chelseacrystal's review

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informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

Gut wrenching but very interesting. I honestly procrastinated finishing this one bc I was having such a good time. 

It’s incredibly well researched and the tone is appropriate given the subject matter without being overly serious. 

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l_piller's review

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challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0


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boop123's review

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dark informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.5


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siobhanward's review

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informative medium-paced

3.5

 
Usually these kinds of books don't get to me, but this one had some moments that just put me on edge. This book is filled with graphic descriptions, so please check TWs before reading, since a good deal of it could be triggering.

All that to say, this was an interesting read overall. I appreciated that the chapters were fairly long, which meant an in-depth look at the topics at hand, rather than short, disjointed pieces. I will say, however, that a good deal of this felt like an advertisement for Kean's podcast - so many footnotes just ended with "for more info, check out episode x of my podcast" which got annoying pretty quickly.

Overall, Kean handles a number of sensitive topics with respect - the topics he chose were interesting and seemingly well-researched, and I enjoyed learning more about things I only had a general knowledge of before (including what an ice pick is apparently, because I realized while reading, I always pictured ice axes before...).

 

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gk1412's review

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challenging dark informative mysterious reflective fast-paced

3.5


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monstersinspace's review

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emotional informative reflective fast-paced

3.5


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kbergsten's review

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challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

5.0


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kc_onmybookshelf's review

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

4.0


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panthalassa's review

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.5


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laurenkimoto's review

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challenging funny informative reflective medium-paced

4.5

Here are some non coherent thoughts on this book as my brain is still reeling from it and the appendix…

The transitions between chapters and delightful little paragraphs that are reminiscent of the “next time on…” that follow tv shows 

Kean’s sense of humour, sarcasm, and wit shine through on occasion to bring some relief when talking about such a serious topic. 

I appreciate that the section breaks in each chapter are little pictures of objects that relate to the content of each chapter. 

The book starts off “easy” talking about pirates but then hits you with the trans Atlantic slave trade. 

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