Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

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

26 reviews

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad slow-paced

5.0

I saw the movie first and was really impressed - both from a point of awe (of the film's accomplishment) and also from the point of disbelief (of the evil portrayed by the film). I couldn't believe it. Turns out the film was true to every word in the book - at least the portions storytold. The last few chapters were left out, but that's because the movie was focused on Hale. Just like Kate Moore's The Woman They Could Not Silence made me hate weak men, this book makes me hate greedy men. It's like they were the ones the Bible was talking about when it said money was the root of all evil. I'm so deeply saddened for the Osage. I'm also grateful David Grann decided to investigate this story and tell it. I have no idea how long it took to get to the bottom of all these murders, but I sure hope he gets a crapload of money from the movie and lots of awards so that he can continue telling these important stories.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

atalea's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

---

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

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. 

---

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

kimmykelly's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

tiffyd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

apworden's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, and Colonisation

lorenag5's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

4.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

tiffanykw's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

billyjepma's review

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious slow-paced

5.0

A taut, dramatic, and excruciating dive into the countless horrible acts of violence inflicted by white Americans on the Osage Indian Nation. Grann's research is comprehensive, and his writing here is as sharp as anything I've encountered in my (admittedly meager) dips into non-fiction. His book occupies a fascinating place between hard-hitting investigative journalism—which is thrilling, by the way—and moving, often nauseating retellings of a history I barely knew a thing about. I love how grand the scale of the book is and how it centers the stories of so many people and gives them the respect, grace, and closure history denied them. The final section of the book messes with the propulsive pacing of the first two as they settle into the more traditional structure of a whodunnit, but it's in that section where the most meaningful bits of commentary are found. The FBI might claim to have ended the "Years of Terror," but the truth is far bloodier than that, and the closure the American government provided was a half-measure that dismissed countless unsolved murders into the dark annals of history.

Part of me wanted Grann to lean further into his political leanings, specifically regarding the FBI, as my outrage at the truths the book illuminates made me eager for some scathing rebuttal or judgment. But I'm glad Grann has more restraint than me, as his approach is far more effective and searing than any commentary could be, especially considering how damning the hard facts of the story are. And to his credit, the historical details and quotes he uses in the section documenting the FBI's development speak volumes to his opinion of the thing. Even Tom White, the "hero" of the FBI investigation that resulted in meaningful arrests, is a flawed person who, as Grann smartly and briefly acknowledges at one point, eventually settles into the same lifestyle as the people he's often quoted as detecting. 

I'm incredibly glad I read this (or, rather, listened to the excellent audiobook), and in an ideal world, I would love to assume that it becomes mandatory reading. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Stalking, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

greatexpectations77's review

challenging dark informative mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

4.75

Y'all WHAT. How did I never hear about this??? (Which is rhetorical because obviously the essentially genocide of the Osage would of course not be covered in my white history classes.) I'll definitely be revisiting this book because a lot of the sentiment toward Native people still exist today and we need to be much more aware of the total destruction that racism can cause. God. If this was a novel, I would have a hard time believing it. It's that intricate and horrific. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Child death, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Abandonment