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4.09 AVERAGE
4.09 AVERAGE
Absolutely amazing, I couldn’t put the book down. It was moving and also gave me my fill for getting the actual details. I have many words to say and none all at once. As a Seattlite, it was very interesting to read about what I’ve been familiar with my whole life, but it also made me sad for the victims and this family that everyone (including myself) is so obsessed with this stuff. However, I’ll admit it’s easy to be intrigued by things that we don’t understand and that impacted how women grew up and learned to be careful in society etc. Must read!
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
reflective
medium-paced
Well written, and extremely chilling. A unique perspective on the trial, and a sincere one. It didn't feel like she was trying to insert herself into the mess, simply that she was really close to a man that turned out to be a monster, and felt it important to share how that played out and how that felt. My heart absolutely breaks for Liz and Molly, and I hope they can continue to heal.
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
i cried
Read the revised edition of the book, I wouldn’t read the original now after the updated version. It must have been really hard to write this as it’s like a train crash where I can feel the embarrassment and the shame and the guilt hop off the page. Not too long of a book. Also I feel like GR needs to edit the author for this book
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Elizabeth Kendall tells her story of dating Ted Bundy for many of the years he was active. She does not like to attach herself with Bundy (for good reason), but she added an afterword and a foreword, as did her daughter. The added parts make the book a worth-it read. Her initial publishing of the book is written by a woman still grappling with trauma from a man she loved deeply who also hurt many people. The after- and forewords are written by women who have moved on, healed, and attempted to center the conversation around the victims while coping with deep guilt. To those outside of their relationship, Ted Bundy exhibited many red flags, enough for Kendall to go to the police on a gut feeling multiple times. However, after having been emotionally and financially abused for years, her timid nature discouraged her from pressing on. Her story is important for many to understand the phases of emotional abuse, gaslighting, and dangerous behavior from men and the years of healing needed to overcome it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Murder, Sexual harassment
Moderate: Abortion
Minor: Child death, Pedophilia
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Gaslighting, Alcohol
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Abortion, Murder
“I see why people are obsessed with figuring him out. For years, I thought continually about how this same person I loved could do these cruel and violent things. Finally, I was able to let go. I took on this mantra: He’s crazy, and being sane, you will never understand crazy. Just give up. Life your life. You still have it. It’s a gift.”
We all know who Ted Bundy is: one of the most notorious serial killers in American history and one of the most publicized to this day. However we very rarely hear from the women he left behind. The Phantom Prince is Elizabeth Kendall's memoir detailing her six-year relationship with Bundy. She wrote this in 1981 and revisited it in 2020, including a new chapter written by her daughter Molly, who has not previously shared her story.
This memoir is just as charming as it's frustrating.
I find very interesting (and haunting) the fact that Bundy seemed perfectly normal to everyone, including to the people who lived with him, Elizabeth Kendall and her daughter. It was painful to read about this woman, clearly trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship, with not much support from her family, struggling to accept the brutal reality of things. She was young and naive, but also in deep denial (and that was very very frustrating to read). Especially when Bundy was finally incarcerated and she still cared for him and worried about his health in prison. I think that at some point she was so in shock that she was living with the "autopilot" on, doing things that any normal girlfriend would do, like reassuring the loved one, caring for him, loving him even if apart. It was obviously an unhealthy life that she lived, and I'm glad that after many years and therapy she found some clarity and saw how naively and stupidly she acted.
The chapter written by Molly is absolutely heartbreaking and terrifying and I'm so sorry she had to live with him for so many years as a child. Absolutely horrible.
It's incredible how Bundy deceived almost everyone he met, so charming and smart, so much talent wasted in the most horrible and wrong way. What really scares me is that it's possible that there are other people like him out there, and what would I do if I'd meet one? Would I act differently than Kendall? I hope I'll never find out.
5 stars.
We all know who Ted Bundy is: one of the most notorious serial killers in American history and one of the most publicized to this day. However we very rarely hear from the women he left behind. The Phantom Prince is Elizabeth Kendall's memoir detailing her six-year relationship with Bundy. She wrote this in 1981 and revisited it in 2020, including a new chapter written by her daughter Molly, who has not previously shared her story.
This memoir is just as charming as it's frustrating.
I find very interesting (and haunting) the fact that Bundy seemed perfectly normal to everyone, including to the people who lived with him, Elizabeth Kendall and her daughter. It was painful to read about this woman, clearly trapped in an emotionally abusive relationship, with not much support from her family, struggling to accept the brutal reality of things. She was young and naive, but also in deep denial (and that was very very frustrating to read). Especially when Bundy was finally incarcerated and she still cared for him and worried about his health in prison. I think that at some point she was so in shock that she was living with the "autopilot" on, doing things that any normal girlfriend would do, like reassuring the loved one, caring for him, loving him even if apart. It was obviously an unhealthy life that she lived, and I'm glad that after many years and therapy she found some clarity and saw how naively and stupidly she acted.
The chapter written by Molly is absolutely heartbreaking and terrifying and I'm so sorry she had to live with him for so many years as a child. Absolutely horrible.
It's incredible how Bundy deceived almost everyone he met, so charming and smart, so much talent wasted in the most horrible and wrong way. What really scares me is that it's possible that there are other people like him out there, and what would I do if I'd meet one? Would I act differently than Kendall? I hope I'll never find out.
5 stars.