There are breaks in the book’s format that go from typical prose to something resembling a book report that give more insight into Jade and her relationship with horror.

Not just knowledge of the films or directors, but unique insights onto the structure of the slasher genre itself. What Jade lacks in friends, companionship, and a bright future, she makes up for with an encyclopedic knowledge of horror. Though most people are thankful for their arrival, not everyone thinks they are there for good reasons. Revered and god-like, these Founders are worshipped for the money and jobs they’ve brought into the struggling town. She is an ostracized outsider, they are outsiders who are separate and above the local community.

But there is a big difference between them and Jade. These millionaires are called the Founders, and they are even bigger outsiders than Jade in the tiny town. She lives in a very small lakeside town that finds itself being overrun by millionaires building across the lake. But on the page, Jade was a fully realized person with her own reasons for doing the things she did (I’ll leave that for you to discover when reading). If the reader wasn’t privy to Jade’s internal thoughts, she would almost seem unlikeable. There are some points where I had to ask myself if she was choosing to alienate herself with the pranks and activities that further pushed people away from her. Calling Jade an outsider would be an understatement. The book follows Jade (not Jennifer, never Jennifer) who is a senior in high school on the verge of the unknown next chapter of her life. My Heart is a Chainsaw is now one of those stories. Ones that can never be gutted from my memory.

Books that relied on information that I already have with references to films and stories I cherish. I always found this to be true, until I started reading modern horror novels. It feels like someone is ramming a chainsaw into my hippocampus and I can watch the knowledge spilling out all over the floor. Reading frustrates me because I cannot retain the information like other people can. Reading to me is a constant reminder that my brain came out of the box broken in regards to memory retention. It’s a chance to call new and exciting worlds your home. Reading books to most people is an escape.

My heart was a chainsaw