Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

103 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! 

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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

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Drug abuse, and Infidelity

Minor: Pedophilia and Police brutality

folst015's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Blood, Grief, and Murder

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

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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

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.

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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

elkboy23's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Cursing, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Police brutality, Stalking, and Colonisation

Minor: Racial slurs, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Classism

ashthecryptid's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

lancemama's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

blacksphinx's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

This book is not normally my speed. If you love slasher movies and have a high tolerance for gore and violence towards humans and pets alike, pick this book up. 

I somehow managed to hold on through things that normally would have made me put the book down forever and it was so good. One of the most PERFECT uses of second-person I've encountered in a novel; a genius way to incorporate the slasher movie PoV-of-the-killer shots directly into the narrative. I knew it was going to be 5 stars at the ~70% mark when

the goddamn slasher challenges the basketball-loving final girl to a game of basketball because she wants to wreak her in a game of her favorite sport before killing her OMG.

If you can get through the things that start occurring around the 1/3rd point and aren't squeamish about animals dying, you should finish the book - it's totally worth it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Suicide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Body horror, Vomit, Police brutality, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexual content, Grief, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

amsswim's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

THis book was a new type of horror for me that I hadn't read before. The perspective shifts don't seem out of the ordinary until the "you" phrases come out with second person. I don't think I have read something like that before, but it gave a watched/watching feeling to the whole novel.  The story was great, the descriptions and general writing style I loved, I could truly see the movie playing out before me. I'd recommend to any fans of horror.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Violence, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Genocide, Racism, and Colonisation

Minor: Addiction, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Car accident