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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
The concept of this book was so cool but the execution was not to my taste. There were so many examples and stories we were supposed to follow that I never felt her question, “why are women drawn to true crime stories,” was even answered.
As I got older, my appetite for murder stories seemed to depend on how much turbulence was in my own life. The more sad or lost or angry I felt, the more I craved crime. — 3l
In US criminal law, crimes are considered offenses against the state, not against an individual. (This stems from our legal sysrem’s roots in English common law, which considered the king to be the ultimate victim of all lawbreaking.) 83
In US criminal law, crimes are considered offenses against the state, not against an individual. (This stems from our legal sysrem’s roots in English common law, which considered the king to be the ultimate victim of all lawbreaking.) 83
A really well done exploration of why so many of us (especially women) are obsessed with true crime. It's done with a rare and needed empathy for victims, true crime bloggers and perpetrators. I feel like it really gets to the heart of the True Crime media phenomenon. A must read for any true crime enthusiasts out there.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
man i love nonfiction written by reporters. this was so so interesting - the author uses the stories of 4 women that all fit different stereotypes (detective, victim, defender + killer) as a vehicle to explore the ethics of true crime obsession and the US criminal justice system
A really well done exploration of why so many of us (especially women) are obsessed with true crime. It's done with a rare and needed empathy for victims, true crime bloggers and perpetrators. I feel like it really gets to the heart of the True Crime media phenomenon. A must read for any true crime enthusiasts out there.
This was good and fine! I truly don’t have any other more important or generative thoughts about it that don’t boil down that same dynamic. Worth the read if you’re interested, obviously a book written out of passion, but doesn’t *really* say anything new, even though it may think so.
4 out of 5
Any crime junkie will definitely get a kick out of reading this book. The overall question that is being answered is, "Why is it that women are the demographic that seems to be more attracted to crime stories?" I enjoyed that the author answered it by providing us four female archetypes: the detective, the victim, the defender, and the murder, each one with a distinctive story on how crime has shaped their life in one way or another.
Each archetype was refreshing, and while they were distinct, I felt like they built upon each other quite well. Sometimes the issue I have with books in this format is that each story could seem a bit disjointed from each other. This book didn't have that issue so that was great. However, within each one, they were a bit all over the place. The author will jump from one example to another, and never really tie how those two, three, or four mini snippets go along with the main story within that chapter. This was most prominent in the section of the victim, and somewhat in the defender. Due to that major issue, the victim section was the weakest of the four, and I would think it would have been the easiest one to write from.
I mainly read non-fiction just because I want to consume more information about a certain topic. This book satisfied that need. Even if it didn't fully answer the question it was posing, by the end of it, you could come to your own conclusion since there wasn't necessarily a "right" answer. It all came down to the reader to make their opinion about the subject. After finishing this book, I can definitely see myself consuming crime stories differently since now the question of "why do I find this interesting?" will always remain in the back of my head.
Any crime junkie will definitely get a kick out of reading this book. The overall question that is being answered is, "Why is it that women are the demographic that seems to be more attracted to crime stories?" I enjoyed that the author answered it by providing us four female archetypes: the detective, the victim, the defender, and the murder, each one with a distinctive story on how crime has shaped their life in one way or another.
Each archetype was refreshing, and while they were distinct, I felt like they built upon each other quite well. Sometimes the issue I have with books in this format is that each story could seem a bit disjointed from each other. This book didn't have that issue so that was great. However, within each one, they were a bit all over the place. The author will jump from one example to another, and never really tie how those two, three, or four mini snippets go along with the main story within that chapter. This was most prominent in the section of the victim, and somewhat in the defender. Due to that major issue, the victim section was the weakest of the four, and I would think it would have been the easiest one to write from.
I mainly read non-fiction just because I want to consume more information about a certain topic. This book satisfied that need. Even if it didn't fully answer the question it was posing, by the end of it, you could come to your own conclusion since there wasn't necessarily a "right" answer. It all came down to the reader to make their opinion about the subject. After finishing this book, I can definitely see myself consuming crime stories differently since now the question of "why do I find this interesting?" will always remain in the back of my head.
As someone who never reads nonfiction unless it’s required for my classes, I was thoroughly engaged with this book and am really sad that it ended. The author’s writing style and ability to tell four distinct stories was so well done, and I feel like I learned so much about cases and criminal justice that I didn’t know before. As a criminal justice minor, this was super intriguing to me — however, a fair warning that some descriptions are incredibly graphic.