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I really like this book. I used to watch slashers when I was younger, but I had to take a break from horror for a while after I had kids. My hypothesis is that being responsible for the life of a child was too scary for me to enjoy recreational terror. As my kids have grown, I've gradually gone back to horror, first books and later movies. I'm very grateful to have the work of Stephen Graham Jones and Jordan Peele to aid my rediscovery of horror.

Browns/Bengals vs Stephen Graham Jones. Unless something changes in Cleveland pretty soon, it's not much of a contest for my attention.

Book Mail 💌🔪

#StoryGraph: fiction horror thriller dark mysterious tense
416 pages • first pub 2021 • 3 Stars

The story follows Jade Daniels, a girl whose encyclopedic knowledge of slasher films and classic horror proves frighteningly more useful than she ever expected. The novel is a deconstruction of slasher films that celebrates everything about them.

On our way to the farmers market this morning my husband *casually* mentioned there's a new indie bookstore right off the Square. So of course I had to pick up some titles! @Kangaj1 did you know about Lake City Books??

Apologies to #nomsthecat who posed so adorably.

#temptingtitles
#withheart
♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️♥️

On this, my second time reading My Heart Is a Chainsaw, I found many more reasons to love it. Originally, although I quite enjoyed it, I was disappointed by the ending; it felt like it came from nowhere. But this time I found the breadcrumbs and appreciate it more.

Something about Jones‘ style makes him a moiling read. I often have to reexamine his sentences multiple times to grasp their meaning. I think, though, he is rewarding to the astute.

Horror is not really my go to but I was intrigued! You have to root for Jade , she doesn‘t have family support, her interest in slasher movies is deep , skills that come in handy in this “intense at the end”read ! Glad I finished it in the morning, avoided those horror dreams last night .😁🔪I came across a signed edition of book 2 at a local indie , had to get both .

Scary read before sleeping…can‘t help it!🤷‍♀️

Great concept and some interesting plot lines. I had a very hard time getting into the story though until about half through. Downloaded the audiobook and doing a read along made me finish though. 50-80% I was all in, but the last 10% was strange again. Something still stuck with me enough that I plan to try book 2 of the trilogy. I do love all the slasher film trivia sprinkled in.

Book 40📚 4⭐️

This one is chalked full of slasher knowledge, which I loved! I definitely have a few movies to add to the list.

I‘m a sucker for a 80/90s slasher! Can‘t wait for book 2!

Apart from being a horror novel, it‘s a love letter to our favorite genre of horror films: the slasher. Following a horror film aficionado, Jade Daniels, as she starts to feel like there are things going on in her town that give her the impression that a slasher is coming through town. Jade is definitely a fictional character you grow to love. 5 ⭐️

I really enjoyed this even though the ending was…muddy. It‘s the start of a trilogy - the sequel is out in a few weeks. If you love/have knowledge of horror films (esp Scream, Friday the 13th, and Jaws), this was super fast paced horror with lots of references.

I co-hosted a radio show about Horror movies from 2012-2015, I finished this book with a Freddy vs Jason shirt on, I live on Elm St.”Horror Chick” has been my shtick for a WHILE.I am the target audience,but it just didn‘t hit

Jade‘s inner monologue rambles so far into trivia, slang &metaphors it was at times impossible for me to tell what was happening. Gained momentum at40%+ but the end was so chaotic it took away from any character development.

#20in4 not going to make 20, might read more but I don‘t have 2 hours in me, especially for My Heart Is A Chainsaw. I want to like it: “it‘s almost October & horror is my religion” but… I‘m suffering a bit.

Silent Patient was amazing.
Nightbitch was truly strange.
These Fleeting Shadows was slightly above average.
Big Little Lies - I already watched, so it feels like a reread.
Witch & the Tsar I‘m enjoying but wish I did a physical copy.

Read this book. Jade stays with you after the last unique page. Slasher flicks as metaphor for alienation, racism against native communities, family violence… in a dark and sometimes darkly comic tale. The bold, vivid, sad, unexpected ending blew me away. Perhaps my favorite book of 2022? #unique #horror #comingofage #indigenousvoices

I really enjoyed this homage to slasher movies. Jade is obsessed with classic slasher films, which also makes her a bit of an outcast in her town. A new girl starts at her school and she identifies her as the perfect final girl. When deaths begin, Jade tries to prepare the new girl for her role. This absolutely is written for slasher movie fans. ⬇️

I wanted to like this book, but it mostly gave me a headache. The writing style/plot were all over the place and generally just terrible. This book reads as if it never went through an outlining or drafting process. It seemed the author couldn‘t decide where to take it or how to make it end, so he just threw some things together that didn‘t make sense. Kind of like a puzzle when the pieces are being jammed into all the wrong places. ⭐️⭐️

This is officially my first read of the new year, and I am so excited! It wasn‘t originally what I had in mind, but my best friend was very adamant that I read this right away so that he could have someone to vent to about it. So, ya know, priorities, right?😂 This book had been sitting on my kindle for a little while now, so it‘ll still be a good and productive read for me😁😌

Why did I immediately think of you @Cinfhen ? 😂😂😂

Tagged book is an example of the genre.

https://bookriot.com/book-genres-we-wish-existed/

'Moth' as verb: I LIKE it!

