Absolutely fantastic!! I cannot stop thinking about this book and series. As good as the first and I can't wait for the third.
Horror lover will love this gem.

A mysterious legend of a witch in the lake takes new shape in a game played by teens in a small town. The game goes wrong.
This book is a sequel, so maybe it would be better to read the first book first.

Okay, I loved My Heart is a Chainsaw. I also loved Don't Fear the Reaper, but it just wasn't in exactly the same way. It was a great continuation in the series and I'm definitely looking forward to book three. What's challenging about the series is that the books are so elaborate and so layered that coming back to the stories two years after first reading them, it's hard to get back into who is who and how they're all related. It's a testament to how well planned the books are that their complexity can't just be picked up and read. For the reader, they provide an in-depth and immersive world, but it leaves a lot of each subsequent book spent catching up again. That's the trade-off for a great series and much of Don't Fear the Reaper was devoted to revisiting the story in My Heart is a Chainsaw or catching up readers who were starting with book two. The story, though, is solid. It's intense and spine tingling and grotesque which is exactly what we all came for. We will not leave disappointed.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. This was a good sequel, I liked the first book enough to want to continue in the series and this was not a disappointment.

I think all of us were surprised when it was announced that My Heart is a Chainsaw wasn’t a stand-alone novel. I wanted more, but was wondering how SGJ would replicate the unique density of Jade’s encyclopedic slasher knowledge in a way that didn’t feel like a shadow of Chainsaw.

If you haven’t read Chainsaw you may want to stop reading here. There’s no spoilers for Reaper, but the set up of Reaper will spoil parts of Chainsaw.

Freshly out of prison, Jennifer has nowhere else to go but back to Proofrock. Abandoning her name and the slasher obsession that saved her, she wants to settle back into town, and start living a normal life. But a brutal winter storm and a bus carrying a serial killer are going to put our girl Jade into the crosshairs of another pile of bodies.

But the people of Proofrock have changed as well. With the slowly healing wounds of that summer night. With the loss of their loved ones. With the legend of the girl who survived by her horror flick acumen.

Dark Mills South is in Proofrock on Friday the 13th and a new final girl is ready to rise.

It’s hard to not compare a sequel to the original, but this book takes the intertextual elements of Chainsaw and ramps it up to hyper-speed. Reaper starts at a sprint and never slows down. It’s bloodier, nastier, meaner. It wears its slasher love like a skin-suit, with references integrated directly into the action. I’m still thinking of this one weeks after I finished and I can’t wait for the mindfuck of the finale.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Simon and Schuster/Saga for an arc of this title.

I was a little disappointed with this book. I was so excited to get an old skool feeling slasher read and half the time I felt lost with the storyline and it felt like nothing was really cohesive.

The characters were just ok for me and felt a little lifeless. The storyline was excellent in theory but it didnt' equate to the pages for me.

I did finish it and it was worth doing it that for me but it was a bit of a slog and I hated that I didn't love it more.

Another win for Stephen Graham Jones, I'm not sure he can miss! Longer review to come, but this one isn't to be missed - make sure to check out My Heart is a Chainsaw first, though.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC to read and review. All opinions are my own.

Jennifer, aka Jade, aka slasher film aficionado, is back in Proofrock four years later with a killer on the loose targeting high schoolers during a winter storm.

So I loved My Heart is a Chainsaw and SGJ knocked it out of the park with this slasher-fest sequel. Don't Fear the Reaper builds upon the maddeningly confusing and fever dream foundation of Chainsaw, broadening both its reaches and brutality.

The wintery setting is isolating and ominous, in contrast to the fourth of July's sticky heat. SGJ's writing style always has my brain reeling at times, but as a slasher fan, the esoteric nature is fantastic.

The kills are so bloody and so extra, because of course a sequel has to one up the first. The chapters are quite lengthy (thank you Kindle for letting me know most were over an hour long) but instead of only Jade's POV, we get many!

I found this really maintained a steady pace with clear POV jumps. Don't Fear the Reaper leans more towards a medium pace with kills spread throughout, compared to book one's slow burn leading up to the grand finale.

Just as with My Heart is a Chainsaw, I still have many questions and I paid a lot for my love in concentration. I greatly anticipate the explosive final book in The Lake Witch Trilogy!

I highly recommend reading Chainsaw close to picking up Reaper and wish I'd done a reread to catch all the small details. Excuse me as I rewatch all my favourite slasher films.

