Hi all! 

Welcome back to The Ultimate Reading Challenge! I outlined in 2022 how the new series will work here, so check that out before progressing further. For my 24th challenge, the task was to read a book featuring an indigenous character. I decided to go with I Was A Teenage Slasher by Stephen Graham Jones. Unfortunately, I did not finish it. Today I am sharing my reasons as to why, plus the prize for completing the prompt. Not that I did! Without further ado, let’s get into it!

Plot: ‘I Was A Teenage Slasher’ by Stephen Graham Jones:

1989 Lamesa,Texas. A community driven by oil and cotton – a town where everyone knows everyone else’s business. Tolly Driver, seventeen, a good kid with more potential than application, exists on the outskirts with his best friend, Amber. They navigate the hellscape of the teenage social scene, sticking together in a place that doesn’t know how to be different. But when they go to a fateful party at Deek Masterton’s house – a party that ends in a series of gruesome, brutal and extravagant murders – Tolly’s world gets flipped upside-down. Because some slashers are born in violence and retribution, some were born that way – and some were just in the wrong place, at the wrong time.

Why I DNF’D: ‘I Was A Teenage Slasher’ by Stephen Graham Jones:

Sometimes we have to accept that an author just isn’t for us. That doesn’t make them a bad writer. It simply means they don’t suit our personal taste. For me, that author is Stephen Graham Jones. I have tried to read several of his full-length novels and have never been able to complete a single one. I wanted to give him one last chance with I Was A Teenage Slasher and it went the same way as the rest. I find his writing to be very confusing and convoluted. His protagonists tend to go on tangents and I find myself having to work really hard to decipher the plot. His latest novel was no different. In almost two years of participating in The Ultimate Reading Challenge, I had my very first DNF (Did Not Finish). I didn’t want to end the year putting myself into a giant reading slump. I made the right choice but I’m still sad about it. He’s such a favourite in the horror community. I guess we are just incompatible. 

Prize For Completing The Challenge:

My prize for completing the prompt (not that I did), was a reading-themed bookmark, which I’ve already used. 

Thank you so much for reading! I will see you next month for the very last bookish challenge!

Peace & Love xoxo