Brilliant, terrifying, funny, tragic, and constantly surprising -- Stephen Graham Jones never disappoints. Jade is a heroine you won't soon forget. I will be recommending this very enthusiastically to just about everyone (everyone with a strong stomach, anyway).

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review!

I love the premise of this book and I wanted to love it so bad but I just couldn’t get into it and had to push through. Just something about it that I couldn’t get into. It has so many horror references (which I enjoyed) and the story itself it solid just wasn’t my cup of tea.

Review of advance uncorrected reader’s proof

Seventeen-year-old slasher film-obsessed Jade [never to be called Jennifer or Jenn] Daniels is an angry young woman who can’t wait until she graduates and can leave the small lakeside town of Proofrock behind forever. She feels as if she’s an outcast in a town that doesn’t want anything to do with her even as she deals with an abusive father and an absent mother.

Jade may not have the things she most desires, but she understands slasher films as well as she understands the horror that befalls the town when Indian Lake turns bloody. But will she be able to convince the new girl that she’s really come to Proofrock to be the Final Girl?

In this veneration to the slasher film trope, Jade is the empathetic central character. Complicated, gritty, introspective, and heart-rending, it is a story that grabs readers and doesn’t let go. The plot twists a bit, leading to an unexpected denouement in the epilogue.

Interspersed throughout the telling of the tale are chapters of Jade’s “Slasher 101” paper for Mr. Holmes, her state history teacher. Although highly informative . . . and offering intriguing insights into the young woman’s thoughts . . . they tend to disrupt the flow of the story being told. Nevertheless, fans of slasher films will find much to appreciate here, and readers who aren’t so well-acquainted with that particular genre may well learn a thing or two, especially when it comes to the final girl.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Gallery Books -- Gallery / Saga Press and NetGalley
#MyHeartisaChainsaw #NetGalley

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ /5
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Slasher obsessed Jade is trying to survive until adulthood, when she can graduate and leave her awful town forever. When new construction and local legend seem to bleed together into the murky water of Indian Lake, Jade begins to catch signs that she could be living in an actual horror show. This could be a revenge slasher where only someone with her knowledge can see what is actually happening. Jade is thrilled.
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This book. THIS BOOK. I give it all the stars and more. I will call this a love letter to horror and triumph. Jade is an incredible, fully developed, real character. I really feel like I know her and I really love her. The novel switches between the actual story and the papers she has written in efforts to graduate- all about slashers of course. As one who doesn’t like bloody, gory movies, her papers actually were a great source of education for me. I grew an appreciation for a genre I don’t enjoy...and I think Jade would love that. This book shocked me, scared me, grossed me out (oh honey did it gross me out). The mother/parent/woman/teacher in me cried in understanding and connection multiple times. It was in depth and so beautifully written. This one will stick with me ♥️
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If you love the slashers, this is an absolute MUST READ. If you love strong female characters this is a MUST READ. If you’re looking for an excellent story and an education on those bloody films from your childhood this is a MUST READ. I recommend this for mature high school and up ♥️🚣‍♀️🌲
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Thank you to Stephen Graham Jones for this beautiful, gory novel. I honestly think it is your very best yet. Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read and review pre publication.

Jade (do NOT call her Jennifer) Daniels is an expert on slasher movies. She's seen 'em all, and has been waiting her whole life for this knowledge to come in handy. So when a body turns up in Indian Lake near her small hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, she determines that her high school classmate Letha Mondragon must be the slasher's Final Girl (you know, the virginal teen girl that ends up taking out the villain), and begins offering her assistance. But Letha, whose parents are some of the wealthy titans of industry that are building an upscale community across the lake from Proofrock, thinks something else is going on with Jade.

This is a love letter to slasher movies, and includes PLENTY of references to gore-fests, both mainstream and obscure. Thankfully, the chapters with the action are interspersed with a series of essays Jade wrote about the history of slashers. They're both useful in propelling the story forward, as well as instrumental in making sure readers, even those who haven't seen slasher movies, get all the references. Once again, Jones has created a wonderful but gory horror novel. Definitely worth a read, but maybe not during meal times.

*This book is scheduled to be published Aug. 31, 2021.

Moody, intense and intriguing this book is for a lover of slasher films. The main character is obsesses with them and mentions them throughout. I really liked the premise of the story, but there are parts of the book that drag a bit and the ending had me yearning for some questions to be answered. Overall it was an enjoyable slow burn of a read for an avid horror fan.

