I am very into stories about Indigenous peoples lately and this book was excellent. SGJ is a highly talented writer, although I will say his writing style can be hard to follow at times. This was scary and interesting and unique.

I am a member of the American Library Association Reading List Award Committee. This title was one of the 2021 winners. The complete list of winners and shortlisted titles is at <a href="https://rusaupdate.org/2021/02/2021-reading-list-years-best-in-genre-fiction-for-adult-readers/">

This is one of the best fiction books I’ve read in a long time. Stephen Graham Jones crafts a thrilling narrative deeply embedded in indigenous cultures, allowing his culture to breath into the horror narrative. This book took me almost two months to finish, but not due to the writing style. It hits like a punch to the gut at multiple points in this story, leaving me breathless and having to step back from the book at times to really process that emotional quality.

This is 100% the book of 2020 that you need to check out. It gives me hope for a lot of excellent indigenous authors to come, and is deeply enthralling.

Wow! This book was quite the ride. We follow four friends who did something unspeakable during a hunting trip and ten years later find themselves being haunted by the spirits born from that day.

There are parts of this story that I won’t understand the full scope of or be able to speak on in terms of theme and Indigenous culture as I am not an own voices reviewer, but on the bases of the story and writing alone this novel is incredible. The ups and downs, the violence and the slow build of tension was all done extremely well.

My only issue with the book was the pacing. Much of the novel was full of action and great story telling but there were some sections that were slow and long and ended up pulling me out of the story a little bit. It never fully lost my attention and it did not effect me wanting to continue, but it was something to note.

This was my first novel by Stephen Graham jones and it definitely won’t be my last. This book gets my highest recommendation and I’m so glad to have gotten a copy from NetGalley for review.

This book kept me enthralled from beginning to end. The writing was beautiful. The way Jones tells the story draws the reader in. The juxtaposition of the struggles faced by Native Americans living on reservations and the ghost story that winds through the story is amazing.

Wow, what a ride!!  I don't know if a movie is in the works for this novel, but it played as a movie in my mind as I read it.  I was not expecting this book to be horror and I am glad that I didn't because I don't think that I would have requested it had I realized that it was horror.  What a loss that would have been, because this book was just fantastic.  The writing was so good and the characters were developed so well that it brings the story to life.  Excellent read!

Wow! This book had a lot of hype behind it last year, and if I am honest some rumblings of it not being that great. It seemed like you either loved it or didn't care for it. So of course I had to find out what all the fuss was about for myself. This was my first time reading anything by Stephen Graham Jones. I am still fairly new on the scene and didn’t realize how prolific of a writer he was. After devouring THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS I am in desperate need of getting my hands on as much of Jones’ work as I can.

I had no idea what to expect going into this one and it was nothing like I was expecting. It feels almost like three different stories, three distinct acts, all interwoven together, all held fast by this through thread of vengeance. At first it did take me a bit to get acclimated to Jones’ writing style. It is different, unique. There is this air of simplicity, a conversational flair and cadence to his prose. If you find yourself maybe having trouble with the writing like I was, slow down. This isn’t a race like trying to outrun the other team on the court during a fast break. (Yea, that is a basketball reference. There is a lot of basketball here.) Take a breath. Pause at those commas. Take the time to ingest what you are reading. If you do that, hopefully it will all click and start to flow the way it was intended.

This book literally shocked me at one point. That doesn’t happen very often. I think if my wife would have been in the room with me at the time she would have seen my jaw hanging open. The story is cruising along and then all of a sudden there is this furious whirlwind of activity, of blood and violence, swirling around with the supernatural and bits of Native American folklore. It was like being hit in the chest by a stampeding buffalo. Was that too much? Maybe. I am leaving that part in though. From that point on I was hooked. I knew that I was going to love this book.

This is a story of vengeance, of survival, of parenthood, and tradition. Of what anyone, or anything, would do for their children. We follow four Blackfeet Native American men. These aren’t evil men. These aren’t bad men. These are just men who made a mistake. An error in judgment. A moment frozen in time that will come back to haunt them and their families years after the fact. The sins of our fathers and all that. Maybe even the sins of our father’s fathers. Who is to blame? Anyone? Is it the fault of these men, Ricky, Lewis, Gabe, Cassidy? Maybe the failings lay with their parents, or the society that has been taught to look down on them, who knows? Regardless, even though they may not have realized the full ramifications of their actions at the time the blame lays solely at their feet, the blood is on their hands. Do these men deserve to have this target of revenge painted on their backs? I guess that depends on who you ask. The one seeking vengeance sure does and they will stop at nothing until that burning hunger is satiated.

Jones is a captivating storyteller. There is no doubt about it. He grabbed me by the seat of my pants and dragged me along through the blood stained snow for this wild ride. From the opening prologue you get this sense of dread, like a tickling in the back of your throat, that just won’t go away. It is persistent. It grows and swells until it just rips full force through the page. The inclusion of Indigenous / Native American folklore in this modern day part slasher, part thriller, part straight up horror novel was unlike anything else I have ever read. I haven't even touched on the villain. I don't want to give anything away but I'll just say that it was distinctive and utterly terrifyingly. I need to, and will definitely be reading more Stephen Graham Jones very soon.

