Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

156 reviews

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

pphector's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Violence, and Murder

jeggert10's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense medium-paced

4.75

It’s a bit dry to start but by the time the narrative shifts to the actions of Tom White and his FBI team, I was hooked. Stranger and wilder story than fiction!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, and Murder

3littlewordz's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

4.25

Far more riveting than I had expected! I purchased a digital copy years ago after hearing an NPR interview with the author, David Grann. The book deeply demonstrates the pure audacity and unchecked depravity of colonizers. Whenever I read about early Americans and their treatment of either the enslaved or Native Americans I'm not surprised but I'm definitely exhausted. Grann is a writer and journalist, and his skills for detailed research only enhanced his superb delivery of this terrible period of American history. My jaw dropped more than a few times at the brazenness of the crimes, and the confidence that no one would face any consequences (and many of the perpetrators did not).  This is a fantastic choice if you are looking for an American true crime story.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Xenophobia, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

isalime's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

As someone who doesn’t read a lot of non-fiction and much less historical non-fiction, I was surprised by how much I enjoyed the book. I wasn’t sure how the murders and FBI origin story would flow together and now I see how the stories are linked. I enjoyed how the first part  set the scene by detailing the discrimination an Osage family faced. While I knew a bit of of the mistreatment of native Americans, the first part  added context to this moment of history. The second part went into the investigation and trial and I was at the edge of my seat wondering what the outcome would be. The third part made me reflect on the long lasting effects of the murder and effectiveness of the investigation. I thought each section ended up flowing into each other surprisingly well. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Murder

Moderate: Violence

ahhhreadzombiez's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

corriejn's review against another edition

3.5

My suggestion: read just the first ~1/3 and then look up how the situation turned out. A bit overdramatic in places for me, but I learned about a lot of historical events I wasn't familiar with, in that first section. If someone is interested in learning about "the birth of the FBI," this probably wouldn't be the most satisfying option, either-- it's not really about that, the second section is more detailing the life and career of one particular agent (in the precursor to the FBI), including before and after these events.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

buck_e36's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Everyone should read this book. We cannot forget this horrific period of history. David Grann tells the forgotten story of the Osage Reign of Terror in concise yet emotional and descriptive prose, conveying the utmost respect for the real people whose lives and deaths he is retelling. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Hate crime, and Racism

Moderate: Gun violence, Violence, Blood, and Grief

Minor: Addiction

savvylit's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

3.5

Killers of the Flower Moon is a thoroughly researched and disturbing glimpse into the grisly early 20th century conspiracy against the Osage Nation. The amount of greed and racial hatred among the non-indigenous residents of the Nation is astounding. And yet, at this point in my life, I find myself continuously unsurprised by portions of US history in which racist settlers commit genocide or hate crimes. Acknowledge it or not, that's the American legacy.

In writing Killers of the Flower Moon, David Grann has put together a damning and enlightening true crime book. I was both horrified and riveted by the connections that Grann slowly reveals between each murder. I still can't believe just how deep the conspiracy ultimately went! That being said, I found Grann's writing style to be a bit too dry for my taste. This book is heavy on the details in a way that makes it difficult to digest all at once -- at least, that's how it felt to me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol

jamie_rich's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury