I have a serious love/hate with this series. I love Jones' writing but at the same time I think he writes way too much and needs to edit things down! What's a girl to do? Even though this says it is the second book in a trilogy, a person could realistically read this as a stand alone and probably still get everything out of the book. They'd probably get more out of the book than me who read the first book if they are horror movie fans. That is another part of my love/hate relationship. I am 100% clueless about horror movies, but again........Stephen Graham Jones! These characters he creates! The ideas he comes up with! When's the third one coming out?

Don't Fear the Reaper released just in time for Valentine's Day. Be still my Slasher-Loving heart. This was everything!

Stephen Graham Jones is a genius. His writing style is completely unique, distinct and is an absolute master class in Slasher lore. I'm hooked. ((pun intended)) In anticipation of this release, I recently reread the first book in the trilogy, My Heart Is a Chainsaw. I love that book and honestly, was concerned that nothing could top it.

Somehow, defying the general law of sequels, this was bigger, badder and more blockbuster than the first!

It's been 4-years since the Independence Day Massacre. Jade, now going by her given name of Jennifer, has spent those years in prison. When her conviction is overturned, Jade returns to her native Proofrock. As Jennifer's luck would have it, on the very night she returns, a prison transport van carrying convicted serial killer, Dark Mill South, flips over in a blizzard. Dark Mill escapes and heads straight for Proofrock.

Back in town, Jennifer is reunited with her previously chosen final girl and dare I say, friend, Letha Mondragon. It's a bittersweet reunion for the two women. They've both changed dramatically since that brutal night four years ago. Very quickly bodies start dropping in harsh and creative ways. Is Dark Mill responsible for these killings? What would his motive be here? If not him, who?

True to character, Jennifer and Letha dive head first into the action, putting themselves in incredible danger. They essentially saved the town before. It looks like they'll have to do it again, but if there's really just one final girl, who will make it out alive?

This book starts with a bang and never ever lets up. Not for a moment. It has the classic slasher opening scenes, where stuff is already hitting the haunted ceiling fan. In addition to all the phenomenal Slasher connections and references, I absolutely adored the character development displayed in this one. For both Jennifer and Letha. The student has truly become the master.

Also, I enjoyed getting more of the twins, Ginger and Cinnamon. I feel like their interactions with Jennifer and Letha added a lot to the narrative. It was like the older generation passing on the torch of horror to the younger generation. Not that Letha and Jennifer are that much older, they aren't old at all, but the experience of the Independence Day Massacre has certainly provided them with knowledge and seniority when it comes to be able to survive a Slasher.

I have no idea when the next book is slated to be released, but I do know I'll be regularly stalking SGJ's author page until we find out. I'm super anxious to learn the title and see the cover. This series is everything I have ever wanted. Having grown up on a fairly steady diet of Slashers, thanks to my super cool older siblings, these stories bring me so much nostalgia and joy. I love the entire vibe.

While I recognize that this series may not be for everyone, I know that with the people it resonates with, it's going to really hit. I cannot stop thinking about this. I'm really looking forward to reading both books again just prior to the release of the third. If you love Horror Cinema, and Slashers in particular, and you haven't picked up this series yet, I cannot recommend it highly enough. You don't want to miss out on this!

Thank you so, so much to the publisher, Gallery / Saga Press, for providing me with a copy to read and review.
This was my most anticipated release of 2023 and it didn't disappoint for a moment. Chef's kiss!!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery/Saga Press for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review.*

My Heart is a Chainsaw set a HIGH bar when I read in in 2021, and I wasn't sure how Don't Fear the Reaper would compare. When I first found out that a sequel was being written, I wasn't sure how I felt about it. I thought the ending of Chainsaw was SO good and I wasn't sure what direction these characters would go in, but Stephen Graham Jones has never disappointed me. When I first read Chainsaw I was just starting to get into horror, specifically slashers, so I thought a good slasher book would be a nice way to ease into the genre. Two years later I would say I'm a fully fledged slasher fan so I think it made me appreciate this follow-up (and its pop culture references) even more.

