catriona176's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

4.5

This is a nuanced and thoughtful examination of four real women and their relationships to crime, from very different angles. I tried to listen to this years ago but couldn’t get into it, but was inspired to revisit it as it was acknowledged in Penance by Eliza Clark which I loved. This time I sailed through it and would strongly recommend to anyone who’s found a guilty pleasure in true crime and wondered why.

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mynameisrebecca's review against another edition

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dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

This book doesn't live up to the promised title or introduction. Instead of looking at the four women's stories, it takes a deep dive into four crimes and leaves the women that are meant to be the focus as an afterthought. At times, the writing is dismissive to the women and larger audience of women who like true crime - treating them as airheads or stereotypes. It tends to veer off into stories about other topics such as prison reform which can make the book's cohesion lacking. However, there are many beautifully written quotes and the book is informative.

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aileron's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective fast-paced

3.5


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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

Narrator Rating: 4.5 stars

    A look into women's relationship with true crime from four perspectives. The author looks into four points of contact with true crime and obsession.
    This book had a lot of social commentary which I enjoyed and made me think about my relationship with true crime. Luckily for me, I don't seem to be obsessed. I listen to many podcasts but avoid rabbit holes and obsessive searches into cases. 
    Overall, it is a great reflection on women's relationship to true crime and how it affects women and society overall. 

   Extra ratings: Fluff - NA   Heartfelt- 4/5   Helpful-2/5   Horror -NA    Inspiration -0/5   Love aka Romance- NA    Mystery - NA   Predictability - NA    Spice - NA    Suspense - NA   Tear- 3.5/5   Thrill - NA     Humor-0/5 

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sakisreads's review

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challenging dark informative medium-paced

3.5

This came to my attention on BookTok I think (as many things do). With our rising obsession with darkness and gore, this was an apt read 😳

There are 4 ‘perspectives’ or ‘stories’ to be shared: the detective, the victim (faux friend?), the defender and the killer. The ways in which Rachel Monroe navigated this was intriguing and worthwhile I thought 👏🏼
There are definitely peaks and troughs in this book, but I suppose that was only expected.

All of the research leaning towards NOT sharing killers’ details and pictures was something I’d previously discussed with a colleague and was solidified by this book’s writing.

3.5 out of 5 stars for me, thank you ✨

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kdbookdragon's review against another edition

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challenging dark informative medium-paced

3.75


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kemrick19's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective fast-paced

3.75


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ameliaflint's review against another edition

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adventurous informative sad slow-paced

4.5

Really good! I commend this author for her masterful blending of these stories. This nonfiction is so much more compelling than what I am used to. The only thing was the story about the victim. She just didn't seem to fit with the other women. Something about her story threw me off.

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melissalivanos's review against another edition

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dark sad slow-paced

3.75


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sofiefarmer's review against another edition

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dark informative reflective medium-paced

3.0

This was really interesting to listen to. I thought that the story was compelling and sparked a lot of thought about obsession with crime. I think I would have liked to see more general discussion about the true crime's marketing toward female audiences, but I found the narratives of the women to be compelling enough examples to pull some thoughts together about the overall influence. 

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