Reviews tagging 'Death'

Chaos: Charles Manson, the CIA and the Secret History of the Sixties by Tom O'Neill

10 reviews

mmccombs's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

3.5

An incredibly detailed and interesting look at a moment in history we all know about but don’t really know about. At first I was like uh nice try buddy, this is totally outlandish. And then by the end I was like… okay you got me this seems suspicious! At the very least, this book has further convinced me that police and government agencies are completely inept, at its worst, this book has convinced me that all our government does is violence and then shoddy coverups and then gaslighting. I do feel like he often undermined his own legitimacy by constantly being like “lol I know this feels like a tinfoil hat conspiracy theory!!” He seemed self-conscious about what he was attempting, and I just think he could have just confidently shared everything he learned instead. I also think this was maybe not best experienced via audiobook, I felt very lost on names and threads of ideas almost immediately, I think reading it physically would help at least a little. All in all, I leave this feeling wowed by just how nuts this story is, even beyond the nuts story we already know.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Murder, Misogyny, Death, Violence, Rape, and Police brutality

miniemay's review against another edition

challenging dark informative tense medium-paced

2.0

Look. This is a tough topic. And maybe this just isn’t a book that’s for me. 

I was struck by the writer’s callous descriptions of terrible acts. Did I know going in that this was going to be a difficult read, yes. Did the tone of the book lead me to believe that the author has become numb to the atrocities, immensely so.  I was incredibly disappointed in the way he talked about women especially. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gun violence, Racism, Blood, Racial slurs, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Injury/Injury detail, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Child death, Murder, Pregnancy, Child abuse, Misogyny, Suicide, and Torture

caidyn's review against another edition

challenging informative medium-paced

4.5

Wow. Such a twisty book. It went down such a rabbit hole and leaves so many questions about what really happened. Will we ever know? Probably not.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use and Death

Moderate: Rape

zoinkie's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Rape, Murder, Violence, Drug use, Trafficking, and Drug abuse

ericadansereau's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Blood, Cursing, Death, and Drug use

o_w_e_n's review against another edition

challenging dark informative fast-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Death, Violence, Blood, and Sexual assault

ek1992's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

3.75

Very interesting look at the darkness surrounding the CIA and bureaucracy in general. Makes me that much more distrustful of the government; although nothing shocks me. Further proof that most people in government and politics have personality disorders (i.e. Bugliosi). 

A little dissatisfied with the end. I didn’t feel that Manson, Jack Ruby, and the LSD experiments were tied up in a neat bow; however, I think that’s the point. The author does mention the ambiguity. I don’t know that we will ever know and if we do find out, all guilty parties will be long gone that it won’t make a difference. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Death, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual content, Drug abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Sexual violence, Drug use, Violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Gun violence

ipoppycat's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Blood, Sexual content, Suicide, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Miscarriage, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Murder, Self harm, and Violence

linklotz's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious medium-paced

4.5

oh my god i loved it and also by the epilogue i totally understood what o’neill said by falling down conspiracy theories because i certainly did reading what manson said in their interview 😭

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Racism, Suicide, Sexual violence, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pedophilia, Misogyny, Miscarriage, Antisemitism, and Torture

Minor: Pregnancy

amandas_bookshelf's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

2.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Death, Violence, Gore, and Murder

Moderate: Pregnancy

Minor: Rape, Abortion, and Domestic abuse