This story was my introduction to Stephen Graham Jones, and has me looking to see which one of his previous books I want to read next.

I want to thank NetGalley, the Stephen Graham Jones and Gallery Books for the e-ARC of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are honest, my own and left voluntarily.

I got this off NetGalley when the book was available as a Read Now, so thanks to the publisher for that.

If I had to describe this book in one word I would say it was <i>interesting</i>. I didn't know what to expect going in because I've never read a book by this author before (though I really want to read [book:The Only Good Indians|52180399]). I don't know if this was the best place to start for me because I don't think I've ever seen a slasher film before. I'm kind of a scaredy-cat, so those films aren't really for me but this book is very much about slashers and a love of those films. Obviously then, I might not understand some of the slasher elements of this book so you should probably read some more informed reviews if you really want to know if you'll like it.

I will say that the first 70% of this book did feel a bit slow, plot-wise. This wasn't a huge problem for me because I liked the characterization we were getting but if you're looking for a fast-paced plot, this book probably won't give you that until the very end. Since this is my first book by this author, I don't know how this writing style compares to his other books. I thought there was a bit of a frenetic feeling to the writing that did leave me feeling a bit confused about what was happening at time, but I do think that it was done in a very intentional way. The ending was very chaotic and had way more action than the rest of the book. It did feel like there was a lot happening in the end but in a way that felt like a culmination rather than just pure chaos. When I finished my thought was that I liked this book but there will probably be some people who like this a lot more than me and some people who will really dislike this.

I think this book was a really interesting read but I think there will be other books by this author that I'll like more. I'm excited to see what other people have to say about this once it comes out because I think this one will inspire a lot of interesting opinions.

I dislike myself for not liking this book more. It is obviously a well-liked/highly-anticipated book and I'm glad that there are so many people that appreciate this book more than I did.

My main issue with the story line was that it had a very slow build with the main character constantly spouting out facts about slasher movies. Main character, Jade, is obsessed with slasher films- to the point that she is convinced that her town is the next slasher about to happen. The beginning starts with a gruesome death, but the buildup to the next slasher-inspired death takes a while to surface.

I moderately enjoyed slasher films when I was a teenager, but without the background knowledge of all of the slasher films that Jade talked about, I felt lost in the references. Wikipedia offers an into-the-rabbit-hole amount of information about slasher films- from referenced essays on final girls, to the symbolic use of various weapons (like a chainsaw!) within this genre. I really enjoyed this aspect of reading "My Heart is a Chainsaw"- and although I doubt I would re-read it, there is a very re-readable aspect to this novel (especially for those 5-star reviewers that really loved this book!)

If you are thinking "give me blood and gore!" or "give me a study on slasher films!"- then I highly recommend this book. This is the first book I've read by this author- his writing style is very engaging and his word-choice really made parts of this book come alive... or really gruesomely dead? ;)

Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This book will be published on August 31, 2021.

Another great book from Stephen Graham Jones. Great characters, great pacing. Also, really loved the slasher movie history lessons throughout.

Stephen Graham Jones is not for everyone, but his excellent writing draws me in and doesn't let go. This book is no exception.

4-5 stars! This one is hard to review, because I feel as though the author deliberately writes in a way that keeps you from truly immersing in the story, yet you do ang when you finish you’re in for one heck of a wow! It feels as it’s a bit too slow, hard to understand, disjointed, but suddenly it’s all done and everything is like this puzzle that seemed to be a million pieces, but when all together creates this perfect picture! So, I recommend, to those who will read it in it’s entirety, because it’s one that you have to complete to love!

Will buzz around and use low Amazon reviewer number on release!

Typically the term "unflinching" is used when talking about works of Very Serious Fiction or Nonfiction (an even more serious genre than Very Serious Fiction), of which genre fiction like horror is not typically a part. But the more I read of Stephen Graham Jones' work, the more I can't get past that word as a way of describing just how he delivers terror so precisely. My Heart is a Chainsaw is no exception.

When I initially read the back-cover description of My Heart is a Chainsaw, I assumed our heroine would be thrilled at the knowledge that she holds and deftly use it to escape danger, to outwit the slasher, to emerge victorious at the end of the bloody day. But Jade is resigned; she does not fit the mold of the "final girl"—the pretty, popular girl who would face the killer time and time again and only just walk away. Jade is so far beyond not popular she's nearly the town pariah; she's Blackfoot and subject to subject to all kinds of careless assumptions about her family and heritage; and possibly worst of all, she cannot get her black hair to dye the vibrant colors she so wants it to, so she's left with a muddled, color-damaged mess. She knows what the slasher genre demands as its hero and she is not it. As things start to go down, Leitha, the "real final girl" hands Jade a machete Jade had previously given her as a means of protecting herself in her slasher-movie role, but Jade refuses. If I take that, she tells Leitha, I'll die. Leitha is the heroine of this story and all Jade can do is share her knowledge and hope she's enough on the fringes to stay out of the crosshairs.

