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haloblues's review
informative
reflective
3.0
EDIT: Bumping down to a 3/5 due to the fact that a lot of my research since reading has shown this book actually repeats a lot of inaccuracies and false narratives. It was, however, still well-written and generally true.
Oof. I actually have no idea how to review this one -- it's the first non-fiction book I've read in what's probably years, and definitely the first one I've reviewed on here, so my general approach to reviews doesn't stand here (I can't exactly present stars based on how entertaining a plot and how likeable the characters were). But I've been experiencing an unprecedented craving for non-fiction and educational materials lately, a big part of which is true crime, and when I saw this I knew I had to read it, not least of which is because as a Scottish person I knew much less about it than my American friends did, and all of my knowledge came from the rumours and exaggerations that were debunked by precisely this book.
I barely put it down for days. It was informative, detailed, absorbing and thoughtful, taking care to go through each of the misconceptions and warped 'facts' one by one and pick them apart to get at the truth, even when that truth wasn't what people wanted to hear. There were a few parts that seemed contradictory -- referring to Eric as popular and 'only below the football team' on the social hierarchy only to say that most of the school didn't know he or Dylan later; saying Eric got "lots and lots of chicks" only to then detail their struggles finding girls/dates and Eric in particular's disinterest in relationships; saying the boys were not bullied at all when classmate accounts and the observations of Sue Klebold said otherwise -- but overall it seemed extremely well-researched and tightly bound by fact. The chronology could get confusing at times; it had a habit throughout the entire book of jumping between chronicling Eric and Dylan's escalation leading up to Columbine, the actual events at the school on the day, and the reactions and responses after the fact, often with no introduction or warning, so it was occasionally jarring to go from the shooting to immediate discussion of the boys getting ready for prom.
But regardless, I know far more about this than I did before reading it, and I found myself emotionally invested in the winding detail of the unfolding events and thinking of it when I had to be elsewhere, eager to get back to reading. I'm moving onto Sue Klebold's own book next, in the hopes of gaining yet another fresh perspective on everything that happened.
Oof. I actually have no idea how to review this one -- it's the first non-fiction book I've read in what's probably years, and definitely the first one I've reviewed on here, so my general approach to reviews doesn't stand here (I can't exactly present stars based on how entertaining a plot and how likeable the characters were). But I've been experiencing an unprecedented craving for non-fiction and educational materials lately, a big part of which is true crime, and when I saw this I knew I had to read it, not least of which is because as a Scottish person I knew much less about it than my American friends did, and all of my knowledge came from the rumours and exaggerations that were debunked by precisely this book.
I barely put it down for days. It was informative, detailed, absorbing and thoughtful, taking care to go through each of the misconceptions and warped 'facts' one by one and pick them apart to get at the truth, even when that truth wasn't what people wanted to hear. There were a few parts that seemed contradictory -- referring to Eric as popular and 'only below the football team' on the social hierarchy only to say that most of the school didn't know he or Dylan later; saying Eric got "lots and lots of chicks" only to then detail their struggles finding girls/dates and Eric in particular's disinterest in relationships; saying the boys were not bullied at all when classmate accounts and the observations of Sue Klebold said otherwise -- but overall it seemed extremely well-researched and tightly bound by fact. The chronology could get confusing at times; it had a habit throughout the entire book of jumping between chronicling Eric and Dylan's escalation leading up to Columbine, the actual events at the school on the day, and the reactions and responses after the fact, often with no introduction or warning, so it was occasionally jarring to go from the shooting to immediate discussion of the boys getting ready for prom.
But regardless, I know far more about this than I did before reading it, and I found myself emotionally invested in the winding detail of the unfolding events and thinking of it when I had to be elsewhere, eager to get back to reading. I'm moving onto Sue Klebold's own book next, in the hopes of gaining yet another fresh perspective on everything that happened.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Toxic friendship, Gun violence, Mental illness, Murder, Bullying, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Racial slurs, Suicide, Sexism, Grief, Misogyny, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence
brookey8888's review
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
tense
medium-paced
4.0
This is such a hard book to review. It’s very graphic so be warned. It goes into so much detail and it’s so disturbing to read. I would recommend this book if you want to learn more about it and the misconceptions about this and all the coverups and things of that nature that happened during this time. I did appreciate learning about the victims and their lives before and after. I do have to say when reading this how I was thinking that nothing really has changed to make these less common, which is just so awful. I did read this when I was in middle school( the author spoke at my school), it was good to read this with an adult brain.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Homophobia, Mass/school shootings, Medical content, Child death, Gore, Murder, Cursing, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Violence, Grief, Racial slurs, Antisemitism, Blood, Bullying, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Sexism, Mental illness, and Religious bigotry
mondovertigo's review against another edition
dark
informative
sad
tense
slow-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Gun violence, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Suicide, Violence, Toxic friendship, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Alcohol, Bullying, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Homophobia, and Racism
emzorzin3d's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
You would struggle to find a more comprehensive breakdown of the events of the Columbine tragedy as well as the stories of everyone involved both before and after it happened.
Plenty of time is given to the victims to tell their stories as well as the student body at large. These are given equal time to the facts of the day as well as the backgrounds of the two boys responsible.
The author does his best to correct the mistakes of misinformation, informing us why the story of Columbine and the shooters might not be what we had all assumed.
Cullen has to be given credit here for avoiding sensationlistic writing and instead breaking down the whole thing in a straightforward way. Because the truth is that the facts are astonishing on their own.
Plenty of time is given to the victims to tell their stories as well as the student body at large. These are given equal time to the facts of the day as well as the backgrounds of the two boys responsible.
The author does his best to correct the mistakes of misinformation, informing us why the story of Columbine and the shooters might not be what we had all assumed.
Cullen has to be given credit here for avoiding sensationlistic writing and instead breaking down the whole thing in a straightforward way. Because the truth is that the facts are astonishing on their own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, Mass/school shootings, Suicide attempt, and Sexism
jbellomy's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
Very well researched and comprehensive painting of the massacre and its aftermath. My main complaint is that Cullen uses teenage slang — a lot — when not quoting. Seemed in poor taste for journalism and took me out of the story. I also didn't like the use of dual narratives (one before, following the killers, and one after, following the survivors and town). It really undercut the ideal that the town didn't want to be defined by the attack. I don't know how else to make the story feel propulsive, but it seemed irresponsible to me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Child death, Violence, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Mass/school shootings, Gun violence, Gore, Grief, and Sexism
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