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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
I think more people should examine their relationship with true crime. Also I read this right before Contrapoints mentioned it and felt very Leo DiCaprio Pointing At The Screen
Savage Appetites is the perfect read for true-crime fans who want to explore women's role in the past and current true crime fixation.
In the past few years, true crime has become big business. Savage Appetites dives into the why and how women are so obsessed with crime without giving cheap answers. It makes you think, and this book should be required reading or listening for true crime consumers and distributers. We really need to study who we allow to be a victim/obsession, and 2020 is the perfect year for that.
In the past few years, true crime has become big business. Savage Appetites dives into the why and how women are so obsessed with crime without giving cheap answers. It makes you think, and this book should be required reading or listening for true crime consumers and distributers. We really need to study who we allow to be a victim/obsession, and 2020 is the perfect year for that.
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
I POWERED through this book. It’s not terribly long but it is impactful, dissecting women’s fascination with true crime. It is a deep dive into four women’s stories from the 1800s to today, exploring their lives to show that these are perfectly normal people who develop interest in an addicting hobby or obsession.
I really enjoyed that the author did not push any opinions about the women she showcased - instead, she provided all the stereotypical reasons why a woman “might” be interested in true crime and how her subjects subverted them.
I look forward to more by Rachel Monroe. And of course more true crime.
I really enjoyed that the author did not push any opinions about the women she showcased - instead, she provided all the stereotypical reasons why a woman “might” be interested in true crime and how her subjects subverted them.
I look forward to more by Rachel Monroe. And of course more true crime.
I've always found crime cases to be interesting, but I've also deplored the tendency to view murders as "cool" at the expense of erasing victims' pain. The concept of this book is something I've wondered often myself: why are women in particular attracted to true crime stories? Monroe doesn't have a specific answer to that because a succinct one doesn't exist, but she divides fans into those who identify with four major groups (and I'm not looking directly at the book, so pardon me using my own words): the investigator, the victim, the advocate, and the perpetrator. Monroe does a good job weaving together specific tales of women, background about crime, and her own personal experiences as a crime fan analyzing her own feelings.
I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
I received an ARC from Net Galley in exchange for my honest review.
challenging
dark
informative
tense
medium-paced
More *that* some women are obsessed than *why* some women are obsessed.
I really enjoyed 3 of the 4 sections on the women Monroe was covering and I liked the way she structured and set up the novel overall; it was fascinating to read their stories, the high level explorations on their motivations and rationales. I didn't love the final segment and I didn't care for how she tried to make connections in that final segment between her subject and herself. It felt very forced to me and not well done.
As a long time true crime reader, a lot of what she had to say about true crime writers, civilian cold case researchers was very interesting and I wish there had been more in that arena.
I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
As a long time true crime reader, a lot of what she had to say about true crime writers, civilian cold case researchers was very interesting and I wish there had been more in that arena.
I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
DNF at 46%. Started out strong but then….it became very boring.
I’ve been a fan of Monroe’s work for a while, so I was really excited to pick up her book! I am also very interested in the public response to true crime, so this was very much up my alley. And, overall, I really enjoyed it!!
Arguably the strongest element of this book is Monroe’s writing. She does an amazing job of balancing objectivity and empathy, respect and humor, introspection and call-to-action. There’s a lot of really good scenes and lines that Monroe really brings to life—particularly that final moment at CrimeCon. Given how dark and complex the subject matter is, its impressive just how much Monroe was able to manage the tone and connect to her audience; which I attribute largely to her excellent writing.
The actual stories Monroe tells are very engaging. She picked very strong examples to demonstrate her points and I think she handled all the different narrative threads very well. I would talk about them in specific detail, but I think experiencing the stories as she lays them out makes for the best reading experience.
I especially appreciated how the book goes in a kind of chronological order, beginning with the birth of forensics and ending with online true crime fandoms. Its a small detail but one that really brought the book together for me!
My one issue with this book (and I do mean the ONLY qualm I have) is that the framing of it is kind of off. Its a deep-dive into four stories of women who became obsessed with crimes that they had no personal connection to, and how those stories are emblematic of America’s broader relationship to criminality. Its also told through the lens of four archetypes common in true crime: the detective, the victim, the defender, and the killer. Maybe its just me, but that feels like a lot to keep track of. The individual chapters were solid and well-argued, but there were times where I found myself getting a little unmoored from the broader context of the book and what its premise is. I thought it was interesting in concept, but it often felt like three framing devices stacked on top of each other.
Overall, I had a great time reading this book and learned a lot from it! I would definitely read more books from Monroe in the future, and can’t wait to see what she does next!
Arguably the strongest element of this book is Monroe’s writing. She does an amazing job of balancing objectivity and empathy, respect and humor, introspection and call-to-action. There’s a lot of really good scenes and lines that Monroe really brings to life—particularly that final moment at CrimeCon. Given how dark and complex the subject matter is, its impressive just how much Monroe was able to manage the tone and connect to her audience; which I attribute largely to her excellent writing.
The actual stories Monroe tells are very engaging. She picked very strong examples to demonstrate her points and I think she handled all the different narrative threads very well. I would talk about them in specific detail, but I think experiencing the stories as she lays them out makes for the best reading experience.
I especially appreciated how the book goes in a kind of chronological order, beginning with the birth of forensics and ending with online true crime fandoms. Its a small detail but one that really brought the book together for me!
My one issue with this book (and I do mean the ONLY qualm I have) is that the framing of it is kind of off. Its a deep-dive into four stories of women who became obsessed with crimes that they had no personal connection to, and how those stories are emblematic of America’s broader relationship to criminality. Its also told through the lens of four archetypes common in true crime: the detective, the victim, the defender, and the killer. Maybe its just me, but that feels like a lot to keep track of. The individual chapters were solid and well-argued, but there were times where I found myself getting a little unmoored from the broader context of the book and what its premise is. I thought it was interesting in concept, but it often felt like three framing devices stacked on top of each other.
Overall, I had a great time reading this book and learned a lot from it! I would definitely read more books from Monroe in the future, and can’t wait to see what she does next!
I liked the honest take on true crime and its consumers, and that Monroe didnt try to make characters more palatable by over-simplifying them. The stories she picked were quite interesting too.
The writing felt a bit too grandiloquent a times but not to the point where it was annoying.
The writing felt a bit too grandiloquent a times but not to the point where it was annoying.