This book was so insanely hard for me to get through, but I have seen so many people post about it and it being nominated for awards, so I thought maybe it would get better. In my opinion, it did not. I really did not enjoy this book at all. The wording was so awkward and it made the story very difficult to follow throughout most of the book. I also thought that the amount of unnecessary, small characters did nothing to add to the book's quality. In fact, I felt it distracted from the main story and halfway through the book I was questioning what the point was, at all.

Thank you to the publisher for this advanced copy. SGJ weaves a wonderful story that also is perfect for the current state of the US. I look forward to more of his work.

I love how you just don't know what to expect when reading one of Stephen Graham Jones' books. I'm also going to be posting a review of his The Night of the Mannequins novella soon, and I will be reiterating the same thing. His writing is unpredictable in the best of ways.

This may have been the wrong time for me to read The Only Good Indians, though. It was confusing, and my current attention span may have made it even harder for me to pay attention overall.

I'm such a fan of Stephen Graham Jones, and I will continue to read whatever he writes. Even though I'm middle of the road on The Only Good Indians, I still want to encourage people to pick it up - especially folks who are already fans.

Here are some of the early reviews that I loved and think you should check out:

Bark's Book Nonsense
Books, Bones, & Buffy
Char's Horror Corner

A haunting tale reminiscent of Straub's Ghost Story. At times creepy, depressing, this story doesn't shy away from taking the reader into depths.

I can see why some people love this book, but it was not for me. The writing style was a little tough to follow, plus it felt like it took a long time to find a real stride. The tenses changed sometimes mid-sentence and that was also a bit jarring at times. I have never read anything like this book before. It was classified as horror, but I’d be more inclined to say it was just gruesome and brutal. Multiple dogs are killed, deer are killed, humans are killed. Gory from start to finish. The final 20% of this book were the best part in my opinion.

Thank you Netgalley for the arc. 3 stars! Some parts were great and some were super slow. The actual horror elements were fantastic. Some parts were super creepy and suspenseful. Four men kill a young elk and she is pregnant while they kill them along with multiple elk in the herd. She returns and gets revenge.

Super creepy and the exact horror story I needed. Wasn’t too gross but had just enough, and I didn’t want it to end

The Only Good Indians by @SGJ72 totally took me by surprise. Strong story about the cycles life takes and the necessity of remembering your past, all set to the backdrop of a horror story unlike anything else I’ve ever read. This is the start of my journey with SGJ, not the end.

Posted to Twitter on 11-17-2020.

So, this story was my introduction to Stephen Graham Jones, and the power of the tale already has me looking to see which one of his previous books I want to read next. Highly recommended. Five stars.

Tthis begins with a decently-paced narrative, aptly balancing social commentary and real-time drama. Readers are drawn into the life of a Blackfeet Native American named Lewis. It takes only a few sentences to fall in love with him. He has an infectious personality when he’s interacting with those around him, but it’s Lewis’s inner thought life that reveals his sense of humor and vibrancy. The narrative is actually two-fold: Lewis’ present day circumstances peppered with flashbacks to an elk hunting trip with his friends. It becomes increasingly clear that whatever transpired during this hunting trip almost a decade ago has haunted Lewis all of his days. Something bad happened there.

I don't want to reveal ANYTHING and I'm afraid I would if I said much more. From about the 30% mark I was hooked.

This story starts slow and builds. The reader hitchhikes into the mind of Lewis. Initially, he seems deranged, seeing things that aren’t there, worrying an incident from years before until he changes the shape of it to fit his paranoia. But then the story takes off at a gallup, and the second half of the novel is a breakneck ride. The conceit is out there, but all that front loading succeeds in making you accept its plausibility. It is true horror, dropping bombs of violence that are all the more visceral for their casual nature. I found myself rereading passages, thinking that maybe I misunderstood the breathless accounts of extreme and dehumanizing carnage, only to realize that the acts had indeed occurred on the page and that I did not want to revisit them. And those gory scenes raise the question of what it means to be a human, to inhabit the natural world while holding oneself apart from it all, above all the blood, bone, and tissue. Whatever answer you arrive at when you read this novel, there is no shortage of evidence to sift through in these crime scenes.

The premise of the book was interesting. The only problem i had was the writing style it made the book a little confusing at times to understand and took away from me enjoying the story.

I seriously struggled with this book. It was hard to make it through a quarter, that’s when I finally gave up. There was too much I didn’t understand about the subject matter. I tried to understand the culture and history, but it didn’t help. I just gave up.

This might be my favorite horror book of 2020. I haven't felt so much terror while reading a story in a long time. Jones' writing style is so successful in building a casual and conversational tone right before it twists and drops you into something so jarring and horrific that you almost can't make sense of it. The lead up of the characters' self-doubt as it transformed into something darker was incredible, and I LOVED the nuanced depiction of the elk. If you enjoy horror stories, this is a book that you need to read!!

Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book. It grabbed me at the start, slowed down a bit in the middle but around 60%, it grabbed me again and didnt let go. The characters are great and the author makes you care about them; whether you like them or dislike them, you do feel something for each one. I loved the ending.

This was a pretty original story, but there were definitely some parts where it got a bit convoluted and harder to read. The book is written in a very interesting prose, but definitely not for beginner horror readers. The basketball scene at the end was.....interesting.

This is just not for me. The writing style prevents me from getting engaged, I don't like or care about any of the characters, and the animal violence is very off putting for me. DNF 23%

The Only Good Indians by Stephen Graham Jones, is a chilling story of revenge set in modern day. We see the effects of substance abuse and racism, but we also seeing the resilience of community bonds and traditional ceremonies.

I’m not a huge horror fan, but Jones did a great job keeping my attention through the whole book. It is brutal at times, but also intimate and heartbreaking. While I cannot validate the truth of what indigenous people endure, I feel he captured the difficult parts of contemporary Indian life as well as the beauty of the traditions. The depictions of reservation life really made this a welcoming read amidst all the horror.

I highly recommend this book! 5 Stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Saga Press for a free e-copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

An effective horror story with sharp, relevant commentary. Definitely something to gift any horror lover.

So this book. It was scarier and creepier than I anticipated and much more violent than what I typically read. However! I do love a story with some good folklore and the Native American folklore in this book was just amazing. This book was dark, and it was unsettling, but it left a solid impression on me. It's not often that I re-read a book but this is one that I may have to read again because I feel like there are so many layers here to go through. If you want a horror novel with some substance, The Only Good Indians is a great choice.

3.5 stars.
This the story of 4 friends who go on an illegal elk hunt and the repercussions of that day follow them a decade later. I appreciated the uniqueness of this book - a horror story with Indian characters. As a Blackfoot Indian (Jones goes into using terms like Indian, Native American, Indigenous in the book and so I will use Indian, as he does), Stephen Graham Jones brings an interesting perspective to the horror genre.
This is a plot-driven novel where the author builds the creepiness! You can feel the guilt of that night of the elk hunt follow each of the characters, and the tension builds as it gets closer and closer to the finale. A true horror story that keeps you on the edge of your seat. It makes you think about guilt, friendship, regret, and hope.
I've never read Stephen Graham Jones before, but will definitely be looking at his other stories.
Thanks to NetGalley for loaning me copy to review.

(also posted to Goodreads)