A review by reading_rainbow_with_chris
The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones

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

3.75

 
“The Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones
Four Blackfoot friends hunt down elk on land reserved for their elders, massacring the elk on the sacred land. Ten years later, the four friends find themselves haunted by a mysterious elk woman intent on turning these Indian hunters into the hunted. Horror novels are not typically my reading, but I have been giving more of them a try after I caught the horror bug reading Karen Russell’s short stories. Graham Jones has constructed what I would consider to be an overall good novel with a compelling, unique premise and integrated commentary on the state of Native American cultures and well-being in America today. However, there were some odd narrator shifts which made some scenes difficult to follow and at times the visceral gore was too much for me. That’s not to say the gore was poorly written; it simply was too much for my taste. I also listened to this on audiobook and unfortunately my experience was tainted by poor narration, specifically related to the author failing to slow or pause during what should have been suspenseful moments of the haunting. All in all this was a solid book that makes me consider picking up another of Graham Jones’s books, but with more careful decisions about format. 


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