Reviews tagging 'Colonisation'

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

94 reviews

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.

megboone3's review against another edition

dark informative sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

Moderate: Gun violence

Minor: Medical trauma

morethanmylupus's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

3.0

This has been on my TBR for years and I finally prioritized this read this before the movie came out. 

This was a hard read for a number of reasons: 
1/ The treatment of the Osage was atrocious and appalling 
2/ The book centers the white narrative as both the villains and the saviors and the 
3/ Most of the book lacks context and only fills in relevant elements of centuries of genocide, land grabs, and numerous other atrocities where the author thought they made sense

For me, too much context can be annoying, but in this case it only served to further center the white narrative and I found that frustrating. The story was still interesting and compelling to read, but I will be reading native voices on this topic to understand the complete picture. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Xenophobia, Murder, and Colonisation

goldstrawberry's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

This book tells the disturbing and convoluted tale of the Osage murders. It’s very informative but a little difficult for my short attention span. I finally switched it to an audiobook and finished it within a day. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Racism, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

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.

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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

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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

dev921's review against another edition

dark informative fast-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Toxic relationship, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

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

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

emily_koopmann's review

challenging emotional informative sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Death of parent, and Colonisation