Review: “The Only Good Indians”
OK, obvi I’ve been on a bit of a horror kick lately. That’s just were I am at this point in the pandemic, OK? Anyway …
This was a weird one. Good, but weird. If you’re a linear thinking/reader, “The Only Good Indians” by Stephen Graham Jones might frustrate you.
I intentionally didn’t look up anything about this book before diving in because I wanted to come at it with an unbiased perspective. This was not at all the story I’d been expecting.
Full disclosure: I listened to the audiobook, and I’m so glad I did. Shaun Taylor-Corbett’s narration of Jones’ words felt so incredibly authentic. This is a story about a group of American Indian men who are haunted – literally – by a heinous act committed a decade prior. Hearing this story in the voice of an indigenous man made it resonate so much more than I think it would have if I had read the book myself.
Jones’ writing style is wickedly cinematic. I can still picture the scenes he set in vivid detail. His writing is also haunting … to the point that I would feel uneasy while listening to the story and feel compelled to look over my shoulder.
As the four main characters in this book are literally stalked by demons of their past, Jones gives us glimpses of the culture and heritage they either have drifted or run from. This book provided an interesting perspective on the relationships indigenous people have with their ancestry and culture and with the feeling of being caught between that world of ritual and the modern world outside the reservation.
I wasn’t in love with the ending of this one, though. It felt a little disjointed and rushed. It definitely jarred me and confused the hell out of me. But I think that might have been the point.
Overall, “The Only Good Indians” is a good addition to the gothic horror genre. Speaking of which, this book satisfies the “genre novel by an Indigenous, First Nations or Native American author” criteria of the 2021 Book Riot Read Harder Challenge. And the audiobook is definitely the way to go with this one.
3 out of 5 stars
