Reviews tagging 'Death'

Empire of Pain: The Secret History of the Sackler Dynasty by Patrick Radden Keefe

53 reviews

sydapel's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

4.5

Easily my favorite of Radden Keefe's books so far, and an incredibly thoughtful and in depth story about the now infamous Sackler family. there's so much in here about how this family has been taking advantage of the system since Day 1, how their philanthropy has always been an offshoot of their need to elevate their name and their refusal to halt the train of profit lead to a chilling downfall. I wish the book had going into a bit more detail about how capitalist systems allow and even actively encourage this type of greed, but the author does admit he was more focused on the members of this elusive family. Highly recommend! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Drug abuse

Moderate: Suicide, Antisemitism, and Death

dannythestreet's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Mental illness, Stalking, Addiction, Death, Drug abuse, Gaslighting, Suicide, Classism, and Drug use

ksuazo94's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Chronic illness, Addiction, Death, and Grief

Minor: Medical trauma

waybeyondblue's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content

Moderate: Classism, Death, Addiction, Stalking, and Suicide

matildak28's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

this is an incredible piece of non fiction writing — Patrick Redden Keefe is sharp and reflective, presents the facts through a deeply engaging narrative and I literally couldn’t stop listening - I listened to this non stop over the course of 3 days. This may be one of the most precise, excellent non fiction books I’ve ever read. I’ve watched a lot of documentaries about the opioid crisis in America (I’m from the UK and have no personal connection), and all of them have very limited details about the family — I feel like I have learned a lot despite already knowing a fair deal. 

Quite simply, this is incredible and this writer is nothing short of brilliant. I will be seeking out his other works immediately. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Classism, Grief, Addiction, Drug use, Death, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Pandemic/Epidemic, and Chronic illness

readandfindout's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

4.5

Style/writing: 4 stars
Themes: 4.5 stars
Perspective: 5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Mental illness, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Death, Child death, and Addiction

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Antisemitism

isaarusilor's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Death, Drug abuse, and Drug use

katiecentabar's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Drug abuse, Addiction, Grief, and Death

Moderate: Suicide

brinnet's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

5.0

Very interesting look into a wealthy American family and their role in modern drug addiction.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gaslighting, Drug use, Drug abuse, Medical content, Child death, Addiction, Grief, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Toxic relationship, Antisemitism, and Racism

butlerebecca's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

4.25

sad that succession was only mentioned once, 13 hours in

I want to rate this a four but I’m giving it more because I think it has to do with the fact that I have already watched Dopesick and prefer the pace and arc of that, but recognize the point of this book is more Sackler and less first-hand addiction experience

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Suicide attempt, Addiction, Death, Death of parent, Drug abuse, Grief, and Suicide

Moderate: Medical trauma, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content