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Reviews tagging 'Racism'
Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann
253 reviews
emmaemooney's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Racism, Murder, and Alcohol
emilyb84's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, and Colonisation
emilyanne_5's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
3.0
Wow. Can't believe this happened in real life. Such a terrible smear in americas history and it's rarely talked about. Did read like a textbook and could have ended 2-3 chapters before it actually ended but otherwise a very informative read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Murder
amaranthine_dragon's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Interesting book and good look at the case. Reads more like a true crime podcast, though the first 1/3 felt like narrative nonfiction.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury
rachelwilly's review against another edition
dark
informative
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism
Moderate: Murder
terrik_409's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
4.75
This book is moving, sad, infuriating, and so well written and researched.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism and Murder
briandbremer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
3.75
The first two thirds of this book are fascinating and horrifying. Grann's writing is propulsive, driving this true story forward. He does a good job of introducing the horror of what happened to the Osage (both with the murders and generally) and centering it while also introducing you to all of the players. When the FBI finally cracks the case, the members of the conspiracy aren't merely names you're meeting for the first time.
The book peters out in the last third, however, consisting mostly of Gran 's interviews with living descedents of the Osage. Those interviews are interesting but they just lack the electricity of the first parts of the book and aren't helped at all by Grann's insistence of inserting himself into the story (something he did in Lost City of Z as well).
Most egregious though is Grann's rather dubious claim of "solving" one of the unsolved murders. Basically, he reads an old FBI file that, paraphrasing, says "We think this guy did it because x but we can't prove it." Then Grann submits nothing but speculation that he FBI already had.
It's a frustrating ending to an important story that needed to be told.
The book peters out in the last third, however, consisting mostly of Gran 's interviews with living descedents of the Osage. Those interviews are interesting but they just lack the electricity of the first parts of the book and aren't helped at all by Grann's insistence of inserting himself into the story (something he did in Lost City of Z as well).
Most egregious though is Grann's rather dubious claim of "solving" one of the unsolved murders. Basically, he reads an old FBI file that, paraphrasing, says "We think this guy did it because x but we can't prove it." Then Grann submits nothing but speculation that he FBI already had.
It's a frustrating ending to an important story that needed to be told.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Racism, and Violence
crybabybea's review against another edition
Not for me. I think this was way too overwrought with useless facts and information that weren’t relevant to the story. I found the midsection about the creation of the FBI super boring and it felt like the author couldn’t decide what he actually wanted to write about. It’s written like a murder mystery but it’s clear who the culprit is and the motive behind the murders; maybe that’s the point but it made the whole setup of the book feel weird and unnecessary tonally.
I don’t know maybe I’m being a bit too crazy but I just didn’t like the way the story stopped focusing on the Osage and instead focused on the creation of the FBI and the white agents who were involved with the case, especially since the Osage people were such an important part of the case being solved, and especially especially knowing how the police/FBI have completely failed the indigenous communities and MMIW.
I’m also not a true crime fan in general and don’t really care to hear interviews of suspects and details about crime scenes or whodunnit stories, so I just didn’t like this.
I don’t know maybe I’m being a bit too crazy but I just didn’t like the way the story stopped focusing on the Osage and instead focused on the creation of the FBI and the white agents who were involved with the case, especially since the Osage people were such an important part of the case being solved, and especially especially knowing how the police/FBI have completely failed the indigenous communities and MMIW.
I’m also not a true crime fan in general and don’t really care to hear interviews of suspects and details about crime scenes or whodunnit stories, so I just didn’t like this.
The information about the Osage community, their wealth, and the way systemic racism affected them was properly enraging but I just don’t know if this author was the right person to tell that story.
The audiobook narrator talks like Zapp Brannigan which irritated me lol
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gun violence, Racism, Sexism, Blood, Medical content, and Murder
hannahbee_97's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
4.25
The narration on this was well done. I didn’t know anything about the Osage murders before reading this, it left me absolutely horrified and irate. It’s so important to remember the disgusting history of oppression that the US is built on and to take action against the ways that oppression continues to exist. The last third of the book hit me hardest.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation
Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Gaslighting
lysen5972's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racism, Violence, and Murder