I’m having a hard time writing this review of Stephen Graham Jones’ The Only Good Indians. Sometimes you have to step away from the novel a little bit to let your thoughts simmer. I had to do that big time for this story.
In its essence I think the story is incredibly strong. It’s about four Indigenous Americans in their 20s who go hunting a forbidden part of the reservation that is only reserved for the elders. They find a pack of elk there, and mayhem ensues.
They think they get away with it, but when they’re in their 30s they come face-to-face with an entity bent on revenge.
It’s a horror story as old as time, but it works. I will never look at an elk as a harmless animal again, that’s for sure. The effect it has on the four men is all different and that’s where the great storytelling comes in. The book is propelled forward by gruesome horror scenes. I also enjoyed the fact that this is an #ownvoices story, which gives the reader a good insight into the Native American culture.
However, it’s also stopped by lengthy passages about the characters’ thought process and nothing in particular, really. It’s like riding a rollercoaster where sometimes the build up takes a bit too long.
The reason I had to take some distance from the novel, is because I didn’t grasp the full concept. I couldn’t really keep up with the author’s thought process. I have this feeling it’s me and not the book though.
This together with the slower parts of the rollercoaster made my reading experience a bit less pleasant than it could have been. I’m giving this book 3.5 stars and I’m rounding it up to 4, because it’s a solid read nevertheless. At the end of the day, all I will remember is the interesting revenge story and the horrible scenes that are written so incredibly descriptively I will not forget them very easily.
Many thanks to the publisher for providing my review copy via NetGalley
Statistics:
Date read: June 7, 2020
Date published: July 21, 2020
Publisher: Titan Books
Format: eBook
Pages: 320
Genre: Mystery/Thriller/Horror
My Number of Books Read by this Author: 1
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