Indian Burial Ground is an indigenous horror novel. This character driven story is set on a reservation, told through past events and present day deaths. It's sorrowful, fearful, and hopeful as Takoda folklore haunts a beloved member of the tribe who's returned for closure and forgiveness.

The real world struggles overlapping the storytelling made this a page-turner. I was engrossed from its prologue through to the last page.

Thank you, Berkley

Rating: ⭐⭐⭐
Genre: Horror

Noemi Broussard’s life is turned upside down when her boyfriend commits suicide. She is not convinced that her boyfriend will kill himself like that, but she suspects that there is more to his death than what appears to be. She starts to believe that his suicide has to do with something related to their tribal lands. Along with her uncle Louie, the two become determined to find out the truth.

The story is narrated from two perspectives: Noemi’s perspective represents the present, and Louie’s perspective is related to the past when Noemi was a child. Although the story’s goal is to know what happened in the present, it delves more into the past, so Louie’s chapters are longer than Noemi’s.

I am entirely new to this author's work; I have never read anything else by them before. I think his writing style is interesting. Although it is a well-written book, a few things bring it down to a lower level. The pacing is off, to begin with. It is not entirely clear to me whether or not this can be classified as a slow-burn story because there are times when things move more quickly, and there are other times when events appear to be more still. What I believe to be the primary reason for this is that the novel contains multiple timelines that are not linear, resulting in the pacing and the plot being somewhat more complicated.

Another aspect of this story that I did not enjoy was the manner in which a large number of characters were suddenly introduced to the reader. It became overwhelming and confusing to follow. I believe the author did an excellent job with the two main characters because they were multifaceted and possessed distinct layers of personality. This is an interesting novel, but I’d expected more from it being a horror story.

The narrative explores some potentially upsetting topics, including suicide, violence, and trauma; therefore, if you are sensitive to these topics, you should proceed with caution.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book.

I enjoyed this piece of indigenous horror. It was slower paced and character driven, but in a good way. The narrative style reminded me loosely of the Stephen Graham Jones work and will likely appeal to similar readers.

I enjoyed the supernatural elements which added a fun horror layer. It was a fun story that made me interested reading more by this author.

Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.

Indian Burial Ground by Nick Medina has two POV‘s the first is current day no me the other is a teenage Louie Nomi finds out her boyfriend Roddie has thrown his self in front of a vehicle which makes no sense to Noami she learns this right after her uncle Louis arrives from his Chicago home where he teaches at a local university. In the POV with teenage uncle Louie we learn about his closeness with baby Noami the strange events that happen over the summer it seems when people die sometimes they come back but also his neighbor goes missing who is the mother to the tribes storyteller but her son cannot attend anymore Pow Wows because he is obese and cannot leave the house so his mother gone missing is devastating. Through his window he does try to help teenage Louis understand what’s happening but things are going to get weirder long before it’s over. Do the strange events that are happening to teenage uncle Louie have anything to do with Noami and her boyfriend‘s accident? There is way too much in this book to give a proper summary so I will just say if you love paranormal with great storytelling you’ll definitely love Indian Burial Ground. The whole overtone of the book is downright creepy in the event that happened make it even more so I did find his friend JL to have questionable characteristics and found it weird that he was even friends with Louis but as I say opposites attract I loved Lewis character in that of grandpa Jill the found know me going out to a bar moments after finding out her boyfriend was dead to me seems like a bad look I get her reasoning but just found it odd overall this is a great book and I do mean very very awesome reads every now and then you run across a book that is stellar and that is this book. I want to thank Berkeley publishing group and net galley for my free arc copy please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Louie arrives at the (fictional) Takoda reservation in Louisiana, unwittingly just in time to help his niece Noemi after she suffers a personal tragedy. He’s been gone for years, only coming back for the annual powwow. It’s been ten years since his last visit as Indian Burial Ground, by Nick Medina, opens. Over the course of the novel, we’ll learn what pushed Louie away—and how Noemi came to be stuck in arrested development.

Although the book begins with Noemi, Louie steals the show from the moment Noemi opens the door to her uncle. Everyone knows everyone (and everyone’s business) on the Takoda reservation, so we’re left to pick up clues about why some people embrace the long-absent man and why others give him the hairy eyeball or, worse, yell at him as soon as they see him. The narrative splits into two as Noemi and Louie take turns narrating the present and Louie takes us back to a very bad summer in 1986.

