This is the second book I've read from Stephen Graham Jones, and I did enjoy it more than The Only Good Indians (even though the rating is the same). I wanted to try another of his books because I wasn't sure if The Only Good Indians didn't quite work for me as much as I wanted because of the subject matter or if his writing just isn't for me. I definitely preferred the subject matter here! However, I think the writing isn't quite my style. I think it's more like literary fiction than I care for.

The pacing was a bit uneven for me. The beginning was absolutely fantastic with some creepy moments. However, I struggled to get through the plodding middle section. For me, this lost track of the main storyline and introduced too many extra details. The book really picks up though (in a way I loved), but it ends in a very unsatisfying way for me.

This is definitely an ode to slasher movies/a love letter to horror in general. I thought this was quite fun! Jade is a horror superfan and while this was mostly enjoyable, it did get to be too much for me at times. However, I did love watching how she tries to convince everyone that they're in a slasher film. She does try to prepare people for what's coming in order to save them. I ultimately rooted for Jade and liked how she's not going down without a fight.

I think that this had some good commentary on the Indian experience in America. His books are definitely on the smarter side of horror!

Overall, reading this was a bit all over the place for me. While I really loved some parts, I also struggled with others. Ultimately, I don't think that his writing is for me. However, this seems to work really well for others, so I'd still recommend trying it out!

I received a copy of this for review from the publisher via NetGalley - thank you! All opinions are my own.

My video review can be seen on my channel (around minutes 4:49-7:36 of this video): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tXwRVfqA9Ns

Well, the whole TBR was thrown off this month the moment I got an email from NetGalley that My Heart is a Chainsaw was available. I discovered Stephen Graham Jones last year and have been on a mission since then to read all of his books. This one was one of my most anticipated books for 2021 before I even read the synopsis, but how would this not pull you in?!
“Jade feels like she’s trapped in a slasher film as tourists go missing and the tension between her community and the celebrity newcomers to the Indian Lake shore heads towards a tipping point, when she feels the killer will rise.” (Goodreads)
Initially, when I finished reading this I gave it 4 stars, but I’m finding his books need to sit and marinate for a little bit before I can come to a final rating. There’s always so much more to the storyline when I sit back and think about it. The horror plot with Jade and all of the slasher tropes felt very nostalgic to the some of my favorite movies. I enjoyed reading in between chapters Jade’s “Slasher 101” papers, feeling like I was getting ready to watch Scream.
But then we also have Terra Nova being built across Indian Lake. This new, rich community taking over a forest area. I enjoyed the social commentary that came with this, the gentrification and what is happening to parts of the US. Jones did a great job of tying this subtly into the slasher elements.
Overall, I’m giving this a 5 star. I would say if you’re a Stephen Graham Jones/horror/slasher film fan, this one is probably for you!
CW: mentions of sexual abuse

Horror is probably my favorite genre. That is where Jade and I connected. We are both horror fans. Jade however is horror obsessed.

This book is very well written. I literally felt as if I was in the frantically racing mind of a teenager. I felt every bit of anxiety, fear and excitement.

It did start off slow. I found myself struggling through some chapters just because I was bored, but it does pick up the pace.

I wasn’t really a fan of the slasher 101 chapters honestly, it made the book a bit manic of that makes sense?

Overall this was a great body of work. I see why this author is praised as he is.

I have read one of the author’s previous works, and I liked it a lot! The way the author writes is not only engaging and descriptive, but it makes everything seem incredibly real. The author has a way of making his towns come to life, and helps deliver the setting in a way that when I was reading the first chapter - I felt cold as Jade wandered around in her overalls. I could almost feel her warming her hands on the fire, or welcoming the warmth of a jacket. It’s is only for a few imperfections that I did not give this book a perfect rating.

The main character is annoying, to me as a 23 year old woman - I could not relate to her well. I love horror, but I’m not a slasher junkie so it wasn’t that bothering me, she would needlessly go on and on about unrelated horror scenes. To the point that she was talking so much she was running out of breath. I was somewhat hoping a character would tell her to shut up and put a jacket on. However, as much as I thought she was annoying, I also felt incredibly bad for her. She feels like a real person, her because all she has is a father who is utterly useless and horrible. Her desperation is incredibly clear. So her being annoying is clearly intentional, the author wants you to feel how desperately she is trying to cling to something she loves and brings her joy. In this way she represents a teenager girl well, she is very vulnerable and emotional but also always shares too much information. This book stands on its own, and does not need comparison to his previous work.

The main character definitely feels like an outsider, but has a sort of charm that keeps you interested. The humor in this book is well written and does not ruin the flow or seriousness of the story. There is exploration of dark themes and how a young mind understands them. Including abuse, alcoholism, sexism, and rape culture.

