Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

107 reviews

koxendine's review against another edition

dark sad medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gore, Murder, Body horror, Animal cruelty, and Gun violence

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Drug abuse

isabellamarg's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

"The only good Indian is a dead Indian."

"If the only good Indian is a dead one, then she's going to be the worst Indian ever."

The Only Good Indians a phenomenal horror work that touches on Native American (specifically Blackfoot and Crow) culture, reservations, the supernatural world, and our connection with animals. The writing in this book was phenomenal and I felt disturbed and scared by the depictions of gore as well as the horror of everyday life that these characters are living out. 

Much of this book is shocking as well as we see the four main characters pushed to their brink, battling themselves and each other. The book also had well-written, strong female characters like Denorah (one of the main character's daughters) who I quoted when she said "If the only good Indian is a dead one, then she's going to be the worst Indian ever." The last chapters of the book are from her perspective and experience fighting the elk-headed woman and her grappling with her father's death as well as her experience and expectations as a Native American woman. We also see multiple love stories and the complicated family lives of the men on the reservation. 

I was a little skeptical at first about whether I would enjoy the book as I do not read horror novels ever and had seen some very inconsistent reviews with some people loving the writing and the storyline while others could not even finish the novel. I thoroughly enjoyed the writing in this book as well as some of the chapters written from the perspective of the elk and the elk-headed woman. I thought it added another layer to the story especially because this is a book about Native American culture and horror in which the animals are physical entities and beings that would hunt you down if you illegally killed their calf. At first, the writing was a bit slow and I felt a bit disoriented but as I got to know the characters more and understood the history of the events taking place I was able to wrap my head around why the characters were acting the way they were and what they were seeing. I was scared at certain points of the book!

Basketball and the importance of it on the reservation as a way out was heavily relied on as a tool to show the character's relationships with each other and what they wanted from life. Many of the characters played sports and it was interesting seeing them use it as a tool to break free from the generational trauma that they were experiencing simply existing.

If you are looking for a novel that is spiritual, weird, gory, and quite devastating I would highly recommend it. If you are a fan of horror I would also highly recommend this unique spin on horror through the lens of Blackfoot culture.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gore, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

montybonty's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Murder, Blood, Suicide, Violence, Grief, Alcohol, Animal death, Body horror, and Death of parent

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Vomit, Racial slurs, Misogyny, Pregnancy, and Racism

Minor: Genocide, Kidnapping, Car accident, and Addiction

merbear47's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Gore, Blood, Animal death, Death, and Body horror

Moderate: Drug use, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, and Suicidal thoughts

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

emmalaya's review against another edition

dark 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Body horror, Animal death, Death of parent, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol and Gore

acupoftea16's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Murder, and Animal death

Moderate: Blood

Minor: Addiction and Alcohol

sunnydale's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

the author really knows what hauntings are about. the characters really came to life, and it was horrifying and heartbreaking to watch them try to outrun the past. some gruesome imagery, but the violence didn't feel gratuitous. i'll be thinking about the ending for a while.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Vomit, Murder, Violence, Body horror, Cursing, Blood, Suicide, Gun violence, Pregnancy, Animal death, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Gore

lots of non-sexual violence.

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

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