kids to the pier? Did anyone else survive in the water or on the shore?

I have to say the imagery was great in the end scene. A beautiful homage to slasher history and big respectful nod to Jaws (a favorite of mine). The essay Jade wrote about Jaws and how it’s actually a slasher sounded exactly like me telling people how the shark in Jaws is just misunderstood, I mean it’s a shark. What do we really know? But I enjoyed the authors views on possibly how the shark got so…huge.

In the end it didn’t make sense to me to have Jade be the final girl. I get what the author was going for but it just didn’t work given her past actions and her own admissions.

The character names in this book drove me nuts too. Seemed contrite and forced. Also again Jones brings up basketball, this time it wasn’t a huge essay though.

I understand the statements in the acknowledgements but if this was driven by reading an arc it le about a young woman who sadly suffered the same fate as Jade (at the hands of her father) and it was such an important turning point for the author why wouldn’t he remember the victims name and at least acknowledge it? Say her name.

Finally the end of the acknowledgement section is when the author actually mentions his heart being a chainsaw. I don’t think the title fits the book here, but I also didn’t think any of the authors other titles fit the books. Should have stuck with the original title here.

I’m the end just too many questions and dangling things for me. But if you are a Jaws fan this read is worth it for the end chapters and essay alone. For that I’m rating it higher.

I'm certainly a big fan of dark humor and I'm guessing so is Stephen Graham Jones.

"What the heck did I just read" was my initial reaction to finishing this novel . . . but in mostly a good way.

For me, this story within a story seems to be in a genre of its very own, filled with echoes from the dusty yet sacred aisles of movie rental past.

Luckily for readers like me, My Heart Is A Chainsaw does not always take itself too seriously, cleverly name dropping a steady stream of film and entertainment references (and not all necessarily of the horror/ slasher variety) along the way.

This book had me, lost me, and found me again . . . so if you find your interest lukewarm and steadily waning mid-way, it does eventually pick back up.

Overall if you are looking to take a long and unusual jaunt through some late-night art house fun, this one will meander through the darkness like a carnival ride, it takes you to and fro and around a bend or two . . . you're bound to enjoy this one and not likely to guess the destination.

I'd like to thank the author, NetGalley, and Saga Press for allowing me to read an advanced copy of My Heart Is A Chainsaw for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and Saga Press for an ARC of this title.

I really enjoyed Stephen Graham Jones' [book:The Only Good Indians|52180399] and was eager to dive into this. If you're a horror movie fan, there's a lot to like here, and a lot of references that will delight you. I also like how it felt like you were getting a slasher film from the point of view of a side character who knows what's going on.

And yet, the plot takes a while locking its wheels into their final grooves, making the last 20-25% of the book come suddenly out of nowhere once some more supernatural elements that were hinted at finally reveal themselves. I would have loved some of what springs out of the last part to have been introduced more fully earlier in the book. Based on the afternotes, it feels like this is an idea that's been gestating for a while, so it was a little frustrating to have such an interesting build up fizzle out so quickly.

Grade B horror story; in other words, practically perfect.
Jade is a Native American teenager who lives in a rural lakeside town in Idaho. She is a recent high school graduate who sees the world through the eyes of a slasher film. Rich folk are moving into her town, building mansions across the lake and someone does not want that to happen. Well-written, good action plot, good dialogue - you should give it a read.

I'm not ready for it to be over. I would like a glimpse of Proofrock in the future please. This was like being put into a slasher. I'm still reeling from this and it's been a few hours since I finished. I cried. I gasped. I was shocked. Stephen Graham Jones absolutely delivers again and it was amazing. This was a finish in one sitting kind of book. I kept getting sucked in and forgetting about the world around me.

I am really glad I read My Heart is a Chainsaw. It hits the exact darkly humorous notes of a slasher perfectly. The book is narrated in the present tense by Jade, an outcast with a no-good father and absent mother who is just waiting to be part of a slasher movie. Her chances start looking good when a group of yuppies start developing mansions in the protected forest across the lake from her town, and some mysterious deaths start happening.
The whole book is peppered with awesome analysis and references to movies from Just Before Dawn, which I had to put the book down in the middle and watch, to Nightmare on Elm Street to Scream. If you are a slasher fan, you will love this book. In the acknowledgements, you will find out that the author first wrote the book without Jade, and that would be a travesty because she totally makes the book.
If you had issues getting into the author's previous book The Only Good Indians because of the present tense and not being able to follow what was happening (talking about myself), this one is still in present tense but easier to follow. The main reason for 4 and not 5 stars is that the first half of the book was a little slow, but worth it.

Wow, this was honestly a stunning read with multiple layers of complexity and depth presented all while celebrating and paying homage to the slasher genre. This one made me pause. In fact, I am still processing this one. The mix of literary and horror here is so well done.

