Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

38 reviews

thebookishbunny's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Injury/Injury detail, and Abandonment

scifi_rat's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Stalking, Sexual assault, Violence, Animal death, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Grief, Murder, Animal cruelty, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Self harm, Sexual violence, Death of parent, Abandonment, Addiction, Alcohol, Child abuse, Police brutality, Bullying, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Pregnancy, Sexism, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Mental illness

luisaoropeza83's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Where the book starts at the end outcome and then goes back into what happened to the missing girls was refreshing. There was no initial mystery, but more of following the crimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Child abuse, and Abandonment

lau_leo's review against another edition

challenging reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Animal death, Abandonment, Death, and Mental illness

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Stalking, Suicide, and Toxic relationship

homebodywitch's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is truly an incredible work of fiction. It’s viscerally disturbing and haunting. At first, I did not like the second person perspective as I did not want to be in the mind of this serial killer. I also find that perspective really tends to feel like self insert fan fiction and can read as very juvenile. But as the story progressed and we got to experience the other perspectives from a more omniscient point of view, I grew to understand why the author chose to show the character Ansel that way. It separated him from the women that were impacted by his actions. I do appreciate that while the book didn’t shy away from depicting the horrible things Ansel Packer did, it didn’t make them into overly gory spectacles. There is animal cruelty depicted, but not the cruel actions themselves. He obviously murders women, but it doesn’t spend too much time spelling out the gory details of the killing. The spectacle is unnecessary and again, I appreciated the author for not going there when it wasn’t needed. I did find some of the thoughts of the characters towards the end a little heavy handed while trying to hammer the author’s point home, but it wasn’t too bad. It was just clear the author had some things to say and just kind of shoved them in there. But they were things that needed to be said about the state of the world and the way the whole true crime spectacle focuses on the actions of men instead of the women they killed. I didn’t give it a full 5 stars because of some things that fell flat (I’d have really liked at least one chapter from the perspective of Shawna- I was so intrigued and then confused by her behavior), but it’s really worth a read especially if you are a woman that is exhausted of the true crime obsession permeating pop culture. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Murder, Sexual content, Abandonment, and Animal cruelty

froggylife01's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Addiction, Grief, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Mental illness

mariecaat02's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Animal death, Murder, Child abuse, Sexual violence, Misogyny, Sexual content, Mental illness, Death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Violence, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Murder, Drug abuse, Addiction, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, and Toxic relationship

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The prose is beautiful.  Kukafka is able to make you see and smell the people, objects, and scenery in the novel. The subject matter is heavy.  The political commentary is not subtle.  I would not have chosen to walk through the last hours of a serial killer’s life before being executed for fun.  But it turns out I would do it for the Book Eaters Podcast.  I was not fond of most of the POV’s, except Saffy’s. She was interesting and compelling. I rooted for her.  It wasn’t just that she was meant to be the justice in the story, but she had character and flaws that made her seem real.  I felt sorry for her, I envied her and wanted desperately for her to find the peace that she wasn’t looking for in the story.   The opening chapters with Lavender’s POV were the hardest to get through.  It was the most detailed and horrific.  There were a few times when I had to walk away from it because it was hard to read.  Some stories are just that way.  But it was necessary to understand Ansel’s roots and to see where the violence began.  That it didn’t start with him.   I like that the book didn’t try to make me feel sorry for Ansel.  The presentation was cold and felt factual.  This is the way things were.  All of the characters had regrets, but none of them could change things. I wouldn’t say that I liked the book or that I would want other people to read it.  I would, however, say that it is well-written. Unique in the sense that we are shielded from some violent scenes and thrust into others.  Protected where we could be and forced to see what was necessary. I am not a murder girlie, in that I don’t listen to true crime podcasts and tv shows.  I prefer to hide in fantasy and the familiarity of tropes.  So perhaps my opinion on this particular novel should be weighted with that in mind.  But, as far as thrillers go, I prefer to be more removed from the violence.  I like it, when it is fleeting and rationalized.  Something I couldn’t get from this book.  Even starting from before Ansel was born and a little after his death, I couldn’t trace the roots to a reason.  I wasn’t meant to.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Child abuse, Violence, Animal death, Murder, Death, and Domestic abuse

soobooksalot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Notes On An Execution has been in my brain's TBR for some time.
 I knew it would be dark, and I wasn't wrong. It's also amazing and unforgettable. 
 It's the story of Ansel Packer, a damaged man turned murderer. 
 His chapters take us through his final hours before execution. The chapters in between introduce readers to women from his life - his mother Lavender, fellow foster child and eventual police detective Saffy, and Hazel - the twin sister of Ansel's wife.
 It's a fascinating portrait of a boy, then man, who became a killer. But Ansel and all of the characters are made to be somehow relatable through incredible writing from author Danya Kukafka.
 Notes On An Execution may be polarizing and disturbing. But it is most definitely recommended.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content, Animal death, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Grief, Violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, Alcohol, and Animal cruelty

ksuazo94's review against another edition

challenging dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Racism, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Child abuse, and Death