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corriejn's review against another edition
slow-paced
3.25
I don't actually think I've read anything else by John Grisham, so can't compare style/voice/etc. to his novels; this one is a nonfiction true-crime/criminal justice system story. It's pretty straightforward and dry, nothing remarkable about the structure or how the events are conveyed.
At times I found it a tad hard to keep straight who all was who (as it's mainly about one accused murderer, but also features a second main story of another person accused of a crime-- or... two other people? I legitimately never got it all fully sorted) plus just a lot of additional people (relatives, friends, lawyers, witnesses, others incarcerated with them, etc.) to keep track of. I got the sense that folks with the Innocence Project were actually fairly influential in these cases, but they were mentioned fairly in passing.
In short, it's not the greatest writing/storytelling; if you're interested in reading about miscarriages of justice or work to exonerate wrongly-convicted folks, I'm confident there exists more compelling coverage of those topics.
I was also not a fan of the amount of really ableist language the author used in regards to mental illness.
At times I found it a tad hard to keep straight who all was who (as it's mainly about one accused murderer, but also features a second main story of another person accused of a crime-- or... two other people? I legitimately never got it all fully sorted) plus just a lot of additional people (relatives, friends, lawyers, witnesses, others incarcerated with them, etc.) to keep track of. I got the sense that folks with the Innocence Project were actually fairly influential in these cases, but they were mentioned fairly in passing.
In short, it's not the greatest writing/storytelling; if you're interested in reading about miscarriages of justice or work to exonerate wrongly-convicted folks, I'm confident there exists more compelling coverage of those topics.
I was also not a fan of the amount of really ableist language the author used in regards to mental illness.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Confinement, Murder, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Ableism, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Blood, Suicide attempt, Self harm, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Minor: Cancer and Excrement
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