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3.78 AVERAGE
3.78 AVERAGE
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.
I think Rachel is brilliant, and her take on the true crime boom is just the addition to the conversation that I needed.
So the first chapter and the third and fourth were good. I skimmed chapter two. But the nuggets were incredible. Good theories that can also be applied to why people like dark romance novels. But the last few pages? About the conference. That was horrific. True crime already makes me want to throw up. Imagining being at that conference...
i was about as impressed with this book as i expected to be tbh. having heard the author interviewed on podcasts, i expected her to take a more explicitly critical tone on the genre of true crime, but i was unfortunately disappointed. the premise of the book is interesting (why are women obsessed with crime stories?) but it just didn't deliver the kind of social commentary that i expected. a little too salacious and self-mythologizing to really accomplish it's stated goal of challenging the consumption of true crime stories...
not gonna rate this bc nonfiction. I read the audiobook, which I recommend
this was great!! entertaining and informative but not boring. the last quarter was my favorite, super powerful. I feel like anyone interested in true crime should read this
this was great!! entertaining and informative but not boring. the last quarter was my favorite, super powerful. I feel like anyone interested in true crime should read this
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
When I started to read this book, I felt a bit confused with how the author would jump from one person to another and back again but by the second chapter it got better.
When Monroe talked about the West Memphis Three, I teared up because there are problems and situations like this that have happened in the past and are still recurring even now where "suspects" are being railroaded simply because they look the part. Real killers stay on the loose because law enforcement officials refused to look any where else and they create more victims trying to survive the system.
When Columbine was mentioned it brought me back to the day I was sitting in class watching it. It was so many thing that I couldn't imagine happening at the time and now I fear it every day my child goes to school. There are people who glorify what the gunmen did that day. That truly scares me.
When Lee was mentioned at the beginning of the book about her Nutshells dioramas, it was like... wait someone has made these? And I need to see them. Lee was never the typical house wife, with her pushing the boundaries to make these for law enforcement officials? Brilliant.
When Monroe talked about the West Memphis Three, I teared up because there are problems and situations like this that have happened in the past and are still recurring even now where "suspects" are being railroaded simply because they look the part. Real killers stay on the loose because law enforcement officials refused to look any where else and they create more victims trying to survive the system.
When Columbine was mentioned it brought me back to the day I was sitting in class watching it. It was so many thing that I couldn't imagine happening at the time and now I fear it every day my child goes to school. There are people who glorify what the gunmen did that day. That truly scares me.
When Lee was mentioned at the beginning of the book about her Nutshells dioramas, it was like... wait someone has made these? And I need to see them. Lee was never the typical house wife, with her pushing the boundaries to make these for law enforcement officials? Brilliant.
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
Detective? Victim? Defender? Killer?
This was a very opinionated piece, however, I enjoyed how the book was broken up into different true crime archetypes, as well as very introspective on our views of true crime. It stops and forces us to wonder what draws us in? Which archetype do you “relate” to/draw interest in? And also, forces us to think about our society’s (borderline unhealthy??) obsession with true crime.
This was a very opinionated piece, however, I enjoyed how the book was broken up into different true crime archetypes, as well as very introspective on our views of true crime. It stops and forces us to wonder what draws us in? Which archetype do you “relate” to/draw interest in? And also, forces us to think about our society’s (borderline unhealthy??) obsession with true crime.
This was good - I felt the author did a good job at pointing out our obsession with victims being "innocent" or "pure," and how that often relegates victims of certain races (not white) or social status (not rich) to be seen as not really victims. Maybe they deserved a little bit of the tragedy that befell them. She reaffirms that that is bullshit, that racism and white supremacy once again rear their ugly heads, and make everything worse.