My Heart is a Chainsaw is an ode to horror movies by the author of the equally unique horror novel, The Only Good Indian.
Teenager Jade is a strange girl. Very strange. She loves slasher films and can quote them at will. So, when it appears a real-life slasher has arrived in her small town, she just has to meet him. It’s her destiny, right?
But Jade’s fate is not to stop him. For Jade is convinced she is no virginal Final Girl, the girl who kills the killer at the end of every horror movie. That role, Jade is convinced, will be played by the new girl in school, Letha, who is beautiful and rich enough to stand up to the slasher.
Jade is a very sympathetic lead character. You can’t help rooting for her like you did for Laurie in Halloween. She has the requisite bad family background and basically zero friends. But she is smart as a whip and sees patterns everywhere that call to mind famous horror movie scripts.
The action in the book starts out slow, subtle, and creepy. A couple of foreign tourists go missing one night on the foggy town lake and no one even notices they are gone. But soon the action ratchets up. I read the entire book in one sitting. It is that compelling.
As a long-time horror movie fan, I adored the pop culture referencing of every slasher film since Psycho. I’ve watched enough of these films not to need the conveniently placed school reports by Jade about the slasher film tropes. However, they do make this book more accessible to non-horror movie fans.
If you love horror movies, My Heart is a Chainsaw has to be on your reading list this fall! Even if you are not a horror buff, this book has a twisty and unique plot that most thriller readers would also enjoy. 4.5 stars!
Thanks to Saga Press, Gallery Books, and NetGalley for a copy in exchange for my honest review.
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