Reviews tagging 'Confinement'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

40 reviews

kananineko's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

I think this book was very well written and very well done, if a little shallow. Every perspective felt necessary and added to the story, and I really enjoyed the focus on victims and women in the story of a male serial killer, but... I feel like it could've dived deeper into the themes, and honestly, not much happened. Dare I say it was a little boring and forgettable... Keep in mind that crime/thriller isn’t my usual genre (I don’t enjoy these types of books as much as other people do). However, it was still an important book. I did shed a tear in the last chapter, which is rare. I also wish Lavendar had more chapters. Overall, I'd consider it a good book, though. The writing was phenomenal as well. I'm glad this book was written but it wasn't anything out of this world. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child death, Sexual content, Grief, Abandonment, Murder, Violence, and Death

Moderate: Sexual assault, Blood, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual violence

Minor: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Racism, Drug abuse, Pregnancy, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Police brutality, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Incest, and Xenophobia

charlereads's review against another edition

dark reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Confinement, Death, Addiction, Medical content, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Body horror, Murder, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Body shaming, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Abandonment, Child death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, and Domestic abuse

americattt's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

“There was the fact of life that Saffy hated, then: how it took the bad things and settled them inside you. It didn’t matter that you were a person, and it didn’t matter what you wanted. The bad lived insistently in your blood, a part of you always, calling out like a magnet to the horror of the world.”

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Confinement and Drug abuse

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

challenging tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The prose is beautiful.  Kukafka is able to make you see and smell the people, objects, and scenery in the novel. The subject matter is heavy.  The political commentary is not subtle.  I would not have chosen to walk through the last hours of a serial killer’s life before being executed for fun.  But it turns out I would do it for the Book Eaters Podcast.  I was not fond of most of the POV’s, except Saffy’s. She was interesting and compelling. I rooted for her.  It wasn’t just that she was meant to be the justice in the story, but she had character and flaws that made her seem real.  I felt sorry for her, I envied her and wanted desperately for her to find the peace that she wasn’t looking for in the story.   The opening chapters with Lavender’s POV were the hardest to get through.  It was the most detailed and horrific.  There were a few times when I had to walk away from it because it was hard to read.  Some stories are just that way.  But it was necessary to understand Ansel’s roots and to see where the violence began.  That it didn’t start with him.   I like that the book didn’t try to make me feel sorry for Ansel.  The presentation was cold and felt factual.  This is the way things were.  All of the characters had regrets, but none of them could change things. I wouldn’t say that I liked the book or that I would want other people to read it.  I would, however, say that it is well-written. Unique in the sense that we are shielded from some violent scenes and thrust into others.  Protected where we could be and forced to see what was necessary. I am not a murder girlie, in that I don’t listen to true crime podcasts and tv shows.  I prefer to hide in fantasy and the familiarity of tropes.  So perhaps my opinion on this particular novel should be weighted with that in mind.  But, as far as thrillers go, I prefer to be more removed from the violence.  I like it, when it is fleeting and rationalized.  Something I couldn’t get from this book.  Even starting from before Ansel was born and a little after his death, I couldn’t trace the roots to a reason.  I wasn’t meant to.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Confinement, Animal cruelty, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Stalking, Child abuse, Violence, Animal death, Murder, Death, and Domestic abuse

might_be_may's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

take the content warnings seriously

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Confinement

Moderate: Violence, Grief, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Sexual violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Murder, Domestic abuse, and Rape

Minor: Stalking

c_serpent's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Five stars for how this novel emphasizes that the serial killer is not special, unique, or extremely evil. He is just a man, and the true loss is in the lives of the women he killed. Five stars for Izzy, Angela, Lila, Jenny, and Saffy.

Total score: 5/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Abandonment, Sexual assault, Gore, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Stalking, Blood, Confinement, Death, and Alcoholism

Minor: Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, and Drug use

thessie_rby's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Grief, Violence, Murder, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Confinement, Alcoholism, Cancer, and Drug abuse

ern0809's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

This is a unique book in that it focuses on everyone around the murderer, reflective of how our society is actually the oppostie--fame is given to the murderer and the victims forgotten.  Well paced, I was very invested in the other characters than the main one.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Domestic abuse, Animal cruelty, Murder, Confinement, and Death

minxtte's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Grief, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Sexism, Drug use, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Car accident, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Homophobia

m4rtt4's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

SO GOOD. I've consumed so much true crime and fictional crime content in my life, but I've never come across anything like this. There was something in this book I can't quite explain — an underlying feeling of fear? Hollowness? Darkness? Sadness? A black hole that's slowly lurking towards you, it spies on you behind a corner, and while you can feel its eyes on your back, your only escape is to try to ignore it. There are no words for how this book made me feel, but if it helps, I devoured like 75% of it in one sitting. I physically wasn't able to tear my eyes away, to let go. Quite like the feelings explored in this book — they are there, silently shaping you, whether or not you actually pay attention to them. Such a spectacular, exceptional story. And most importantly, it focuses on what's more important than the glorified image of the 'American serial killer' and his horrifying acts — what about the victims, their families and the justice they deserve? (In no way am I sympathetic towards Ansel, but this book only made me more against the death penalty. Not that he deserves to beg for his life, but that kind of 'justice' is not the one I want from the justice system.)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, Grief, Mental illness, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Abandonment, Toxic relationship, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Sexual content, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, and Alcoholism

Minor: Suicidal thoughts