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justinareads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence
Moderate: Car accident and Abandonment
thecheeseowl's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
This book held up a mirror to reality. If Ancel Packer was on 2020 I don't think anyone would bat an eye. The cruelty of the world is on full display.
This story similar to Ancel himself was truly fascinated with morality and what serial kills say about humanity as a whole along with what does love truly look like and how can something like love be corrupted.
There have been people who argue that the book is too sympathetic to Ancel. I disagree throughout the whole book until I got to the end where now I understand what they were saying. But I would still argue that the book isn't arguing that Ancel is a good person it is just arguing that he is a person. That there was something there that could have been but wasn't because of what he did.
This story similar to Ancel himself was truly fascinated with morality and what serial kills say about humanity as a whole along with what does love truly look like and how can something like love be corrupted.
There have been people who argue that the book is too sympathetic to Ancel. I disagree throughout the whole book until I got to the end where now I understand what they were saying. But I would still argue that the book isn't arguing that Ancel is a good person it is just arguing that he is a person. That there was something there that could have been but wasn't because of what he did.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Child abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Animal death and Racism
Minor: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction
jesliwen's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
i never cry at books but this one got me
Content Warnings
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Death
Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty
Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism
jenny_d's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Toxic relationship, Murder, Sexism, Forced institutionalization, Death, and Animal death
Moderate: Child death
ana_reads's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
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? It's complicated
5.0
Incredible prose paired with some interesting and intense philosophical ideas. Loved the intensity brought about by switching from second person to third person limited pov depending on the character/chapter.
I really enjoyed that towards the end, the narrative structure itself kind of fulfills Ansel's theory with multiple people questioning their own lives compared to worlds where other choices were made. Saffy's story line in particular, with her constantly imagining what the lives of the three girls could have been had they never met Ansel was really compelling. The difference between her constantly thinking about them and Ansel constantly thinking about how his life would be different highlighted a certain level of selfishness to me that I think was needed. As sympathetic as he is, in all the ways this book shows he does have good in him and all through his life if other people had made different choices (if Lavender had taken the boys with her, if Mrs. Harrison had adopted both boys instead of just Ellis etc) maybe things could have lead to a different outcome, at the end of the day, in this world, he ended the lives of four people for his own sake. The final chapter focusing on the lost potential of Izzy, Angela, Lila and Jenny's lives was really powerful in reasserting both the idea of the different universes/but also that, ultimately, those universes don't matter when in this one they don't get to live it.
Overall an incredible read with very thought provoking themes and characters.
Overall an incredible read with very thought provoking themes and characters.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Death
Moderate: Animal death and Murder
amberjackonski's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Animal cruelty
vanessa_black_03's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This book will make you think and think. It should be read by everybody who has ever thought about the person behind the unmistakable cloud of death by a killer.
Shows us how circumstances lend to our making but justifying anything you do with it and not acknoledging a problem within you is all that makes the difference
Shows us how circumstances lend to our making but justifying anything you do with it and not acknoledging a problem within you is all that makes the difference
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Child abuse, Gore, Suicide, Medical content, Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Blood and Stalking
Minor: Car accident
shostakofish's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
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
4.5
I have a complicated relationship with True Crime style media. One the one hand: It's deeply interesting and a look into very real issues society sometimes would rather ignore. On the other hand it's rife with exploitation, and often falls into the trap of glorifying male violence and reducing women to objects violence is inflicted on.
This book does a fantastic job avoiding those pitfalls. It takes a nuanced look at a killer and the women in his life including those he kills. Every single one is shown as a full human, with their first person perspectives allowing for depth and introspection. Each character is biased in their own realistic ways but the book as a whole takes a determinately neutral stance on the issues it brings up, allowing the reader to form their own opinions on things like male violence, the prison system and death penalty, mental health support, and media for murder.
