3.5 stars - I had previously heard that Stephen Graham Jones had a distinctive writing style, and having now experienced it, I would definitely agree! I would describe this as literary horror, so if you are looking for more of a slasher thriller type book, this will probably not be what you are looking for. That said, if you are down for a slow burning story with a lot to say about violence in families, communities, and culture writ large, this will certainly deliver on that front. It definitely serves up the gore and by the end, we get that climactic pay off that you expect from a good old fashioned slasher

Stephen Graham Jones has quickly become one of my favorite authors! He has a unique way of blending spine tingling chills with profound social commentary, wrapping it all up in an unforgettable story.

My Heart is a Chainsaw is almost a love letter to the slasher movies of the 80's and 90's. Jones blends pop culture into the story so well that it made me want to rewatch all the movies.

I couldn't stop reading this book once I started it. It's one of the best books written for the horror genre in a long time.

I suppose it's time for me to admit that Stephen Graham Jones is just not for me. I hated The Only Good Indians, and I hated this. I was hoping for something fun and breezy and entertaining, like the slasher films this book is about. But it was interminable and boring as all get out.

The only reason I pushed through this, despite wanting to quit at least once every few pages, was because I always finish reading books that I start, especially when they are given to me for advanced review. I just know now that Good Indians was not a fluke, and I just don't jibe with Jones.

Hey, not everyone loves horror. And I know this. I don't understand it but I do <i>know</i> it. So I love Stephen Graham Jones, he's recently become an auto-buy author for me. I love his stories and his style and his voice. He's always creative, lacing fiction with humor and gore and a lot of horror knowledge (either stories, author or movies). I appreciate it so much, reading another fan of horror's stories.

This one is a slow start. It takes until about 40% for things to get jumping. Stick with it, it's worth it, I promise. You need to get to know Jude and her town. You need to know both the history of the lake, camp blood and the founders. It's a lot to take it. You need to meet the final girl and take it all in. You need to revel in all the fun horror movie trivia! The blood and gore and twists and turns are fabulous, well paced once you get half way, and will keep you guessing. This one was great. I'm definitely already sad I'm done and looking forward to the next story from him!

<i>A huge thank you to the author and publisher for providing an e-ARC via Netgalley. This does not affect my opinion regarding the book.</i>

Jade is obsessed with slasher films, and especially with the role of the “final girl”. When a few mysterious deaths occur in Jade’s small Idaho town, she’s certain they’re in for a real-life slasher. And when a new girl who perfectly fits the final girl archetype moves to town, Jade is the only person who knows what bloody danger awaits.

Okay, I’m a bit of a wimp, but this is absolutely one of those “put it in the freezer because it’s too scary at room temperature” kind of books. It’s gross and intense and violent and has creepy descriptions that still live rent-free in my head. But there’s also a lot of other stuff going on under the blood and guts: a complicated and endearing narrator, commentary on gentrification, twists on indigenous stereotypes, and so much more. I didn’t want to put it down (but had to before bedtime).

That was some ride! The slasher genre is alive and kicking in this story.

Things I liked about this story: Jade, her attitude, her love of slashers, movie trivia, all the slashery gore

Things I didn't like about this story: Jade, her attitude, bears

An outstanding novel, but make sure and bring your brain with you every step of the way...
If you're looking for an easy read, something you can pick up, put down, take a dip in the pool or the ocean or the lake, come back and pick up again while sipping on a cold one, this isn't the book for you.
Stephen Graham Jones is a modern English language master and My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a difficult read; not a book for casual entertainment.
While well worth the effort, I found myself being bogged down in places and struggling through others because, as I've said about Jones' writing in the past, his sentence structure is Faulknerian--absolutely stunning and majestic but requiring the reader's complete attention.
And this book is much, much more than a horror story. It's a literary novel about displacement, angst, economics, and culture that "just so happens" to be built around the thoughts and actions of a delightful Indian teen girl who "just so happens" to view everything in terms of slasher flicks. Sounds bizarre, but works like a dream.
I recommend this--and anything else Jones writes--highly. He may be the most talented author writing today.