The can tell simply how much the author has put so much time and love into this book. The author did a lot of research, on horror and slasher culture. The character is sort of a trivia of random slasher facts, but isn’t solely defined by this which is incredibly beneficial to the story.

I want to sincerely thank NetGalley and the publisher for giving me access to the ARC! I will be picking this book up once it’s published!

Thank you to publisher and NetGalley!
Wow! This was a pulse racing and edge of my seat read. It was hard to stop reading and when I did I just wanted to start reading it again. Definite 5 star read!

My Heart is a Chainsaw.


My Mind is a Tree.
SGJ has carved it into a slasher-seaking monstrosity.

Stephen Graham Jones has, time and again, found an artery straight to places in my mind that live for his voice. His unique cadence takes a few pages, or even chapters to find, but I think it forces a reader to see the effort he puts into placing the right word into each and every sentence. His words resonate for months, YEARS after they find their place in my mind. This book was no different.

In Chainsaw he weaves a beautiful, unique story that will appeal to slasher officiants, dropping easter eggs like Ernest Cline did for 80s pop buffs in Ready Player One. However, for those who haven't loved, or frankly, those who dislike a lot of slasher cinema, he uses the references as a history lesson to reveal the themes and events which rule Jade's life. Honestly, the latter is me. I haven't found great entertainment from Slasher content, which is why it is so significant that SGJ once again burrowed in and showed me how, with the right voice, a slasher could be loved. It's made me want to experience more and that scares me.

Jade, our main character, is beautiful; whether she knows it or not. She is infinitely strong, vulnerable, relatable. Her struggle is your struggle as she spends the novel searching for her truth while fronting that she already knows who she is. All the while, we watch her fragile community fracture and nobody hears her voice. She knows what's happening, at least according to the rules of the slasher genre she lives by. We root for her, for her monsters, and watch out for the pitfalls of the red herrings (as Jade recommends). We read her essays and understand the game.

In the end, SGJ crushed me in a single sentence. The ending was beautifully constructed without holding back. I refuse to spoil a moment for any potential readers. But please, oh please, let Jade take you to slasher school.

Thank you Saga Press and Gallery books for the opportunity to read this in advance if it's release on August 31, 2021.

This book is classic SGJ, indulgent in the best way possible. Although it's very evident in the story itself, the beautiful afterward really captures how much of himself he put into Jade. She is the main driving force of this novel, giving vibrance to the world and the characters she interacts with. I do wonder if her voice could have shone through better in first person, but opinions on aesthetics will vary by person. The way her race is worked in is subtle and sharp, emphasizing the awkwardness young people like herself feel about their in-between/outsider status. SGJ's signature horror-logic conclusions were great here, and while I thought some of the action could have been condensed, no one can drop bodies like Jones.

I did not enjoy this one nearly as much as The Only Good Indians, which so far remains my favorite by him and is imo one of the strongest pieces of horror this century has seen. However, My Heart Is a Chainsaw is an exercise in love and respect for one's self and one's medium that is hard to deny. Also, you can always count on Jones for an ending that ties up the novel's themes in a most unexpectedly brilliant way.

Rating: 9.5/10

Thanks to the publisher and author for an advance reading copy of My Heart is a Chainsaw for review consideration. This did not influence my thoughts or opinions.

My Heart is a Chainsaw is a laudable successor to Jones’s most recent work, The Only Good Indians. It is both harrowing and heart-wrenching in its execution, further cementing Jones as my go-to in horror literature. If you are a slasher fan in any sense of the word, this is a can’t-miss.

You have all probably heard me gushing about The Only Good Indians for almost two (2) years now. I read it nine (9) months before its release date – 7/14/20 – and still find opportunities to bring it up in conversation. It was a genre-changing read for me, and from what I can tell, the same can be said for many others. It narrowly missed out of being my #1 read in 2019 behind Black Crouch’s Recursion but I keep mulling it over and wonder if I made a mistake.

Now, we have the upcoming release of My Heart is a Chainsaw – 8/31/21. You can be assured that I will be doing the same thing this go-round.

This being written by Jones was enough for me to move it up the TBR pile, but this bit from the synopsis: “Jade feels like she’s trapped in a slasher film…” instantaneously hooked me. I cannot say that I am at the same level as Jade in slasher trivia (not by many, many miles), but I am always up for re-watches if the mood suites. Her knowledge of the genre mixed with how certain events align to fulfill her “prophecy” feels to me like something nostalgic horror fans would fall head over heels for, the way video game/cult classic film fans fell for Ready Player One by Ernest Cline (though Jones doesn’t really hit you over the head with the references, and then continue to bash your bloody corpse).

