Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Some People Need Killing: A Memoir of Murder in My Country by Patricia Evangelista

18 reviews

amy_park's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

3.5

Utterly harrowing and haunting. Not my "typical" type of read but was prompted to give it a go as it's on the longlist for the women's prize for non fiction 2024. This investigative journalistic memoir was eyeopening. I was shocked and horrified throughout, at the many eyewitness testimonies and pure grief families suffered during the drug war was relentless.
This book is not for the fainthearted. I was in such a state of horror throughout reading it did make me slightly disconnect from the book, but that definetly is on me. 
I didn't jell with the occasional passages on language and definitions, I think this was just my personal preference and I was in a state of overwhelm, so wasn't able to digest these sections (and some of the stories of killings) as much as I wanted too.
I learnt alot from this book and made me question how precarious democracy is and how anybody's life can easily change due to extreme political power.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Gun violence, Police brutality, Torture, and Mass/school shootings

omgsynecdoche's review against another edition

dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.5

This is a thought-provoking piece about the state of not only the Philippines but also its people. In the midst of a “war on drugs” declared by a former president, there is a need to examine the casualties, and whether they were indeed enemies or simply collateral damage. 

Evangelista’s writing remains to be sharp yet poetic at the same time. I found especially interesting the way she paralleled the (re)birth of Philippine democracy 30+ years ago and the death of literally thousands of Filipinos. A must-read  if you’re Filipino, by blood, by law, or just at heart. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Child death, Violence, Death of parent, and Gun violence

owmyleg's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Child death, Death, Murder, Police brutality, Death of parent, and Violence

isthisbooktaken's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.25

I caught the last minute of Evangelista’s NPR interview and was impelled to read this book. This was a very heavy read. You should expect to feel frustrated and angry and heartbroken reading this book. You may find yourself continuously stopping to put the book down, take a deep breath, and process like I had to. Regardless of the weight, it is important to bear witness to this careful documentation of violence, corruption, and injustice during the Philippines’ drug war.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Grief, Murder, Death, Police brutality, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail

drraytay's review

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Police brutality, Addiction, Murder, Drug use, Gun violence, Violence, Drug abuse, and Death

melted_books's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

5.0

More people need to be talking about this book! I can absolutely see why it was named by so many review publications as a "best of 2023"  nonfiction pick (Time, New Yorker, NYT, to name a few).
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Patricia Evangelista, a Filipina journalist, has worked as a field correspondent for an independent news agency based in Manila, Philippines. This book is the product of her research, interviews, and anecdotes surrounding former president of the Philippines Rodrigo Duterte's crooked campaign against the country's war on drugs and the extrajudicial killings that happened under his presidency from 2016 to 2022.
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I listened to the audiobook (narrator: Corey Wilson), and it was very well done. This is an incredibly well researched, harrowing account of Evangelista's experience as a journalist fighting to expose the horrific violence of those extrajudicial killings. With this memoir, Evangelista restores the humanity that was stolen from those who died from these acts of senseless violence. She also poses a critical reminder that language is one of the most powerful tools, if not the most powerful, that we have when it comes to shaping our humanity, our views of the world, and how we treat each other.
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Content warning for (gun) violence, brutality, bodily harm, and harm to children.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Death, and Police brutality

Moderate: Child death, Rape, and Child abuse

sumsi's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

3.5

"Some People Need Killing" examines how a society fails to uphold its moral compass. It shows how populism and nationalism lead to a fascist society in which the weakest member of society become the targets of an ever-increasing hate campaign needed to justify the position of those in power. It's a powerful book, and a needed one, as it themes are globally relevant.

Evangelista manages to effortlessly weave in a flurry of topics, including autobiographical details, as well as historic struggles and insights into the contemporary culture of the Philippines. 

We learn about the conditions that lead to  Rodrigo Duterte's rise to power, the impact of his "war against drugs" and the aftermath of a country that reels against the violence it inflicted upon itself. We are presented with the people who voted for him, the people that executed his ideas, and the victims whose lives have been extinguished or otherwise irreversibly impacted for the worse. 

Trying to edit all of this trauma, personal and cultural, down into a report could not have been a harder task. As such I did find myself willfully rereading dense passages, doing extra research, and enduring the  —  at times  —  long-winded reflections and repetitions. It's a fantastic book that I highly recommend. Still I'll have to be honest in that it wasn't quite my cup of tea, and that trying to devour it mostly lead to stomach aches. It's a clunky book  — as in my experience are most that have something of substance to say!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Physical abuse, Violence, Addiction, Colonisation, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Child death, Pandemic/Epidemic, Blood, Classism, Death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Racism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Police brutality, and Sexism

lisztaffe's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Police brutality, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence

Moderate: Blood, Child death, Confinement, Death, Addiction, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Classism, Death of parent, Drug use, and Gun violence

Minor: Torture