I did a lot of studying in 2024, and was fairly fortunate to have (largely) loved all of the books and comics I picked up. That would have made it tough to decide on favorites when it got here time to mirror on the 12 months, however there was no query in my thoughts about which ebook I liked most, as a result of one specifically absolutely knocked me on my ass, ripped my coronary heart out, made me chortle, made me cry, and so on., and so on., and so on.: Stephen Graham Jones’ I Was A Teenage Slasher.
Now, I Was A Teenage Slasher wouldn’t appear to be the sort story that’d go away you weeping about love and the facility of friendship should you’re, you realize, judging a ebook by its cowl. The slasher style isn’t precisely identified for emotional depth, so should you went into this considering you had been simply in for a basic revenge-killing spree with some teenage antics blended in, I wouldn’t blame you. And also you wouldn’t be fully unsuitable — this ebook certainly has these issues. However the supernatural slasher component, whereas being a significant a part of the plot, feels secondary to the rollercoaster coming of age story that’s actually at its coronary heart.
Tolly Driver doesn’t wish to be a slasher, however he’s. It’s in his blood, due to a string of freak incidents that aligned in simply the correct option to seal his destiny. Amber, his finest pal and really a ride-or-die, has a lot of data on the topic and basically turns into his journey information on this bewildering journey. I Was A Teenage Slasher offers with quite a lot of tough topics, just like the grief of shedding a guardian younger, one thing I immediately associated to, the stress of attempting to do proper by the individuals you like, and the terrifying actuality of rising up and rising into your self. Nevertheless it’s additionally fairly often humorous, which helped offset all of the gore and tragedy.
That is the second 12 months in a row a Stephen Graham Jones ebook has landed on the high of my listing, which isn’t stunning as a result of I’m an enormous fan, however I Was A Teenage Slasher is admittedly on one other stage. It isn’t simply considered one of my favourite books of the 12 months, it’s most likely considered one of my favourite books ever. I wished to start out it over the second I completed studying it, however I couldn’t as a result of I used to be crying too exhausting. — Cheyenne MacDonald, Weekend Editor
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