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Review: My Heart is a Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones

March 1, 2021 by David W Leave a Comment

My Heart Is a Chainsaw by [Stephen Graham Jones]
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Rating: 9.5/10

Synopsis

In her quickly gentrifying rural lake town Jade sees recent events only her encyclopedic knowledge of horror films could have prepared her for in this latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Graham Jones.

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. Jade watches as the small town she knows and loves begins to head towards catastrophe as yachts compete with canoes and the celebrity rich change the landscape of what was designated park lands to develop what they call Terra Nova.

This new novel from the acclaimed author of The Only Good Indians and “literary master” (Tananarive Due, author of The Good House) Stephen Graham Jones, is a must-read, exploring the changing landscape of the West through his particular voice of sharp humor and prophetic violence that will have you cheering for the American heroine we need.

Review

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.

Filed Under: Reviews Tagged With: Adult Fiction, Adult Horror, After the People Lights Have Gone Off, Gallery, Gallery Books, Horror, Horror 2021, Horror Books, Horror Novels, Jordan Peele, Mongrels, My Heart is a Chainsaw, Retro-Slasher, Saga, Saga Press, Saga SFF, Slasher, Stephen Graham Jones, The Only Good Indians

About David W

Believer, Hubby, Girl Dad. Owner/CEO of FanFiAddict. Works a not so flashy day job in central Alabama. Furthest thing from a redneck and doesn’t say Roll Tide. Enjoys fantasy, science fiction, horror and thrillers but not much else (especially kissy kissy).

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Comments

  1. David W says

    March 15, 2021 at 12:43 pm

    Heck yes!

    Reply

Trackbacks

  1. Chainsaw stuff – Stephen Graham Jones says:
    March 15, 2021 at 12:39 pm

    […] https://www.instagram.com/p/CLu7BapABbz/?igshid=kkabjmyl3h2o https://fanfiaddict.com/2021/03/01/review-my-heart-is-a-chainsaw-by-stephen-graham-jones/ https://horrorbookwormreviews.com/2021/02/25/my-heart-is-a-chainsaw-by-stephen-graham-jones/ […]

    Reply
  2. My Heart is a Chainsaw – Stephen Graham Jones says:
    June 3, 2021 at 5:41 pm

    […] Bloody Disgusting | Publishers Weekly | Library Journal | Medium | HorrorBound | Horror Bookworm | FanFiAddict | David Agranoff | BookClubbed | Violet Prynne (vid) | phantasiqa | Beauty and the Anxiety-Riddled […]

    Reply
  3. FanFiAddict’s Top 5 Reads of 2021 (So Far) – FanFiAddict – A Bookish Blog says:
    July 14, 2021 at 2:47 pm

    […] [Link to full review] […]

    Reply
  4. 16 New Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror Books to Break Your TBR — August 2021 – FanFiAddict – A Bookish Blog says:
    August 3, 2021 at 7:12 pm

    […] A “What to Read This Month” with two horror novels on it! It’s not even Spoopy Month yet! The premise of My Heart is a Chainsaw sounds so freakin’ cool. Basically, a girl with a terrific knowledge of horror movies finds herself in the midst of a plot straight out of one of those films. So cool! David W. read it and gave it an absolutely glowing review, which has me even that much more hyped to read it. You can take a gander at his thoughts here. […]

    Reply

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