In the present, Noemi faces the sudden, strange death of the man she considers the best thing in her life. She struggles to hold herself together while the tribal police investigate. Louie is a sympathetic shoulder to lean on, but he seems a little too interested in how Noemi’s boyfriend died (or was killed). As Louie tells us more about 1986, it becomes clear why Louie wants to make sure that the dead are staying put.

The chapters set in 1986 are the best parts of Indian Burial Ground, though the present-day chapters have some moving moments. In 1986, Louie is struggling to hold his family together. His mother is deep into her alcoholism. His sister has her hands full balancing a toddler with the desire to still be a carefree teenager. Louie spends his summer hours babysitting and goofing off with his unsetting friend Jean-Luc. That’s when the deaths start. That’s also when the stories about the dead moving and speaking at wakes and in the cemetery start. Louie is fascinated by the mysteries around him and, when he’s not minding his niece and a neighbor’s toddler, Louie is poking around and asking questions to try and find out if the strange things he’s seen and heard are real. His investigation takes him into dark family secrets and Takoda lore. I sympathize with Noemi but, honestly, they can hardly compete with Louie’s harrowing journey.

I would recommend this to fans of The Only Good Indians, by Stephen Graham Jones, and other Indigenous horror novels.

I'm still unsure what the author's connection to the Louisiana Native culture is, or why he's creating a new tribe and placing this story there. At times it feels as though he's just putting together a pastiche of what a Native reservation is like.

Beyond that, there's clearly something a bit wrong on the reservation -- perhaps not vampire wrong, but something is happening. And Luke is determined to figure it out because it's colored his teen years and now his adulthood. His niece Noemi just wants to know what happened to her boyfriend, because his death just doesn't add up. Unfortunately, we get the story via two timelines and only the flashbacks and Luke's story really work. Noemi and present-day Luke just aren't as interesting.

eARC provided by publisher via Netgalley

Excellent stuff. Nick Medina found a way to engage the reader from the first sentence and keep the suspense throughout.

*Full review to be posted closer to publication!*

I really enjoyed Nick Medina's previous release, Sisters of the Lost Nation, and was really excited to have a chance to read his next book. I was absolutely captivated by this book and think his work is clearly only getting better. I loved the mix of horror and mystery themes that really set the tone for a story that was impossible to put down. I was really invested in the characters and found the setting to be excellently set up as well. I am officially ready for anything Nick Medina wants to put out and can't wait to see what's next!

Oh how I love this author, let me count the ways. Such a creepy, creepy story. No one writes horror like this much anymore. I love his stories and will continue to look for them. Great work once again

I thought this was a well written book, but I do not think it was for me. Nothing was wrong with it, I just was not very engaged in the story.

A timely horror story that amplifies the importance of reading and listening to Indigenous stories, of understanding that intergenerational trauma and enduring hardships and abuse towards Indigenous people is real. Medina's writing is again powerful, a strong follow up to last year Sisters of the Lost Nation (which was a big win for me), and for me establishes this author as an important voice in horror along with Stephen Graham Jones (who also writes literary horror examining abuses against Indigenous voices and their land). The suspense and tension in Indian Burial Ground is excellent. The writing is a masterful weaving of past and present timelines to understand a present day suicide that is suspected to be something else, an examination of family relationships and connection to land and identity with Noemi's story and importantly Louie's story and his past timeline narrative, and a powerful example of mythological horror that resonates and unsettles.

Wow, wow, wow. I loved this book. It was the perfect balance of creepy horror, family story, and cultural examination. I LOVED it. The characters were fantastic. They were all so beautiful and flawed, and I really loved them. Louie's story was really more of a focal point to me, and I found myself caring much more about the flashbacks than the current timeline, and I wish that it had tied into the modern timeline more. It felt like there was this big buildup in the modern story that just fizzled out entirely at the end. That being said, if you read this book for Louie's story alone, you will not be missing out. It's a beautiful examination of generational trauma, cultural identity, and poverty, and I loved it. The horror aspects were spot on as well - I was intrigued from start to finish with his story. While the modern tale had a nice bit of closure and hope for healing, it didn't really further the story much at all. That being said, I still HIGHLY recommend this book to horror fans!

