The only good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

[Frances]

Alan, leave a jelly jar out so we can drop our pennies in there. Or will it be a nickel per use of "bro-dude-lingo"? Oh, whoops! Now I owe you 2¢!

[Alan]

I was going to say it's dollars, but being there's a change shortage in the country those nickels may come in handy.

[Feli]

I just finished that first chapter The house that ran red (view spoiler)[and I don't know what's to think or what actually happened. I am not sure. I like the book and the writing is okay for me (with the exception of some confusing scenes as you all already mentioned. But it was a nice read so far, maybe a bit slow as nothing really happened. And then, click, crazy AF. I can't describe it any better. What the heck? Poor Shaney and what he did to her. And what about Peta? Was she herself? It seemed so... But what about that 'baby'? I mean, what exactly happened here?! (hide spoiler)]

Also: the Fantasy books that are described throughout that chapter really seems to be a bit weird and crazy. I mean, I am all about big Fantasy series, but that one? SGJ does have a bit too much imagination, haha

[Alan]

I Googled the fantasy books hoping they were real. :(

[Frances]

Alan wrote: "I Googled the fantasy books hoping they were real. :("

I take it they weren’t? Rainbow Rowell made hers real by popular demand: Carry On . . . from Fangirl

[Alan]

Not so far as I could find.

[Alan]

In case anyone needs visual aids for what dude-bro means:

[Frances]

[Frances]

Good job, me! I copied the garble that you typed, Alan, to make your gyphy get posted. I’m getting the hang of this. I should be reading, not fiddling around with gizmos.

[Alan]

The "garble" is called HTML, but kudos for figuring how to use it.

[Vanessa]

It is odd that it was easier for me to follow the book shifting between different perspectives in the middle section much more easily than I could visualize characters playing basketball and doing drills. Even if I could understand what was going on, I think there would still have been a bit too much basketball for my tastes.

I think I'm going to be swapping this between three and four stars for a while. I didn't love the book as a whole, but there were a lot of great moments. I still think the first section could have made for a great novella, and I think the ending of that section is going to be one of my favorite things I read this year. It was weird, but it was also thematically interesting, which is one of the things that I look for in horror. My reading lately has been missing an authentic feeling depiction of poverty, and that's another aspect that I liked a lot about this. Cassidy and the macaroni was one of my favorites scenes like this, but I thought several of the scenes setting up Gabriel's character felt very real.

Also, a sweat lodge ceremony is a great horror setting.

[Anne (w/ an E)]

There were some pretty great scenes in this book. There were also a couple scenes that were tough to get at first and needed a reread.

[Feli]

Vanessa wrote: "It is odd that it was easier for me to follow the book shifting between different perspectives in the middle section much more easily than I could visualize characters playing basketball and doing ..."

I agree about the Basketball. It's not easy to follow for me since I don't know anything about Basketball and thus it is a bit much in this book.
(But that's often the case with sports in books and me. We just don't have Football or Baseball over here, a bit of Basketball but mostly it's Soccer. We also don't have any high school sport teams or college sports or anything like it, I was already a bit jealous of you all living in the US for having this 😂). So all books with so much sport in it is a bit overwhelming for me 😂

I also agree on the first part being a good novella. But I am also enjoying the rest of the book so far. I still haven't finished (one third to go) but I can imagine this being a 4 star read for me already

[Lisa]

Just finished last night. Overall, I found this to be a very impressive book. I agree that there were some parts that were confusing and required rereading, particularly in areas where I was trying to understand and picture the sequence of action. The explanations of basketball and the game sequence (view spoiler)[ between Denorah and Shaney was very complicated. My daughter even plays basketball and I was lost. I did appreciate it because it gave us insight into Denorah and her sharp mind, which ultimately enabled her to save herself. I loved her character, and was so breathlessly hoping for her to live that I couldn't read fast enough. (hide spoiler)] This book was a bit of a tangle in parts, but the author writes beautifully, and it was such a different sort of story, that it really pulled me in. I also appreciated the depiction of reservation life and insight into Native American culture.

[Lisa]

I'm also interested in others' thoughts on the various incarnations of (view spoiler)[ Elk Head Woman. I thought at first that Shaney was just a woman, and that Lewis killed her for no reason. But the Elk Head Woman appears as Shaney to Denorah at the end of the book. I'm trying to bridge the transition from Elk Head Woman (who Lewis first saw) to Shaney (then murdered) to elk calf (that Lewis carried with him and still had when he was shot) to Shaney (playing basketball with Denorah), to Elk Head Woman again. Is it just a regenerative cycle that she passes through until she attains her revenge? Is she able to change back and forth from EHW to Shaney as needed, beginning again as the calf when killed? Am I just looking for too literal of an explanation :) ? (hide spoiler)]

[Feli]

Lisa wrote: "I'm also interested in others' thoughts on the various incarnations of [spoilers removed]"

I will read your spoilers as soon as I finish the book. I know I will be confusing in the end and can't wait to read other's thoughts.

I hope to finish in a few days. I am currently reading the part where the sweat started. Nothing good will be happening there...

[Vanessa]

Lisa wrote: "I'm also interested in others' thoughts on the various incarnations of [spoilers removed]"

I only know enough about Blackfoot legends to recognize that they influenced the plot. The only one I remember getting directly mentioned is Blood Clot Boy, but I don't think the book goes into much detail about how similar the plot of that story is to this book. (view spoiler)[Some Blackfoot legends involve people being able to change form between humans and animals and stuff with mistaken identities.

My theory is that the elk never was Shaney. Lewis suggested that a third unseen person could have been responsible for the stuff with the books. Towards the end, she says that she is Shaney, but the only person that knows her is hiding under a vehicle and doesn't confirm it. (hide spoiler)]

[LTJ]

YEARS later, I finally read and loved this! I will say that it took some getting used to the content structure and how the story gets delivered but I devoured it from the 40% mark on.

I gave it a 5/5 and consider this a horror masterpiece. If you want to read my full review, it is below :-)

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Kimberly]

LTJ wrote: "YEARS later, I finally read and loved this! I will say that it took some getting used to the content structure and how the story gets delivered but I devoured it from the 40% mark on.

I gave it a ..."

High Praise! I can understand--this is one of the books I still think about; how everything just came together so well.

[LTJ]

@Kimberly: Hell yeah! I feel the same is going to happen to me over time. I've been meaning to read this for a while and I'm glad I finally did, it's a horror masterpiece!

[Michael]

LTJ wrote: "@Kimberly: Hell yeah! I feel the same is going to happen to me over time. I've been meaning to read this for a while and I'm glad I finally did, it's a horror masterpiece!"

Nice review. Don't forget to check out SGJ's My Heart Is A Chainsaw and then Don't Fear The Reaper. Prepare to have your mind blown again!

[LTJ]

@Michael: Thanks and oh yes, got both on my TBR and will hopefully get to them this year. I CAN'T WAIT :-D