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3.73 AVERAGE
3.73 AVERAGE
fast-paced
Really well written true crime book - the facts are there and it's told in a fast-paced compelling way. Both the victims and the killer's lives are laid out in depth which really sets the scene.
Why it didn't rate higher:
- A few misspellings which irked me (e.g. '... a few moths ago... ')
- Author is very biased towards the victim - this is an understandable perspective in this case, but leans towards the extreme in some parts which detracts from the otherwise logical and evidential narrative.
- Author makes their political stance known early on which strikes me as odd and unnecessary.
- Author's description of people is a bit weird. It's like they were told, everytime you introduce someone, find three adjectives and then say what college they studied at. After the first couple of times it gets repetitive, and some of her descriptions are downright mean (often referring to someone's weight, clothing or height).
Why it didn't rate higher:
- A few misspellings which irked me (e.g. '... a few moths ago... ')
- Author is very biased towards the victim - this is an understandable perspective in this case, but leans towards the extreme in some parts which detracts from the otherwise logical and evidential narrative.
- Author makes their political stance known early on which strikes me as odd and unnecessary.
- Author's description of people is a bit weird. It's like they were told, everytime you introduce someone, find three adjectives and then say what college they studied at. After the first couple of times it gets repetitive, and some of her descriptions are downright mean (often referring to someone's weight, clothing or height).
Hmm
Very well written book. I don't agree with how things went in this case. I'm no professional, or detective, but I feel like there's more we don't know.
Very well written book. I don't agree with how things went in this case. I'm no professional, or detective, but I feel like there's more we don't know.
Yeah, I watched the trial. Yeah, I think that she was proven guilty beyond a shadow of a doubt. No, I don't feel sorry for her. But, I did think that it would be interesting to learn more details concerning the principles involved. No, this book did not satisfy that desire.
The book provided very few, if any, facts that weren't elaborated upon during the trial. It was not written in an unbiased manner, but rather skewed toward the victim (understandable to a certain degree). This resulted in a book that was more of a testimonial to Alexander Travis than exposé, and frankly, rather boring.
The book provided very few, if any, facts that weren't elaborated upon during the trial. It was not written in an unbiased manner, but rather skewed toward the victim (understandable to a certain degree). This resulted in a book that was more of a testimonial to Alexander Travis than exposé, and frankly, rather boring.
sad
medium-paced
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Another true crime novel. This story is so fascinating even more than 10 years after the crime happened. The author does a great job being objective, showing the relationship of Travis and Jodi, and the events that led up to his murder. A must read if you are interested in this case.
Another true crime novel. This story is so fascinating even more than 10 years after the crime happened. The author does a great job being objective, showing the relationship of Travis and Jodi, and the events that led up to his murder. A must read if you are interested in this case.
I really liked how much of the beginning of this book was dedicated to Travis's story. Also, seemingly from his perspective. Much of Jodi's story was told from her own highly questionable perspective, but I believe the author did justice to her lack of credibility. This was the third book I've read on the topic, and it was interesting to see the details this one points out compared to the others. I'm happy to have read this book.
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
I became interested in this case after watching an analysis of Jodi Arias' interrogation tapes on Youtube. Jim Can't Swim has a great true crime and criminal psychology channel where he shows interrogation tapes of various high-profile cases and breaks down the behavior of the criminals as well as the police tricks used in interrogation. I highly recommend them if you're at all interested in criminal psychology and behavior.
