Rhiannon
Once again Stephen Graham Jones doesn’t disappoint! This follow up to My Heart Is A Chainsaw delivers in all the best possible ways – multi-character POV, intricate plot with non-stop action (it all happens over a 36-hour period during a wicked winter storm), gruesome deaths and some of the best characters ever written in a horror novel. Jade is absolutely my hero, but really so many of SGJ’s characters are so vividly alive. This sequel is better than the first – more evenly paced and smoother in its action and plotting. And although it also has a large cast of characters as well, I felt that I was closer to more of them than in Chainsaw, more invested.
Jade makes me weep with her refusal to believe she is better than she thinks, and worthy of love and admiration. That armour she’s cultivated is seriously hard to pierce, but we readers can see beneath, and see what she’s truly made of even if she can not. Her glib, dark humour is still present, although it’s reigned in by distance and time. Her subtle humour is part of that armour she’s honed so well. But you can also feel her softening up just a bit in her relationship with Hardy, her concern for the students, her softening towards Banner, and she actually dares to consider someone her ‘best friend’ and I almost felt the earth shake when she thought that, I was so proud of her.
SGJ’s horror movie knowledge is epic and intimidating and he uses it all to such great effect that I am in awe of his skill. Of course, horror fans have a lot of meat to chew on with his books and this is no exception. There’s lots to entertain.
One caveat: don’t try reading this without having read Chainsaw. It just won’t make sense to you. SGJ’s worldbuilding in this series is deep and crafty and lived in, and although Chainsaw is maybe more chaos, it’s absolutely imperative to really understanding Jade’s (and others!) journey through the little town of Proofrock.
Originally posted at www.instagram.com.
Once again Stephen Graham Jones doesn’t disappoint! This follow up to My Heart Is A Chainsaw delivers in all the best possible ways – multi-character POV, intricate plot with non-stop action (it all happens over a 36-hour period during a wicked winter storm), gruesome deaths and some of the best characters ever written in a horror novel. Jade is absolutely my hero, but really so many of SGJ’s characters are so vividly alive. This sequel is better than the first – more evenly paced and smoother in its action and plotting. And although it also has a large cast of characters as well, I felt that I was closer to more of them than in Chainsaw, more invested.
Jade makes me weep with her refusal to believe she is better than she thinks, and worthy of love and admiration. That armour she’s cultivated is seriously hard to pierce, but we readers can see beneath, and see what she’s truly made of even if she can not. Her glib, dark humour is still present, although it’s reigned in by distance and time. Her subtle humour is part of that armour she’s honed so well. But you can also feel her softening up just a bit in her relationship with Hardy, her concern for the students, her softening towards Banner, and she actually dares to consider someone her ‘best friend’ and I almost felt the earth shake when she thought that, I was so proud of her.
SGJ’s horror movie knowledge is epic and intimidating and he uses it all to such great effect that I am in awe of his skill. Of course, horror fans have a lot of meat to chew on with his books and this is no exception. There’s lots to entertain.
One caveat: don’t try reading this without having read Chainsaw. It just won’t make sense to you. SGJ’s worldbuilding in this series is deep and crafty and lived in, and although Chainsaw is maybe more chaos, it’s absolutely imperative to really understanding Jade’s (and others!) journey through the little town of Proofrock.
Originally posted at www.instagram.com.
I do love collections of short stories, but unfortunately more of these didn’t really land for me than did. The collection focuses on themes of shame, desire, identity, a lot of parental trauma, much of which is told through allegorical whimsy or surrealism. Some of the literary devices work, some just were unbearable or fell flat for me. I found a lot of the experimental writing aggravating or tiresome – and I generally tend to like experimental structure or writing.
But the stories that worked for me, I really liked: Smear the Queer, The Failed Messiah (which had a sharp sense of humour to it that surprised and delighted me), similarly Siren Island had that edgy humour. And Alex Adams… was clever and interesting as a Peter Pan gender flip in the real world.
So, although I was mixed overall, I do think I’d enjoy a novel length work from this author and will be looking further into their catalogue.
My thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.
Originally posted at www.instagram.com.
I do love collections of short stories, but unfortunately more of these didn’t really land for me than did. The collection focuses on themes of shame, desire, identity, a lot of parental trauma, much of which is told through allegorical whimsy or surrealism. Some of the literary devices work, some just were unbearable or fell flat for me. I found a lot of the experimental writing aggravating or tiresome – and I generally tend to like experimental structure or writing.
But the stories that worked for me, I really liked: Smear the Queer, The Failed Messiah (which had a sharp sense of humour to it that surprised and delighted me), similarly Siren Island had that edgy humour. And Alex Adams… was clever and interesting as a Peter Pan gender flip in the real world.
So, although I was mixed overall, I do think I’d enjoy a novel length work from this author and will be looking further into their catalogue.
My thanks to NetGalley and The Dial Press for the ARC. I am leaving this review voluntarily and all opinions are my own.
Originally posted at www.instagram.com.
Added to listDystopias Postapocalypticwith 110 books.
