Reviews with content warning for Bullying - Notes on an Execution

Reviews tagging 'Bullying'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

5 reviews

scifi_rat's review against another edition

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dark reflective medium-paced

Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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caughtbetweenpages's review

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dark emotional reflective 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

4.0

I struggle a little to classify this book in terms of genre. I expected, based on the beginning and the synopsis, something of a literary fiction piece focused primarily on the internality of a serial killer and his victims (like a less pedophilic Lolita, if that makes sense?), As the story went on, though, it felt almost more like a retrospective psychological thriller or a crime drama... and instead of the genre switch throwing me off, I enjoyed it immensely. Though the story wasn't completely circular (since the narrator Ansel is both unreliable and also quite persuasive, I was convinced for a while that he

would actually manage to pull off the escape attempt and get the sympathetic guard killed or hurt in the process

) and thus the "ending" wasn't a certainty, the narrative arc still sort of took the shape of "how did he get here?" in a way I couldn't look away from.

Kukafka did a great job, for me, of explaining without justifying Ansel's behavior and building sympathy for the abused boy he was and the person he could have become if he'd made better choices, if he'd had more opportunity early in his life to be guided toward them. At no point was I on his side, perhaps until the end where his execution is happening and he is less the murderer he was and more just a soul ending and all the wasted potential of a life turns to nothing. His manifesto will come to naught, the hurt he has done to the families of his victims will stay (but not for his sake, for theirs), and all of the egomania and entitlement and evil in his heart just stops. This one stuck with me after I finished the book and I think it will continue to do so.

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augustinedreams's review

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challenging 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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james1star's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

This book was phenomenal. I would totally recommend this, like honestly wow. So mentally stimulating, encapsulating, gripping and I just could not put it down - although at the same time I didn’t want it to end and revel in the characters and messages and plot, will definitely be giving this a reread to get more out of it.

The plot: Ansel Packer wakes up on the day he is due to be executed and we follow him (from a 2nd person POV = ‘you’) during this day, his thoughts, plans and recollections from his life. Interspersed between these are 3rd person POVs from three women who’s lives were briefly but fundamentally touched by Ansel; his mother Lavender, a fellow child in the same orphanage who later turns out the be the detective who puts him away for serial murders Saffron (Saffy), and the twin sister of his wife Hazel. We get a glimpse into each of their lives as the narrative unfolds from Ansel’s birth to his death, touching on many things and messages.

The pacing is exceptional. The formatting of the chapters and how the plot unfolds and is pieced together is just wow…Perfection! We get enough detail to see the complexity of each character (and peripheral ones too) with just the right amount of intrigue. Whilst you’re following on and reading each perspective, the lives of these other characters are still in the back of your mind, sometimes being touched on in that specific chapter but normally not so. And then when we get back to them, it just all fits so well together literally amazing. You’re not bored at any point, the detail is just the right amount.

I’m not a thriller reader… like at all. The last I read was ‘Paper Ghosts’ and I despised it so I was a bit apprehensive going into this at the start. By oh my lord was I hooked. Right from the start and as it went along, I got more and more invested - truly the epitome of a page turner. The lives of these characters, plot twists (kinda) and the whole atmosphere is truly encapsulating. At many points it felt like I had a fist in my throat, on the verge of tears and goosebumps all over my body. And the twists and revelations are literally jaw dropping at times. The writing is also beautiful and lyrical at points too, not something you’d expect in a book that discusses the themes it does. Most of the violence I guess happens off the page as well, so it’s not too graphic (I’d say these TWs are moderately mentioned: domestic abuse, violence, death, animal death, murder, sex content, mental illness, and grief) which I appreciated. The messages and discussions about this notion of morality, the big ‘what-ifs’ in life, justice, redemption and the death penalty is just agh great. The nuance and multiple perspectives and arguments is very varied, you really are made to think, examine your own philosophies and thoughts and come up with conclusions on your own. Kukafka doesn’t spell it out or spoon feed what she wants you to think or get out of this book, the reader does the investigating, coming to their own conclusions about the right/wrong things. The MC Ansel is not written in an explicitly sympathetic way which I love, further adding nuance and speculation.

Ansel’s Theory at times was a bit over mentioned but did sound very interesting, touching on the notion of choices and memories impacting who we are - which is a mix of good and evil. “Your Theory is more an exploration of the most inherent human truth. No one is all bad. No one is all good. We live as equals in the murky gray between.” “Memory as the thing that makes us individual, as the thing that separates my human consciousness from yours. I have this idea. This theory; I guess. There is no such thing as good or evil. Instead, we have memory and choice, and we all live at various points on the spectrum between. We are created by what has happened to us, combined with who we choose to be.”

My one reservation with this book: the sex scenes were, in my opinion, unnecessary. Thankfully there was only a few but I would say it cheapened these parts. However, they didn’t drag on and were left aside as the book went on. Certainly not enough to negate the full 5 stars this book deserves.

Some great quotes that stood out to me:

“… the intoxicating unknown that sits always between two people.”

“The elephant has a psychopath smile, alive in one moment, just an impression in the next.” - damp patch on cell ceiling

“It was irresistible: the almost.”

“She cried for the things she had wanted, which she couldn't even picture anymore. It was like she'd held her own desire too long in the palm of her hand and it was now just an object, devoid of meaning, useless and taking up space.”

“I wonder about choices. How we resent them, and how we regret them even as we watch them grow.”

“Thought is the purest thing you can leave behind.”

“Love was a thing that could move you and change you, Saffy knew, a mysterious force that made you different and better and warmer and whole.”

“Joy is a cousin of love, you read once. If you cannot feel love, there is at least this weaker relative, tantalizing in memory.”

“Grief was a hole. A portal to nothing… It was a shock of blinding sun. A burst of remembering: sandals on pavement, a sleepy back seat, nails painted on the bathroom floor. Grief was a loneliness that felt like a planet.”

“It was an ambitious concept, justice. The idea that your lot in life could be based on your own choices.”

“The past was a thing you could open like a box, gaze down on with starry eyes. But it was too dangerous to step inside.”

“The future was a mystery, unknowable.”

“… the good parts of the story are nowhere near the end.”

“It would be a tragedy… if we were defined only by the things we left behind.”

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alexisgarcia's review

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challenging dark emotional reflective tense 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

i absolutely loved this. it was so introspective, i loved how the author did not lead you to believe one way or another. they simply told a story, and you can take it as you want. i loved the multiple POV’s and how they all related to the death row inmate. the ending was so beautiful.

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