My Heart Is a Chainsaw

Starred review from December 1, 2021

Seventeen-year-old Jade Daniels is something of a pariah in her small town. A member of the Blackfoot tribe, she is obsessed with slasher movies, has an abusive father, and is just counting the days until a real horror event happens in her tiny town of Proofrock, Idaho. After the mysterious deaths of two tourists Jade is convinced that all the signs point to a slasher event, and she fruitlessly tries to warn the town. She identifies all the typical slasher players, especially the Final Girl, whose virtue gives her the strength to defeat the monster. Jade has few allies, but her history teacher, to whom she writes papers explaining all aspects of slasher lore and how it relates to the sinister events occurring in Proofrock, is one of them. These papers are interspersed among the chapters explaining the increasingly mysterious and terrifying deaths occurring in Proofrock. Class, race, and education all play a role in the story, and one need not be familiar with the slasher film genre to understand Jade's references. The tension builds to a horrifying climax with all the gore Jade could ever have hoped for and ends on an uncertain, supernatural note. Cara Gee narrates the book with extreme skill. She gives perfect voice to Jade, evincing her cynicism, anger, and deep hurt, but also her hope, kindness, conviction, and bravery. The building tension is perfectly paced; listeners will journey with Jade through redemption and freeing acknowledgment of what really happened to her in the past to bring her where she is today. VERDICT This is a must-have for public library collections.--B. Allison Gray, Goleta Valley Lib., CA

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