THE ONLY GOOD INDIANS by Stephen Graham Jones was everything that I didn't know I needed in a horror novel. A tale of blood soaked vengeance that ripples through generations. Dripping with malice, retribution, love, and forgiveness. Combine all that with genuinely real, authentic feeling characters, beautifully stylistic prose, Native American folklore, and you've got one special book in your hands.

I’ve been hearing about Stephen Graham Jones’s The Only Good Indians for a while now – how it was essential reading for basically any horror fan, how it felt fresh and unexpected, how it mixed a wild batch of tones into something wholly unique and compelling, all while never forgetting to be a horror novel. Well, all of that is true and then some; The Only Good Indians is a knockout piece of horror, following a group of Native American men – and their families – as they are being hunted down for a crime they once committed by…well, something. Something with elk horns.

There’s so much to enjoy about The Only Good Indians, but let’s start off with Jones’s characters. A Blackfeet Native American, Jones brings his life experience to his characters, giving us Native American men who feel real and lived in – men who are shaped by the disadvantages and scorn that so often come along with reservation life and American stereotyping, men torn between their heritage and a desire to leave it all behind, men struggling with their own cultural baggage all while also trying to figure out what they can leave as their legacy – their children, their loved ones, and so forth. That invests us in these characters, even as we watch them make horrible decisions, or struggle with their addictions, or justify hateful actions. And that’s important, because once the horrors start, that means that we feel the impact of it all the more.

So, that horror. One of the many wonderfully surprising aspects of Indians is the nature of it all. That horrible crime the men committed? It’s not anything you might assume, and yet, even as my first reaction was “that’s not nearly as bad as I expected,” it wholly fits with what’s been unleashed, meaning that we completely understand why the men have the baggage that they do around it. (Some of them, anyway.) As if that’s not enough, though, there’s Jones’s engaging, off-kilter pacing, which has a way of lulling you into a sense of ease because, hey, nothing happens this early in the book, all before stomping on the gas in a brutal way. Much like some of King’s best work, the horror feels both alien and yet familiar, governed by rules that make sense in an almost primal, atavistic way and yet defy easy logic. Jones brings a strong sense of progression and dread to the table, letting things work under our skin before kicking things off with paroxysms of violence that feel like they can’t possibly keep going…and then do.

So here’s what you have: you have rich, sympathetic characters who we care about and who manage to grapple with real world issues of prejudice, discrimination, historic baggage, bleak living conditions, ad more. You have a horror force that’s wholly original, giving us something that doesn’t feel like any other horror novel out there, tapping into something primal and forceful that will get under your skin. You’ve got an amazing air of dread and unease, one that explodes out in nightmarish ways. And you’ve got a story that defies easy categorization and explanation, going in unexpected direction after unexpected direction, keeping you on your toes and unprepared for what’s next. And if all that’s not enough, it’s written so well – it’s got a sense of black humor about itself, a rich sense of character voice, and a storytelling style all of its own.

In other words, The Only Good Indians is every bit as good as you’ve heard and then some. If you like horror? It’s a no-brainer – read it and understand why everyone is talking about it.

Very well developed characters and an extremely engaging story. Well thought out and very suspenseful story line that keeps the reader guessing until the final twist! This is the book to read this year! Highly recommended!

Spooky and disturbing! The beginning of the story definitely grabbed my attention. The animal stuff was hard to read. What did I expect, it's a horror story! The gory and gross kind of got to me. My rating of 3 stars is based on personal preference. The book provided so much social commentary on the prejudices of indigenous people, had a great plot and was definitely a page turner. I would recommend this title to library patrons.

Ten years after leaving his home on the Blackfeet reservation in northern Montana, Lewis has settled into his life as a postal worker in Great Falls. He has a wife, a dog, a motorcycle that he's constantly rebuilding, and a decent life. But it seems that his life on the reservation doesn't want to let him go, particularly an illegal elk hunt with his friends that still haunts Lewis. When odd things start happening, Lewis becomes convinced that the spirits he offended a decade earlier is coming back to mete out its revenge, and it's unlikely to stop at him.

This is a beautifully told story of harsh life on the reservation and in rural central Montana, interwoven with a truly disturbing horror story. Absolutely amazing.

I can't really articulate how much this book affected me in any cohesive way. For the last 60 pages my heart was pounding and I found myself terrified to turn each page. At the same time this book is mesmerizing in its beauty and violence. Essentially and possibly reductive plot summary: four Native American men kill a herd of elk 10 years before the events of this novel take place. The spirit of one of the murdered elk follows them for revenge. Even writing that seems simplistic as the novel tackles way more than a horror story of revenge. These characters are incredible and this book is unforgettable.