CW: murder, body horror, violence, animal death, child death, racism, medical content, adult/minor relationship, drug use

Unfortunately I just think this author isn't for me the story is great and I really enjoyed it when I wasn't getting lost. I felt lost Atleast 50% of the time which really sucked because I did enjoy it when I wasn't pulled out of it because I didn't know know what was going on. I had a rough time with the first book as well but in the end it was a great a story just like this one but the fact that I couldn't concentrate made me feel like I was slogging through.


Thank you NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley, Stephen Graham Jones and Simon & Schuster for the free e-book in exchange for an honest review

This starts off with a glorious, gory bang and I am 100% here for it. This a long, gory and glorious novel. I really enjoyed it and I was concerned it might get repetitive but it was really unique and slasher like the entire way through. I love our final girl and I loved the ending.

This is classic Jones - a gory, slow build homage to slashers.

In DFTR, we pick up a number of years years after the Independence Day Massacre when Jennifer ‘Jade’ Daniels arrives back in Proofrock at the same time as notorious serial killer Dark Mill South breaks out during a prison transfer.

What ensues is a strange and winding continuation of the story, with a familiar cast of characters and some new faces, too.

This one was a bit harder to follow because the first book was not fresh in my mind going in; I do appreciate that Jones doesn’t handle his readers with kid gloves. He tells you the story and expects you to keep up. He does add in a few refreshers from book 1.

I honestly love this series so much. The characters are all over the place, morally, and you never really know how it’s all going to unfold. When it does, you’re left marvelling at the way Jones laid all the pieces out clearly for you to see.

As always, the third act body dump promises to be a bloodbath. Bring your popcorn and settle in to see who makes it out alive and (mostly) in one piece.

I am positively dying (pun intended) for the final instalment of the Lake Witch Trilogy to have a release date.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted physical and digital copy! Highly recommend if you’re into horror / slashers.

“Because slashers never really die. They just go to sleep for a few years.”

QUICK RUNDOWN 👀
Jennifer Daniels has just gotten out of prison, and has made it back to her hometown in time for a major snowstorm. Then kids start dying, could it be the serial killer that has miraculously escaped or something more?

FINAL THOUGHTS 💭
Thank you NetGalley for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.
I needed a day to get my thoughts together on this one. It was THAT GOOD. Slasher references aside this is a story of friendship. The different POVs were a refreshing change from the first book, and the questions I am left with are perfect lead ups to book three.
MY ONE GRIPE, the chapter lengths. The chapters were unnecessarily long, with changing POVs multiple times throughout.

This one was not for me.
Thank you NetGalley for providing a copy of this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

A dark, menacing, and addictive read, Don’t Fear the Reaper takes what was started in My Heart is a Chainsaw and ramps it up to eleven.

As with Chainsaw, this novel pays serious homage to 70s-90s horror movies (mainly slashers, but we also get some movies in other sub-genres referenced, all of which, brag brag, I’ve seen). This book is full of the over-the-top deaths you see in a Friday the 13th iteration (people being impaled on things, for example) and even a slight bit of a creature feature (my preferred genre of horror).

The book is about more than just abject horror though (in fact, while it’s tense, it’s not really scary - but that could be because I find ghosts scary, not hulking dudes. Cause, you know, if it bleeds I can kill it). Like Chainsaw, this is a story about a young woman fighting. In Chainsaw, she was fighting for herself, for identity and to find the self buried under trauma. In this one, she’s fighting for those she loves, and she’s fighting to have a life, to save other lives.

In terms of whether this book is better than the first, I’d say it’s on par. Just like the setting in Chainsaw was an homage to summer camp horror, this one is whiteout horror; the storm is what allows the massacre to happen, almost as if the earth were helping Dark Mill South with his plans. Given Jade, the final girl, survived last time, the stakes had to be higher in this one than just her escaping, which means a tougher environment and more at stake, namely, Jade’s friends.

That being said, Jade seems to take a step back in the middle of the novel, where the first book was all about her. While I was still quite addicted to reading it, the midpoint lost some of its steam. It didn’t drag, but for a while, I was wondering where the story was going. There is an attempt to bring in multiple POVs, which I enjoyed, as it added to the “everyone is separated and thus a target” aspect. There is also a part with Jade’s mom that was excellent and added some emotional heft.

One thing I also loved was the background for why Dark Mill South was a psychotic killer. It was a brief explanation, but it was extremely poignant in that it didn't excuse his actions, but showed how systemic abuse essentially broke a boy of his humanity and warped his psyche beyond repair.

On that sad note, I will wrap this up to say that if you enjoy slasher films and if you enjoyed Chainsaw, you should check out Don’t Fear the Reaper.