This book follows our main character, Jade, as she returns to her hometown of Proofrock`four years after the events of the first book when she is released from prison. At the same time the notorious serial killer Dark Mill South is being transported during a snowstorm (which any slasher fan knows can only mean one thing...). Jade must fight to survive as Dark Mill South continues his rampage to seek revenge for 38 indigenous men hanged in 1862. As was the case with Chainsaw, Jade knows she has to find the "final girl" who will be able to take down Dark Mill South and hopefully end the horror that Proofrock can't seem to escape.

This series is the perfect homage to the horror genre, but my favorite part is the meta aspect, a la the Scream franchise. Jade knows horror movies better than practically anyone, so I love getting to view things from her perspective, as well as her expectations to how things will inevitably play out. She may have lived through a one horror movie, but there have been some changes in the slasher genre/tropes that Jade missed during her time in prison, which leads to some fun exchanges between Jade and some other characters who are more up-to-speed. We also get to experience several other characters' perspectives, and I enjoyed the mix of familiar characters from Chainsaw as well as new characters.

It's always tricky to make the second part of a trilogy stand on its own while still building on the first installment and setting up somewhere for the third story to go, but this is done so masterfully. (I also read parts of this via audiobook, and it's performed with a full cast and just so, so well done. If you're into audiobooks this is definitely one to check out!) Stephen Graham Jones truly is an incredible writer and storyteller with a unique voice (reading this man's grocery list would probably bring me to tears...), and it makes me overjoyed to see the amount of support and love that his works get.

This thrilling slasher sequel to My Heart is a Chainsaw is another educational, gory, beautiful ode to the rich world of slasher films and to the strength it takes to survive as a final girl—really, the strength it takes to survive as a girl, in any genre. I thought the story packed less of an emotional wallop this time around, with the catalysts for the new slasher cycle and secondary narration more removed from our primary heroine, but on the other hand it was more tightly and intricately plotted, the new and returning characters all fascinating, and the scares were truly scary. It was an interesting (though grisly) exercise to match up deaths to horror film inspirations, and after all was revealed at the end, to possible killers.

AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 8 | Atmosphere: 8 | Writing: 9 | Plot: 7 | Intrigue: 8 | Logic: 4 | Enjoyment: 6
Total: 7.14 / 4 stars

Interestingly, the places where My Heart Is a Chainsaw's stream-of-consciousness style disconnect did well, and Don't Fear the Reaper did not. The difference is the number of points of view in each book. Don't Fear the Reaper oscillated between several points of view, sometimes in the same chapter, which made itself hard to follow. Despite these things, I still had fun reading this continuation of the story. The plot was interesting as it unfolded and while hard to follow, once I caught the thread of what was going on, it was a good time. The various character developments were also well done considering the amount of time that passes between the books.

Special thanks to Gallery Books and Netgalley for the ARC of this book.

This was a loong book. Good Lord. I don't like slasher movies, nor books now.

But I am a fan of Stephen Graham Jones. Good thing I grew up in the 80's slasher flick Era bc I'd be totally lost with the first My Heart is a Chainsaw. And then there's a trilogy!

I think I've had my fill of slasher movies in the 80's and 90's and slasher books just don't work for me now. I did like the character development in this one.better., but, I'm not sure I'm gonna be reading the 3rd installment.

A fantastic sequel, Stephen Graham Jones remains one of my favorite authors. The way he writes tension and raw emotion in his horror novels is unmatched. Also love the whole Friday the 13th theme/trope, which made this one all the more enjoyable for me. Also loved the wide cast of characters! I thought this was an equally fun and harrowing horror novel.

Don’t Fear the Reaper
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 2/7/23
Author: Stephen Graham Jones
Publisher: Gallery Books
Pages: 464
GR: 4.27

I requested a digital advanced readers copy from NetGalley and Gallery Books and providing my opinion voluntarily and unbiased.