I love the way Stephen Graham Jones writes in this confiding, conversational way. It made this book--which could have been an intolerable slog based on the pacing alone--a lot more alive and vibrant despite its very slow wind-up. Jade felt like such a real voice, and I loved seeing where she would go or what she would do next.

The first half of this book is a ton of exposition, contextual info, and scene-building. It's all important, and I feel like the payoff is ultimately worth it, but it feels like absolutely nothing happens until the 60-70% mark. Then the story gets tense and frightening and good--really good. I wasn't quite as sold on the actual resolution of the plot, but I appreciated its weirdness and its place within the world of what SGJ creates.

I'm so curious to hear what non-slasher fans think of this one. As a big fan, it was really fun to follow Jade's thought process and see where her story both enforces and subverts the mainstays of the genre. I'll be thinking about this one for a long time and I definitely think any horror fan would be remiss not to pick it up.

This book starts out at a breakneck pace as we are party to the stream-of-consciousness thoughts of our hero, Jade. While initially exciting, I found it to turn tiring as her hurtling thought stream about people, horror movies and herself seemed to work more as a smoke screen to Jade's true issues. This dulled the impact of the "reveals" at the end of the book for me.

As frustrating as readers may find her (which is part of her charm), SGJ has given us a unique and powerful voice with Jade, our main character, Her masters-level understanding of slasher films frames the plot of the novel and is a vehicle for insight on how she processes the darkness in her world. This novel is an unique examination of our expectations from popular media, our coping mechanisms, and the grind of injustice, all propelled by a fascinating plot.

Wow! What a finish! This book is a bit tough to review, as I found it uneven and very slow at times—but then there are portions of such chaotic, gory brilliance that all the plodding that came before is largely forgiven.

In a lot of ways, My Heart is a Chainsaw feels like the big sister companion piece to The Last Final Girl, so it’s interesting that I read them back to back. The general structure of both books is similar, complete with a quirky oddball protagonist who has an encyclopedic knowledge of all things slasher. In Chainsaw, we follow Jade, a self-identified eccentric outcast who serves as our local guide to the isolated lakeside town of Proofrock. In this book, Jones better succeeds at interweaving Jade’s slasher obsession into the narrative, largely delving into various movie tropes and insider knowledge via “history” papers she drops off into her patient teacher’s inbox for extra credit. While this works okay structurally, I still found some of the slasher movie info-dumps/references inserted into the story dialogue to be grating rather than charming. Life hasn’t been kind to Jade, and slasher movies are her comfort and chosen escapism, but that doesn’t mean I found the multiple diatribes about topics such as why Jaws is a slasher, or Halloween’s pervasive cultural influence, to be necessary or beneficial to the story. Often times the story stalled because the only thing happening was Jade obsessing about some particular facet of slasher lore.

This book was an interesting read after the first offering, The Only Good Indians. I had really enjoyed that and so I was excited to be able to review this book. The book is centered around a town where a new development has been erected on a lake, but on the other side of the lake are the "locals", who are mostly Native Americans. This book seemed to transcend genre from horror to pseudo-slasher, which I think was the point.
Our main character, Jade, is a high school senior who is obsessed with slasher films. However, her dream comes true when it appears that a slasher film is beginning to take place in her hometown. The only question is, who is the murderer? And is this really happening?
This book is an ode to all the best horror films including Scream and Friday the 13th. It seems as though dream has meshed with reality in Jade's mind and we follow it eagerly to its crescendo finish in the book. Like his earlier works, this book does not disappoint and does not give any secrets away from beginning to end. I highly recommend this book as a wonderful example of how to create an entire world and intrigue your audience.

