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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
dark
emotional
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this book a lot, however, I listened to it as an audiobook and it bounced a lot from one narrative to another. While I liked how the story was told from this different perspectives, I had trouble keeping everyone and their relationships straight. I did really appreciate the aspect of women reclaiming their narrative as opposed to the typical the idolizing of serial killers.
Maybe I didn’t catch it or read the blurb properly but I didn’t realise that this was based on Ted Bundy and I’m really glad I didn’t realise until about 20% of the way through. I really liked going through the book, knowing the reference and using my own knowledge, to experience an approach that is uncommon when it comes to serial killers. I loved the victim focused approach to the narrative, I loved that everything wasn’t wrapped necessarily about the defendant and the grisly details. I wanted to know about these women and their lives away from murder. I really enjoyed how Knoll covered what it meant to be a woman in a tragedy, she touched on familiar feelings, experiences and thought processes: the incessant need to be polite, the hyper awareness of how you’re are being construed as uptight or weak (etc, etc…) in the minds of men.
When the story did cover the defendant, he was not construed as some cold, calculated killer. It really opened my eyes to how much credit we gave Ted Bundy, how much meaning we ascribed to his bumbling actions. I suppose it’s a tougher pill to swallow for the investigators that they were bested by an idiot on several occasions.
With the media aspect of the book, I liked how some characters served to highlight how ridiculous and disgusting these true crime cash grabs can be, how exploitative and hurtful and dangerous they can be. I did wish there was a scene where Pamela rips into true crime podcasts because those armchair detectives regurgitating skimmed Wikipedia entries really piss me off. maybe I’m just projecting my desire to take down true crime podcasts.
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book, I liked how it made me think about how victims of tragedy are treated, women in particular, and I’m really interested in reading another book by Jessica Knoll in the future!
When the story did cover the defendant, he was not construed as some cold, calculated killer. It really opened my eyes to how much credit we gave Ted Bundy, how much meaning we ascribed to his bumbling actions. I suppose it’s a tougher pill to swallow for the investigators that they were bested by an idiot on several occasions.
With the media aspect of the book, I liked how some characters served to highlight how ridiculous and disgusting these true crime cash grabs can be, how exploitative and hurtful and dangerous they can be. I did wish there was a scene where Pamela rips into true crime podcasts because those armchair detectives regurgitating skimmed Wikipedia entries really piss me off. maybe I’m just projecting my desire to take down true crime podcasts.
Overall, I really really enjoyed this book, I liked how it made me think about how victims of tragedy are treated, women in particular, and I’m really interested in reading another book by Jessica Knoll in the future!
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
fast-paced
A suspenseful and thought provoking fictionalization of a true crime, focusing on the survivors and the victims rather than the perpetrator - this was a great exploration of how a crime can and does effect survivors, as well as the media and legal system's failure to support the same. There is also hope, as these women learn to find a way forward and there are some changes in the way the crimes are portrayed. This is an excellent read for anyone interested in true crime, even though it is fiction.
This book is intresting. I did find it odd that they wrote it in response to these movies being profitiable showcasing the villian; however, the author is doing the same thing but with these woman. Regardess of if it was made up. I do this it helps shine light on the porblamatic light we put these men in.