Reviews tagging 'Genocide'

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

84 reviews

amberboo61997's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.25

Killers of the Flower Moon is an intense, yet fascinating true-crime historical narrative where David Grann tells the story of the Osage Murders from a straight-forward and almost impartial point of view. The short length of the book may surprise people given the subject matter, but a lot of this tale is tainted with false reports, hearsay, and limited information thus stunting Grann's (and even the FBI's) ability to tell the entire "truth". It also doesn't help that while writing the book Grann uncovered numerous other murders and conspiracies that added onto the insanity of a story that was already riddled with disbelief and purposefully hidden from public knowledge. 
I believe the book is a good read even if a common critique is its lack of descriptive details into certain parts or aspects of the subject matter. It's a good introduction if you want to look into American stories hidden or deleted from history by the "winners" and shows how a government organization such as the FBI began and operated on its own self-serving needs.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Torture, Murder, Genocide, Racism, Hate crime, Racial slurs, and Death

Moderate: Medical trauma, Medical content, and Physical abuse

Minor: Alcoholism and Domestic abuse

burnourhistory's review against another edition

informative sad medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Medical content, Colonisation, Death of parent, Violence, Genocide, Grief, Fire/Fire injury, and Gun violence

emma_ekb's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

3.75

there is no doubt in my mind that this is an incredibly important story and i’m so glad it was told. 

that said, it was a challenge to finish this. i listened on audiobook and the first half was very strong, but once we got to the reveal and the trial i was underwhelmed. i liked the focus more on molly burkhardt and her family. not the authors fault necessarily, im just not used to reading historical accounts.

the story picked back up at the end and the authors realization that the murders were part of a bigger issue was very insightful and needed. overall i think the genre just isn’t my cup of tea but im excited to see the movie

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder and Genocide

kaylurzz's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Violence, Gun violence, and Genocide

reallyitsrudi's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

3.5

I'm glad I watched the movie first and that Scorsese focused on the Burkhart situation more than the origins of the police. the cop stuff dragged so bad for me, it's a shame the last part is so much more interesting!!!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Murder, Racism, and Xenophobia

miggyfool's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Colonisation, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Murder, Death, Toxic relationship, Blood, Body horror, Classism, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Genocide, Grief, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Gore, Gun violence, Medical content, Sexism, Torture, Xenophobia, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Misogyny, Toxic friendship, and Violence

vrybs's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Colonisation, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence

jcbkr's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Racial slurs, Colonisation, Gun violence, Drug abuse, Murder, Hate crime, Death, and Racism

hannxm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

5.0

I could not put this book down. I was hooked from the first chapter. It read like a murder mystery, except it really happened which makes it so chilling. Not to mention the many photographs throughout the book that bring the time period, the settings, victims and perpetrators to life.

The story goes as follows: white men forced the Osage out of their fertile lands to hilly and rocky land that I assume the white men thought would eventually lead to their deaths from starvation. But in a wonderful twist of fate, the land the Osage had been forcibly moved to was riddled with oil; black gold. With thanks to an Osage chief, they were able to have some level of control over their land and their oil, leading to the Osage becoming extremely wealthy, and, most importantly, their headrights could only be inherited, not bought. Well, you can imagine how pissed off the greedy white settlers were! If murdering them, starving them, controlling them, and moving them off their land over many decades wasn't enough, they now wanted their oil and their riches. Subsequently it led to the murders of countless members of the Osage tribe, with murders believed to have happened years before and after the Reign of Terror is said to have happened (the focus of the book and movie), resulting in a suspected death toll into the hundreds. Many of which were never investigated or not ruled a homicide.

Grann has written this book so wonderfully, I found it really easy to follow as Grann reminds you who people are throughout which I found so helpful. After reading Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee, a book full of names and very few (if at all) reminders to help you remember the countless people mentioned, this felt like a breeze to read. I wouldn't recommend listening to this though; you might find yourself having to go back to reread sections at times to fully grasp the craziness. 

Sadly, and irritatingly, I'd never heard of the Osage murders or the Reign of Terror as it's sometimes known. I think it's pretty evident as to why that's the case. I love and thank authors that bring these cases to the light of day, defying the powers that once had control over the narrative. 

As the mystery unfolded, not knowing who the culprit(s) was, my jaw kept hitting the floor the more things unravelled. It is infuriating and shocking how greedy, heartless and conniving these murderous men were. The main culprit was a self centred cocky bastard right to the very end. Some continued to plot how to get more money whilst already in prison for murder. Like what?! 

I'm booked into watch the film soon, finally! But if you've already watched the film, I would still recommend reading this book as Grann includes so many photos, including of Pawhuska and living relatives of the victims. He shares interviews with living relatives and information that hasn't been spoken of before. He discusses a few murders before and after the Reign of Terror and attempts to solve an additional unsolved murder case! He also shares information about what Pawhuska and Fairfax are like now; the remnants of the buildings that are left as well as the masses of graves that paint a grim picture of the past, the Osages current struggles and their views on what happened and how it's affected them. 

Grann did a tremendous amount of work for this book. If you were captivated by the film and the story, you'll only get more out of this book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Child death, Genocide, Murder, and Body horror

Moderate: Racism, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Hate crime, Medical content, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Violence

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Kidnapping

haileyeh's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Racial slurs, Death, and Genocide

Moderate: Alcohol, Classism, and Colonisation

Minor: Child death