This ebook was provided by netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am becoming a big Stephen Graham Jones fan! My Heart is a Chainsaw pays homage to the slasher genre and it is such a fun romp through a twisted tragedy. Our main character, Jade, is a high school senior and the book takes place from graduation through July 4. A serial killer has come to town, and Jade’s extensive knowledge of slasher movies has prepared her to coach the Final Girl through the scary events. I really enjoyed this book so much! Jade was such a vibrant character and we got to know so much about her through her extra credit slasher papers and her interactions with the odd folks in her community. I felt for her when she was treated badly by townsfolk, and don’t even get me started on the terrible human who is her father. I am so glad that I read this book around July 4 - it set such a chaotic atmosphere! Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for this advanced review copy!

I have loved basically everything I have read from SGJ and this was no exception.
It was a love letter to the slasher genre with Native American culture woven into the typical slasher tropes in a fresh way I have never seen before. And as a huge slasher fan myself I loved all the references to different killers and final girls throughout. I will caution you though, if you still have a lot of slasher films to see, you may find yourself spoiled for some!
Beautifully written and not quite as heavy as The Only Good Indians, for those who struggled with his last move, I think this would be a great one to try. SGJ has cemented himself as one of my favorite authors and I can’t wait for people to get their hands on this book,

I read, loved, and assigned The Only Good Indians in my American Literature course. My Heart Is a Chainsaw has a teenaged female lead and fully formed secondary characters. I found the action harder to follow due to the filtering of the action through the rather unreliable narrator. It felt almost like American Psycho when trying to determine if the action was *really* taking place or not. It also felt like there were intentional plot holes. So, full of horror tropes! The school papers folded into the book throughout were fun and gave a different perspective of the main character. I only wish I got papers like those!

Jade Daniels is an outcast with an abusive father and a mom who doesn’t get involved with her at all. Jade has chosen to find comfort in the world of horror movies. Jade knows all there is to know about horror movies genre. Especially those featuring masks killers who revenge kill.when the murders become real she must look into her broad knowledge base to figure out what is happening . The author gives insight to Jades “mask” and into her damaged psyche

Stephen Graham Jones? Literary and socially-conscious horror? Pretty much any book by him is an absolute YES YES YES.

“You don’t remake The Exorcist, you don’t sequel Rosemary’s Baby, and you don’t be disrespectful about soil an actual slasher has walked across. Some things you just don’t touch”

2021 has been a phenomenal year for new releases and I am confident in saying My Heart is a Chainsaw is the best of them. It’s yet another one that my review will never do it the justice it deserves.

This was a love letter to the slasher genre. While also existing in that meta space made famous by Scream, it reworked this sub-genre by giving outcasts a space front and center. Jade speaks almost exclusively in slasher. From facts, to scene references, full-on quotes, even going so far as to write Slasher 101 papers for her history class (my favorite addition to the book). While Jade’s horror movie references frequently made me laugh, they’re all edged in pain.

Horror for Jade is an escape from her day-to-day. Throughout the novel you get to read as she navigates her trauma, bit by bit revealed through the progression of the story and her inner-thoughts. She’s a character I rooted for right from the start.

The story lays a lot of groundwork that leads the reader to make about 1817162 guesses to what’s going on. The build up may seem slow but it gives you a chance to not only get to know Jade, but to see through her eyes how her town is being changed by gentrification.

The ending was true perfection. The moment I finished I wanted to reread it again (I will in October 😇). If you’re a horror fan, this is a must-read for you.

The minute I saw a "Shirley Jackson meets Friday the 13th" I knew I needed to read this! And boy it didn't disappoint! Creepily compulsive I just couldn't stop reading! Warning: don't read late at night! Second warning: a bit gruesome in spots, don't say you weren't warned! Lots of slasher references that I loved! Than you so much!

I think I loved this book? I devoured it, I loved the main character, and the supporting characters, and the setting, and the plot...and then I got to the end and I was so mad and sad! But I haven't stopped thinking about it and now I think I love the ending. And I think this book will be re-read by me and has earned a place on my keep shelf. Five stars.

P.S. Slasher 101 should totally be a college course. Like a film/history/lit crossover course. I'd take that class.