This book was unfortunately a DNF for me. I couldn’t get into the style of the author’s writing, nor the premise of the book. I had to shelve it as not finished due to the lack of interest I was feeling.

Jade’s story is an homage to slasher films and the final girl trope. Jade imagines her life into a real slasher film where she aims to be the final girl.

Stephen Graham Jones consistently gives good, fun horror. I love his sense of humor that shines through each of his books, and the way he so clearly delights in the gruesome and gory. While I didn't always read horror, I have always watched it, so MY HEART IS A CHAINSAW feels even more geared toward me. There are so many excellent nods and references (particularly to 80s horror films, Jade's preferred era) that absolutely tickled me. What a beautiful, bloody ride. Can't wait to read book two!

The opening of this book is a classic of this genre.. Two foreigners decide to go out onto Indian lake and that's where the real horror begin. The lake is also where Jade Daniels steals a boat and attempts suicide, for which is she given community service for stealing the boat.

A love letter to the horror genre, this slasher is full of hundreds of references to horror films, which serve an important purpose because that is how Jade understands the world. Behind the on screen horror, there is real trauma that she is running from.

However, soon her encyclopaedic knowledge of slashers comes in handy as a real killer comes to her small town and she must follows the plot and uncover the killer.

It was fun, well written, explores themes of trauma, growing up Native, identity, and girlhood in all its messiness.

It is a must read!

I absolutely love Stephen Graham Jones his writing is beautiful. I actually got this book as a gift shortly after receiving it here. So I feel like the final girls trope is so entertaining and just pulls me in. I was so back and forth between characters and to seeing who actually done it and what's going to happen next. I'm pretty sure I rated this 5 stars!

Chaotic and Tedious, all at the same time.

I really thought I would enjoy this one and am pretty disappointed that I couldn't connect with it.

Jade is a great character but the constant, in-depth discussion of every slasher movie was just too much. Have you seen that meme where the guy is standing by the white board filled with hundreds of cards and strings connecting all of them? This story felt like that meme. I got whiplash as the characgter's thoughts were all over the place. Yet when she would land on a thought, she would spend eternity chasing it down.

I was mentally exhausted with this one.

Unfortunately this book just wasn't for me. I had an incredibly hard time getting into this book and ended up DNFing around 25% of the way in. Outside of the prologue, I found the beginning of the book to be incredibly slow and found that I would constantly put it down with no desire to pick it back up. I also had a really difficult time connecting with the writing style.

Stephen Graham Jones is right up there with Grady Hendrix in the horror with a touch of humor category. Horror movie buffs will enjoy this book. I am very excited that there will be a second book.

My Heart is a Chainsaw was an epic love letter to the slasher genre of horror movies on the surface, and a desperate survival story of a damaged teenage girl at the center. I wanted to love this story, Jade, Proofrock.. But the pacing was beyond slow, physically reading it was next to impossible, I had to listen to the audiobook to get through it. The majority of the first 75% are Jade's horror trivia ramblings and desperate hope and desire to be apart of real-life slasher action. It's not until the last quarter of the book that things really pick up and the truth of Jade's trauma comes to light. And then like most horror movies it just ends without real resolution, obviously setting up for a sequel. I think with editing and focus the story could be amazing.

Stephen Graham Jones' My Heart is a Chainsaw is a beautiful love letter to horror movies, in a way that is perhaps more meta than the Scream franchise, with heart to boot

The novel asks this question: What if your life suddenly turned into a slasher movie? For most of us, that idea is fodder for our most terrifying nightmares, but Jade Daniels is thrilled by the prospect in Stephen Graham Jones’s My Heart Is a Chainsaw.

The thrill comes in the form of two Dutch tourists who have been murdered at Indian Lake near the site of a development that marks the steady encroachment of the rich people from across the lake into Jade's community. Because of this she realizes something nasty is afoot thanks to her genre experience. More people die — only rich ones. She’s on the scene graduation night at the lake, where popular rich girl Letha Moondragon stumbles on the desiccated corpse of another victim. Jade knows her tropes — she’s found her final girl. She knows she must offer a hand to Letha — and she must prepare herself for the final battle. Jade might not believe she’s final girl material, but she’s definitely up to the task of trying to prepare Letha for the final battle.

The novel tackles gentrification, addiction, and colonialism. And it also works as a metanarrative about the horror genre and its influence on society. It's a one of kind, thought provoking slasher.

As a fan of the classic horror genre of film, My Heart is a Chainsaw hit all the nostalgic feelings. I loved the essay sections where our main character was earning school credit by analyzing film. There’s a real life horror movie unfolding, and leave it to the real life horror loving outcast to try and save the day!