Jade continues to be kickass. Loved her attitude and how well fleshed out her character continued to be. You could help but love her and her many emotions lent for a wild ride throughout. Lots more violence and lots more getting tangled up with the police. Started off with a bang and just kept barreling through the pages.

Thank you Netgalley for this arc

👯‍♂️ SATURDAY S E Q U E L S 👯‍♂️ featuring “Don’t Fear the Reaper” by Stephen Graham Jones!

BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5

Four years after what goes down in “My Heart is a Chainsaw”, Jade is released from prison after her conviction is over turned ⚖️!! She heads back to her small hometown of Proofrock and goes by the name of Jennifer. She wants to disconnect from her former self that constantly saw life through the lens of a horror movie. However, she is not the only one to show up in Proofrock … notorious serial killer Dark Mill South has escaped his prison transfer and is seeking refuge in the small town ☠️ 👀

As history begins to repeat itself with bodies piling up all over town and complete havoc breaks loose, “Jennifer” must find out which final girl will take down the killer this time around!

This book was CRAZY in the best way! It was GUT WRENCHING, GORY, SKIN CRAWLING and MIND ALTERING 🤯!!! If you enjoy horror movies, then you will get a kick out of all the slasher references! This book jumps RIGHT into the violence and carnage, whereas My Heart is a Chainsaw basically waits until the halfway mark to get down and bloody!

Thank you kindly to @gallerybooks @sagasff @simonschusterca @netgalley and Stephen Graham Jones for my advanced physical and digital copies! Readers BEWARE … you are in for a scare when this book releases on February 7, 2023 🫣

I did not realize that this was the 2nd book in a trilogy, so I cannot review it. I chose the book because I thought I had read The Only Good Indians. I read the first bit of the book and was impressed despite my not being into the horror genre. Thank you for the opportunity.

Jade Daniels returns to Proofrock after four long years, but she's not going to catch a break, even after all this time.

Stephen Graham Jones is quickly becoming one of my favorite horror writers. His style is incredibly unique and at times, a bit disorienting… but in the best way possible. He keeps you on your toes and devouring each page, the urgency to get through to the other side of the story is tangible. He weaves his indigenous culture into his stories, adding an unfamiliar perspective for a lot of readers, and he does this beautifully.

Don't Fear the Reaper may be a sequel but it's stronger than the first, in my opinion. It encompasses more of the classic slasher vibe (my favorite!) and the character development continues to be fantastic. It was like revisiting an old friend, catching up on their stories and experiences that have occured since your last visit. It was faster paced than the first and it was even more disgusting, a perfect balance. I'd highly recommend this book to fans of Chuck Wendig, Catriona Ward, Adam Nevill, and all lovers of bizarre, well crafted horror stories.

Oh, and after reading this book, it is clear that SGJ has experienced real winters because my goodness, those descriptions are 100% on point. A perfect wintery gorefest for all who enjoy the genre. I cannot wait for the third book in this trilogy!

I want to thank NetGalley, Stephen Graham Jones, and Simon and Schuster Canada for a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All opinions expressed here are my own.

It pains me to give Don’t Fear the Reaper such a low rating, as I had such high expectations after reading My Heart is a Chainsaw.

This sequel picks up back in Proofrock, Idaho, four years after the events of the first book. Jade returns to town at the same time as serial killer Dark Mills South escapes his prison transport in the midst of a blizzard. Before his arrest, Dark Mills South was seeking revenge for the hanging of 38 Dakota men in 1862.

For the next 36 hours, bodies turn up left and right with no reprieve.

As I said, I loved Chainsaw. It required a lot of concentration, but it was worth it in the end. This book took just as much effort, if not more, but the payoff was not worth it, in my opinion. Jade was the heart and soul of the first book, but this one felt weighed down by too many POVs.

I enjoy literary fiction and horror individually, so combined, you’d think this would be the best of both worlds. However, the storyline was a bit convoluted. And I was lost for a good chunk of it.

If, like me, you don’t remember many details of the first book, I’d recommend refreshing your memory before starting this one. Some of it gets rehashed, but I had to dig deep to remember everything that happened prior.

Although I didn’t love this book, I will definitely read more from this author. It’s already getting rave reviews all around, so you will likely have better luck with it than I did.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an arc via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

https://booksandwheels.com

Don't Fear The Reaper By Stephen Graham Jones is a beautifully written, wonderfully executed, much anticipated follow up to My Heart Is A Chainsaw.
I'm often a little weary of sequels but this one really delivered in all the ways I had hoped that it would and it's left me very excited for the third and final book in the series.
Please find attached my spoiler free youtube review video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jaodIbo31eY