My Thoughts: This is the second book in The Lake Witch Trilogy. Jones does an excellent slasher book. While this can be read as a standalone, the reading experience will be enriched by reading the first novel, My Heart is a Chainsaw, first. Jones really does an amazing job with bringing the slasher experience just as good as a slasher movie, which is so hard to do in a story, but he excels at it.

This novel is narrated by multiple characters, where the first novel was through the eyes of Jade Daniels. Dark Hill South is no different than Michael Myers or Jason Voorhees. The characters were well developed with depth, suspense, and just done well. The author’s writing style was complex, gory, violent, twisty, and everything in between.

This book is long at almost 500 pages and will not be for everyone. While I enjoyed the writing style, I did not enjoy how long this was. I do encourage readers to pick up the novel and decide on their own. Reading is so subjective and Jones fans are loyal to a fault. What I may love will be hated by the next person.

Don't Fear The Reaper is a sequel to My Heart Is A Chainsaw, both by Stephen Graham Jones. Apparently, this is set to be a trilogy. This series relies a lot on the readers' knowledge of slasher horror films. If you don't have that knowledge, as is the case with me, you might miss some of the references and it probably impacts your enjoyment of the plot. I love a good horror novel every now and then, ala Stephen King, so I do enjoy trying new authors. Stephen Graham Jones has done a great job in both the books in this series with atmosphere. The first book was more of a rural midwest summer vibe. Don't Fear The Reaper has a rural midwest Winter vibe that is definitely its own character.

Speaking of characters, there are a lot, but they are all unique and well written. There are a few who carried over from the first novel with massive physical damage from the events of that book. I appreciate that the author didn't cheat like so many movies do having characters who should be severely damaged or dead come back in sequels like nothing but mental damage lasts. These characters elevated this story in many ways, not least of which was to make Jade/Jennifer more of a fully fleshed out character in Book 2 than she was in Book 1 through her relationships with them.

My rating reflects that this is a series I enjoy, but would enjoy more if it were not so reliant on a reader's knowledge of classic horror movies. I am a book person, so it is sad when books rely on familiarity of movies. That said, the characters are well written, the plot genuinely scary at time, and there's enough humor throughout to provide some relief from the pervasive misery. I am looking forward to finishing out this series and trying other books by the author.

Okay - it should go without saying that Stephen Graham Jones is a MASTER of the horror genre and the Lake Witch trilogy is shaping up to be one of my favorite series of ALL TIME!

Jennifer "Jade" Daniels is back and unfortunately things are leading towards another slasher in her small town. It's great that we have a couple survivors from My Heart is a Chainsaw so she has some backup. Letha Mondragon is genuinely and officially one of my new favorite characters too.

Y'all I don't have all the words needed to expertly express how amazing this book is too. It's scary. It's funny. It's irreverent. And it pays all the homage to all the gory favorite horror movies of our past. The references in this particular book are great and they paint such a horrifying picture.

Go buy this book. RIGHT NOW! Seriously or else Dark Mill South just might show up behind you in a mirror like Candyman.

All our times have come
Here, but now they're gone

Stephen Graham Jones started off the Indian Lake Trilogy in 2022 with the wicked and witty “My Heart is a Chainsaw.” Referencing a whole slew of slasher movie plots and featuring an unforgettable Jade Daniels character, the book was exciting, original, and of course, blood soaked. This year brings us “Don’t Fear the Reaper,” the second installment.

Jade returns to the scene of Chainsaw’s carnage, her hometown of Proofrock. She now goes under the name of Jennifer Daniels, it was clear that she couldn’t go on being associated with the bloodbath of the past. An escaped serial killer, Dark Mill South, has also arrived in town with a bloodlust fueled by, among other motivations, the execution of thirty-six Dakota men signed off by Abraham Lincoln. Tomorrow is Friday the Thirteenth and the table is set.

