Reviews tagging 'Murder'

물고기는 존재하지 않는다 by Lulu Miller

52 reviews

susannah_knox's review against another edition

emotional hopeful informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

This book surprised me over and over again.  I don't know how the author pulled off making all the disparate elements cohere, but she did.  A moving, deep yet delightful quick read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Forced institutionalization, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Animal death, Medical trauma, and Murder

kld2128's review against another edition

funny informative reflective fast-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Murder

youngwessels's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.25

The chapters revolving around David Starr Jordan are a compelling look into a deeply troubled person’s experiences but the chapters revolving around Lulu Miller’s own life are just a sloggish look into a slightly less troubled person’s experiences.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Infidelity, Forced institutionalization, and Murder

killeenm's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

I LOVED this book. It’s pretty rare to find an author so talented that mixes biography, scientific journalism, and memoir so seamlessly. I didn’t know if I’d love it at the beginning; I thought the author was maybe coming from a perspective too different from mine. Turns out an atheist and a Catholic who doesn’t really believe that God has plans in their life might be coming from very similar places. Explored human relationships to the natural world, eugenics, psychology, taxonomy, disability, ableism, the purpose of life… I can’t recommend it enough. This book was absolutely masterful.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, and Murder

del_phinium's review against another edition

inspiring fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Xenophobia, and Murder

Moderate: Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Rape

mirto's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny informative inspiring reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

If I could give this 6 stars, I would. Brilliant book. I would even say Lulu Miller created a whole new genre. Memoir, biography, essay, nature book, history book, sociology, psychology, murder mystery, whatever, you name it. Made me feel so many things, all at once. I learnt a lot, from science to giving myself the life I want. Why Fish Don't Exist will stay with me forever.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Hate crime, Infertility, Mental illness, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Infertility, Infidelity, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Police brutality, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, and War

nquinlan's review against another edition

informative medium-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Rape

krillfilter's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

Expertly told through the author's lived experiences and narratives of the life of eugenicist David Star Jordan, at times funny, but mostly somber look at how to avoid falling into the pitfalls of hero worship, over-classification, certainty, hubris, and despair. Miller shows how grief and fear of our chaotic world has lead many of science's "heroes" into fascism, eugenics or other violent follies. Miller challenges us to embrace chaos, embrace our differences, take care of each other, and respect nature's mystery, lest we miss out on snorkling, love, and other skeleton keys to life. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide attempt

Moderate: Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Murder

asolis's review against another edition

2.5

A mix of memoir, biography, popular science, and a bit of self-help. From childhood, the author is unmoored by her father's nihilistic yet unshakably optimistic approach to life. Here she looks to the life story of David Starr Jordan for perspective. 
The content is primarily dedicated to Jordan's story, whom we come to find is a notably repellent human. The author does a good job of giving us a look under the hood at the story of someone who could be considered a scientific hero, and showing the ugliness of bigotry and white supremacist ideology underneath. But the framing presents this in the context of a memoir, even though Miller is stingy with her own story. That, despite its other strengths, makes the book feel unsatisfying. 

CW: self harm, substance abuse, sexual assault, state violence

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Moderate: Alcoholism, Genocide, Racism, Self harm, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, and Murder

ambystoma's review against another edition

informative inspiring reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder