A super fun, bloody, mischievous slasher story, borderline ridiculous in all the right ways. I loved The Only Good Indians, and while I missed some of the creeping dread of that book while reading Chainsaw, the tongue-in-cheek Scream vibes felt like welcome escapism, and made it all the more affecting in those horrifying moments where the book gets suddenly very real in a non-slasher capacity.

Like the main character, I love slashers, my first being Michael Myers in Halloween, so all her references to the movies were fun as reader. I loved Jade a character, even how she wished for a slasher to come to her town. I've not seen that in a character before, but it made me laugh and like her even more. The pacing was a smidge slow for my personal tastes, but having read some of Jones' other works I knew it would pay off and it did. The climax was bloody and glorious with the perfect emotional punch. A slow burn horror that will thrill slasher fans.

I really did not like The Only Good Indians but wanted to give Stephen Graham Jones a second chance. This book did not redeem him. The homage to slasher film in the blurb is what drew me in. The opening chapter was very promising but then I was just bored for the rest of the book. It was basically a repeat of his first book...hints at something sinister at the very beginning, long drawn out middle where nothing happens, underwhelming ending. Unfortunately, this is the end for me and S.G. Jones books.

Thank you Netgalley for the e-book of My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones in exchange for my review.

This book was creepy and a bit too gory for my tastes. I love a good thriller but this one was harder to read for me as it’s definitely more of a horror story than anything.

Our main character, young teenage Jade, is scary/horror movie obsessed. Her hometown, Proofrock, turns into a real-life slasher film. She’s watched so many horror movies, she knows how to survive and teachers her friends all the correct moves to make. Jade pretty much can plot out this entire event. But the book was just slow moving for me. I could not wait to get to that last page. So not for me, but fans of horror will devour this one!

Stephen Graham Jones always seems to come up with an original spin on something. This time he does it with slasher movies. Not only does this one pay homage to the classics through the eyes of Jade, our main character, who has a horror movie obsession, but it's the way she uses her knowledge, and how things weave around an incident in her home town. It's how it intertwines with her own personal story of tragedy and revenge that's so cleverly done.
Loved the pacing in this book, and the last 25% was absolute killer. In more ways than one.
Five stars. No question.

this book is absolutely amazing!!!! i can't recommend it enough!!!

this was a wild ride from start to finish and it's one of those novels where you think you have an idea of what's going on or who the perpetrator is but i didn't know until the literal reveal and it was awesome!!! stephen graham jones' writing style is like nothing i've read before. personally, i'm a fan of not really knowing what's going on in horror but just going along for the ride and that's what reading this book was like for me.

jade was definitely the reason i wanted to read this book. the description of a girl who is obsessed with slashers believing that there's one in her town had me so excited for this novel and it didn't disappoint. she's such a fascinating character and has gone through so much, but she's found this interest and grips onto it so tightly that she has integrated it into her entire life. i'm someone who either 1) gets so deeply invested in something that it becomes my whole personality or 2) doesn't like it at all, i definitely understand her. i don't like things casually and neither does jade. i wish i could give her a big and long hug.

even the secondary characters in this novel were interesting and i genuinely want to know everything about everyone. we're following jade pretty closely throughout this novel, but there's just enough detail about the secondary characters that makes them just as interesting that i loved.

the twists throughout were gripping and basically the last 100 pages i didn't put the book down at all, not even to blink (just kidding but you get the picture). basically, i'm such a big fan of this book and it validates all of my own feelings about the horror genre (also i saw that harper's island mention in the book, stephen, and i salute you, there's literally no one i know that watched that show except for me). READ THIS BOOK!

Gallery Books you are my absolute most favorite publishing agency.
Y'all have put out some damn amazing books and I'm forever grateful for the opportunity to get to read advanced ebooks! Y'all are my heroes😘

If I could give this a wild rating it would be 100 out of 100 😍
Where do I start with this fantastic book? It's addictive. I started this book at around 3pm, and stayed up until 2 AM when I finished. I was so heavily invested in everything that was going on, the writing literally pulls you in.
This book is so.engaging it was like I was in a trance.