Jodi Arias' video, in particular, showed a woman who was very manipulative, and just plain odd. She did a hand stand in the interrogation room, and in an effort to seem relaxed, she listened for the detective to return and laid her head on the table as she heard the footsteps arriving. These are just oddities when compared to the sickly niceness and constant lies. She can be summed up with the fact that she posed for her mug shot because she knew it would be national news, and her statement:
So, when Bookbub told me this book was on sale, I didn't hesitate to buy it and consume it immediately. The first 7ish chapters are dedicated to the life of Travis Alexander, pre-Jodi. He can be summed up by "his love of writing, travel, genealogy, and the UFC. More than anything, Travis loved the Lord." He was very, very interested in self-development and consumed all the books, philosophies, and advice he could get his hands on to learn how to be the best he could be. He had a tough upbringing and love life, but the people who spoke of him had only kind things to say. And, more than anything, he was a devout Mormon. His faith plays a huge, huge role in this story and his relationship with Jodi, so expect a lot of info about the LDS.
The next 2ish chapters are dedicated to the life of Jodi before meeting Travis. I saw a complaint in another review that Jodi's past had a lot less attention and I agree, but I understand. There isn't really anything there. Travis' life before Jodi was filled with growth, success and friendship. Jodi's life was mostly a struggle to get by as she went from boyfriend to boyfriend. It seemed her life would change and be influenced by whoever she was dating at the time.
The rest of the book is a timeline of the rest of their time together; the off and on relationship, the sex, the secrets, betrayals; Travis' death and the investigation; and the courtroom. The writing is fine. I don't think it's quite accurate to call it the "Jodi Arias story" though, as the author mostly focused on Travis.
Jodi Arias' video, in particular, showed a woman who was very manipulative, and just plain odd. She did a hand stand in the interrogation room, and in an effort to seem relaxed, she listened for the detective to return and laid her head on the table as she heard the footsteps arriving. These are just oddities when compared to the sickly niceness and constant lies. She can be summed up with the fact that she posed for her mug shot because she knew it would be national news, and her statement:
"No jury is going to convict me because I'm innocent. And you can mark my words on that one. No jury will convict me."
So, when Bookbub told me this book was on sale, I didn't hesitate to buy it and consume it immediately. The first 7ish chapters are dedicated to the life of Travis Alexander, pre-Jodi. He can be summed up by "his love of writing, travel, genealogy, and the UFC. More than anything, Travis loved the Lord." He was very, very interested in self-development and consumed all the books, philosophies, and advice he could get his hands on to learn how to be the best he could be. He had a tough upbringing and love life, but the people who spoke of him had only kind things to say. And, more than anything, he was a devout Mormon. His faith plays a huge, huge role in this story and his relationship with Jodi, so expect a lot of info about the LDS.
The next 2ish chapters are dedicated to the life of Jodi before meeting Travis. I saw a complaint in another review that Jodi's past had a lot less attention and I agree, but I understand. There isn't really anything there. Travis' life before Jodi was filled with growth, success and friendship. Jodi's life was mostly a struggle to get by as she went from boyfriend to boyfriend. It seemed her life would change and be influenced by whoever she was dating at the time.
The rest of the book is a timeline of the rest of their time together; the off and on relationship, the sex, the secrets, betrayals; Travis' death and the investigation; and the courtroom. The writing is fine. I don't think it's quite accurate to call it the "Jodi Arias story" though, as the author mostly focused on Travis.
2.5 stars. I picked this up because I just read [b:The Stranger She Loved|22545469|The Stranger She Loved A Mormon Doctor, His Beautiful Wife, and an Almost Perfect Murder|Shanna Hogan|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1416846780s/22545469.jpg|42001569] by the same author and then while reading it, I remembered that I actually don't like true crime books. And this book certainly doesn't elevate the genre (in the author's defense, this was a really yucky crime). It reads like The Singles Ward remade as a horror movie.
(Horrible crime aside, the backdrop of this story was practically a time capsule of the early 2000s. It took us through ubiquitous MLMs (unfortunately not a thing of the past), MySpace, the housing crisis, Facebook, and then blogs.)
(Horrible crime aside, the backdrop of this story was practically a time capsule of the early 2000s. It took us through ubiquitous MLMs (unfortunately not a thing of the past), MySpace, the housing crisis, Facebook, and then blogs.)