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wunkymatts's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.0
This was such a hard going. It was packed with information, which usually allows me to speed through non-fiction books, but it was so relentless bleak and sad.
It's wonderfully written. Burn is an exceptional writer. His prose is lyrical and conversational, but, when coupled with this subject matter, that only serves to highlight the darkness and depravity.
The forward is written by the ever wonderful Benjamin Myers. He praises the writing but also admires the exposure of a desperate, sordid underbelly that exits in ever society. This is no rural idyll. This is the stark portrayal of generations of dysfunction and poverty. There are no excuses made for the Wests, no justifications, but in so many ways they had as little chance as those they abused and murdered.
It's wonderfully written. Burn is an exceptional writer. His prose is lyrical and conversational, but, when coupled with this subject matter, that only serves to highlight the darkness and depravity.
The forward is written by the ever wonderful Benjamin Myers. He praises the writing but also admires the exposure of a desperate, sordid underbelly that exits in ever society. This is no rural idyll. This is the stark portrayal of generations of dysfunction and poverty. There are no excuses made for the Wests, no justifications, but in so many ways they had as little chance as those they abused and murdered.
dmalexander's review
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Medical trauma, Sexual assault, Child death, Rape, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Murder, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, Torture, Incest, Kidnapping, Homophobia, Child abuse, and Confinement
evaromero's review against another edition
2.0
Creo que he desarrollado una relación tóxica con este libro, porque cuanto más traumatizada me quedaba más quería leer. La verdad es que me ha costado muchísimo acabarlo y me ha parecido bastante pesado, no tanto por el contenido sino por la forma en la que está escrito. La información es repetitiva hasta la exasperación y lo que se cuenta no es agradable. En mi opinión, el libro podría tener muchísimas menos páginas. Me da la sensación de que la información está muy desorganizada o mal estructurada. Los saltos en el tiempo confunden constantemente. Es como si fueran apuntes en sucio. ☠️☠️
dancinrio's review
2.0
No for me. The book read like a very long article in the tabloid press full of sensationalism and sound bites. I think the repetition and jumping timeline would have greatly benefited from a heavy handed editor.
jasmineforsyth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
jenpadreader's review
4.0
Gruesome, terrifying, addictive. The repetiveness of the writing echoed Fred's voice. I was 14 in 1994, living in Cheltenham and watching the news unfold around our idyllic Cotswold lifestyle; this book reminded me of the horror we felt at the time. These monsters lived on our doorstep and walked our streets. Some sections of the book are so graphically disturbing, but I read on with the same morbid curiosity that found me driving down Cromwell Street itself a few years after the world was watching. I found all the little details of Cheltenham and Gloucester interesting, but wonder if someone without local knowledge would have felt the same. Recommended but be warned, it is not an easy read.
joanna_m's review against another edition
5.0
This is by no means an easy read. Although Burn's prose style of reportage is engaging and compelling, the gruesome facts of the case are laid bare, and are horrifying. Burn's exploration of Fred and Rose in the context of their lives, the complicity of so many people, knowingly and unknowingly in the genesis and continuation of their crimes is perhaps the most heartbreaking aspect of the narrative. Unrelenting bleak but powerful
castral's review
3.0
A book with a very interesting story in desperate need of professional line editing.
mtmarriott's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
The definitive book on the Wests as far as I’m concerned and maybe one of the best true crime books I’ve ever read. The way it conveys the mindsets of its intensely disturbed family is truly unsettling, I was aware of a lot of the details of what occurred but some truly caught me be horrified surprise and the almost familial way in which they’ve been conveyed is heartbreaking. Star ratings seem a bit irrelevant here.