No one can coax you inside someone's head like Stephen Graham Jones. As for what you'll find, The Only Good Indians is a heartbreaking, sometimes horrifying read, with the perfect ending. Recommended? Definitely.

This story was up and down for me. I enjoy horror books a lot and although at times it was slow paced it had plenty of gory scenes and action when it wasn't. I do not know much about native american culture but I enjoyed the story.

I just reviewed The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones. #TheOnlyGoodIndians #NetGalley

*I received all these titles from Netgalley and their respective publishers in exchange for an honest reviews. All opinions are my own and do not reflect the thoughts of the author’s or publishers.

What I Loved: This literary horror novel is set on Indian reservation and explores indigenous life in America. I have read a handful of Jones’ novels previously and always appreciate his biting social commentary. As so many other reviewers have said, it is reminiscent of Jordan Peele’s work in cinema. There are also some truly chilling scenes, especially the opening elk hunt scene. So much of this story was simultaneously achingly beautiful and proactively barbaric. I enjoy hauntings and body horror and The Only Good Indians was brimming with these themes.

What I Didn’t Love: Despite the pros, the pacing was quite slow in spots, to the point that I almost became bored. I have read a handful of Jones’ novels and I have found that I struggled in the same way with all of them. I want to like literary, character driven horror– but up to this point have been failing. However, in the third act, when people started dying, I was hooked and it made me kind of sad because I wished that the rest of the book had been just as enthralling. I am not normally a rereader but I would like to think that someday, maybe I’ll come back to this book and read it through again in the hopes of understanding it more and appreciating the author’s restrained pacing.

With that said, I gave this one 3 ½ stars and would recommend to anyone who enjoys literary novels with horror elements.

While this started out with a great premise, it fell flat for me. They idea of a group of friends being hunted by the actions of their youth was really interesting. There were some eerie situations, hallucinations and it was very atmospheric at times. However, as the title suggests, the fact that the main characters are all Indian is mentioned in almost every conversation they have. Don't get me wrong, I loved that the Indian heritage and culture was explored and woven into the story. I just don't think we needed it literally clarified on almost every page. This book also felt very slow paced for me. The story had great potential but I had trouble getting fully immersed into it. Overall, intriguing story, just not executed well enough.

WOW!
What a great book.
When you first start reading you may get confused. Stick with it though! It all comes together when you begin to understand the nature of the elk character. I actually restarted and read more closely to track the hallucinations and the character connections.
It was worth it.
The closing scenes are especially exciting. Jones builds the tension and suspense just perfectly and sucks you in to a one-on-one basketball game that will be played to the death. If you like basketball, you'll especially love this part of the book.
Jones also does an amazing job of peppering the book with facts and insights about Native American culture and history, but not in a "teachy" way. He uses the thoughts and words of his characters and weaves them into the plot.
The Only Good Indians is science fiction, mystery, horror and historical all at once.
Jones swished a three-pointer on this one!

Thank you to NetGalley & the publisher for providing with a copy of they novel to read & review. The Only Good Indians is a wild ride that mixes American Indian traditions with supernatural horror that will both frighten you while spurring you on to read "just one more chapter." Stephen Graham Jones masterfully creates sympathetic characters that wrestle their personal demons as they are confronted with a being hellbent on taking revenge on these men for the sins committed in their capricious youth. In fact, Mr. Jones artfully made me feel torn as I found myself alternately rooting for the men to survive & feeling an empathetic pull toward the justice of their punisher. The Only Good Indians is definitely NOT for the faint of heart, but for true horror fans, this novel has so much to offer!

I loved the first half of this book, and the theme of revenge.
Years ago, four Native Americans went hunting, and their lives were forever changed.

Has revenge manifested as a supernatural being? Or perhaps the weight of living under this oppressive cloud of guilt is so heavy that it has caused paranoia to set in. The guilt has certainly become a pervasive and tangible thing. Palpable, visible. inescapable to the end, and I loved it. I enjoyed the characters. flaws and all. I enjoyed the slow build up and the ever increasing creeping fear. However at about or right before the halfway mark there was what seemed to be the climax and then instead of ending it felt almost like the start of a different book. Slower, more drawn out, even draggy in parts. Especially for people like myself who don't care a thing about basketball. I think the story line, while compelling could have flowed a little better.

"Hair on the back of neck standing up" kind of creepy!
As the first chapters of the novel opens we are introduced to Ricky. He is one in a group of friends that committed a gory act over a decade ago as teens. By the end of that first action packed chapter, Ricky is brutally murdered. From that point on, there are multiple flashbacks between the past (when the group were all alive and young) and the present (some alive, some dead in horrific ways). In doing so the author allows for a narrative with character development and reflection upon the numerous issues faced by natives today attempting to live on/off tribal land.
The author weaves both contemporary racial issues into a creepy story that you will not want to read in the dark, alone. This is done through the use of native american lore and how the spirits are very much alive today. However, if you are triggered by animal violence, I would not recommend this book as there are quite a few instances that are very graphic.