This one starts off with an immediately attention-grabbing scene and then it introduces our main character, Jade. I adored her and all her horror-loving awkwardness. I will say about the halfway point I hit a reading wall where I struggled through the story a bit. But, while this book slows down a great deal right about the midway point, it does crescendo to a stunning finale. You have to power through the slow-burn, but the payoff is worth it.

Perhaps making it all worth it is the character of Jade alone. She is such a well-developed character that you cannot help but want to take the gruesome journey with her and, if you are a slasher-lover, this book is written for you. It celebrates the genre with love and gratitude. This really is a horror book not to miss. You will be awed by the time you turn that finale page and you will regret nothing.

What the actual crap was that? You drag me through almost four hundred pages to end with that?! How dare you Stephen Graham Jones, how dare you.

I wanted to love this book. Everything about it seemed like everything I love. A self-proclaimed horror chick trying to warn her town against the inevitable slasher about to happen at any moment. And then of course when things start to go down, no one believes her.

So yes, the premise is great, but the execution is, well it’s slow. And half the time I had no idea if Jade was crazy and imagining stuff, or if there were actually things happening. And the way she talked/thought/narrated was like a hyperactive child after a bowl of ice cream so that certainly didn’t help. What I did enjoy was all the final girl wisdom and slasher history sprinkled throughout the novel.

“To put in conclusion…final girls are the vessel we keep all our hope in. Bad guys don’t just die by themselves, I mean. Sometimes they need help in the form of a cutie running at them, her mouth open in scream, her eyes white hot, her heart forever pure.”

“Slasher movies are supposed to be these grand fairy tales where the princess is a bad-ass warrior….”

Unfortunately, the slasher history didn’t save this book for me. Every time I started to stand up and cheer, the story took a turn and I was left feeling mad and unsatisfied. And the end?! Jason Voorhees, Michael Meyers, Freddy, Ghostface, take me now and spare me the pain of reading that ending again. Please don’t tell me there is room for a sequel.

Stephen Graham Jones (SGJ) is a prolific writer, delving deep into the horror genre. His 2021 entry to the canon is My Heart is a Chainsaw. (Anticipated publication on August 31.) In it, 17-year-old Jade Daniels is a rabid fan of slasher films. She’s watched them all multiple times, and her conversation is peppered with lines of dialogue. Slashers are how she fills the time between school and bedtime, when she’s not working as one of the town custodians.

Jade also lives in a place with its own legends. These aren’t just ghost stories from around the campfire, but real events. As high school graduation approaches, Jade sees patterns emerge. A slasher is in town—for real.

Jade’s family is broken mess. Her dad is a Native American dude, injured many years ago, who mostly lazes about and drinks beer. Mom is absent, having left the family and moved to a nearby town. So despite having two living parents, Jade mostly raises herself. Her life also includes father figures, who serve as a point of authority with more caring than her biological dad.

Life in this little Idaho town is turned sideways by the arrival of the super-rich. A mogul finds their lakeside spot and decides it’s a paradise he wants. He convinces a few similar families to join him, and voila, McMansion and yacht pier construction begins.

Soon after, events go awry and no one pays attention to the portended doom except our teenage town slasher expert. Unfortunately, she’s the kid who cried wolf too many times, and now none of the adults will listen.

My conclusions
I struggled to connect with Jade for the entire first half of this book. I don’t usually experience this with SGJ, so it surprised me. But the writing style is pure teenager. It’s a wandering stream of thoughts, worries, and everyday moments.

SGJ uses a storytelling device that clogged up my connection to Jade. In this device, he creates a series of extra credit papers that Jade gives to Mr. Holmes, her history teacher. Combined, they’re Jade’s history and analysis of slasher movies. She discusses how the genre came to be, and also how the typical slasher story arc works. She also spends considerable time addressing the “final girl” aspect of most slashers. I understand there was a method to SGJ’s madness here. It just didn’t work for me.

On the other hand, the regular chapters are excellent. SGJ clearly portrays Jade as the outsider, struggling to find her identity. She changes her name from Jennifer to Jade. And about every 30 pages, she changes the color of her hair. We all know that kid.

And in Chainsaw, that kid decides that where she fits is slasher movies and lore. It may not the most logical choice, but teenagers aren’t logical. Especially one who knows she fits nowhere—not in a family, or a friends clique, or her town in general. Instead, it’s through the lens of slashers that Jade makes sense of the changing world. She tries to put things in some kind of order, no matter how strange it is.

If there is such a thing as a slasher, coming-of-age book this is what SGJ creates in Chainsaw.

I recommend My Heart is a Chainsaw if you’re an SGJ, horror book, or slasher movie fan. Be prepared for an extended exposition followed by plenty of gruesome action sequences. In the end the payoff is worth the slow build.

Acknowledgements
Many thanks to NetGalley, Gallery Books, Gallery / Saga Press, and the author for a digital advanced reader’s copy in exchange for this honest review.