Reviews tagging 'Animal cruelty'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

202 reviews

haileymundell's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Animal death, Murder, and Animal cruelty

maello's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Notes on an Execution is an excellently written book that travels through multiple POVs. It uses 2nd person 'you' pronouns for the killer which kind of draws you into his mind. It is uncomfortable, and you do not want to be there. You may find yourself trying to make sense of it, to ask why, to indulge in this attempt to humanize him. You may find yourself repulsed by it when you realize it. Along with his POV, there's also the POVs of the women related to him, or the ones he's killed. The emotions in this book are brilliantly written, some of my favorite quotes are listed in the spoiler below.

The book lets you come to your own conclusion about what makes a person good or bad, about whether people who do bad things can be saved. It looks our criminal justice system and the weird cultural obsession with serial killers right in the face, and it makes you really think if it's really worth trying to look into these people. You are constantly reminded that these people he killed were not just names. They were people, with memories, families, things that they loved, things they would be doing if they were alive. Their impact, the lives they may save, the children they could've had. These things that made them human are taken away, their prospects removed. They become names in a paper, etchings engraved in stone. And the serial killer becomes a renowned name. He gets to be remembered, for all the cruel things that he has done. He gets to feel important.


This is a beautiful book, and combines wonderful prose, interesting and suspenseful plot, as well as a stance on society. Everyone is human, everyone has these ugly emotions, and this book delves deep into examining people, and this definitely is a book that will stay with me for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Child abuse

Some of my favorite quotes:

- "His smile melted instantaneously off his face the second he did not need it--he held Jenny with a rigid back and a shallow happiness, impermanent as wet paint." - “…and she thought how sad it was that a single bad thing could turn you into a story, a matter to be whispered about. Tragedy was undiscerning and totally unfair.” - "She knew violence, from the lifetime she had spent chasing it—she knew how it lingered, how it stained. Violence always left a fingerprint."

agnela's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Stalking, Medical content, Violence, Death, Toxic relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Murder, Sexual content, Alcohol, Addiction, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Abandonment, Blood, and Grief

courtney_scott1025's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

I loved this book. I tried to listen to the audiobook and it just wasn't for me. I gave it a second chance after two people on tiktok said it was their best read of 2023. I read this quick and was immersed in the storytelling. I loved how the three narrators converged. I loved that the three female narrators did not have direct connection with Ansel, but had known him briefly in the past in some way. The reason I did not give this five starts is because the fleeting way in which the author touches serious subjects within the american prison industrial complex and policing in america. I don't think she should get props for simply just mentioning these issues... For example, Saff mentions this dilemma with a majority of the prison population being black and brown men. Ansel mentions that it is unfair that it is mostly black and brown men on death row with him. But that is as far as it goes. I do not think it should be praised at some great look at the prison industrial complex in America because it just isn't. I think it is better to be seen as the way in which true crime culture forgets those that live with the impact of these celebrated monsters choices. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Domestic abuse, Vomit, Toxic relationship, Physical abuse, Grief, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, and Abandonment

Moderate: Suicide, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Stalking

zoebill96's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, Child death, Domestic abuse, Death, Animal death, Confinement, and Sexual content

wholesomeghost's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Violence, Murder, Sexism, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Addiction, Confinement, Death, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, and Emotional abuse

travelswithcharlie's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? No

1.5

While the author proclaims the intention of this book is to give voice to the victims and to dissect the glorification of serial killers (and many reviewers and fans will agree), the book takes a nose dive and does the exact opposite of what the author intended. For one thing, Ansel is a fictionalized version of Ted Bundy but with less victims.

He's attractive enough that one of his victim's family members masturbates to the thought of him.

Because only one victim is really touched upon and the others are just random, forgettable girls, there is no voice to give to them. We just get made up fantasies (only a couple of pages in length) at the end of the book about what their lives could have been like. And the use of the second person point of view for Ansel did not work. Instead, he was humanized and from my understanding,

magically felt love in the last few seconds of his life and therefore, we should sympathize and be upset that he is being executed.

The author also interjects her own commentary on the death penalty. While I am personally against the death penalty, this commentary was odd given the context. There are many other issues I had with the book, but I will leave it at this. 

Trigger warning: There is animal cruelty and animal death.

The horrific descriptions of what he did to animals was more of a focus than anything he did to his victims.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Domestic abuse

cajun_reader's review against another edition

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This book is not what one would expect from the title. The execution of Ansel Parker, serial killer, does not consume the entire storyline. While it is always in the back of the reader's mind as the main anticipated event, it is not the focus of the majority of the chapters. Instead, the story of Ansel's life and crimes is revealed to us through the narratives of women who have played some role in his life or been impacted by his actions. In this manner, the book is really about people and their complicated emotions and motivations more than it is a description of an isolated execution day.

The story is told through four distinct perspectives. Throughout the book, we see Ansel Parker living his last hours before the execution, desperately hoping for escape and understanding. Through the perspective of his mother, Lavender, we learn about Ansel's childhood and abandonment. His cruelty and darkness are revealed through the narratives of Saffy, a fellow foster care child and homicide detective, and Hazel, sister of Ansel's murdered wife. Through these varied perspectives, we get a fuller picture of Ansel and his circumstances.

This book's main appeal is in the stories told be the female voices. Each woman's story adds depth to the understanding of Ansel and provokes the reader to contemplate complex topics such as nature versus nurture and the impact of the death penalty. The ideas presented lingered in my mind after finishing the book, which is a sign of successful book.

Overall, I believe this book to be well-written and highly thought-provoking. The female characters stand out and give the story its depth. I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy literary fiction that explores dark topics. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty

Moderate: Murder

queenbookbuff's review against another edition

dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

This book is a study on why humans do what the do and the impossibility of truly understanding why people do what they do. How sometimes the  person who commits horror doesn’t even know why the did it.
I only felt sadness reading this book.  This book gives a bleak look at why the death penalty is seen as futile. In the end I didn’t have pity for Ansel. I didn’t find any redemption in his end and I’m not sure his victims did  either. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Murder, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism

butle2em's review against another edition

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Animal cruelty, Murder, Violence, Death, Domestic abuse, Confinement, Abandonment, Animal death, Gore, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Vomit