My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a beautiful, terrifying, gritty story that you absolutely do not want to miss.
I literally was glued to my Kindle for hours reading MHIAC and I freaking loved every second of it.
Jones has quickly became one of my favorite horror authors.
I loved The Only Good Indians so I had to try and get his newest novel!
The main character Jade is an intriguing and immediately captivating character.

This has to be my most favorite book I've read all year!
I love slasher movies and this was exactly that a slasher novel!
I can't praise Jones enough for his remarkable talent. He is definitely the most talented writer I've seen in awhile in the horror genre. Right there with King!

This is a masterpiece, horror fans dreams, outstanding, remarkable novel!
And I can't wait to get my hands on a hardback copy!

Again thank you NetGalley, Gallery Books (favorite pubs in the world) and Jones for this outstanding novel!
I will post to my Goodreads, Facebook and Bookstagram accounts closer to pub date!

This novel didn’t quite reach the slow burn of its predecessor. It more felt like trying for hours to light the fire just to pour some lighter fluid on it for a big flame that promptly dies out again. While the setup and narrative are important to the plot and in getting to know the characters, it is slow and at times aimless. The last fifty pages are thrilling, exciting and what we all hope the entirety of the novel would be. I’m glad I read it but I would have happily skimmed the first few chapters and then the last.

I really loved this book. This is only my second novel from SGJ and it was fabulous. I really enjoyed reading Jade's essays and I felt like I was also learning slasher history from her! I've never read a horror book outside of his The Only Good Indians, so it's a brand new genre for me but I loved it. It was a little slow to start in the beginning for me, but I got hooked around the halfway point and was reading it non stop.

One of my favorite aspects of the book was the is there/is there not a slasher, coupled with Jade's potential for being an unreliable narrator. I was 100% on board with her being right, and then as more things were uncovered I started to doubt her. I LOVED IT!

Another favorite aspect of mine was Jade being Blackfeet, and as SGJ described in the Acknowledgements, her being Blackfeet was "incidental, not instrumental". I am Pueblo, and love seeing characters like me, full of cultural and community connection, but I also love seeing characters like me who are disconnected, do not practice culture, and are still just as Indian. I think this book serves incredibly well on the representation front because while we all love a peek into someone else's culture, it isn't always full of prayer, jingle dancing, and traditional farming and foods. Some of us are just like Jade, and some of us don't want to share all the nuances of our culture and that is a huge piece of this book that I absolutely loved. We do not exist in a vacuum and this book is such a great example!

Just loved this book so much. It is so unique and plays out like a movie inside your head with how well SGJ describes scenes. Absolutely wonderful. I cannot wait for his next book!

This review will also be posted on my instagram @dh.trujillo

Thanks to NetGalley for a free e-ARC of this book in exchange for a review.

Paranoid and claustrophobic, but in Jones's compulsively readable style, making for a read both difficult and enjoyable, as horror should be.

Poor Jade just can't catch a break. Even her moments of triumph set her up for further hardship and misunderstanding. She's a great character, though. She fights hard for her agency in a town full of people that do nothing but squash it, some with ill intent, others with good intentions, but both insistent on ignoring not only her observations about a rapidly unraveling situation, but the most basic of requests to use her preferred name. I rooted for her even as I wanted to cover my face with my hands and look away, yell at her to let it go and look out for herself.

Excellent for fans (or folks who want to become fans) of the slasher genre. Made me realize that what I liked most about Jone's other novel I recently read, The Only Good Indians, wasn't the slasher nods but the ghost/spirit stalking. This book didn't check as many of my boxes, but Jones absolutely nails the ending. Weeks later and I'm still thinking about those final lines.

Great book!

Fans of slasher horror films may feel that MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW is a bit slow in getting around to the killing floor with its early pacing. Just you wait. Be patient. All good thrillers require a sufficient amount of set-up time. And Stephen Graham Jones has a lot to unload here. The final third of this book commanded my attention, kept me guessing, and on the edge of my reading chair for page after page, chapter after chapter.

