Reviews tagging 'Child death'

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

54 reviews

dontwritedown's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense fast-paced

5.0

I wished I had read this before I saw the film opening weekend.

Being Native and being in Indigenous spaces, this case was familiar to me, though I didn't know the full story.

While I, like many others, would have liked an Osage to tell this story, I do not have an much of a problem with Grann telling the stories. Because Grann is a journalist and stuck to the facts and acknowledged not only in the acknowledgments who he was getting these stories from throughout the book. It is refreshing to hear someone not from our community accurately portray the prejudices Natives face in the court system. He asked "would any white man at the time convict another white man for killing an Indian?" 

I highly recommend, especially if you are Indigenous and had to walk out of the movie due to the gore.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

vixenreader's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

A non-fiction book that moves with the urgency of a murder-mystery, this account of a forgotten injustice will boil your blood, especially since the crimes were saturated with racism against the Osage First Nations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Infidelity, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Be warned that there is a graphic bombing episode, medical content involving diabetes, covering up crime scenes, frequent poisoning, financial abuse, policies preventing First Nations from accessing their accounts, court scenes, and mention of “burning human flesh” from an electric chair.

aparizo704's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Gun violence, Racism, and Grief

Minor: Child death, Death of parent, and Alcohol

alvaradoms's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

3.5

This book was so informative. I had no idea that any of this happened and it was fascinating to learn. It is so sad what had happened. The evil that is present in men is truly frightening. The style of the writing this book was easy to comprehend, and was engaging. However, in between the captivating chapters, there were chapters that seemed to be unrelated to the story, and seemed to just fill pages. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, and Murder

Moderate: Child death

atalea's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death and Physical abuse

lindseylosers's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Gore, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Car accident, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Animal death

thoseoldcrows23's review

dark informative sad tense medium-paced

5.0

This case is completely insane and so so heartbreaking. I think non fiction like this is always at risk of being super dry and boring, but Grann tells the story beautifully. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Medical content, and Death of parent

Minor: Domestic abuse, Drug use, Infidelity, Police brutality, Kidnapping, and Pregnancy

randisworld's review

dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.0

This is an incredible story about how greed of white immigrants caused the deaths of so many Osage people. It’s a disgusting honestly but a very necessary read. There is so much hidden in American history and I am thankful that this story came to light. My only criticism was in the structure. The 2nd section, to me, could have just been a separate book. Trying to integrate the founding of the FBI into this didn’t work for me. So I gave it 4 stars. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Hate crime, Toxic relationship, and Classism

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Suicide, Violence, Murder, and Alcohol

The behavior of these men is truly disgusting. I was happy to see that Wikipedia has them characterized as serial killers. That’s exactly what it was.

xenomorph's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Racial slurs, Death of parent, and Colonisation

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

David Grann is one of our greatest nonfiction authors alive. Every topic he chooses is brought to life no matter how many years have passed since the events took place. His writing is smooth and unobtrusive, describing the past in a matter-of-fact, approachable way. If history books had been like this in high school, we’d all have gone on to be scholars. 

Killers of the Flower Moon is an especially difficult book to read, not because of the writing but because the subject is so painful. Grann documents how literally hundreds of Osage were murdered for riches in the early 20th C. As American Indians, their lives were worth less than that of dogs. An entire corrupt and venal society was arrayed against them. Well aware they were systematically being murdered, they had no recourse. The authorities, both political and legal, were complicit in the murders. No one would help save them from eradication. 

This is an excellent telling of a dark and shameful time in our history. If only this much attention had been paid a hundred years ago some of the Osage who were murdered might have lived. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism