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Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Gore, Murder
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Excrement, Vomit, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Abortion, Suicide attempt, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Abandonment
This was every bit as phenomenal the second time around. A top tier read.
Original review (July 2022):
Rating: 5/5 stars
Told in alternating POVs, Notes on an Execution is the story of Ansel Packer, a convicted killer on death row, and of the women whose lives he impacted, both directly and indirectly.
I don’t say this often, but this novel is a work of art. In the beginning, I found it to be a bit of a slow read, but I was pretty quickly drawn in by the beautiful writing and masterful way the plot unfolded. Towards the end there were so many lines that were absolutely heartbreaking and brutal to read, and I loved the themes of justice, memory, morality, and perspective that were woven throughout an already captivating narrative. This is the kind of book I’d love to analyze formally or teach as part of a class, because there are so many small but meaningful aspects that deserve thoughtful attention.
As a full disclaimer, I don’t know that this book will be for everyone—it is definitely literary fiction, which simply doesn’t land with every reader (I have to be in the right headspace for it, personally), and it is definitely an extremely difficult set of topics to read about. But personally, I’m so glad I read it, and will definitely be revisiting it again in the future.
Recommended if you like: literary-fiction-meets-murder-books; reflections on the meaning of justice; multiple interwoven POVs and timelines.
CW: Death/murder; domestic violence; abandonment; child abuse/neglect; animal death/cruelty; drug use/abuse.
Graphic: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Violence, Death of parent, Murder
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Murder, Gaslighting
The story is like an open wound, vulnerable, festering. In an age where true crime is ‘hot and happening’, for some maybe even a hobby, this feels like a fresh breath of air. Usually in these narratives the focus is with the perpetrator, The Murderer. Kukafka respectfully puts The Girls in the spotlight. How their lives, their futures, their hopes and dreams are cruelly hacked off due to only one person. A book with lots of intricacies, masterfully woven together in this tapestry of a story.
Is there an inherent good and evil? What is the duality, the greyscale of this eternal philosophical question? Without evil no good, without good no evil. What about everything in between? Why this obsession, glorification, hunger for evil, the darkest of humanity?
As we have long known it’s not a black and white story, without nuance no mankind. The pain people keep inflicting on one another keeps spreading, like a fungus. Everyone blames a perpetrator, everyone wants to be the victim, including perpetrators. Sometimes they are both. But that doesn’t take away from the fact that they still are perpetrators.
“It does not matter why he killed those girls, or Jenny. Hazel believes that a person can be evil, and nothing more. There are millions of men out there who want to hurt women- people seem to think that Ansel Packer is extraordinary, because he actually did.”
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Violence, Murder
As an avid consumer of true crime media, I am very aware of how often the stories are focussed on the criminals but this book shows the compassion that should be given to victims and I think it’s brilliant.
Very well written, beautiful turns of phrase, and easy to follow even though the timelines and perspectives changed a lot.
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse
Moderate: Murder
Minor: Violence
Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Grief, Murder, Abandonment, Sexual harassment
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death
Graphic: Domestic abuse
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Rape, Murder
Minor: Suicidal thoughts