While there are moments where Jade has these internal conversations with herself that just ooze slasher references, Jones sandwiches “Slasher 101” chapters throughout the main storyline to further hammer home the love. This is all and well, but there is so much left to unpack here: gentrification, dredging up the past (literally), the pain we force ourselves to forget, our true purpose in live, etc. There is a lake-sized load of things I want to unload and comb through, but since I am one of the first to have read and reviewed this title, I’ll wait for some others to join the club.

If you enjoy slashers or books about final girls or your horror mixed with hard-cry emotion but with a little humor, this book… this book is what you have always been looking for. Jade is such a compelling character, though she may take a little warming up to in the onset. While there are secondary characters that play significant roles throughout the novel, she is the absolutely focal point and deservedly so.

Sort of a P.S. – I know Grady Hendrix also has a final-girl novel coming up, The Final Girl Support Group (7/13/21), which I am now looking even MORE forward to having finished this title.

Feels like 2021 is the year of the Final Girl and I AM HERE FOR IT.

It's not often I have to physically set down a book and walk away. However, there were multiple times reading My Heart is a Chainsaw where I had to simply stop to take a breath. And I mean that in the best possible way. The book it dark. It is heavy. There are times when it is difficult to read. And at the end of it all, the novel is a masterful work of modern horror from one of the top writers of the day.

On the verge of graduating, Jade remains the weird girl in her small mountain town--the horror freak, the one with the broken family, always on the outside looking in. However, with graduation looming and the affluent outside world attempting to set down roots in town, everything is about to change.

Alone by circumstance and design, Jade frames her existence through slasher films. They give her structure, context, escape. And through her eyes, My Heart is a Chainsaw reads as a love letter to the slasher genre. Saturated with references and interspersed with Jade's own analysis of the genre, the novel knows its heritage and actively draws strength and fresh life from those traditions--making them not just consequential, but an active part of the narrative itself.

There is enough already on the verge of change in Jade's small town, but when gruesome deaths begin to upend life even further, Jade realizes this is the moment she has spent years preparing for. She knows she isn't the main character--that pure, heroic final girl who will stop the bloodshed--but she is equipped to help that girl survive and thrive in the face of all that is coming. Armed with the knowledge of a thousand slasher films and the bitter determination of someone who has faced so much of life alone, Jade prepares to fulfil her purpose amidst the violence that will soon descend--whether those around her expect it or not.

Jones is an incredible storyteller, and he has crafted a slasher novel with a beating human heart at the center. Even despite Jade's certainty, nothing is quite what it seems. With a dark mystery unraveling throughout the town and old ways of life threatened by the wealthy influences--with Jade's family in tatters and her future little more than a vague hope--the novel layers family drama and small-town narrative with the coming-of-age story of one teenage girl out of place in a chaotic world that has not cared for her like it should have. These are the human elements that give the slasher such weight. In the face of violence, Jade's story is about the fight to survive, about the circumstances we try to escape, the hands extended along the way, and the unexpected places life can lead, even when we think we have it all figured out.

Frightening, absolutely brutal, and beautifully human, My Heart is a Chainsaw is an incredible work of horror fiction as well as an empathetic, heartfelt story of one girl's struggle to understand and find a place for herself in a world refusing to go her way.

Content warnings: graphic violence, discussion of sexual assault, predatory behavior, suicide, mental health, domestic abuse, substance abuse, violence against animals.

I absolutely love this book it’s like a horror film on steroids written in a really smart savvy way. The characters are ones that you route four and the plot is so fast paced but thorough. I strongly recommend this book.

Stephen Graham Jones is on a warpath and we’re thankfully in its red stained wake.

SGJ goes for broke with yet another expression of his love for slasher films, this time with a lead character with an internal and, often annoyingly to those around her, external dialogue that any horror fan can relate too. Jones sets up a familiar path with the class struggle but rips its chest open and subverts expectations with what’s to come with Jade as the beating, bloody heart within.

Looking forward to having conversations about this one!

My Heart Is a Chainsaw is a love letter to slasher films. It is set in a small town, Proofrock, where our protagonist Jade lives out her fantasy of being in a slasher movie in real life. Jade is a damaged girl, and we have to wait to see if the slasher is real, or part of her fantasy. Everything centres around Proofrock's annual Independence Day celebrations. Jade knows the slasher will attend and murder everyone, but nobody believes her.

Okay, I am really conflicted about this book. I've been wanting to read something from Jones for years; he is constantly mentioned as a master of horror writing, so I was really excited to read this. I knew I would love it.

