I love this kind of games, I just played one with a similar mechanic (a cactus) and it's really good!
I will make the attack faster, right now the enemies can kill you while the axe is being thrown and that gives the player the wrong game feel. You are not aligned with the players perception and that melts the kinesthesia.
You should read this -> Game Feel - Steve Swink (it will help you understand what's wrong)
Great job anyway! :)