I enjoyed Chainsaw, particularly the Jade Daniels portrayal. This one seemed labored, however. There were too many POV’s, too many bleh characters, and not enough buy in by Jade / Jennifer. Looking at other reviews I see many readers loved this one more than the first, so maybe I just did not catch the fever. I will be looking forward to the finale of this trilogy, hoping it
captures some of the spark of Chainsaw.

Thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley for providing an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

There are spoilers ahead for My Heart Is a Chainsaw. Four years after the Independence Day Massacre, Jade returns to Proofrock with the charges against her dropped– the same day that escaped serial killer, Dark Mill South, wanders into town. A blizzard keeps the town trapped and cut off from outside help, and it’s up to Jade and Letha to figure out who the final girl is and how Dark Mill South can be stopped. After all, they’ve aged out of the genre… right? I received a free e-ARC through NetGalley from the publishers at Gallery Books/Saga Press. Trigger warnings: character death (graphic, on-page), child/parent/sibling death, animal death (graphic, on-page), suicide, implied pedophilia/statutory rape, graphic gore/body horror, skinning, poisoning, suffocation, drowning, fire, eye horror, guns, violence, severe injury, guilt, grief.

This book is a whole ride. Despite its size, I found myself happy to be back in this world with these characters, and I rarely found my interest flagging. Jones keeps the pages turning with a series of teen slasher style murders based on various popular horror films. In between, we catch up on Jade, Letha, and Hardy and what’s changed for them over the past four years. I love the relationships among the three of them, the way they’ve bonded over past trauma but also just because they care about each other, and it gives the story more heart than My Heart Is a Chainsaw. If that book was about buried trauma coming to the surface, this one is more about living with it afterward.

Don’t Fear the Reaper resolves some other problems I had with MHIaC as well. I struggled with Jade’s rambling internal monologue about horror films in that book, but she’s older and steadier here, and the narrative is likewise more coherent. It shifts characters often to keep things moving, and the only place it really slows down is in the essays on horror theory and town events from Galatea to the new history teacher, Armitage. I didn’t love those, but it’s a nice homage to Jade’s essays to Holmes, and there’s a plot thread buried in there that had me 😬. The whiteout blizzard sets a totally different tone from summer in Proofrock, calling up images of The Thing (1982), and the sense of place is practically a character of its own.

In spite of the Lake Witch being the major villain of the first book, I’m somehow always still surprised when Jones mixes the supernatural with regular slashers. The books seem so deeply entrenched in the real world, until suddenly they’re not, and while it seemed to come out of left field (again–although I was able to look back and see the groundwork for it this time), I liked the additional thread it added to what was already a string of gruesome murders. Dark Mill South is a reasonably scary slasher addition, but I’ll admit I enjoyed picking out the homages to horror film in the murders more than actually having him on the page. Much like the first book, the final showdown is a bit bonkers in scale, with lots of bodies, tons of gore, and killers and final girls alike who just won’t stay dead– you know, just as a classic slasher should be.

I review regularly at brightbeautifulthings.tumblr.com.

I should probably start by saying that this was one of my most anticipated books of the year, by A LOT. I loved My Heart Is a Chainsaw, and Jade in particular, and while I wasn't expecting a sequel, let alone a trilogy, I was eager to read it. I also really enjoy Stephen Graham Jones' writing in general, so I was here for it.

Don't Fear the Reaper kicks off four years after the events of MHIAC, when Jade is returning to Proofrock from prison. It just so happens that her return coincides with a serial killer, Dark Mill South, escaping his prison transfer right by Proofrock. I really wasn't sure where the story would go from there (other than lots of mayhem and murder, obviously), and if I had to pick a word to describe it, it would be messy.

Messy in a good way in that the kills are fun, there were several moments where I felt physically uncomfortable in my body (in the best way!), the discussion of what makes a serial killer vs. a slasher is always fun, and just the sheer number of kills and amount of confusion... What a wild ride!