"A man lunges in front of a car. An elderly woman silently drowns herself. A corpse sits up in its coffin and speaks. On this reservation, not all is what it seems, in this new spine-chilling mythological horror from the author of Sisters of the Lost Nation.

All Noemi Broussard wanted was a fresh start. With a new boyfriend who actually treats her right and a plan to move from the reservation she grew up on - just like her beloved Uncle Louie before her - things are finally looking up for Noemi. Until the news of her boyfriend's apparent suicide brings her world crumbling down.

But the facts about Roddy's death just don't add up, and Noemi isn't the only one who suspects that something menacing might be lurking within their tribal lands.

After over a decade away, Uncle Louie has returned to the reservation, bringing with him a past full of secrets, horror, and what might be the key to determining Roddy's true cause of death. Together, Noemi and Louie set out to find answers...but as they get closer to the truth, Noemi begins to wonder whether it might be best for some secrets to remain buried."

Mythological horror and murder! Yes yes.

Filled with indigenous mythology and brimming with real world struggles, like suicide and alcoholism, Nick Medina takes us on a terror filled journey into the past.

The first 40% of the book moved a little slow for me. I wasn't really hooked until that point and then the book flew by. The slow start up was mostly redeemed by the rest of the book's quick pace as the plot started to come together. The haunting mythology and the struggle to find the warrior within oneself was very compelling and the book ended on a positive note for my taste.

The ending was a well thought out wrap up and I don't feel it was rushed. I will definitely be reading more by Medina in the future.

I have to admit, I really struggled with this book. I couldn't keep the characters and timelines straight and kept getting mixed up with what was happening. I also got confused with the strange things that would happen and were never explained.
I kept at it (reading) because I was very intrigued with the glimpses of Native American life and traditions. I really enjoyed that. I also appreciated that alcoholism and other things were not glossed over or made to be ok.
What tipped the scales for me was the fact that I didn't really like any of the characters. I wasn't really rooting for anyone and didn't get emotionally attached. So this book really didn't enthuse me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Berkley for the pre-release copy of this one. Below you'll find my honest review.

This one was really interesting. It's a split narrative, with one story connecting past and present, following the two perspectives of an uncle and niece, each dealing with some tragic goings-on in their own adulthood.

The story does have some paranormal twists to it, and it's a really deep commentary on the effects of colonization on native groups and how that generational trauma also inflicts personal trauma as well, extending into the present.

I don't want to say too much and end up spoiling anything, but I'd say if you're a fan of horror or horror-lite, then this book is a solid one sure to entertain.

I thought this book was very engaging, and it kept me interested from start to finish. It's interesting because I feel it makes the supernatural events of the book feel both real, and a manifestation of the character's guilt at the same time.

Terrifically chilling. Nick comes back after his first phenomenal title, Sisters of the Lost Nation, and nails it again. At this point, I'll all in on anything Nick Medina writes. I can hardly wait to see what he comes up with next. This title is just a delight - blending folklore with everyday life, realistically portraying the pain/suffering and joys within a community. Integrates magical realism seamlessly. Highly recommend.

As a fan of Medina's previous work, I was very excited to read this one, especially as it was set in the same community as Sisters of the Lost Nation. I was immediately hooked with the first chapter, something that Medina does very well. The story shifted from a modern day mystery of the suspected suicide of Noemi's boyfriend to a year of horror for the town with the number of unexplained deaths and other mysterious occurences surrounding those losses. I found myself more intrigued with the story of Uncle Louie than I was with the modern day Noemi. While it made sense that something tragic losses are just human based, I did want there to be more intersection of their stories in regards to the unexplainable circumstances of that summer in the 1980s. While Sisters of the Lost Nation felt more crime-horror, this one was definitely more horror-based, making my choice of reading it at night a bad one! The image of a smiling child jumping into a fire pit is one I will rememeber, as well as Louie turning into a monster and having to battle for his humanity. Overall, an incredible horror filled with Native storytelling and an ending full of hope for a better future after generations of trauma.

I have mixed feelings about this book, set on a fictitious Native American reservation in Louisiana. It begins with the death of a young man and spirals from there centered around a family trying to survive amidst the poverty and hopelessness of the times.

There are strange, unbelievable things going on which draws in the folklore, myths and stories of the tribe and young Louie makes it his mission to find the evil that is unsettling their lives. Things are not in balance and need to be put right.

This book kept my attention and the ending reinforced my belief that you really don’t know anyone.