This book does a fantastic job avoiding those pitfalls. It takes a nuanced look at a killer and the women in his life including those he kills. Every single one is shown as a full human, with their first person perspectives allowing for depth and introspection. Each character is biased in their own realistic ways but the book as a whole takes a determinately neutral stance on the issues it brings up, allowing the reader to form their own opinions on things like male violence, the prison system and death penalty, mental health support, and media for murder.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexism, Death, Racial slurs, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Stalking, and Murder
withloveandlights's review against another edition
Learned of the extensive animal cruelty within the book as well as not feeling comfortable continuing the book
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal cruelty and Animal death
misssleepy's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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? It's complicated
4.5
I have seen this book on book tok several times. I submitted it as a recommendation for the Merc 20-Something book club and it was picked.
I loved this book. It was very reflective and it challenges how society glorifies serial killers by reflecting on the lives of 3 women that intersected with this serial killer, Ansel Packer.
The women in this story are written beautifully. They are raw and they are flawed and they are so deeply human.
When I started reading this book, I did get nervous that I would find myself sympathizing with Ansel and I was really resistant to that feeling. Having finished the book, I realize that my nerves were a manifestation of conflicted feelings. There were fleeting moments of sympathy, but also hatred, pain, anger, dismay, and embarrassment.
There is a lot to feel conflicted about. The idea of nature vs nurture, the morality of the death penalty, the internal struggle of good vs evil, the idea that everyone is loved on some level regardless of their atrocities. The authors did an amazing job of forcing the reading to reckon with all of these contradictory themes while still providing the reader space to form their own opinions.
Also shout out to Shawna for playing Ansel like a fiddle.
This book reminded me in some ways of Bright Young Women. It is very much a commentary that it isn’t the men that murder that deserve our energy and admiration, but the women whose lives were taken from them. That victims are more than their ending, that they are complex and vibrant. The author reflects on what their lives could have been and could’ve meant to the world.
The exploration of Ansel’s relationship with Blue was one of the more contradictory plot lines of the book for me. I think it’s important to show the humanity in all people, even killers like Ansel and how the choices they make can have such devastating impacts to people who do view them from a place of goodness. I also thought the juxtaposition of that relationship to Saffy’s longing for family and her search for her father was deeply touching, and a bit haunting.
I just have to complain about how often the authors described character’s breath as sour. Okay good to get off my chest.
10/10 would recommend!
I loved this book. It was very reflective and it challenges how society glorifies serial killers by reflecting on the lives of 3 women that intersected with this serial killer, Ansel Packer.
The women in this story are written beautifully. They are raw and they are flawed and they are so deeply human.
When I started reading this book, I did get nervous that I would find myself sympathizing with Ansel and I was really resistant to that feeling. Having finished the book, I realize that my nerves were a manifestation of conflicted feelings. There were fleeting moments of sympathy, but also hatred, pain, anger, dismay, and embarrassment.
There is a lot to feel conflicted about. The idea of nature vs nurture, the morality of the death penalty, the internal struggle of good vs evil, the idea that everyone is loved on some level regardless of their atrocities. The authors did an amazing job of forcing the reading to reckon with all of these contradictory themes while still providing the reader space to form their own opinions.
Also shout out to Shawna for playing Ansel like a fiddle.
This book reminded me in some ways of Bright Young Women. It is very much a commentary that it isn’t the men that murder that deserve our energy and admiration, but the women whose lives were taken from them. That victims are more than their ending, that they are complex and vibrant. The author reflects on what their lives could have been and could’ve meant to the world.
The exploration of Ansel’s relationship with Blue was one of the more contradictory plot lines of the book for me. I think it’s important to show the humanity in all people, even killers like Ansel and how the choices they make can have such devastating impacts to people who do view them from a place of goodness. I also thought the juxtaposition of that relationship to Saffy’s longing for family and her search for her father was deeply touching, and a bit haunting.
I just have to complain about how often the authors described character’s breath as sour. Okay good to get off my chest.
10/10 would recommend!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Murder