It was also messy in a not-so-good way due mostly to the number of characters we're following here. This was my biggest issue with the book and why I sometimes had a hard time with it. In MHIAC, we're introduced to a lot of people, but almost all of it is through Jade's perspective, so there is still a solid anchor for the story. Here, we switch POVs often, and it wasn't always clear 1) who we were following, or 2) their role in what was going on. It doesn't help that we're following twins (and I won't actually get into spoilers, but that becomes even more confusing as the story unfolds), but even the Rexall / Rex Allen of it all became frustrating when I was already having such a hard time following what was going on, who was where, who was doing what, etc. Maybe I just wasn't in the right state of mind to follow such a chaotic story? Especially one that's this long.

I did have a good time overall! I really enjoyed the action, I loved getting to spend more time with Letha, and of course, I am here for more Jade. This isn't much of a spoiler, but I will say that another letdown was that we didn't *really* get Jade - the one we know and love - until about a third of the way into this, if I remember correctly. Can't say I cared much about Jennifer, but once Jade was back, I was happy. The characters in general were solid, as were the horror references, duh. I legit loved every time somebody referenced a horror movie Jade didn't know - what a great running joke to have in such a quirky book.

Ultimately, I'm looking forward to the final book in the trilogy. Immediately after finishing Don't Fear the Reaper, I didn't think I would want to re-read it before the third one comes out, but after a few days to think about it, it might actually be more interesting and enjoyable to see how the pieces fit together knowing how it ends. It feels like there are so many places we can go from here, and I'm excited to discover how the story ends!


Thanks to Gallery Books and NetGalley for sharing the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This rating is a preliminary one. I think it deserves more from me, but I’m not there yet—I need to boil it down and reread the series later with more context.

Two things are immediately true: 1) this book is not a one-time reading comprehension experience and 2) I continue to be in awe of Jones’ electric-tripwire, running-from-Death (or running to?) writing style that is unlike anything I’ve experienced as a reader.

Concept: ★★★★
Horror elements: ★★★★★
Writing style: ★★★★★

Wait, so you thought Jade Daniels was done?? Welcome back to Proofrock.

It's 2019. Jade is back to "Jennifer" and she's just stepped back onto Proofrock soil following the trauma, trials, and incarcerations as a result of the events of My Heart is a Chainsaw. She's ready for whatever could qualify as a "fresh" start for someone who's seen the shit that she's seen. Her days of final girls, horror movies, and niche survivalist trivia are behind her. (Didn't you pick up on that from the "Jennifer" nonsense?)

But let's remember, this is Proofrock. It's like the town was waiting for its bloody princess to step back into the ring, because one Jade's back, things get dicey again.

On one cold, blizzarding night in February, Proofrock welcomes a convicted serial killer into its midst. Indigenous murderer Dark Mill South escaped his heavily armed convoy a few miles outside of Proofrock under the helpful blanket of an avalanche and found his way into town. There's a lot of teenagers who somehow managed to escape the previous massacre. Dark Mill South might not know the town's bloody history, but he's unwittingly about to decimate the surviving playing field anyway.

The players from My Heart is a Chainsaw are older and grudgingly wiser, and, in Letha's case in particular—armed with all of the slasher knowledge that she missed the first time around. Letha Mondragon, the previous final girl, isn't about to be caught unawares again. She's vigilant, she's alive despite the medical odds, and she's ready with every horror play in the book.

On a dark, dark night...

Dark Mill South’s Reunion Tour began on December 12th, 2019, a Thursday. Thirty-six hours and twenty bodies later, on Friday the 13th, it would be over.

Soooooo let's talk about it. Don't Fear the Reaper is, arguably, my most interesting anticipated release for this year. I took My Heart is a Chainsaw as a singular standalone, a titan in the horror genre that stood alone and needed no further explanations, riffs, or sequels. But then this sequel appeared out of the madness of Jones' mind and I knew I needed it.

Reaper was simultaneously exactly what I expected and yet also, wonderfully, different.

Did I fully understand it? Debatable. Do I need to watch the entire canon of classic horror slasher movies in order to fully understand this latest installment? ...Honestly, probably.

