Talk about a series that has been so hyped to me! I am not normally a horror reader, so I went into this a bit nervously. But it was an intense, spine tingling ride. Keep reading this book review of My Heart is a Chainsaw for my full thoughts.
Summary
You won’t find a more hardcore eighties-slasher-film fan than high school senior Jade Daniels. And you won’t find a place less supportive of girls who wear torn T-shirts and too much eyeliner than Proofrock, nestled eight thousand feet up a mountain in Idaho, alongside Indian Lake, home to both Camp Blood – site of a massacre fifty years ago – and, as of this summer, Terra Nova, a second-home celebrity Camelot being carved out of a national forest.
That’s not the only thing that’s getting carved up, though – this, Jade knows, is the start of a slasher. But what kind? Who’s wearing the mask? Jade’s got an encyclopedic recall of every horror movie on the shelf, but… will that help her survive? Can she get a final girl trained enough to stop all this from happening? Does she even want to?
Isn’t a slasher exactly what her hometown deserves?
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
In My Heart is a Chainsaw the mystery and supernatural tone are set at the beginning. Graham Jones is an expert at crafting a suspense that slowly builds up. While these interstitial of Jade’s Horror 101 were a bit distracting at first – plus as a horror newbie it was a lot of info – I ended up understanding more of the connection as the story continues. Within My Heart is a Chainsaw, you can never tell what’s real or what’s not. For fans of unreliable narrators and questions of what is the truth this is for you!
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While there were a few times I got lost within the action, within the layers of (dis)belief, I loved the themes of the ways urban legends, and ghosts, are made. The things that never add up. My Heart is a Chainsaw has a meta feel as we see the horror archetypes and tropes unfolding. With a mystery investigation unfolding, this is for the underdogs, the ones who love characters who struggle with those who don’t believe them. It’s about the ones who love Final Girls. This is a love letter to horror all wrapped up in a main character who will sweep you away.
Find My Heart is a Chainsaw on Goodreads, Storygraph, Amazon, Bookshop.org, Blackwells, & Libro. fm.