Reviews

Life After Death by Damien Echols

wychwoodnz's review against another edition

5.0

It's wonderful that Damien Echols finally has the chance to speak out and say what he wants to say about his experiences. Mostly written after his release from prison but interspersed with passages written while still incarcerated, this is a fascinating look into life in small-town Southern USA, the US justice system, and the impact of imprisonment on people. And yes, Echols can write - the more conventional memoir sections are very engaging, and are nicely balanced by the snippets dictated by the soul.

livetoread2024's review against another edition

4.0

Easy to get into and hard to put down. Unsatisfactory ending, though. I was hoping to see justice served.

lenthegreywitch's review against another edition

4.0

A touching and heartwrenching account of the epitome of a series of unfortunate events that led to the WM3's plight and Damien's journey through the ADC for essentially two decades. Written and collected as a series of journal entries, letters, and notes, I was impressed at how well the story flowed. Not entirely chronological, but not difficult to follow. Damien narrates in a confidential way, like he's talking to a friend, which makes his retelling all the more painful to hear. Because the book was pulled together through multiple mediums, my only qualm was that, particularly towards the end, there was much repeating of points already established, and I felt that the reiteration did not add anything to the work. That aside, I'm still very, very glad to have listened, heard Damien's story in his own words and in his own voice, and to have learned along with him some life lessons I'm sure to keep with me for years to come.

giovannamelres's review against another edition

informative sad slow-paced

3.0

selenemoonbooks's review against another edition

5.0

Al conocer la historia de "Los tres de West Memphis" pensé, con una mezcla de horror, frustración e impotencia, "¡Pobres chicos, qué injusticia", "¡Podría haberme pasado a mí!".

➡️ Si vestías de negro, escuchabas música metal y te interesaban el esoterismo y la magia (o sigue siendo así en la actualidad) te sentirás identificade con Damien y su historia podría haber sido la tuya, así que no la olvides y apóyale.

➡️ Ser acusado y juzgado culpable injustamente a pena de muerte (siendo un adolescente) por un crimen que no has cometido y permanecer durante 18 años en el corredor de la muerte, (¡10 de ellos en aislamiento!) ¿cómo no perder tu cordura y abrazar la posibilidad del abandono de este mundo al verte privado de tanto? La actitud de Damien fue digna de admiración y lo sigue siendo.

➡️ En este libro Damien nos habla de su infancia, lo que aconteció previamente al juicio y durante sus años en el corredor de la muerte y cuenta cómo pudo superar todo aquello. Se trata de una historia dura, pero también contiene partes muy tiernas.

➡️ No es que todos esos años no le hayan pasado factura (su salud se ha visto resentida gravemente en varios aspectos), pero durante todo ese tiempo, en lugar de derrumbarse, se dedicó a estudiar y aprender todo lo que pudo, llegando a convertirse en una de las personas con más conocimientos sobre espiritualidad y Alta Magia en la actualidad, hasta el punto de impartir clases y escribir varios libros sobre ello, que estoy deseando que sean traducidos también al español por @OrcinyPress , para hacerme con ellos

trickster_wolfe's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0

marco_antonio_raya's review against another edition

5.0

Un tratado sobre la Voluntad. Un testimonio sobre la virtud de encontrar soporte en los otros. Un relato tejido desde la identidad, el dolor y la posibilidad de continuar existiendo. Es difícil decir algo de este libro que no suene a psicología positiva, a deseo vacuo de evolución y de aprendizaje, pero en este caso, no es nada de eso. En este caso, es una Verdad.

Mil gracias a Orciny Press (y el empeño personal de su editor Hugo Camacho) por traducirlo al castellano.

ittylawrence's review against another edition

3.0

Too many cat analogies.

jakobgurule's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective medium-paced

5.0

cheyenneisreading's review against another edition

4.0

Emotionally draining and intense even though I knew the outcome. Damien paints a vivid image of his life of death row, though I feel he leaves a lot of emotion and details out of this book. The triple homicide that he, Jason Baldwin and Jesse Misskelley were found guilty of and sentenced to life in prison, or in Damien's case death, from what I can recall wasn't mentioned with any significance. 'Magikal' with a k killed me time and time again (I get it 'magik' is different from magic but my god it is insufferable to read so many times, which seems to be the consensus of so many who read this book). Regardless after eighteen years on death row how he managed to survive and remain sane is a miracle itself. I don't think he is guilty but there is something a touch 'off' about this guy, maybe because he glossed over a lot of events in his life (leaving more questions than answers) or because didn't really take responsibility for anything. I understand the ridicule he suffered from by wearing black clothing and liking heavy metal and all that alternative stuff in the deep south of America, and I appreciated the honesty in regards to his girlfriend who had his son, I just feel like this memoir is missing so much. I wanted to get to know Damien by reading this book but this barely scratches the surface.