I did not finish this book. I made it about a quarter of the way through and the story was just going nowhere. A rambling girl talking about serial killers but nothing really happening in those pages

Stephen Graham Jones is one of my favorite horror writers out there. He can make you shake in your boots! Loved it!

Jade, a horror obsessed teen, lives in Proofrock Idaho, a town that’s quickly being gentrified. A town that wants nothing to do with Jade. With an absent mother, an abusive father and no friends, Jade turns to horror movies to find some comfort. Jade is a walking horror encyclopedia. And that’s what helps her identify the strange happenings in Proofrock. As Jade draws us into this dark, spiral of a story, we catch glimpses of loneliness, trauma and complicated relationships. Throughout the book Jade embarks on a quest to save the final girl, but can she save herself?

This is my 4th Stephen Graham Jones book and the hype train is real for me. This one took me longer to get through as I was partly savouring, partly wanting to get every reference. I ended up really feeling for Jade and connecting to her. A character I won’t soon forget. Alongside The Only Good Indians, both main female characters in both SGJ books touched me, way deep in my bones. This is all the more impressive to me that a male writer can delve into deep feelings and bring them out in both girls.

In his signature style,SGJ touches upon different layers in the book beyond the horror. The dangers of gentrification, American colonization and deforestation were prevalent in the backdrop of this book. If you sit back and reflect you’ll really see all of Jone’s messages and warnings throughout the book. Truly, visionary.

The research that went into this book blew my mind. Every horror film was mentioned in multiple of ways, some subtle, some not, but all of them were expertly woven. This is a book that builds to an ending true to Jade’s slashers. Get ready for a literary horror journey, 5✨.

Thank you @simonschusterca for the eBook copy as well, I was able to read chapters while doing cardio at the gym instead of hauling my physical copy with me!

With this book's premise being based on horror movie final girls and all the references to horror movies, I thought I was going to love this book. Unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. Half the time I was bored and the other half I felt like I had no clarity.

This was a basically written like it should be a slasher movie about a girl who is so obsessed with the slasher genre that she manifested it into reality. And I just did not enjoy reading it at all.

First of all, I know I, as well as many other people, can get obsessed about certain topics. But it is not fun to read about people being obsessive and ranting and doing nothing but think about one thing (in the main characters case, thinking about slasher films and how stuff in her own life is mimicking the genre.) It got to be way too much. Info dumps about movies, turning into spiels about how her town had the makings of a movie happening and then those things happening. Just too much.

Secondly, it was too slow. Nothing seemed to really happen until about 80% of the way through the book and then BAM, the body count went through the roof with some of the goriest descriptions I have ever read in my life. And then we toss in a rape revenge fantasy and supernatural elements and I didn't appreciate it.

Lastly, the very last chapter was just stupid.

I really enjoyed this story set in Idaho. The MC in the story, Jade, is a Native American teenager whose dealing with bullying, abuse, and neglect. She is also a horror movie fan and writes papers for her history teacher teaching him the basics of SLASHERS. And she is so fed up with her hometown that she wishes a SLASHER would come and visit...then bodies start turning up. Stephen Graham Jones is one of my new favorite authors and I look forward to reading more of his work. I want to thank the author, the publisher, and Netgalley for giving me an e-copy of this book, in return for an honest review.

I have finished the book and I sit here struggling with my feelings about it. The premise : AWESOME! Horror Movie References : AWESOME! Gore Factor : AWESOME! The writing style killed me and made it hard for me to continue reading, if your mind wanders, even the slightest bit, you're flipping back a few pages to figure out what's happening......but, the writing style is on purpose. You're living in the brain of Jade, 17 year old outcast, horror fanatic, who is convinced that a slasher film is happening in her town of Proofrock, Idaho.

After contemplating this, I see the brilliance, I'm going to go with 4 stars here. Pick this one up and give it a go! Just be prepared for ALL of the slasher films knowledge and all of the craziness of being a 17 year old outcast.

I'm intrigued to see how the sequel plays out.

A special thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster Canada, and Stephen Graham Jones for providing me with an ARC.

This was my first Stephen Graham Jones book and won't be my last . I loved a horror story that feels familiar, that pays tribute to horror movies. This is a must read.

Stephen Graham Jones is an author whose books I enjoy reading. And I really wanted to enjoy this book, but I struggled with this one. Jade is a fierce, angry teenaged girl, in a small town where no one wants to be around her. Her anger is justified and she finds comfort in horror movies of any kind. Her knowledge of such is extensive and here is where I think I lost my connection to her story. I struggled to read through it and the last quarter of the book made much more sense to me. And I really liked Jade and her sometimes relationship with a teacher and the town sheriff. It’s an interesting story that just didn’t always make a lot of sense to me. But I will still seek out books by SGJ.

Thank you to Simon Schuster Canada and Netgalley for this ebook to read and review.