Reviews tagging 'Grief'

Jedyni dobrzy Indianie by Stephen Graham Jones

83 reviews

yvo_about_books's review against another edition

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

lynxpardinus's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense

4.75

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Content Warnings

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

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

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

Moderate: Vomit and Blood

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

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

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

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: 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

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, Blood, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Suicide, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Racism, Colonisation, and Genocide

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