This is so much more than a simple homage to the slasher horror film, obviously written by someone with a love for the genre, a thorough background in all its' nuances, and a file-cabinet of a memory.

The SCREAM films paid tribute to the slasher movie, broke through the fourth wall as characters discussed what might happen next as if they were story consultants, defined the genre and then violated some of those tropes. MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW does the exact same thing for slasher novels, stands it on its' head, and makes it spin. You may think you know who the final girl is, but then again . . . . .

Here's the biggest difference, and the reason why (if forced to choose) I'll pick a repeat reading of this book over multiple watchings of the SCREAM films. The SCREAM movies depended on the cleverness of the killings and overall quirkiness to keep movie-goers in the seats. What drives the story in MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW forward is the character development and progress of Jade Daniels. She begins as a misfit adolescent, high school outcast, escaping from both the mundanity of her day-to-day existence as well as an abusive, traumatic incident from her past by consuming as many horror films (on VHS) as she can. Her encyclopedic knowledge of the slasher genre helps her identify the early signs of trouble in her small town. Then, she does everything she can to prepare anyone who will listen to her to get ready for the mayhem. It's not her fault that nobody takes her seriously.

The secondary characters are just as fully realized. Along with telling a great horror and coming-of-age story, Jones confronts some stereotypes regarding drunken Indians, social mores, prejudice and even gentrification of the wilderness. The ending is a welcome surprise.

Thank you to the author, publisher and Net Galley for providing me with a free ebook ARC of this book in exchange for my review. I think. This one gave me nightmares! But, it was supposed to. I think.

It's been a while since I read much horror and I don't go for slasher type movies, so this was a bit shocking. Add to that many of my ARC's here have been rom-com types, and this one stands out in my mind!

If you are a horror lover, read this book. If you like horror movies, read this book. I haven't read anything by this author before - if I need a horror/bloody book for a challenge, I'll probably look up other books by him - but for a cozy mystery lover like me, this was a shock! But, I could see gripping writing, development and it did pull me in. I'll have nightmares, but it pulled me in! and that's what it's supposed to do.

4 stars

'Real final girls only want the horror to be over. They don't stay up late praying to Craven and Carpenter to send one of their savage angels down, just for a weekend maybe. Just for one night. Just for one dance, please? '

Slasher aficionado Jade has always loved Slashers since she was a child and found a Bay of Blood in a gas station discard VHS pile. She writes papers about the lore of slashers, the rules of the game, even the ones in her own town, she can't get enough of them. When she discovers a gruesome murder recorded on a phone by pure happenstance, she's intrigued. When new good girl Letha moves to her tiny town of Proofrock, she is convinced its finally happening. Her hamlet of a town finally has a slasher in its midst. This is what she's born for. She's no final girl but she can sure as hell give Letha, the girl with the perfect hair, the living breathing embodiment of the final girl some pointers to unmask the killer unleashing hell on their town, but not before watching a few bodies stack up first. Jade wants this slasher to play through until the final bloody end.

Stephen Graham Jones writes with an encyclopedic knowledge of slashers from the cult favorites of Scream to the smallest of CW slashers in Harpers Island. Like Jade he knows the rules of this genre inside and out. Jade strives to be the rule keeper of the story, to keep the slasher and final girl on track, to live her dream of living in a slasher movie, but she soon realizes being in a slasher is quite different than living in one. There's a reason why she's so in love with this bloody genre and she'll do anything to hide from the truth. Letha is the prim final girl, the Sydney Prescott of this story, but she's just to grounded to see what's going on.

For slasher lovers like myself, this book was incredible. Every chapter felt like an easter egg, like a joke you were in on if you recognized the reference. It's quirky, scary, funny and shocking, just what you want in a slasher. Thank you Stephen Graham Jones, Gallery Books and NetGalley for the ARC. It was the perfect read.