Jade is certainly not a passive character—at turns she cuts a wrist (CW for suicide on this book, by the way), sneaks confidential information out of the sheriff's office, throws a garbage can through the doors of her high school, breaks out of jail, and...well, all the stuff she does to not get murdered as we race to a conclusion. Often in stories, we see the main character as the most active character, probably because creative writing teachers and writing groups rightly insist that it's difficult (and boring) to read about a passive character to whom things simply happen, so it's interesting to have such an active character and such a main character of this book very specifically not considering herself to be the main character of the most compelling story happening around her.

As I said, "unflinching" comes to mind a lot when reading Jones. Gore and other stomach-clenching elements are common fare in horror, but there's a fine line between showing plot events and voyeurism. Jones manages to stay on the side of the former, though uses the attention a lesser writer might give voyeuristically to lay out the things in Jade's life that are horrific on their own without a single drop of blood being shed: her pervy boss, the emotional minefield between her and her respective parents, the terrible balancing act she's forced to do with her father when the sheriff tries to tug her away from the path of self-destruction she's speeding down. It's there; we see it, a little more clearly than perhaps we wanted, but that's sort of the point. In his author's note, Jones writes about the power an influential teacher can have on a troubled student—how one person, be it that teacher, or a peer, or a community leader can step in and actually see someone for who they are and who they can be. It's a magical concept, one far more optimistic than the plot eventually leads you to believe is possible (which I don't think is a spoiler—this is a horror novel). I suppose there's something unflinching about that, too, in showing what could be but ultimately, frequently, isn't.

While the genre usually encourages page-turning action, and the content in My Heart is a Chainsaw is absolutely tense enough to make us want to race to the end to find out what happens to our intrepid heroine(s), Jones' writing demands careful reading, which is probably another reason that word "unflinching" comes to mind so much. I wouldn't call his writing spare, exactly, but it is concise in that there isn't the kind of narrative gristle that can help imply details certain uncareful readers might have missed as they were, again, racing to the end. At the beginning of one not-long paragraph, a character might be alive; by the end, they are dead and the action has shifted. Jones requires you read every word. He requires that you sit with every bit of movement. There is no looking away. You can learn patience, a little bit, in reading how things are going horribly wrong for someone else.

My Heart is a Chainsaw is solidly a horror novel, and it's unquestionably a love letter to the slasher genre. But it's also about the assumptions we make about people, especially living in a small ecosystem such as a high school or a tiny town. It's about the expectations we place upon others and ourselves, and how those can be self-fulfilling prophecies. It's about so many other things that will linger with me long after the stench of decay is forgotten. And as those kinds of things sear themselves into your memory, you won't want to look away.

Note on the full review: that link will be active in late August for the book's release.

Alright, this book hurt my brain a little bit. It went FAST. Shit went down. I didn't really know what was going on half of the time.

The author's writing is quick, witty and actually a bit rambling. I know that this is a purposeful choice meant to convey the tension in the book, but it was tough to read. Also, it was pretty intense, which means I had to be in the "mood" to read this. Although the story and plot were intriguing, the writing style is just not my cup of tea.

I did love all of the old horror references, as a horror buff myself. If you love early 2000s slasher films, this is for YOU. Give it a shot!

*Spoilers ahead!

This was my first foray into a slasher horror novel and I went in with high expectations. I was severely let down!

A young Native American high schooler obsessed with 80s slashers films finds herself in the middle of one of her own, ultimately realizing she herself is a heroine and can defeat the “monster”. The plot felt jerky and disjointed. The author made references to slasher films that ended up confusing this reader more than providing the assist.

There were themes of rape and abuse throughout that didn’t jive with the story but made abrupt plot questions. Other themes: power, “the final girl”, coming of age.

Perhaps a true horror fan would enjoy this novel. I will leave it on the bookshelf.

This book was a lot of fun. It had SGJ's signature madcap, fast-paced, race to the end and pack a lot of words in on the way style, which I really enjoy though I know some readers struggle with it. If anything, this book was even more of that as our protagonist, Jade, has a similar thinking style.

