Review: My Heart is a Chainsaw

My Heart is a Chainsaw centers on Jade Daniels, a half-native american outcast with an abusive father and an absent mother. She finds comfort in an unsual source: horror films, especially slasher ones. Jade narrates the story of the town of Proofrock as if it were one of those movies. But when people actually start dying in the waters of Indian Lake, she pulls the reader inside her encyclopedic knowledge of murders and her predictions were right all along. As Jade drags us into this nightmare, we get to know the true side of her: a sensible who has suffered and desperately wants a home. A girl whose heart is like a chainsaw.

I have conflicting thoughts as I’m writing this review. First off, I LOVED the slasher theme here and all the references to slasher movies. I’ve seen several of the ones the author mentioned throughout the story, and the comparisons and connections were on point.

Our main character, Jade, is peculiar. At first, it was hard for me to empathize with her until I got to know her better in later chapters. Her behaviors are odd, and even though she is obsessed with everything slasher-related, her intentions are good. She has a dark sense of humor, very sarcastic, but I actually found some parts funny, which is so weird because it’s the last type of book I thought I’d find myself laughing out loud. Her voice felt vivid.

Review: The Broken Girls

Do you believe in ghosts? If so, you’ll most probably like this novel. And even if you don’t, there’s plenty of mystery and unsolved situations that will keep you hooked.

In case you hadn’t heard of this book before, The Broken Girls has two timelines. One, dating back to 1950 in Vermont. Four girls who are roommates are becoming close friends while attending Idlewild Hall, an all-girls boarding school. Due to the fact that each one of them had some troubled past, it took them a while to open up to each other and just when they were achieving this, one of them goes missing. What happened to Sonia?

Fast forward to 2014, and Fiona Sheridan, a local journalist, is revising past events of her sister’s murder that occurred twenty years ago. Deb’s body had been found at Idlewild’s abandoned sports field. There’s something about the facts that don’t add up, and even though the murderer was convicted, she still thought some information was missing. However, her investigation gets a bit sidetracked when she hears that the Idlewild Hall has been bought to renovate and reopen. Does Idlewild Hall have anything to do with Deb’s murder? 

Though it felt a bit predictable at times, some events really took me by surprise — the twists were quite deceitful. Specially those pertaining real people. This novel, just like in many other books and movies, makes you wonder if you can really trust those who surround you. There are so many unsolved missing person and cold cases, I personally think it’s important to unravel the information and solve the puzzle, in order to at least give the victim’s family some closure, and also the victim’s soul that can be restlessly wandering.

To sum up, I won’t say it’s the best thriller novel I’ve read. The style of writing was a bit prosaic, but then again so are most of the contemporary novels in this genre. It’s an interesting and quick read, the type that will have you turning pages to find out what happened to all of those broken girls.