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lvfl's review against another edition
3.75
The narrative was not linear so I sometimes lost the thread a bit. I have often wondered what happened to the 43. You won’t get a definitive answer about what happened to the students, but the general conclusion is that there’s plenty of corruption to go around.
zelicj's review against another edition
3.0
So many details that it reads more like a deposition for a court case than a linear story for the lay person to follow. Really heartbreaking and bravo to Hernandez who risked her life to put it together.
killingsnail's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.0
rosemarygrace1211's review against another edition
This book is remarkably well researched, but the organisation is... not great. Nothing is laid out linearly and there's no real structure. It's so confusing that I could not tell you what happened during the massacre, because we bounce around in multiple points in time with no real purpose.
leighkhoopes's review against another edition
4.0
This isn’t really a book you can —or even should— give a “rating” to. Its not “true crime,” but instead a major exposé of corruption, murder, conspiracy that the rest of the world forgot within a matter of months. It’s an exhaustive, extensively researched and reported account of a truly terrifying set of events and the even more disturbing systemic cover-up from literally the highest levels of the Mexican government.
I remember hearing about this initial event years ago on the news and then intermittently afterwards, so the sheer scope of what actually happened and was subsequently covered up is shocking, but also (again) unsurprising. The author’s journalistic skill and passion is undeniable, but many portions of the book feel repetitive in the interest of maintaining clarity, and others feel like an endless list of names — victims, witnesses, politicians, police officers, soldiers, bureaucrats, civilians — but again this is a testament to the extreme scale of the entire situation at every level.
It is not a pleasant account, and I did struggle through many parts, but it is an important and the author should be commended for her work in bringing together so many disparate, conflicting and outright false narratives. Her reconstruction of the events hopefully helps bring a sense of justice to the victims’ families and those on whom the crimes were pinned with no evidence, and it’s incredibly disappointing (but also telling) that her years of work on uncovering the truth has not received much recognition.
I remember hearing about this initial event years ago on the news and then intermittently afterwards, so the sheer scope of what actually happened and was subsequently covered up is shocking, but also (again) unsurprising. The author’s journalistic skill and passion is undeniable, but many portions of the book feel repetitive in the interest of maintaining clarity, and others feel like an endless list of names — victims, witnesses, politicians, police officers, soldiers, bureaucrats, civilians — but again this is a testament to the extreme scale of the entire situation at every level.
It is not a pleasant account, and I did struggle through many parts, but it is an important and the author should be commended for her work in bringing together so many disparate, conflicting and outright false narratives. Her reconstruction of the events hopefully helps bring a sense of justice to the victims’ families and those on whom the crimes were pinned with no evidence, and it’s incredibly disappointing (but also telling) that her years of work on uncovering the truth has not received much recognition.
kikiandarrowsfishshelf's review against another edition
4.0
In September 2014, 43 students from the Raul Isidro Burgos Normal School of Ayotzinapa were disappeared in Mexico. They literally vanished. They group was largely first year students. They have never been found. At time, it made the headlines even outside of Mexico. Today, ever so often an international news report will mention the status of investigation.
Anabel Hernández’s book details not only the night of attacks when the 43 students disappeared but also the cover-ups that followed. On one hand, the writing is dry. Hernandez is reporting. She is trying to prove the cove ups.
The important thing is that she does. The detail and information she has gathered and presented makes her case.
If you live in the US, this is really a book you should read because it does have impact on way there are refugees and the impact of the war on drugs.
Anabel Hernández’s book details not only the night of attacks when the 43 students disappeared but also the cover-ups that followed. On one hand, the writing is dry. Hernandez is reporting. She is trying to prove the cove ups.
The important thing is that she does. The detail and information she has gathered and presented makes her case.
If you live in the US, this is really a book you should read because it does have impact on way there are refugees and the impact of the war on drugs.