Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Liliana's Invincible Summer: A Sister's Search for Justice by Cristina Rivera Garza

55 reviews

abhanji's review

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Murder

lunamonica08's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful informative sad tense slow-paced

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Abortion

bashsbooks's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

5.0

Liliana's Invincible Summer is as captivating as it is heartbreaking. When the Mexican justice system fails to produce the file pertaining to Liliana's murder - let alone bring her killer to justice - Rivera Garza uncovers her long-dead sister's voice through letters, notes, journals, and testimonies of friends and family. The two sisters' voices become braided together in the process, speaking in a complicated tangle of love and grief. I constantly thought of my own sister, who is barely older than Liliana was, while I read this, and several times, I had to stop to cry. It's a haunting account of how intimate partner violence escalates, and how the signs are often missed by a society misogynistic and desperate to blame the victim. It surpasses Rivera Garza's goal, which was to recreate the missing file, by far - the detail and care put into this book is beyond what a coldly professional report could muster, of that I'm certain. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Hate crime, Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Stalking, and Murder

Moderate: Rape, Sexual violence, and Abortion

Minor: Cursing, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Excrement, and Toxic friendship

-Death of sibling -Implications of necrophilia

siobhanward's review

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

NYT Notable Books 2023: 16/100

I wasn't sold on this book at first. I'm used to books that focus on the crime itself, rather than the person, and I think that's a flaw in publishing more than anything. Rivera Garza's choice to focus mostly on who Liliana was, rather than her death made Liliana feel real and human. The combination of letters, notebook scribblings and accounts from Liliana's friends painted a picture of who she was beyond a victim, which was a cool change to the normal flow of this kind of book. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, and Murder

pasalazar99's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

5.0

Todo es narrado con la voz de Liliana y, sin embargo, Cristina logra decir todo aquello que no tenía nombre mientras Liliana vivió: violencia doméstica, acoso, manipulación, feminicidio

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, and Murder

jennaniho's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Sexual violence, and Murder

mamaofperfectpayton's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Medical content, Grief, and Murder

karen_lo's review against another edition

dark emotional sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny, Toxic relationship, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Sexual assault, Violence, and Abortion

sjksjksjk's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse and Murder

librosdenopal's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Grief, Stalking, Abortion, Murder, and Gaslighting