Bk1 of November & Bk3 of #20in4 #readathon is done! I started this the last day of #Scarathlon but unfortunately didn‘t finish it in time, so not sure if I should count it as one? @Clwojick what do you think? This was brilliant, extremely strange but brilliant. He has a strange mind, Graham Jones. Almost King-like in it‘s rooting for the outcast against all odds. Highly recommend. #BookspinBingo #Pageathon #52BookClubRC #ReadHarder2022

Whoa! A lot to unpack in this book. Not just a paranormal mystery but some stuff simmering under the surface for our MC. I love all of the slasher references.

Chai & screams on a rainy day

Excitedly making my way through this new, audio only, Graham-Jones. I only wish it had dropped at Halloween 🎃 since the book is fully set during the season. I could save it... buuuut.... why procrastinate a good book?

Not in database so I tagged another of his I loved.

Hands down, the best exploration of The Final Girl horror trope I've read yet. Heart-wrenching, but so damn good. I cried. My heart ached for Jade. TW for child abuse.

#alphabetgame #LetterM @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

I had high hopes for this, due to all the postive reviews I've seen but this is up there with the most boring books I've ever read.

It was so slow, the dialogue terrible - the writing is all over the place. Awful.

Amazing. I could not put this book down. I kept trying to guess what happened and it never turned out the way I expected. Such a great journey. I absolutely loved the main character.

There are a lot of deep themes to unpack in this novel however this wasn‘t a full on pick for me. The stream of consciousness style wasn‘t my cup of tea. And the middle really hung me up. I may not have finished this if it wasn‘t a book club book, but I‘m oddly glad I did. Very conflicted review, I know!

What book nerds do while sitting in the lawn seats waiting for the Backstreet Boys concert

Lazy Sunday morning with the pets. Only 2 of them were in frame but I have two more laying on the floor nearby.

This book is way outside my preferred genres, but I enjoyed listening to it. The narrator was excellent and the story is very interesting. 🎧

I so much wanted to love this. Unfortunately it almost sent me into a reading slump. It was a drag to get through. It might be expectations on my part but for me this book should have been 150 pages shorter cutting out much of Jades ramblings. I know it is supposed to be a love letter to horror but I needed more action & well horror. When I read horror I anticipate at least elevated heartbeats but everything was bogged down I never got there.

#weeklyforecast
Still getting through tagged from last week. I am finding it a bit of a drag and think it could be 100 pages shorter.
Hoping the rest of this pile is a breeze even if The Magician is heavy.

#weeklyforecast
Plowing through Cherokee American which I don't have high hopes for but want to get it off my shelf, hoping for a little fright from Chainsaw. Picked up Fangs from the library, it looks fun! Then will kick off PRIDE with Highsmith 's Price of Salt which I am baffled I have not read before.

I really wanted to like this book, but I found the plot muddy and the plot holes were frustrating. There were shimmers of gorgeous writing though, so will be giving Jones another try. (Maybe this just wasn‘t the book for me?)

Congratulations to SGJ for the win! https://www.tor.com/2022/05/17/congratulations-to-the-2021-bram-stoker-awards-wi...

So so bc there were elements that I liked, but overall, this was a bit of a disappointment. I was expecting to love it, the plot was so promising, as were the first few pages… but goooooddddd it got so slow. Then rushed. It was a bit confusing at places, and I dno, it started to feel like a hassle each time I came back to it. But I did it! It‘s done.

A big congrats to SGJ for winning the Stoker for best novel!🎉 Also, congrats to Hailey Piper for best first novel for Queen of Teeth🍾

This book gave me ready player one vibes but for horror movies. It was also a little Glee like. It seemed a little bit rushed as well.

An interesting set-up that is weighed down by one hell of a meandering plot - but saved eventually by a bonkers finale. I wish some confident editor had slashed some of the filler and reduced the page count by a hundred. 🔪

Jade has dreamed for years that the slasher movies she‘s obsessed with would devastate her hometown. When bodies actually start dropping, she tries to warn Letha, who Jade believes is the final girl. But Letha is more concerned with what happened to Jade to make her use slasher films for coping & also why she tried to take her own life. this book is gory, mythical, and heartbreaking. while I got bored sometimes, overall enjoyed. PLEASE CHECK TW

#unpopularopinion ( @LKK526 thought you might appreciate this 🙂)
- This story had me off kilter - at times I was totally absorbed, other times totally bored. Too many themes and plots. Jade was an unreliable narrator - at the end I wasn't sure what was real (maybe that was the point?).

For #AwesomeApril (thanks for hosting and glad you are back @Andrew65 ) I plan to finish the 5 books I am currently reading 🙂
Make a great day everyone -

#ThinkPositiveBePositive
Thanks for the tag @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks

Starting my day with coffee and Litsy usually makes me a more positive person -

Make a great day everyone 🙂

Saturday Value Village haul.

🎧 OK … I keep giving this author a chance due to Reggie & a BookTuber I follow. This one has been the best of 4 books I‘ve read of his and yet I feel like I‘ve read this before. Final girls? 80‘s slasher movies. Still I enjoyed it & it has some truly gruesome moments.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️