Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Say Nothing: A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland by Patrick Radden Keefe

96 reviews

sam_rm94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.5

“…for the majority of the human species, and for tens of thousands of years, the idea that humanity includes every human being on The face of the Earth does not exist at all. The designation stops at the border of each tribe, or linguistic group, sometimes even at the edge of a village.” - Claude Levi-Strauss

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Eating disorder, Death of parent, and War

maxmilkman's review

adventurous informative tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Religious bigotry, Kidnapping, Grief, Body horror, War, Torture, Murder, Bullying, Death of parent, and Death

Moderate: Eating disorder, Gun violence, Medical content, Abandonment, Alcoholism, and Police brutality

Minor: Suicide attempt, Pedophilia, Gore, and Medical content

erinmg's review

challenging informative sad

4.0

Fascinating book! I haven’t seen the genre of “narrative nonfiction” much, but it felt much more accessible to me than a typical history book. If anything, it felt more anthropological in nature in the ways it ties historical events together through the stories relayed from the interviewees to the author. I listened to this as an audiobook and found at one point that I was confused on the timeline, so unsure if the recording was out of chapter order or if that was my own error, but otherwise I thought this was very educational and intriguing throughout.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Torture, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, War, Religious bigotry, and Death of parent

Minor: Eating disorder, Excrement, and Child death

mrcesq's review

emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

Generally really enjoyed it. Great way to tell a story recognizing biases and holes. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Violence

jmyers1's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

5.0

I really enjoyed this book! So much history I had never learned about in school, would highly reccomend - the narration is 10/10.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Excrement, War, Violence, Torture, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Religious bigotry, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Colonisation

jadepfaefflin's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Eating disorder, Excrement, Colonisation, Police brutality, Alcoholism, Confinement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and War

chelcie's review against another edition

dark emotional funny informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Colonisation, Eating disorder, War, Murder, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Police brutality, Sexual harassment, Torture, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Religious bigotry, and Alcoholism

bigheadcam's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

An absolutely incredible, fascinating, and perfectly paced narrative nonfiction on the Troubles. Radden Keefe is very careful to specify that this book is not "historical" nonfiction because a lot of the information in this book is derived from oral accounts. He did his best to reconcile these accounts by corroborating them with more official records and reports, but the Troubles are not well documented and were a truly chaotic time.

Radden Keefe's writing is objective and informative while also remaining gripping and maintaining an excellent storytelling tone. I was consistently impressed with how well he kept every subject covered interesting, and how he manages to switch contexts without losing the reader or making it jarring.

Thanks to John Oliver for recommending this on Hot Ones. I'd happily do the same for anyone with an interest in history, radical ideologies, revolution, and modern struggles for independence as well as the cost of said struggles.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Abandonment, Addiction, Cancer, Bullying, Murder, War, Blood, Child abuse, Toxic friendship, Toxic relationship, Alcohol, Terminal illness, Confinement, Classism, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Gun violence, Police brutality, Alcoholism, Body horror, Excrement, Physical abuse, Violence, Child death, Chronic illness, Eating disorder, Self harm, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Forced institutionalization, Suicidal thoughts, and Torture

jennifer_3715's review

dark informative tense medium-paced

4.5

Really like this book, felt very immersed (maybe a bit too much at times!). There was a good mix of personal stories all the while explaining the historical/political landscape. Would recommend!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Violence

maggies's review

challenging emotional informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

Since reading Empire of Pain and Rogues, PRK has topped my list of nonfiction writers. His attention to detail and ability to weave a history that reads like a novel is second to none. The story of Jean McConville and her children, the nationalist movement, the origins of the Troubles, and its fragile peace and enduring legacy is told not necessarily chronologically, but thematically. PRK leaves a trail of breadcrumbs throughout as he builds to his final conclusion, with shocking twists and reveals along the way. Among the most shocking was the constant reminder of how recent this history is—while many active participants have passed away, many others are still alive, and memory is long.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, Grief, Violence, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, War, Torture, Suicide, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Confinement, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Murder, and Addiction

Moderate: Religious bigotry and Police brutality