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Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'
I'll Be Gone in the Dark: One Woman's Obsessive Search for the Golden State Killer by Michelle McNamara
160 reviews
notlikethebeer's review against another edition
3.25
Something I've heard about this book, and part of the reason I wanted to read it, is that it's meant to be very victim-centric, in a way that true crime often is not. There definitely was a lot of space given to the victims, including narratives of their life before they became victims. However, I don't know whether I'd describe the victims as being centered as such. McNamara was definitely eager to talk about gory details. And that has made me question, even more, whether victims CAN be centered within the true crime genre.
I think, as well, I would have liked some more reflexivity. McNamara was so caught up in this "mystery", and at times she talked a little about the desire to know, the urge to solve a puzzle. I also appreciated that she thought a little about her own experiences, and their relevance. However I never really understood why this "story" in particular, or why to such an intensity.
On that note, it's hard not to read IBGITD and wonder a little about McNamara's life, and the others in her life. I wonder what her daughter's autobiography might read like: whether she feels she even got to share her mother with this obsession. It IS an obsession, that clearly infiltrated every part of her life. Of course, I'm an outsider, but it does seem that it wasn't to a healthy degree. I'm struck by the knowledge that McNamara is believed to have died from an accidental overdose from various drugs. I wonder how much of her obsessive drive to solve a mystery she initially had no stake in lead to that. It's easy, in reading IBGITD, to wonder whether there is any harm in 'civilians' becoming involved in investigations, if they have the skills and can genuinely provide a benefit. Thinking about McNamara's lack of boundaries is just one example of the harms this can bring (note, just one!).
I will allow that we don't know whether this was the book McNamara wanted to write. We can hope, and trust, that it was. But we don't know. And that makes it difficult to critique. However, I came to this hoping for something that might humanize the true crime genre a little more: that might provide me with some of the understanding I seek in myself, as well as more broadly. I came away largely empty-handed.
Graphic: Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Gun violence, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Death, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, and Torture
alexandramcgrew's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Rape, Grief, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Physical abuse, Gore, Blood, Death, Stalking, Torture, and Violence
patches7o9's review against another edition
5.0
Graphic: Murder
Moderate: Sexual assault
lauraleenstra's review against another edition
5.0
Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Murder, Violence, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Stalking
I feel like its more actually just minor but there is quite alot of mentions of it because of course the book is about the Golden State killer and his MO was rape, murder, and stalking.lauraportalupi's review
2.75
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death, Violence, Murder, Sexual assault, and Misogyny
kendall09's review against another edition
5.0
It closes with:
"This is how it ends for you.
“You’ll be silent forever, and I’ll be gone in the dark,” you threatened a victim once.
Open the door. Show us your face.
Walk into the light."
Moderate: Murder, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, and Torture
kyliesh's review
4.5
Graphic: Murder, Violence, Rape, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, and Stalking
winifred_k22's review against another edition
3.5
Graphic: Death, Gore, Murder, Blood, Sexual assault, Stalking, Violence, Sexual violence, Rape, and Death of parent
alexisgarcia's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Blood, Sexual content, Torture, Violence, Grief, and Murder
lauren_drinkard's review against another edition
3.75
Moderate: Kidnapping, Stalking, Sexual assault, and Murder