Reviews tagging 'Toxic friendship'

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

8 reviews

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

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

ashthecryptid's review

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

vixenreader's review

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

4.0

Despite the prose being overwritten at times, and the amount of violence against women, this book is about nature taking its revenge and breaking intergenerational trauma cycles. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Murder, Torture, Cursing, Genocide, Gore, Suicide, Racial slurs, Blood, Child death, Body horror, Death, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, and Gun violence

Moderate: Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Alcohol, Toxic friendship, Kidnapping, and Death of parent

Minor: Infidelity, Classism, and Abandonment

The subjects of shame towards a parent, murder of indigenous and white women, tensions about interracial relationships, and intergenerational trauma are explored in detail within the text.

sarahc_98's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Violence, Murder, Animal death, Vomit, Toxic friendship, and Racial slurs

klitanightfuryreads's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.75

Ugh this book… it’s taken me a year to read this book. I would pick it up then back down. It seemed to take forever.

The thing with this book is that it is slow and the way it’s written at the beginning takes a lot of getting used to. 

The first part was slow and agonizing and then you get to a great story and then it gets slow again.  The second half of the book was definitely better and if you can get passed the first half then it is a good story with a very long dragged out ending that honestly just made me wish I had DNF the book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Blood, Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Death, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Gore, Grief, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, and Violence

reddeddy's review

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Cultural appropriation, Gore, Grief, Suicide, Vomit, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Racial slurs, and Violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Cursing, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Addiction, Stalking, Hate crime, Kidnapping, Self harm, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Gaslighting, and Police brutality

Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Sexual content

steviaplath's review

challenging dark mysterious reflective tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Body horror, Blood, Gore, Grief, Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Car accident, Colonisation, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, and Mental illness

Minor: Abandonment, Toxic friendship, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Kidnapping, and Hate crime