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daredeviling 's review for:
Indian Burial Ground
by Nick Medina
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay so I didn't realize this was a horror novel (or actually, I just forgot) because when all the weird supernatural shit started happening, I wasn't sure if it was like...actually happening and I should take it as fact in the novel or if the characters were all having bad acid trips or if Louie was developing psychosis or what was going on. Eventually, I figured that it was actually supposed to be happening in the novel, so it worked out in the end, but it would have helped if I'd known it was a supernatural/horror genre to begin with lol. That's on me.
Anyway, this is sort of a coming of age novel that's framed initially as a mystery (sort of) that deals primarily with the difficulties around depression, suicide, alcoholism, trauma, and grief. We so rarely have Native American main characters in novels, and I really enjoyed reading from these characters' perspectives in that sense, but also...most of the characters annoyed the shit out of me except for Louie (mostly). But also, to the author's credit, I think he did portray the grief of a group of people who feel like they are trapped and have no way out of a constantly repeating generational cycle. The hopelessness was well written in the novel, and maybe that is what I was reacting to when I said that the characters annoyed me. The author grappled with both generational and individual trauma and was able to comment on how the trauma relates to colonization within the Native American communities.
There were times when I was confused, although like I said earlier, I probably would have been less confused if I had known that this was not supposed to be strictly in the ~real world and that it had a supernatural/horror element to it. Also, like most people, I ended up caring more about Louie's sections of the book more, but it feels like the author also focused on those sections more in terms of plot and character development, so that makes sense.
This is a novel where the horror was linked very strongly to psychological trauma manifested in the physical world. I really enjoyed that parallel and the idea of trauma made into a physical, tangible thing to show the damage that it can do to everyone. With the exploration of alcoholism and mental health difficulties leading to death, the supernatural elements only highlighted the struggles that the characters were going through and demonstrated that these issues can never be subdued for long.
Anyway, this is sort of a coming of age novel that's framed initially as a mystery (sort of) that deals primarily with the difficulties around depression, suicide, alcoholism, trauma, and grief. We so rarely have Native American main characters in novels, and I really enjoyed reading from these characters' perspectives in that sense, but also...most of the characters annoyed the shit out of me except for Louie (mostly). But also, to the author's credit, I think he did portray the grief of a group of people who feel like they are trapped and have no way out of a constantly repeating generational cycle. The hopelessness was well written in the novel, and maybe that is what I was reacting to when I said that the characters annoyed me. The author grappled with both generational and individual trauma and was able to comment on how the trauma relates to colonization within the Native American communities.
There were times when I was confused, although like I said earlier, I probably would have been less confused if I had known that this was not supposed to be strictly in the ~real world and that it had a supernatural/horror element to it. Also, like most people, I ended up caring more about Louie's sections of the book more, but it feels like the author also focused on those sections more in terms of plot and character development, so that makes sense.
This is a novel where the horror was linked very strongly to psychological trauma manifested in the physical world. I really enjoyed that parallel and the idea of trauma made into a physical, tangible thing to show the damage that it can do to everyone. With the exploration of alcoholism and mental health difficulties leading to death, the supernatural elements only highlighted the struggles that the characters were going through and demonstrated that these issues can never be subdued for long.