Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Savage Appetites: Four True Stories of Women, Crime, and Obsession by Rachel Monroe

23 reviews

th3_ston3r_s3ction's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

notlikethebeer's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

Another one that I put off reviewing to better collate my thoughts, and have managed to completely forget everything about. I did really enjoy it, I know I had some critiques, I've just forgotten all of them. Adding this to my reread pile.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

alliereads_'s review against another edition

dark informative

2.5

I really struggled to see how each story fit in with each others or with any overarching theme of true crime. The first chapter felt more like a historical lesson on forensics than a story about a woman obsessed with acting as a detective in a singular compelling case. This continues into the third and fourth parts with diatribes on immigration and Ayn Rand; neither were uninteresting or unimportant to me, but were not even close to what I would expect from a book labeled to be about true crime and the predominantly female obsession with it. 

Everything feels so disjointed; jumping within each chapter from character to character and story to story without ever drawing a clear thread between them. 

I also wasn’t expected so much of the book, within chapters dedicated to specific women, to be anecdotal to Monroe’s life. While she was clearly influenced to write this book because of her relationship to true crime, I was disappointed that all of the reflection didn’t lead her to a thesis on its impact by the end. It wasn’t until the end of part four, where Monroe self-reflected on her part in the true crime community and on mean world syndrome, that I felt like the book had any purpose. 

I would describe this book more as personal essay-meets-historical nonfiction than I would as an exploration of the true crime genre. Not a bad read necessarily, but incredibly different than how it was marketed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Mass/school shootings

Moderate: Rape

catriona176's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Murder, Violence, and Gun violence

Moderate: Death, Suicide, and Hate crime

mynameisrebecca's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Suicide attempt, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide

chilivanilli28's review against another edition

dark informative sad fast-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Death, and Murder

aileron's review against another edition

dark informative reflective fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Child death, Death, Gun violence, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Racism

avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Confinement, Misogyny, Murder, Toxic relationship, Death, Blood, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, Mental illness, Sexism, Suicide, and Violence

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Gun violence, and Bullying

shadereads's review against another edition

challenging dark informative slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mass/school shootings, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Cancer

mollywill's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mass/school shootings and Murder