Don't Fear the Reaper is a honed blade for the slasher community. As a general horror fan with a particular interest in body horror and speculative horror, I was WAY out of my depth with this story.

It was an almost alienating experience to witness this novel play out via referential dialogue, meta takes on the subniche, and high-level interplay between established slasher canon (and fanon?) all stitched within a narrative that, itself, was a reflected commentary on the events of My Heart is a Chainsaw. It was brutally intelligent. I just didn't have the right playbook.

There were layers on layers here, folks. Forget Shrek's onion—I'm so sorry, horror fans, let me horrify you with that Shrek reference—this was the Meta Onion. I caught just enough of the referencing to make it through my reading experience, but I know I missed most of it.

The dialogue, scene setups, tropes, character developments, and more were all linked to other elements of the genre. And if you didn't get the reference, you lost the momentum. I do think that affected my personal reading enjoyment. But unlike other novels where that lack of understanding repelled me and made me DNF, this version made me curious, and—for the first time in my life, yes, even Chainsaw didn't inspire me—made me want to dive into the world of slasher films.

There's a lot to take away from Reaper. Similar to the interspersed essays within the narrative itself, I'd need a thesis to get into it. I didn't even have time to mention the subplots and subhorrors hiding behind the surface plot (let's just say, it is similar to Chainsaw in more ways than one.)

But suffice to say, this sequel was spectacular, and worth several rereads and discussions. I look forward to Jones pulling it all together into one brilliant dissertation in the final book.

Thank you to Gallery Books for my copy in exchange for an honest review.

I have tried to get into both of these books and in the end it keeps me more and more confused. I feel like the action is great and the writing is spectacular. However, I just don't connect with the characters much.

The nitty-gritty: Complex characters, buckets of blood, and an intriguing mystery make Don't Fear the Reaper a worthy sequel.

Stephen Graham Jones returns to Proofrock, Idaho in this second installment of The Lake Witch Trilogy, which takes place four years after the bloody finale of My Heart is a Chainsaw. I ended up loving parts of this book, although there were some sections that really dragged for me. I put it aside several times during those slow parts, which is probably why it took me over three weeks to read. Still, it’s hard not to love Jone’s unique voice and “in your face” brand of slasher horror, and by the end of the story I was fully invested in Jade’s terrifying encounter with yet another serial killer. 

Please note: minor spoilers ahead for My Heart is a Chainsaw.

Four years after the so called Independence Day Massacre, when half the town of Proofrock was brutally murdered, Jade Daniels—who calls herself Jennifer now—has come back home, after finally being acquitted of murder charges. It’s December of 2019 and Jennifer is not only older but wiser and more world-weary and is no longer interested in her beloved slasher films. At the same time, a convoy transporting a convicted serial killer called Dark Mill South is lost in a blizzard near Proofrock, and Dark Mill South escapes.

Soon after, a series of brutal murders takes place in various locations around town, each one mimicking a death in a slasher film, and each targeting a high school student. Jennifer can’t believe it’s happening again, but Proofrock does have a long history of violence, so is she really surprised? And who will protect the town now, especially since Letha, the final girl from the 2016 massacre, is severely injured and not up to the job of stopping the killer?

Jade is one of the best things in this story, in fact I liked her better here than in My Heart is a Chainsaw, where her personality sometimes grated on me. Now she’s more mature, and her horrible experiences from the last book have left their mark. She no longer spouts endless slasher movie trivia, although later in the book she and Letha bond over their shared love and knowledge of the movies, especially when the murders mimic those movies so closely. I’ll admit I was disappointed in the beginning when we find out she’s changed her name to Jennifer (perhaps to distance herself from the horrors she experienced). It was Jade I connected with in the first book, and hiding behind another name just felt like she was, well, hiding. But never fear: about halfway through the story she realizes that she’s going to have to face Dark Mill South, and she takes back the name Jade, shedding “Jennifer” like a wet jacket.

