Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

93 reviews

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!

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcohol and Gun violence

Minor: Racism, Addiction, Colonisation, and Sexual content

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. 

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Content Warnings

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

mary_stormageddon's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

There was very little structure to this book which made it hard to read at times. I'm still not sure I fully followed the plot. But it scared me, it kept me up all night, upset. And that's what I was hoping for. Also, I learned a fair bit. Not sure if I'll read any more of his books, though.

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Content Warnings

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

bashsbooks's review against another edition

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

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

Minor: Vomit and Infertility

viccreadsbooks's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Animal death, Murder, and Death of parent

Moderate: Gore

scytheria's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Animal death, Murder, and Gore

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

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

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

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

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

Spoiler

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

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

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

thetallestbird's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

This is one of those books that takes a while to get going, but once it does, hold onto your butt. The beginning and the end lost me a little but the main middle chunk was incredible. There are images in there that are going to stick with me for a while. For example:

Spoiler

Lewis and the teeth, hello???

. The author also uses a really unique mechanic in the middle that I loved once I got used to.
I also really appreciate being able to read a story with such a heavy influence from the Blackfeet culture. Not just for an understanding of the scarcity and injustice, but for the richness of their traditions, legends, lore, etc.

In short, I'm very glad I read this book and will be thinking of it for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Gore, Grief, Racism, Violence, Animal death, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Colonisation, Death of parent, Cursing, and Death

Moderate: Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Vomit