I really liked being in Jade's head for the book as she's not your usual heroine: she's not totally likeable as a character (or as a person in her town), she struggles, and she really, really obsesses over slasher movies. Luckily I've seen a lot of the slashers that she mentions, but even I didn't see them all! If you're not a slasher fan, you may struggle a bit with the references (oh and if you haven't seen Scream, she gives away the ending. But I'd be surprised if you were reading this and you hadn't seen Scream).

The social commentary of being the only indigenous folks in town, and family, and friendship, and parenthood all woven throughout are smart. It was because of these themes that I teared up twice in the book.

I struggled with the pacing a little. The first third was fun as it's getting in Jade's head, and her rules for slashers, and her waiting for something to happen. But when she continues waiting and waiting. . . anyway, there was a slow middle from my perspective. But the CLIMAX. Wow. It lasts several chapters and is a flurry of blood, guts, death, and destruction - and it was awesome. The setting also really made it, with the trappings of the setting making it a really fun ride.

By the end everything that was originally introduced gets wrapped, but I felt a little bit unsatisfied that there wasn't a few more pages to explain the very last page's ending (though I always feel like I'm saying "but what happened next?" so this might be just me).

Stephen Graham Jones follows up The Only Good Indians with this love letter to horror and horror fans. This is not an easy book, in that it requires so much of the reader, most of all patience, but the payoff is so rewarding and powerful.

When I say it requires patience, I mean it. The first 60% of this book is deliberately slow and meandering, a chainsaw idling before revving up and going on an absolute tear through the final third.

Gory, bloody, disturbing, and a hell of a ride, if you enjoyed The Only Good Indians, this book should be on your wavelength as well.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for providing me with an ARC.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of My Heart is a Chainsaw.

First, I love horror. Horror movies, horror posters, horror anything! I love to be scared and I love Halloween. Naturally, I had to request this when I saw the premise.

Second, great title. It caught my eye, even if the premise didn't.

Third, I love the premise about a heroine who immerses herself in 80s slasher films to escape the travails of her traumatic childhood and provincial town.

I really wanted to like this. No, that's not true. I wanted to LOVE this. But, I didn't.

There's a scene in my favorite movie of all time, Amadeus, when the Emperor Joseph, tells Mozart his opera would have been 'perfect' except for one thing. 'Too many notes.'

My Heart is a Chainsaw has 'too many words.'

But, that's not the only issue.

Most of the narrative read as filler, the characters, the nicknames Jade gives them, her imagination, and all the pop culture references, though I enjoyed reading them, was too much.

Many scenes dragged on for far too long, like the scenes in Bridesmaids; endless dialogue, most of it not adding to the story.

The author can write, but a part of me felt like he was trying to prove that to himself and us, the readers.

This was 200 pages too long, (the author seems to forget that horror movies are generally quite short, 90 minutes, 100 minutes tops) and after a few chapters, I felt like I was reading a British melodrama directed in the 80s. No shame to anyone who enjoys these types of movies.

As a result, when slayings did occur, my senses were dulled by the endless exposition and text that came before it.

I wasn't scared, I wasn't horrified, and that is a travesty.

I didn't like that the chapters were broken up by Jade's paper to her teacher. It was distracting, though I know the point was to offer further insight into her mind and perspective and a break from what was occurring presently. In certain genres/narratives, this could work and work well. It doesn't here.

I get the narrative is supposed to be about a transformative coming of age for Jade, a troubled young woman who must reconcile her personal fears of abandonment and abuse and forge on with her life, like the 'final girl' at the end of a horror movie.

True life is sometimes (most times) more horrifying than any horror movie; that's a fact.

But, I read because I love to read and I love to be entertained.

My Heart is a Chainsaw did not entertain me, but that's because I had different expectations.

This just wasn't for me.

I’d like to thank NetGalley and Gallery Books Saga Press for the ARC. I really hate giving low star reviews but unfortunately this one just didn’t do it for me. I was excited by the concept and description of the book and the prologue was good, but for me that’s where it ended.

This story was good, but what will stay with me for while was Jade. She was a unique heroine, unlike any I've read before. There were a few moments while reading when I started to drift, but she always pulled me back: I needed to know what happened to her. Sometimes a good character makes the story.
Thanks to Gallery Press/Saga Books and NetGalley for the advance digital copy to review. All opinions are my own.

Just loved this. Sorry it took so long to get to this one, but once I started it, I could not put it down.