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emrodav's review against another edition
4.0
A really devastating and difficult book. Marzano-Lesnevich's writing style is so capitvating, though, that it really draws you in to both sides of the story.
snikkidee's review against another edition
3.0
This book made me physically hurt. It was terribly hard to read. No one in my family has ever abused me, but the subject matter is pretty dark. It definitely affected me, but I can’t say I enjoyed it much.
honnari_hannya's review against another edition
3.0
Like it says on the tin, a true crime story that is about a murder and is also a memoir.
Marzano-Lesnevich traces two different crimes that have followed her for much of her life: The first is the murder of a young boy by convicted pedophile, Ricky Langley. She lays out Ricky's family history and the series of experiences that led up to the night when he killed Jeremy Guillory in 1992, and then through the various appeals to overturn the death sentence. The second is her own experience of sexual abuse by her grandfather, who molested and raped her and her sisters throughout their childhood.
This story definitely took a lot of liberties with regards to the murder of Jeremy Guillory. Marzano-Lesnevich was first put onto the trail of this case when she interned at a firm that defended death row inmates, believing at the time that she wanted to be a criminal defense lawyer. However, being confronted with Langley's case and the intensity of her reaction to him (saying at some point that she wanted him to die for what he did), pushes her away from that path and towards the exploration of her own past trauma. In attempting to humanize Langley, it seems like Marzano-Lesnevich hopes to humanize her grandfather as well, trying to reconcile the fact that human beings can do monstrous things and that it is not always easy to hate them despite how much they hurt others.
While I liked the concept of this, I'm not actually sure that Marzano-Lesnevich pulled it off entirely (though that might just be a personal opinion, considering the popularity of this book). What this book really made me think of and question is the exploitative nature of true crime as a genre. Often, the focus of these stories are the criminals and not the victims—something that has been criticized in the way the media treats serial killers, domestic terrorists, etc. and certainly does apply to fans of true crime. While I do understand why Marzano-Lesnevich made this connection in her head between these two crimes, between Langley and her grandfather, between Jeremy Guillory's mother and her own parents, and between her trauma and various people in this novel, I don't know that it was the right approach to properly capture the tragedy of Jeremy Guillory's death—which felt, at times, like a footnote in the story rather than its centerpiece.
Marzano-Lesnevich traces two different crimes that have followed her for much of her life: The first is the murder of a young boy by convicted pedophile, Ricky Langley. She lays out Ricky's family history and the series of experiences that led up to the night when he killed Jeremy Guillory in 1992, and then through the various appeals to overturn the death sentence. The second is her own experience of sexual abuse by her grandfather, who molested and raped her and her sisters throughout their childhood.
This story definitely took a lot of liberties with regards to the murder of Jeremy Guillory. Marzano-Lesnevich was first put onto the trail of this case when she interned at a firm that defended death row inmates, believing at the time that she wanted to be a criminal defense lawyer. However, being confronted with Langley's case and the intensity of her reaction to him (saying at some point that she wanted him to die for what he did), pushes her away from that path and towards the exploration of her own past trauma. In attempting to humanize Langley, it seems like Marzano-Lesnevich hopes to humanize her grandfather as well, trying to reconcile the fact that human beings can do monstrous things and that it is not always easy to hate them despite how much they hurt others.
While I liked the concept of this, I'm not actually sure that Marzano-Lesnevich pulled it off entirely (though that might just be a personal opinion, considering the popularity of this book). What this book really made me think of and question is the exploitative nature of true crime as a genre. Often, the focus of these stories are the criminals and not the victims—something that has been criticized in the way the media treats serial killers, domestic terrorists, etc. and certainly does apply to fans of true crime. While I do understand why Marzano-Lesnevich made this connection in her head between these two crimes, between Langley and her grandfather, between Jeremy Guillory's mother and her own parents, and between her trauma and various people in this novel, I don't know that it was the right approach to properly capture the tragedy of Jeremy Guillory's death—which felt, at times, like a footnote in the story rather than its centerpiece.
kerinl's review against another edition
3.0
The beginning of this book was great. It soon became redundant and while listening to the audio book I found my self talking out loud to narrator "you've said that ten times already! I get it, move on!". My apologies to all my friends to whom I insisted they should read it. Such promise, such disappointment.
southernbibliomom's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
fast-paced
4.5
This book was uncomfortable and painful to read, but also beautifully written. The book tells a dual story. One of the man who brutally murdered a young child and one of terrible events in the author’s life. Separate stories and yet weaved tragically together. The strength and resilience of the author is shown as well as how complicated families, relationships, and our own minds can be. There is so much more than a strict black and white true crime account. It is about people and the complicated strings that bind them together. About systems that not only have a hard time preventing but could be a cause in destruction. About the difference between truth and the stories told - even in a court room. Alexandra Marzano-Lesnevich puts on a masterclass in how to challenge all of our preconceived notions. Highly recommend.
linnaboobooks's review against another edition
5.0
It's a hard read with plenty of trigger warnings.
lurker_stalker's review against another edition
5.0
I was looking through the books available at my local library (well, the digital version of my local library) and passed right by the audio version of this one. Until I saw the cover for the ebook and something made me stop and go back. I don't even remember what the cover image was. I went back a page in the listings and borrowed the audio book. (Note to authors: covers are important even if it's a digital edition.)
As I got started listening yesterday afternoon, I was much more excited about learning about the case the author had researched than anything having to do with her as a person. That changed somewhere along the way. I can't even tell you exactly when, but I became more involved in her story than in Ricky's. Not that the case and families involved weren't interesting. They were and my heart went out to many of the people involved. But it was Marzano-Lesnevich's life - and the sorts of events we had in common - that ended up hitting me in the gut.
The author slowly and carefully unravels her own past expertly. I didn't even realize what was happening until I became irritated by moving from her story back to the case. I caught myself a few times wondering when the switch happened and I could never figure it out. She completely exposes herself to the reader and I couldn't look away. This has been one of those reading experiences where I feel like I've made a friend of sorts with a character except this character is a real human, not a fictional one. I can't remember the last time I had a burning desire to reach out to an author to let them know just how touched I was by reading, or in this case listening to, their words.
I'm pretty sure I won't actually contact the author so I'll say here, thank you. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself and your family.
As I got started listening yesterday afternoon, I was much more excited about learning about the case the author had researched than anything having to do with her as a person. That changed somewhere along the way. I can't even tell you exactly when, but I became more involved in her story than in Ricky's. Not that the case and families involved weren't interesting. They were and my heart went out to many of the people involved. But it was Marzano-Lesnevich's life - and the sorts of events we had in common - that ended up hitting me in the gut.
The author slowly and carefully unravels her own past expertly. I didn't even realize what was happening until I became irritated by moving from her story back to the case. I caught myself a few times wondering when the switch happened and I could never figure it out. She completely exposes herself to the reader and I couldn't look away. This has been one of those reading experiences where I feel like I've made a friend of sorts with a character except this character is a real human, not a fictional one. I can't remember the last time I had a burning desire to reach out to an author to let them know just how touched I was by reading, or in this case listening to, their words.
I'm pretty sure I won't actually contact the author so I'll say here, thank you. Thank you for sharing so much of yourself and your family.
ashley_pl's review against another edition
4.25
Very well written. The author seems to imagine/speculate a decent amount to make it more of a story and cohesive narrative. But they are very transparent about this and even go chapter by chapter to say which content was imagined and the basis for the imaginings. I found the book to be thought provoking and unsettling.