Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

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

24 reviews

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

David Grann is one of our greatest nonfiction authors alive. Every topic he chooses is brought to life no matter how many years have passed since the events took place. His writing is smooth and unobtrusive, describing the past in a matter-of-fact, approachable way. If history books had been like this in high school, we’d all have gone on to be scholars. 

Killers of the Flower Moon is an especially difficult book to read, not because of the writing but because the subject is so painful. Grann documents how literally hundreds of Osage were murdered for riches in the early 20th C. As American Indians, their lives were worth less than that of dogs. An entire corrupt and venal society was arrayed against them. Well aware they were systematically being murdered, they had no recourse. The authorities, both political and legal, were complicit in the murders. No one would help save them from eradication. 

This is an excellent telling of a dark and shameful time in our history. If only this much attention had been paid a hundred years ago some of the Osage who were murdered might have lived. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Chronic illness, Classism, Confinement, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Hate crime, Gore, Murder, Toxic friendship, Violence, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Abandonment, Blood, and Child death

kimmykelly's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Child death, Gaslighting, Gore, Grief, Racism, Cultural appropriation, Violence, Death, and Murder

tiffyd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Alcoholism, Gaslighting, Child death, Classism, Death of parent, Addiction, Alcohol, and Drug abuse

Minor: Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Blood, Domestic abuse, Forced institutionalization, Misogyny, and Gaslighting

apworden's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Racism, Xenophobia, Colonisation, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Emotional abuse, and Grief

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gore, Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Hate crime, Murder, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Alcohol, Car accident, Chronic illness, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Blood, Classism, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Colonisation, Genocide, Gun violence, Medical content, Rape, and Sexism

tiffanykw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Hate crime, Cultural appropriation, Racial slurs, Gun violence, Gaslighting, Murder, Death, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Genocide, and Emotional abuse

billyjepma's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

5.0

A taut, dramatic, and excruciating dive into the countless horrible acts of violence inflicted by white Americans on the Osage Indian Nation. Grann's research is comprehensive, and his writing here is as sharp as anything I've encountered in my (admittedly meager) dips into non-fiction. His book occupies a fascinating place between hard-hitting investigative journalism—which is thrilling, by the way—and moving, often nauseating retellings of a history I barely knew a thing about. I love how grand the scale of the book is and how it centers the stories of so many people and gives them the respect, grace, and closure history denied them. The final section of the book messes with the propulsive pacing of the first two as they settle into the more traditional structure of a whodunnit, but it's in that section where the most meaningful bits of commentary are found. The FBI might claim to have ended the "Years of Terror," but the truth is far bloodier than that, and the closure the American government provided was a half-measure that dismissed countless unsolved murders into the dark annals of history.

Part of me wanted Grann to lean further into his political leanings, specifically regarding the FBI, as my outrage at the truths the book illuminates made me eager for some scathing rebuttal or judgment. But I'm glad Grann has more restraint than me, as his approach is far more effective and searing than any commentary could be, especially considering how damning the hard facts of the story are. And to his credit, the historical details and quotes he uses in the section documenting the FBI's development speak volumes to his opinion of the thing. Even Tom White, the "hero" of the FBI investigation that resulted in meaningful arrests, is a flawed person who, as Grann smartly and briefly acknowledges at one point, eventually settles into the same lifestyle as the people he's often quoted as detecting. 

I'm incredibly glad I read this (or, rather, listened to the excellent audiobook), and in an ideal world, I would love to assume that it becomes mandatory reading. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Racial slurs, Racism, Death, and Hate crime

Moderate: Blood, Medical content, Death of parent, Child death, Gun violence, Grief, Gaslighting, Stalking, and Domestic abuse

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

Y'all WHAT. How did I never hear about this??? (Which is rhetorical because obviously the essentially genocide of the Osage would of course not be covered in my white history classes.) I'll definitely be revisiting this book because a lot of the sentiment toward Native people still exist today and we need to be much more aware of the total destruction that racism can cause. God. If this was a novel, I would have a hard time believing it. It's that intricate and horrific. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, War, Violence, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Genocide, Gun violence, Murder, Alcohol, Misogyny, Chronic illness, Death, Gaslighting, Gore, Bullying, Classism, Colonisation, Emotional abuse, and Death of parent

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Child death, Stalking, Addiction, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Abandonment, Kidnapping, Medical content, Alcoholism, and Car accident

booknerdsinmn's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Racism, and Death

Moderate: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Misogyny, Child death, Chronic illness, Sexism, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Cultural appropriation, and Drug use

Minor: Forced institutionalization and Child abuse

Rampant prejudice against Indigenous people

mccluskyn's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Infidelity, Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Child death, Genocide, Racial slurs, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Blood, Gun violence, Colonisation, Physical abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Grief, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use