Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

Lady Killers: Deadly Women Throughout History by Tori Telfer

8 reviews

cosmicpanda's review against another edition

dark informative medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Child abuse, Death of parent, Classism, Misogyny, Abandonment, Child death, Confinement, Death, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Medical content, Mental illness, Infidelity, and Miscarriage

daniellekat's review against another edition

dark funny informative fast-paced

2.75

The conclusion actually improved my feelings on this book. I initially thought this was very repetitive and focused a little too heavily on historical tales, but apparently that was by design. I appreciate that the author took a minute to recognize the racial biases present, but wish Telfer spent a little more time editing to make this less Eurocentric. The language was easy to read and navigate (at times a little gruesome but not overly explicit). Cutting a couple chapters would have improved the overall work given how similar a few were. I loved the artwork but thought the organization of the book (or lack thereof) was bizarre. Solid effort but not an author I'd gravitate to again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Death, Torture, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Vomit, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Excrement, Mental illness, and Classism

Minor: Gun violence

Poison

elysenicole213's review against another edition

challenging dark funny informative reflective tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence and Murder

Moderate: Mental illness, Misogyny, War, Suicide attempt, Infidelity, Trafficking, Miscarriage, Pregnancy, and Physical abuse

Minor: Colonisation, Gore, Animal death, Drug abuse, Abortion, Incest, Child death, and Blood

kaylajo3333's review against another edition

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic relationship, Murder, Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Child death, Sexual violence, Grief, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Pregnancy, Mental illness, Kidnapping, Injury/Injury detail, Child abuse, Torture, and Death

rcsreads's review

dark informative medium-paced

2.5

There's a lot of speculation in this. In the case of Alice Kyteler in particular there's no proof she ever killed anyone. Several of the women didn't work alone but Telfer attributes all the murders to them when, again, there's no proof.
 For several of the murdresses I can just Google female serial killers and get more information than Telfer provides and frequently better writing. There's nothing on the Benders that I can't learn from Wikipedia and it has more detail and less of an obsession with how attractive Kate was.
 If you want an in depth look at which murdresses were the prettiest then this is the book for you. If you want actual facts then there are plenty of online articles and probably many better written books. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abortion, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Incest, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, Suicide, Torture, and Violence

epeolatri's review against another edition

medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Murder, Death, Violence, Child death, and Sexism

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, and Classism

Minor: Sexual content, Torture, Excrement, Rape, Suicide, Infidelity, Mental illness, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, and Incest

bugfriend's review

dark funny informative reflective sad fast-paced

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, and Blood

Minor: Cannibalism, Excrement, Grief, Incest, Rape, and Suicide

beersbooksandbooos's review

informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

 I read this in one day and I really found it very entertaining. It kept me hooked and wanting more. I have heard of one or two of the killers in the book but most were new to me. I had to look them up after I was done reading because I wanted to know more about them. I understood why she picked older women to write about and that is what I liked about the book the most. I will be picking up her new books once it comes out. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Alcoholism, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, and Mental illness