Reviews tagging 'Vomit'

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

86 reviews

yvo_about_books's review

2.25

Finished reading: December 27th 2023

“When the whole world hurts, you bite it. Don't you?”

WARNING: it's unpopular opinion time again!!

I should have known this would happen. I've come to the conclusion that literary fiction just isn't for me, although there have been exceptions in the past... I guess this story ended up being another nail in the coffin of this subgenre though. Don't get me wrong: I was SO intrigued by the premise of The Only Good Indians, and I loved the social commentary and own voices Native American aspect. This is probably the only reason I kept reading, because I had a very BIG issue with this book. There was just something about the writing style I clashed horribly with, and I was only feeling more annoyed and frustrated with each page... Add the often slow pace and confusing POV and timeline switches, and let's just say that I wasn't really motivated to continue reading The Only Good Indians. I even put it on hold twice to see if that would help... But in the end I simply don't think I'm a good match for his author's writing style. That said, I also struggled with the characters themselves, which felt rather flat and were both unlikeable and easy to mix up. Things also get pretty graphic with lots of focus on violence, hunting and animal cruelty... I usually don't mind a more twisted plot, but there was a bit too much focus on the animal cruelty to my taste. Anyhow, I guess that The Only Good Indians is just one of those books that you either absolutely love or struggle to finish... Sadly, I ended up belonging to the second group, and I confess that I caught myself skimreading more than once. It's such shame, because I really wanted to love this one! 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

celina246's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

this was a overall a good book. It did tend to drag on a bit, which is the only thing stopping me from giving it a 3.5, but when the big moments happened, boy did they happen. 

the ending was…interesting..like was there a full circle moment? Kind of. But she has her calf and at the end of the day the rest of them are fully dead so(?)

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Animal cruelty

Minor: Alcoholism, Racism, and Vomit

mdwsn27's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Blood and Vomit

maryfranvs's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Vomit, and Alcohol

kveldt's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore and Gun violence

Moderate: Body horror, Racism, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit

aidareads's review

dark funny tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

a solid 4.5 star read! i really enjoyed practically everything about this book, except from: 1) the fact that it took me around the first 20% of it to actually understand what was going on and wanting to know more and 2) the parts where basketball became so emphasized (i get it's a narrative device, but still). apart from these, i liked pretty much everything: dynamic writing style, funny scenes for some comic relief, very graphic gore for the spooky vibes, and an animal-ish entity seeking revenge after being killed? sign me the hell up! and i also liked how the author introduces notions like native american tradition and urban indians (e.g. "growing up traditional", knowing how to perform certain ceremonies such as a sweat, etc.) and i loved the ending as well! PLEASE check trigger warnings before reading this, though <3

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Blood, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Racism and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Vomit

sonygaystation's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Wow this was unbelievably boring sprinkled wifh approximately two (2) interesting scenes and way too graphic animals deaths!

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gun violence and Alcohol

Minor: Addiction, Racism, Sexual content, and Colonisation

theresahasread's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Vomit, and Murder

georgiesutton's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

3.0

I found the story overall really good and interesting, but I felt like the writing style really ruined this book for me. The pacing was off and some sentences and paragraphs were impossible to follow which meant action would happen but I’d be confused about what actually happened. Especially in a book where reality is questioned, I found key events were not well described. I loved the family and friendship dynamics, the basketball and native culture, but some bits dragged and some were just plain confusing. 

Overall I feel like it was a really intriguing premise but between the pacing and the writing it wasn’t all that enjoyable to read. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Miscarriage, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

bashsbooks's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

The Only Good Indians is such a compelling and gripping horror story once you get into it. The beginning is a little slow, and the author makes you work to decipher his writing style - but it pays off to figure out the rhythm of it. I especially liked the various POV shifts and the importance of even the most miniscule details. Will definitely be reading more by Stephen Graham Jones.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Cursing, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Alcoholism, Miscarriage, Racial slurs, Pregnancy, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Infertility and Vomit