And I did love parts of it. It was a really strange reading experience for me. I would skip through passages, thrilled by what was happening, and then suddenly find the next passage difficult to get through. I honestly don't know what was different about those parts. I'd say fifty percent of My Heart is a Chainsaw was brilliant, while fifty percent was a slog.

Things I liked:
Jade. Jade is a brilliant character. I really felt as though I knew her. She is a fighter, and she deserves a beautiful, horror-movie-filled life.

The references to horror films: As I will go into more detail with later, these references were cool.

Shooting Glasses and Mr Holmes.


If you love slasher films, or horror movies in general, you will get a kick out of this. There are references to the Friday 13th, Halloween, Nightmare on Elm Street and Scream franchises, amongst many others, on pretty much every page. Jones loves horror, and it shows.

Thanks to Stephen Graham Jones, NetGalley and Gallery books for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Proofrock is a solitary lakeside town that high school student Jade calls home. When a rich development construction company called Terra Nova starts building a gated community across from Indian Lake, strange activities straight out of a horror movie begin happening. However, Jade’s infatuation with the Golden Age of slasher films promptly turns into reality as her knowledge of these cinematic classics become her weapon for survival.

Stephen Graham Jones pays homage to those great slasher films of yesteryear in his novel My Heart Is A Chainsaw. From the abandoned cabins of Camp Blood to those dauntless Final Girls, the author exploits his own brand of horror through the lens of a killer on the loose. Tropes such as red herrings, pesky out-of-towners and the last woman alive to confront the killer are all cleverly utilized in original fashion. With respect to iconic legends parallel to Halloween, Friday the 13th and Psycho, Jones cleaves his own path of carnage leaving a wake that doesn’t discriminate against victims. True horror aficionados will enjoy this jog down motion picture memory lane while feasting on this disturbing work of fiction served on a hot poker. This Slashland of a book packs enough jump scares, body counts and unconventional weaponry to satisfy every gorehound enthusiast this side of Elm Street.

I suggest readers sign up for Professor Stephen Graham Jone’s class lecture on Slashers 101. Students will need to provide their own signature weapon. A machete, kitchen knife or maybe an old leather glove created with fishing knives will do. Just pray he doesn’t assign homework. I loved this novel and so will you. It has already made my Top Novels Of 2021 list. A very strong Horror Bookworm recommendation.

I love horror film so a novel about a horror-obsessed teen who finds herself in a slasher definitely piqued my interest, but unfortunately I found it to be more tedious to read than anything else. Based on Stephen Graham Jones other work I've read, he has so many great Big Ideas but the execution hasn't quite landed for me yet.

A love letter to all the slashers of the world. Almost poetic, as much as gore fests can be. Brilliantly written.

I had really high hopes for this book.

Like ridiculously high.

I'm a huge fan of slasher movies, all horror movies really, and when I saw the synopsis of this I was so excited. A girl who loves horror is in her own slasher movie? Wow this is gonna be great.

The book didn't exactly pan out like I wanted it to.

It's not a bad book, far from it, it just took a ridiculously long time to get going. Like once it finally did I was way more interested but honestly I almost stopped reading a number of times because it was so slow. The character, Jade, was both fun and frustrating for me. I wanted to like her, I knew at times I probably was the type of weirdo that talked horror movies with everyone I met but she just fell flat for me as well.

I've never read a book by this author before. I knew his name because his first book was on every to read list when it came out and I was excited to get a chance to read this one.

I really wish I had liked it more.

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery Books for letting me read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones is a heart-thumping, pulse-racing thrill ride that leaves you wanting more. Every time I thought I had this figured out and knew what was happening, it would flip and have me confused and guessing again. It is like watching one of the great slasher flicks from the eighties or nineties; it even has our main character obsessed with everything horror. She is an expert on slasher movies and realizes that strange occurrences are the town’s worst nightmare and her biggest fantasy comes to real life. When people start dying, she thinks she has it all figured out and exactly knows what will happen, so she starts to plan and set the big event stage. Unfortunately for Jade, in reality, the killer doesn’t follow the rules.
There are so many layers to this story that I do not even know where to start diving in. Jade is a broken and messed up kid who has not had a good life. In all honesty, the entire town has had it rough. Suddenly, wealthy people move in, showing them what they have all been missing all their lives, and many people in the town resent them for this. The anger and conflict that so many characters have keep you guessing who the killer could be. You will start to question everything from beginning to end. The action doesn’t miss and beat, not letting you take a breath to calm down.
Well done, Jones! I call say with complete honesty I look forward to reading more from you in the future, and I believe you have a bright future in the dark and spooky department.