Jade Daniels lives and breaths horror movies. So when two dead tourists show up in the lake in her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, she knows that the slasher cycle has begun. She's set her eyes on the final girl and is determined to watch the horror play out.

It's clear from this book that Stephen Graham Jones knows his horror films. This book has nods to all the classics, and it's full of references to slashers and final girls. While it's possible to enjoy this book without being a horror buff, I think it hindered my enjoyment of the book since I have minimal knowledge of slasher movies. This was also exacerbated by the fact that the first half of the book is pretty slow, though it does get better around the 50-60% mark.

Still, I thought Jade was a really fascinating character and I loved the small town setting of this book with the local horror stories and the threat of gentrification looming in the background. I think this is a perfect book for fans of classic horror, though those unfamiliar with the genre might have to refresh on some of the references.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery / Saga Press for providing the digital review copy in exchange for an honest review.

I'm not a fan of horror, either reading about it, or watching it, so a lot of information in this book probably went over my head. However, for a non-horror fan like myself, this was still a good book. Jade, the main character is so obsessed with the horror movie genre that she has studied it extensively, as it provides a distraction from her lousy home life. When she gets wind of a real life horror story slowly coming to life in her town, she becomes determined to seek out the necessary tropes, including finding a final girl, and coming up with a snappy name.

After reading Stephen Graham Jones's previous book, The Only Good Indian, I finally learned what a final girl was. (The final girl in that book was such a metaphor for Indigenous women, and I thought it was ingenious.) Therefore I thought it was interesting that Jade is so sure of what exactly the final is for her horror story, realizing that in Jones's books the final girl is always the Native girl who's stronger and tougher than she knows, because if she doesn't stand up and get shit done, no one else will. WOC will completely understand this.

For a non-horror fan the story drags on and on toward the end. Also, it had one of those annoying endings where I turned the page fully expecting to find another chapter, before realizing that the book really was over, and not enough had been resolved.

Somewhere in Proofrock Idaho, there’s a girl waiting…and calculating every single move that will need to be made to ensure survival. Get ready to arm yourself with your weapon of choice.

Jade hides her pain behind slasher films. She knows everything about every slasher that’s ever been made. She dreams in slashers. She’s also convinced she could never be a final girl. Final girls are pure and strong. And she’s just the town outcast.

I’m sure you’ve heard other people say this is a love letter to slasher films, and on its surface, it definitely is. But with Stephen Graham Jones, there’s more than meets the eye.

Underneath the confusing plethora of slasher references is a story about taking over Indigenois land, trauma, addiction, loneliness and even revenge.

And I’ve been sitting on this book for a minute because I don’t know how I feel. It’s been days since I finished it and I’m still just not sure. Should I do a re-read? Did I miss something?

The book requires every ounce of patience that you possess. It is a SLOW BURN. Probably one of the slowest I’ve ever read. It kicks at about 260 pages. And the ending makes up for it. But I just don’t know….

What I didn’t like: :
For a book that is 416 pages, taking 260 of them to get somewhere is asking a lot.

I didn’t connect with any of the characters but I had moments where I felt deeply sorry for Jade.

The amount of slasher references was distracting and overwhelming for me. It left me feeling a little confused at times.

This was one of my most anticipated reads of 2021. So I am disappointed to say that I didn’t love it, and I’m not even sure I liked it all that much. I just don’t know how I feel about it. But I hope you’ll still give it the chance it deserves because honestly, it might blow you away.

Thank you to Saga Press for my ARC copy and to Netgalley!

If you like slasher movies, you'll probably really enjoy this book. There's so much pop culture mashed up in the story that you'll feel right at home here. My Heart is a Chainsaw delivers a powerful story and a fun ride in the slasher genre that is full of pulse-pounding suspense, gory action, and pulpy fun. The lead character Jade has just the right bit of attitude and geekiness to fit right into the slasher story. Stephen Graham Jones is a hell of a writer who knows how to keep the pages turning.

