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Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
41 reviews
omair's review against another edition
4.0
After all of the hype and excitement I had for the film adaptation, I knew I had to read the source material as soon as possible. I had thought I would take to the book far more than the film, which I did thoroughly like, because I went into the film expecting more police procedural and less story of love
Yet as I read this book, I found myself agreeing more and more with the decisions the film made. This is not a slight against the book, but further praise for the film. The purposes of the film and the book are not one and the same, and so it is vital to anyone that, like me, is coming to read because/after the film to understand before they begin.
REVIEW THE BOOK INDEPENDENT OF THE FILM (which is what I intend to do)
Killers is as informative of a book as I could've imagined considering the personal story the primary focus is on. The book is overflowing with descriptors that will make you feel sorrow and anger, leave you wondering what humanity is and why it is missing. While only covering a handful of incidences, the cold factual presentation will leave you reeling, as if sensing how small a fraction the sample is compared to the population. All totaled, the official death count may
If you can make it through the pain and sadness, there is a beautiful story here of a people's survival. The heart to endure and rally is as much a light as the era is an inky darkness. The book may focus on Thomas White, his team of agents, and their investigation that finally tore down the veil behind which the atrocities hid, but the real heroes are the Osage people.
For as strong as the book is in its cold, clearly well-researched, tone, I also found this to be a slight undoing. The voice can feel rather impersonal at times, leaving the reader as a student of history rather than immersed in the moment. This is why I agree with the decisions made for the film adaptation. Maybe I would feel differently not having known the details from the film first, I can never know for sure. But the progression of the book, and some of the detours along the way, played loose with risking a reader to set the book down only to never return and finish.
Ultimately, I will recommend this read to anyone with an interest in the Reign of Terror, interest in the era, an interest in the realities of White American Exceptionalism, or a morbid curiosity of a casual genocide. Sticking through some of the uneven pacing is well worth it for the resulting reverence of the Osage, and Mollie in particular, all carrying inside of them something no man could ever kill.
Graphic: Death, Racism, Hate crime, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Grief, and Violence
Moderate: Physical abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Racial slurs, Chronic illness, Blood, Cultural appropriation, Toxic relationship, Colonisation, Classism, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, and Confinement
Minor: Misogyny, Kidnapping, Medical content, Gaslighting, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Animal death, Infidelity, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Addiction, Child death, and Cultural appropriation
ktkeps's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Medical trauma, Death, Grief, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Murder, Racism, Violence, Alcohol, and Domestic abuse
otakatoe3's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Hate crime, Violence, Physical abuse, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Death
dxnatelli's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Violence, Sexism, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Death, Blood, Grief, Racism, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gaslighting, Fire/Fire injury, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Death of parent, Hate crime, Gore, Domestic abuse, Colonisation, and Child death
Moderate: Infidelity, Stalking, Body horror, Medical content, Religious bigotry, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Classism, Police brutality, and Medical trauma
Minor: Pregnancy, Suicide, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Abandonment, and Car accident
jaydeecepticon's review against another edition
4.75
Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Murder
Moderate: Sexual harassment, Alcohol, and Violence
Minor: Domestic abuse, Medical trauma, Sexism, and Suicide
leefox's review against another edition
3.75
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Medical content, Blood, Violence, Gun violence, Racism, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Domestic abuse
rmataloni's review against another edition
4.5
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Domestic abuse
morethanmylupus's review against another edition
3.0
This was a hard read for a number of reasons:
1/ The treatment of the Osage was atrocious and appalling
2/ The book centers the white narrative as both the villains and the saviors and the
3/ Most of the book lacks context and only fills in relevant elements of centuries of genocide, land grabs, and numerous other atrocities where the author thought they made sense
For me, too much context can be annoying, but in this case it only served to further center the white narrative and I found that frustrating. The story was still interesting and compelling to read, but I will be reading native voices on this topic to understand the complete picture.
Graphic: Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Racism, Racial slurs, Murder, Xenophobia, and Gun violence
dev921's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Genocide, Gun violence, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Death, Car accident, Cultural appropriation, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Toxic relationship, Bullying, Grief, Classism, and Domestic abuse
phob's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Sexual violence, Stalking, Hate crime, Gun violence, Gore, Violence, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Domestic abuse, Death, Murder, Racism, Physical abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Medical content, Chronic illness, Blood, and Alcohol