Thank you Netgalley and Stephen for giving me this book in exchange for an honest review.

Jones writes what can only be described as a loving homage to slashers. His love for the genre spills out into the treatment of every character, into every thing they do and every word they say. You can’t help but love and hate Proofrock as well as Terra Nova. The research that had to have gone into this is staggering.

The story is everything you want it to be and so much more than you initially think. I fell in love with The Only Good Indians because of his ability to write a story that was surprising, frightening and violent with a suddenness that always caught me by surprise. The same happens in My Heart is a Chainsaw. I was never fully prepared for what happened next. It is utterly fantastic.

In her small town of Proofrock in Idaho, Jade Daniels is an outsider. With her black fingernails, badly executed dye jobs, hatred of her father and fascination with slasher movies, how could she be anything else?

But when Letha Mondragon moves to town, along with a cohort of rich celebrities, all headed for the new development on the other side of Indian Lake - Terra Nova - Jade is pulled into the centre of the slasher movie she’s been waiting for. But will the story turn out like she expects, or will it be much, much worse?

It doesn’t feel hyperbolic to say that Stephen Graham Jones may well be one of the greatest horror writers of our time. I’m ashamed to say that this is the first of his works I’ve had the pleasure of reading, but I am now hooked.

My Heart Is A Chainsaw is most certainly an ode to the slasher, thanks to Jade’s encyclopaedic knowledge of the genre. But it’s so much more complex, too.

The story unfolds itself in the same way a car crash unfolds. In slow motion, with every detail held up to the light and analysed with the awestruck detachment of an observer. Except, as it progresses, Jade is pulled into the horror, the gore, the terror, the unforgiving reality of it all. And so are we.

The novel builds to a chilling climax, and then just keeps going. It’s intense but unstoppable. Once the stage is set and the wheels are in motion, all there is to do is sit back and watch it unfold. Except you are Jade, in a way, and it’s both terrible and fantastic all at once - like many slashers are.

Whether you’re a die-hard fan, or just dipping your toes into the horror genre, My Heart Is A Chainsaw is a fantastic way to start or end. I loved the interjections between chapters of Jade’s extra credit history papers, and I especially loved the story running beneath the gore and irreverence, which lends a complexity you wouldn’t expect to find in a story like this.

This is a book you’ll want to read again and again, for the different angles that come with the knowledge of what happens next. And for a deeper reading of what the novel is truly saying, beneath its surface of blood.

Gory. Raw. Disturbing. Bleak. Challenging. Just let out your scream and get ready to expect the unexpected!

If you’re not keen on choosing blood pumping, stomach churning, scaring you sh*tless kind of one of the most jaw dropping, wildest rides you may get, just buckle off, go back to your comfort zone, hide yourself under your bed or blanket whatever makes you feel safe from the monsters lurking around!
Because this book forces you to face them . Oh quick correction: not only face them but you gotta also destroy them to be the last one standing!

I have to admit this book has one of the most disturbing zero opening/ prologue you may ever read. My eyes just popped out! I kept blabbering: wha wha whaaat the ffff...”
Am I watching gory opening of European thriller? ( it reminded me of the bleakest Nordic thrillers)

I cannot help myself! I want to scream , closing my book, running as fast as I could after that opening! But it already hooked me and dragged me to the story. I was possessed. I couldn’t stop to read it! It was addictive!

Even though the author’s legendary present tense writing style was challenging for me to focus and the slow burn approach to present us the chaotic atmosphere of the town and its characters made me impatient, the deliciously intriguing parts started sooner after we learn more about inner demons of Jade Daniels: our heroine: a very tough, smart, has encyclopedic knowledge about slasher movies, missing her mom, struggling with her relationship with her dad, trying to honor her mother’s memory.

She knows herself: she is not the last girl standing of slasher movies! But when her native town Proofrock turns into movie set of real-life slasher, she has to learn how to protect herself and teach her friend Letha how she handle the danger as a guy wearing gas mask, carrying axes or nail guns following you! Real life Jason Voorhees , Michael Myers are out there to catch you!
But Letha focuses on the main reason why Jade is so obsessed with those movies. The reason behind her obsession is more heart wrenching than you can imagine.

Overall: this is effective, quiet intense, bloody, terrifying story! The writing style is outstandingly sincere and unique! It’s not for everyone! But if you are true fan of the horror genre, this book is real treasure and outstanding gift to the literature world.

Especially those movie references made the day of my inner geek who enjoys watching slasher movies since her childhood!

Special thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books/ Saga Press for sharing this digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest opinions.