My Heart is a Chainsaw, the latest from prolific horror novelist Stephen Graham Jones, is an ode to the slasher movie, paying careful homage to classics like Friday the 13th and 90s slasher renaissance favorite Scream. The book is an unnecessary slow burn, and the final chapters feel particularly silly. Still, Graham is great at building atmosphere, even if he doesn’t quite make good on the promise of what so many in the slasher milieu also struggle with: a satisfying end.

The book follows Jade, a moody Native American teenager living in a small lakeside town in Idaho. Jade is a slasher obsessive, which has isolated her from her classmates and neighbors and has given her a reputation for celebrating the macabre and being generally pretty strange. She begins to see value in her obsessions believing that a slasher is knocking people off in town unbeknownst to her neighbors and classmates. With a town myth about a lake witch and a couple of dead tourists from the Netherlands, she may be right.

The setup for the book is really fun. Graham writes Jade with an appropriate mix of dark humor and pathos that helps the reader empathize with her. The story tends to be plodding with the book only really getting into high gear in the last quarter. Most frustratingly, I found it difficult to understand Graham’s descriptions of some of the more action-packed parts of the book. Still, the references to classic slasher horror films can be really fun, and I appreciated Graham fleshing out Jade from what could have been a really flat character. Fans of Graham’s will find much to like here, and genre aficionados will get a kick out of connecting the story to their favorite horror movies.

Laboring to read, but becomes more poignant upon reflection, My Heart Is a Chainsaw is passionately written, fusing the author's obvious love for slasher films with a deeper commentary on relationship of all kinds (human vs nature, race, social class, family dynamic, to name a few). However, the mass appeal of its marketing copy is in contrast to the sombre, heady presentation, which I can already foresee readers expecting a 'fun' slasher/horror novel will write this off as pretentious bore without taking the time to uncover its thoughtful layers.

The enjoyment level for My Heart Is a Chainsaw will be determined by one's slasher films knowledge; not just the generic facts of well-known franchises such as Halloween or Friday the 13th, but also lesser known, cult classics spanning across decades (FYI, the chapters in this novel are named after actual slasher films—how many have you seen?). As a horror film enthusiast myself, I was more than happy to stop and Google (coincidentally, I've just recently watched Mario Bava's A Bay of Blood, which is heavily cited in the novel), but I couldn't deny this constant interruption did impact my overall immersion towards the narrative.

Following an uninvolved witness to a slew of slasher film-esque scenarios taking place in her proximity, My Heart Is a Chainsaw's pacing is possibly its biggest conundrum—restricted to the 'tropey' slasher story beats by concept, without the ability to innovate and be unexpected. Akin to listening a commentary track without seeing the accompanying visual, the constant armchair analysis from the 'presumed safe' protagonist can become quite monotonous, resulting in the first 75% of the book being extremely low-risk and low-tension, which is never a good sign in a horror novel. The last 25% is an rightfully gruesome mayhem, but it's woefully short and takes a questionable turn I wonder if it's at odds with its premise.

In his acknowledgments at the end, Stephen Graham Jones mentioned this story has been rewritten a few times, and somehow in its final form I can still feel the grind and revision getting it across the finish line. My Heart Is a Chainsaw has an extremely enticing pitch, but along with it are some foundational problems: is it actually engaging reading from the perspective of a spectator? How can one make tropes feeling fresh without being unrecognizable? Even though I don't think the book manage to solve all the issues, overall I'm very happy for the existence of this heady, literary horror take on slashers, even if part of me wish this has been a novella instead.

Thanks to NetGalley for selecting me to read this book that is due out in August.

Earlier this year I read The Only Good Indians. I have always been a horror fan, but had never heard of Stephen Graham Jones. Boy was I missing out on a great horror voice. I have to say that I liked My Heart is a Chainsaw even more. Watching Jade struggle to get those around her to see what she saw happening was both tense and screaming-at-the-movie-screen exciting. I do have to say that my movie TBW list has grown significantly because of this book. I would LOVE to see this on the big screen.