Just like he did in My Heart is a Chainsaw, each chapter is preceded by a research paper written by a student (to be honest I’m not sure who was writing these sections) to the new high school history teacher, Mr. Armitage. I did like the detailed information on Dark Mill South, which gives the reader some insight into his character and background, but overall these were the chapters that slowed the story down for me.

And if you’re here for the slasher action, you will not be disappointed. While I thought the ending of the last book was way over the top action-wise, I loved the more focused horror in Don’t Fear the Reaper. There were a couple of scenes I’m still flashing back to when I close my eyes at night, they were so vividly described. Jones has some surprises in store regarding the killings, which I won’t go into detail about, but let’s just say I thought it played out brilliantly. The winter setting worked really well for me too. The town lake is frozen, and now it’s much easier to get across the lake to Terra Nova, the abandoned housing development that figured so heavily in the first book. And I didn’t realize how much I loved snowplows until I read this book! Snowplow vs. Dark Mill South = lots of fun times.

Jones switches points of view frequently, so you get a peek into the heads of all the characters, even Dark Mill South (his chapter is terrifying!) This was both a positive and a negative for me. Positive, because you get insight into each character and get to know them on a deeper level, but negative because there are a lot of perspectives to keep track of, and each perspective shift meant I had to reorient myself.

Which brings me to the characters of Ginger and Cinnamon, who play a big role in this story after being minor characters in My Heart is a Chainsaw. They were so minor that I didn’t even remember who they were at first, to be honest. I did end up loving their storyline by the end, but there was quite a bit of confusion before that. So word of warning: this is a series that must be read in order, so don’t even attempt to read this book if you haven’t read the first one.

But negatives aside, I really did enjoy this book. The ending was cathartic, as only a slasher story can be, and Jones might have left some clues for what’s coming up in book three (I can’t be certain of that, but the man is good at leaving breadcrumbs!) Bloody, tense, and emotional, Don’t Fear the Reaper left me craving the next book.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.

My sincere and utterly heartfelt thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read this as a digital ARC.

Jade Daniels is no longer that girl. The final girl. The girl who survived to fight another day and saved as many as she could in the process. The girl who hid behind slasher movies and horror movies to cope with the nightmare of her real life. That girl died four years ago. In her place stands Jennifer Daniels, a woman who has been released to her hometown on probation.

Jennifer doesn’t have much to come home to. Her old house is now infamous because of its connection to her, and to her father, not to mention she has never been close to her mother who still lives in town so she won’t even bother trying to connect with her. And half the town thinks she’s a killer while the other half just doesn’t know what to do with this stranger who is too familiar but who has always been too strange to truly be one of them.

I did myself a disservice by not re-reading the first book prior to this sequel, so I found myself floundering for a bit as I tried to remember all the little plot points that happened before. I think if the first book had been fresher in my mind, this would have been a 4 star reader. However, although it is almost certainly reader error, I can’t say my experience was a 4 star experience because I didn’t “pack the correct essentials”.

This is a book that you absolutely HAVE to have read the first book to understand what is happening and enjoy it. No jumping in on book two here, make sure you are fully up to date with these characters before proceeding into the book.

I didn’t care much for the first book in this series, but I still wanted to give book two a chance. I’m glad I did as it was MUCH better. There are a few things I must note, however.

I like longer sentences, but the ones in this book were really long. I found it easier to stay connected during these long sentences by reading the book aloud. I also felt that this book was very ambitious — and, unfortunately, the author wasn’t always up to how very ambitious he was. Still, I’d rather someone take a risk than keep playing it safe.

Overall, I gave the first book a 2/5 stars. This one has earned 4/5.

STEPHEN.GRAHAM.JONES. Sorry he just never misses and is one of the most underrated best of the bests. Somehow improves upon the perfection of the first book in the series. Jade is an amazing horror final girl and I truly hope this one gets adapted and I can't wait for the finale.

An amazing second book. The perfect progression from book one. Stephen Graham Jones knows the genre like a true master.