Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Under the Banner of Heaven: A Story of Violent Faith by Jon Krakauer

148 reviews

jazzofmine's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This book earns five ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ stars from me! It’s definitely for someone interested in Mormon history, development of fundamental offshoots of Mormonism and deeper, philosophical thinking about the nature (and dangers) of religion. I would describe this as “gruesome, Mormon true crime” to any potential reader. 

The primary aim of the book is to explore these situations that beg us to ask “How could this happen” with substantial history and development of this religion. The author explores history and provides context in order to show how the LDS organization provided a conducive environment for radical, extremists to be bred and thrive. 

The example of the Lafferty brothers‘ murder of their sister in law and baby niece is reprehensible, but not isolated. And not an accident. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Colonisation, Death, Gore, Mass/school shootings, Violence, Blood, Murder, Rape, Incest, Sexism, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

Very graphic, great read; informative

qog's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad slow-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pedophilia, Racism, Gun violence, Child death, Mass/school shootings, Incest, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Misogyny, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Racial slurs

_fallinglight_'s review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Incest, Murder, Violence, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Gore, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Rape, Racial slurs, Child death, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Religious bigotry

Moderate: Homophobia, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Miscarriage and Pregnancy

nicjmorrow's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

3.5

A well written and informative book about a much more violent history than I new the morman history to be. I didn't know as much as I thought I did about their history or current beliefs. I also didn't know that polygamy was not widely practiced due to the media portrayal of them as a whole.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Incest, Violence, Racism, Murder, and Rape

jazzreads's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Under the Banner of Heaven is a deeply disturbing examination of the history of the Mormon Church. As hard as it is to read, this book is incredibly well written and well researched. If you’re interested in learning about Mormonism, its place in American history, or just cults in general, you’ll get a lot of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Rape, Religious bigotry, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Murder, Child abuse, Gore, Incest, Violence, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Mental illness, Mass/school shootings, Drug use, Pedophilia, Panic attacks/disorders, Gun violence, and Cultural appropriation

Minor: Torture, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Miscarriage, Homophobia, Suicidal thoughts, Slavery, and Racism

miblette's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

3.5

This was part history part true crime. It jumped around between timelines, and while I appreciate the author trying to make connections from the past to the present, I think I personally prefer chronological nonfiction. Overall, it was fascinating, tragic, heartbreaking, and informative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Misogyny, Violence, Racism, Child death, Blood, and Murder

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

This book made me sad. I struggle with organized religion in many ways, but stories of how it can be used to warp minds and lead people in the wrong direction are particularly hard to read. On the flip side, I find cults endlessly fascinating and while the LDS church is not generally categorized as a cult, the characters here had a lot of interaction with the Fundamentalist LDS (FLDS) church, which usually is.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Misogyny

paguroidea's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.75

Learned a lot more about the LDS history than I was expecting to, and this religion is even more bananas than I could’ve imagined. Interesting overall, occasionally dry, definitely disturbing not just because of the murders, but the beliefs and delusions that lead up to them.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Religious bigotry and Murder

Moderate: Incest and Racism

allys_shelf's review against another edition

challenging informative slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, Grief, Misogyny, Child death, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Sexism, Violence, and Incest

Moderate: Kidnapping, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Gaslighting, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Cursing, Suicide attempt, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, Antisemitism, Pregnancy, Death, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Infertility, Gun violence, Incest, Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Child death, and Drug use

wise_tamarin's review against another edition

dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

 So overall, the book seeks to explain the backdrop of the Lafferty murders which occurred on July 24 1984. It faithfully presents all the relevant events and doctrines which would provide the crucial context for the motives behind the murders. Like how one might seek to explain the actions of modern day Muslims in the backdrop of the Prophet’s actions in Mecca and Medina — this work explores the actions and beliefs of certain fanatic fundamentalists by exploring the birth and evolution of the Mormon religion.

The author believes that understanding the Lafferty murders fully requires one to understand the evolution of the Mormon Church’s doctrines over the years. He provides short narratives on the lives and sayings of the various Prophets — Joseph Smith, Brigham Young, Uncle Rulon etc. to tell us the role of the controversial Polygamy revelation in the lives of the Fundamentalist Latter-Day Saints. 

It tries a bit to explore the psychological foundations behind the murders as well, but I would say it didn’t delve much deeper into this aspect. That is, the book claims that it is trying to explore the nature of religious belief — but I do not think it has explored it well enough. 

It does not go much deep into the question of why these beliefs hold so much value to the believers in the first place, why sensible people choose to believe or what patterns there are in these beliefs. Thus it comes off as a juvenile atheistic perspective on the matter. In the end, Krakauer, like various other atheists, puts all the religions into the same box. He says that they all say that every other religion is wrong — belying his ignorance of the Eastern faiths. 

Coming out of reading this book, I am more informed on the matter of the Mormon faith, but don’t have any increased insight regarding the nature of religious belief. However, I would say that the dry, impassionate data points presented in this book are definitely trying to point to it and might help me make some valuable connections later. I do not regret reading this book at all, and would definitely recommend it for anyone trying to get an idea about Mormon history and it’s fundamentalist stripe. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Pedophilia