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What Members Thought
4ish stars.
My vote for the Goodreads Choice Horror Award. I love the voice of the author, both in his prose and characterizations, and I love the cultural commentary. Each of the titular Indians is genuine and recognizable, both sympathetic and unsympathetic. They're just regular guys that made a stupid decision, but one that anyone could have made, and many probably have. But in some ways they're also kind of doofuses and it's hard to feel bad for them when they get what's coming to them.
Lewis ...more
My vote for the Goodreads Choice Horror Award. I love the voice of the author, both in his prose and characterizations, and I love the cultural commentary. Each of the titular Indians is genuine and recognizable, both sympathetic and unsympathetic. They're just regular guys that made a stupid decision, but one that anyone could have made, and many probably have. But in some ways they're also kind of doofuses and it's hard to feel bad for them when they get what's coming to them.
Lewis ...more
Now THIS was a revenge story! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
Ten years ago, four Native American friends went hunting where they weren't allowed to, killing an entire herd of elk - including a young female and her unborn calf. Now, she's back for revenge.
Whether or not the four really were bloodthirsty assholes or wanted to ensure everyone in their community had enough to eat or didn't realize that at least this one member of the herd should have been exempted ... none of it matters.
Two of the friends have lef ...more
Ten years ago, four Native American friends went hunting where they weren't allowed to, killing an entire herd of elk - including a young female and her unborn calf. Now, she's back for revenge.
Whether or not the four really were bloodthirsty assholes or wanted to ensure everyone in their community had enough to eat or didn't realize that at least this one member of the herd should have been exempted ... none of it matters.
Two of the friends have lef ...more
4.5 stars
A fantastic slow-burn horror that turns the heat to full boil by the end. This is a story about a thoughtless decision resulting in a cycle of guilt and revenge that culminates years later.
There are so many elements I liked here. The characters are completely genuine and so well fleshed out that you do understand how they must feel as events progress. Stephen Graham Jones says he does not come from the reserve, but he did a fantastic job of capturing so many elements. The tie to a place ...more
A fantastic slow-burn horror that turns the heat to full boil by the end. This is a story about a thoughtless decision resulting in a cycle of guilt and revenge that culminates years later.
There are so many elements I liked here. The characters are completely genuine and so well fleshed out that you do understand how they must feel as events progress. Stephen Graham Jones says he does not come from the reserve, but he did a fantastic job of capturing so many elements. The tie to a place ...more
Well, this one was pretty great. I admit I was sucked right into all the characters and the life. Commentary or no, it was evocative and I loved getting this perspective. I felt the anger, too, the dispossession, the mismatched identity issues, and the conflicting expectations for being a Good Indian turn this into something pretty gorgeous and desperate even without the horror elements.
But WITH the slow creep and terror made this pitch perfect. :)
I'm very happy to have read this. ...more
But WITH the slow creep and terror made this pitch perfect. :)
I'm very happy to have read this. ...more
Throughout I repeatedly asked myself why I had waited until now to read Stephen Graham Jones, vowing to read everything in his prolific oeuvre. The simple phrase "new favorite author" is overworked but very true. Stephen Graham Jones is exceptional.
THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS is a painful novel to read. I am ashamed of the Caucasian treatment of indigenous Americans throughout history, and as the case of character Ricky Boss demonstrates (reminding me of the Wyoming Matthew Shepard case), continuing t ...more
THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS is a painful novel to read. I am ashamed of the Caucasian treatment of indigenous Americans throughout history, and as the case of character Ricky Boss demonstrates (reminding me of the Wyoming Matthew Shepard case), continuing t ...more
So much tension! And a few shockingly sudden and violent deaths. And, wow! Talk about waiting to have one’s revenge. Then making it as remorseless and bloody as possible.
Stephen Graham Jones packed a lot into this story, which flowed reasonably well. The characters were well-drawn, and there was great mounting dread as each man, involved in a poorly thought out and needlessly violent incident in their past, is haunted and manipulated by a truly creepy and terrifying entity ten years later, to th ...more
Stephen Graham Jones packed a lot into this story, which flowed reasonably well. The characters were well-drawn, and there was great mounting dread as each man, involved in a poorly thought out and needlessly violent incident in their past, is haunted and manipulated by a truly creepy and terrifying entity ten years later, to th ...more
Although it was confusing at first, I grew to like Lewis‘ storyline. It was a (fairly) straight forward storyline with good execution. Unfortunately that didn’t last and the book went downhill for me after that. The story took an unexpected turn and apparently I turned the other way. The storytelling was scattered allover the place.
The characters were interchangeable. I actually struggled to tell most of them apart. Pretty boring for a horror novel. Some gruesome scenes, but the avenging entity ...more
The characters were interchangeable. I actually struggled to tell most of them apart. Pretty boring for a horror novel. Some gruesome scenes, but the avenging entity ...more
Wow, I did not expect to enjoy this book so much! And to think I almost gave up on it only an hour or two into listening to the audio book. I didn't really know anything about this book going in, except that it had to do with four young men, something about elk, and that it was classified as horror. I didn't connect with the story at all in the beginning and was almost bored by it, but I trudged on since I was listening during my commute. Slowly I became more interested in the story, then things
...more
DNF @28%
I was provided an e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
This book is well written and interesting, it just isn't my cup of coffee right now. I'm trying not to force myself through books I'm not enjoying, as that will only bog down my overall reading and make it a chore to do so.
If the blurb of this one looks good, I'd recommend giving it a try. It'll hit the right chords for someone, just didn't for me this time around.
#ItsNotYouItsMe ...more
I was provided an e-copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley.
This book is well written and interesting, it just isn't my cup of coffee right now. I'm trying not to force myself through books I'm not enjoying, as that will only bog down my overall reading and make it a chore to do so.
If the blurb of this one looks good, I'd recommend giving it a try. It'll hit the right chords for someone, just didn't for me this time around.
#ItsNotYouItsMe ...more
*3.5 stars
A horror book unlike I have every read before, The Only Good Indians centers on an event where a group of four young Indian men massacre a group of elk and the consequences of their actions.
This is definitely more of a literary horror novel, so don't expect fast-paced action or over-the-top horror elements. But the horror that does happen is often abrupt, unsettling and disturbing. It's a book that you have to read closely and think about. It's an introspective read about vengeance, r ...more
A horror book unlike I have every read before, The Only Good Indians centers on an event where a group of four young Indian men massacre a group of elk and the consequences of their actions.
This is definitely more of a literary horror novel, so don't expect fast-paced action or over-the-top horror elements. But the horror that does happen is often abrupt, unsettling and disturbing. It's a book that you have to read closely and think about. It's an introspective read about vengeance, r ...more
THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS is the first horror book I've read in quite a while - and I read the first 60 pages or so in a tent in the middle of the night in the middle of nowhere while it was blowing a gale and pouring with rain, so I gave it about the best start from an environment point of view it was possible to give - which probably is part of why I feel like it started so strongly.
Lewis, Ricky, Cass and Gabe are four Native Americans who grew up together on a reservation ('Blackfeet' they're des ...more
Lewis, Ricky, Cass and Gabe are four Native Americans who grew up together on a reservation ('Blackfeet' they're des ...more
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it,
click here.
This is one of those books that may have been higher rated if I read it rather then listened to it I think, so chances are good that I will reread it physically at some point.
I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook version of this book!
9/10
Aug 20, 2020
Layton
marked it as to-read
Dec 06, 2020
Emma
marked it as to-read
May 06, 2021
Lulu
marked it as did-not-finish
Aug 07, 2022
Gali
marked it as to-read
Aug 07, 2022
Hope
marked it as to-read
