Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

In Cold Blood by Truman Capote

11 reviews

emy_clemy's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Death of parent, Mass/school shootings, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Torture, Violence, Drug use, Eating disorder, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicide attempt, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Homophobia, Chronic illness, Gore, Domestic abuse, Child death, Abandonment, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Excrement, Adult/minor relationship, Addiction, Alcohol, Animal death, Confinement, Cursing, Racism, Ableism, Medical trauma, Pedophilia, Suicide, Gun violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Toxic friendship, and Car accident

kfergy's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

Considered the first contemporary "true crime novel," the writing is very compelling and the quotes from and conversations between characters/witnesses is a really interesting approach to telling the story. It makes me wonder slightly about creative licence on the part of the author, but I dig it. Huge warning for racist slurs though - you could say it goes with the territory for the place and time, but a warning nonetheless. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Violence, Murder, and Gun violence

Moderate: Sexual content and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Cancer, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Mental illness

calamityin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

1.5

While it's one of the cornerstones for True Crime as a literary phenomena, it's incredibly insensitive to the victims and those around them.  It's frankly a bit disgusting the way that Capote describes these horrible acts as if they didn't happen to real people who had real hopes and dreams and lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Classism, Death, Racial slurs, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Toxic friendship, and Violence

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Racism, and Car accident

Minor: Fatphobia, Alcoholism, Animal death, and Animal cruelty

ashwaar's review against another edition

adventurous dark informative medium-paced

4.5

This is another book I’ve read from my long list of classics and I really enjoyed it! I hadn’t heard of it before but it has been claimed as the first narrative non-fiction novel and whether that’s true or not, it was done really well. It’s a fascinating look into a seemingly motiveless crime in rural Kansas. Capote keeps the reader engaged throughout as you learn about and even sympathise with those involved in this chilling quadruple homicide.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Child death, Suicidal thoughts, Confinement, Cursing, Violence, Death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gun violence, Murder, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Abandonment, Alcohol, Animal death, Rape, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

Minor: Sexual content, Car accident, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

bcooper21's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Physical abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Violence, and Alcohol

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Gore, Racism, Self harm, Grief, Mental illness, Cancer, Rape, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Sexual content, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Terminal illness, Eating disorder, Vomit, and Car accident

librarymouse's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.25

This text was jarring in that there was vibrant and comprehensive descriptions of seemingly innocuous details and then facts like Hickock's pedophilic tendencies were dropped into the middle of a paragraph, only to be left and then picked up again after dozens of pages. The descriptions of the Clutters, their family life, their friends, and their pastoral joys made the details of their deaths all the more profoundly upsetting. I appreciated the depth of research that went into this book and the information given on the communities the Clutters and their killers spent time in, but I am also, in some ways, upset with the lengths at which this book works to humanize the killers. It's bitter to feel something akin to empathy with either of them or the men that lived with them on death row.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Gore, Cancer, Hate crime, Suicidal thoughts, Terminal illness, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Sexual content, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Animal death, Death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Grief, Misogyny, Murder, Violence, Gun violence, Body shaming, Pedophilia, Child death, and Confinement

_carmel_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

4.0

A very slow book. I disliked the authorial voice and opinions, however it is a very important book in the space of literature. It is genre defining and also forces the reader to challenge their own beliefs and place them in an uncomfortable position. Excellent use of syntax. Makes you think. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Violence, Death, Cursing, Classism, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Toxic friendship, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Rape, Pedophilia, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Sexism, Murder, Misogyny, Mental illness, Hate crime, Gun violence, Addiction, Abortion, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Gore, Death of parent, Child abuse, Child death, Alcoholism, Sexual harassment, Racism, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

emersonseyeball's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Blood, Alcohol, Death, Child abuse, Mental illness, Toxic friendship, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Violence, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Ableism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Car accident, Chronic illness, Gore, Abandonment, Cursing, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Classism, Domestic abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Xenophobia, Homophobia, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual violence

allit's review against another edition

dark mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Minor: Rape and Alcohol

athereaderofbooks's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

2.0

Clearly, I would not recommend this true-crime novel. 

I will give kudos to a couple of aspects of this book: 

1. It was organized in a notable way. It started with showing the past of both the victims and their killers. Their environments were taken into consideration and you developed an idea of their character. Later it led to the investigation and we found out how the murder occurred through confessionals. Truman Capote followed the case until its conclusion. 

2. The entire book was thorough with everything. If something was mentioned it was never offhandedly, and we understood how everyone and everything contributed to the narrative. 

But despite these factors, I hated this book. This is the first time that I have read a true crime book, and this most definitely affected my rating, but this was horrific. Why would I want to read about an entire family being murdered

because some thieves wanted money??

How does one find enjoyment in such a subject when they themself could one day be the victim of such an unsuspecting crime? The Clutters likely never thought of this likelihood and look what happened to them. The only thing this book added to my life was more anxiety, and I already have enough. 

 On top of this, there have been multiple people who have contested the accuracy of this book, saying that there were many pieces of opinion inserted and falsehoods added into the book. (Not just random people online, but people who themselves have analyzed this crime.) 
 
This dragged on and on with a really excessive form of writing and the only interest I had was finishing this book so I could get it over with, understand what happened, and try to forget it. 

And to me, most importantly, there were multiple instances where racial, homophobic, and in general degrading slurs were used. This includes but is not limited to the n-word, the f slur, and out-of-date referrals to Asian, Black, and Native American people. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Murder, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, and Violence

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Hate crime, Infidelity, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Abandonment, Bullying, Excrement, Kidnapping, Physical abuse, and War