Reviews tagging 'Hate crime'

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

58 reviews

nialystic's review against another edition

adventurous dark

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Gun violence, Death, Animal cruelty, and Pregnancy

Moderate: Miscarriage, Hate crime, Colonisation, and Racial slurs

Minor: Infidelity, Suicide, and Addiction

spinebreakr's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I was enthralled with this right up until

elk head woman transformed into a human.

which unfortunately is pretty early on in the book. 
The writing was tense and emotional. You could really feel the weight of generational trauma resting on the shoulders of the main characters. The way it informs all their actions is raw and drawn from a very real place. The character work is super well done. But ultimately, the monster in the story is not nearly so scary as what the men do to the ones they love. 

Once we started getting chapters from the perspective of the monster, I had such a hard time being scared of her. I came to this book expecting horror and I just wasn't gripped at any point. The gore was pretty visceral at times. Very graphic, and overdone in some spots. For example

Scalping Shaney with a motorcycle??

Yeah it was horrific, but also so wildly over the top, it immediately pulled me out of the story. 

Overall, I feel like it started off strong but lost direction a little as it went. 
I still recommend. But only If when you read this book you treat it like a Halloween-esque slasher film. Do that and you'll have a great time. 

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Colonisation, Grief, Hate crime, Suicide, Toxic friendship, Addiction, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

zoebaillie's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

3.0

I had hoped for more atmospheric spookiness, but found most of the horror was more gore than spook. What it lacked in atmosphere it made up for in very, very detailed accounts basketball and motorcycle repair (both of which are central to the gore at times).

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Abortion, Death, Gun violence, Gore, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Animal death, Violence, and Body horror

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Hate crime, Car accident, Colonisation, and Police brutality

kitkaty731's review against another edition

dark funny sad medium-paced

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

3.5

A grisly parable about inter-generational harm, particularly the harm men can do to women without meaning to. It’s a touch gruesome for me and some parts are hard to get through, but the writing style is vivid and really unique. Im not Native American so I’m sure there’s a lot that went over my head and I can’t speak to, but from an outsider perspective I think it was pretty well done!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Police brutality, Gun violence, Blood, Hate crime, Animal cruelty, Pregnancy, Violence, Alcohol, Animal death, Death, and Body horror

raichoreads's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.0

This was a hard book to get through just because it felt so dense. I wanted to make sense of every little thing Graham Jones put into this book, which is an impossible task on a first read. I felt like I was being deftly guided through complex ideas that encouraged me to think harder and read further. This book also genuinely horrified me. I’m not sure if I’ve covered my mouth and muttered “oh my god” while reading as many times as this book made me do. Can’t wait for a second read with more robust annotations.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Hate crime, Gore, Animal death, and Murder

islesbiyana's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

“You hurt and you hurt, and then you don't. It's soft at the end. Not just the pain, but the world.”

rating: 3.75 stars ★★★☆

“For them, ten years ago, that's another lifetime.”

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Hate crime, Racism, and Miscarriage

ouroborian's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Police brutality, Abandonment, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Animal death, Hate crime, Car accident, Colonisation, Pregnancy, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Infidelity, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Vomit, Cursing, Mental illness, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Alcohol, Bullying, and Infertility

doormatt's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Starts off slow but absolutely worth the read
The most tense game of basketball ball to ever exist

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, Alcoholism, Animal death, Stalking, Suicide, Miscarriage, Alcohol, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Grief, Death of parent, Car accident, and Blood

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: 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