The Only Good Indians
by Stephen Graham Jones Book Review by: Miranda Moses (Fraser) ISBN: 978-1-9821-3646-8 Welcome back my creatures of the night! This years Halloween Book Reviews continues with a doozey. I always try my best to do book reviews without major spoilers but I can honestly say that I don't know how well I can do that with this novel. I will still try, no worries, but there are some things that need to be talked about. I also want to talk about the writer! He is an award winning author. And as if to prove this, this book was well praised before ever being released! I actually had wanted it for last year's Halloween reviews but it wasn't out yet. It's also important to note that the author is a member of the Blackfeet Tribe himself. I know there are always people who mean well, but get easily offended by titles... and even excerpts from this book... without taking the time to see that this wasn't written by a white man talking about cultures he has no real right to. I hope that made sense and gives you an idea of what to expect from him. This book is in the horror section and is praised as being, "the latest novel from the Jordan Peele of horror literature, Stephen Grahams Jones." So for Get Out lovers this probably sounds super intriguing. Other than that the reviews/excerpt on the back are very vague. The book says it is about breaking from tradition, cultural identity, and of course the revenge aspect. An entity is bent on revenge and coming after four Blackfeet men for a messed up event in their youth. The entity is what I will be spoiling- they ultimately call this entity: Elk Head Woman. In Blackfeet it's written as, "ponokaotokaanaakii". Something I attempted to research but it appears to be something the author invented for the purpose of this book and has no cultural history. (If I am wrong PLEASE let me know and send me information, I am absolutely fascinated with learning about other cultures/mythology from around the world.) This entity doesn't truly enter the picture until about halfway through the book I'd say. By this point you're onto the second man's story, heavily invested, and just BLINDSIDED by the absolute shit that hits the fan! I mean talk about step on the gas! Before I say anything else about the characters in this story I think it's very important to put in a warning that this book is VERY graphic. There is no holding back of graphic details in the deaths or attacks. And there are several animal deaths including dogs. I know for a lot of people that is something they cannot handle. So you have been warned. Because I was definitely caught off guard when that started happening. So the story revolves around 4 Blackfeet men that grew up together. Two leave their reservation and two remain at home. Ricky, Lewis, Gabriel, and Cassidy. The first one has the shortest story. The second one has the craziest story...I'd venture to say. That's where the graphic details start and things start spiraling out of control real fast. Gabriel and Cassidy pretty much cover the rest of the book with their story just going over the edge. This entity has had a hand in all of their 'misfortunes' but is the most involved in the last half the book. She plots like mad and is absolutely insane. She is completely consumed by her hatred and thoughts of revenge. No animal or person will stand in the way of what she wants.. the blood trail she leaves behind her is proof of that. In conclusion, I did really enjoy the book. It was graphic and horrible in all the right ways for a horror fan. While still managing to shock me along the way. I found it incredibly... confusing... that the sound of hooves scraping up the stairs could be so terrifying. But there I was in my bed shaking like a leaf imaging this moose trying to silently assassinate someone in their bed, lmao. That doesn't happen in the book by the way, just my brain having some fun! I also LOVE supporting authors of different cultures and highlighting their talents! I am definitely looking into more of his novels, so don't be surprised to see his name repeated on here next year! Read on my fellow book worms. May we one day have Belle's library! As always links to the author's pages can be found down below.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Fiction Book ReviewsArchives
October 2022
|