Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

327 reviews

goodyeargoodbooks's review

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence

Moderate: Murder

lunalorenne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

While the prose ran a bit too purple at times making certain passages sound pretentious in their reach to sound intelligent and profound, this book gave me chills. I actually appreciated having Ansel’s POV and I thought putting it in second person was an interesting creative choice. I liked the push and pull his story had on my heart where I hurt for the child and burned with rage for the man he turned into while understanding that society and the system failed him and thus failed those women. I appreciated how the women’s voices were the focus of the story and that it explored the complicated and messy feelings that they grappled with throughout their lives. The book truly explores the ways that violent men’s actions ripple out into a collective female trauma that is both unique to each woman and universal in its impact. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Toxic relationship, Animal death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Sexual assault, Pregnancy, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Physical abuse

Minor: Blood, Addiction, and Alcoholism

morganann's review against another edition

emotional hopeful mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• 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

Incredibly good

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, and Murder

Moderate: Addiction

falibat's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Violence

Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Cancer, and Alcoholism

justinareads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Confinement, Death, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, and Violence

Moderate: Car accident and Abandonment

thecheeseowl's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.75

This book held up a mirror to reality. If Ancel Packer was on 2020 I don't think anyone would bat an eye. The cruelty of the world is on full display.

This story similar to Ancel himself was truly fascinated with morality and what serial kills say about humanity as a whole along with what does love truly look like and how can something like love be corrupted. 

There have been people who argue that the book is too sympathetic to Ancel. I disagree throughout the whole book until I got to the end where now I understand what they were saying. But I would still argue that the book isn't arguing that Ancel is a good person it is just arguing that he is a person. That there was something there that could have been but wasn't because of what he did. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Abandonment, Child abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Animal death and Racism

Minor: Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction

jaackattack's review against another edition

It just got boring and I lost interest. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death and Murder

lily_sutton's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Animal cruelty

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Child abuse, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Suicide

jesliwen's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad

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

5.0

i never cry at books but this one got me

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Murder, and Death

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, and Animal cruelty

Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, and Alcoholism

zoebusenberg's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.75

An attempt to critique the prevalence of serial killer fanaticism in the cultural zeitgeist - sometimes the critique is searing, sometimes it is eclipsed by delving too far deep into Ansel’s mind. Particularly, I found the ending reflections from Ansel’s POV to undermine this end, but I found the following ‘Elsewhere’ chapter super poignant and compelling. Mixed results but I truly enjoyed reading the piece, prose was gorgeous!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Toxic relationship, and Violence