Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

11 reviews

vanessa_black_03's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book will make you think and think. It should be read by everybody who has ever thought about the person behind the unmistakable cloud of death by a killer. 
Shows us how circumstances lend to our making but justifying anything you do with it and not acknoledging a problem within you is all that makes the difference

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Addiction, Alcohol, Death, Medical trauma, Abandonment, Child abuse, Gore, Suicide, Medical content, Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Animal death, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Blood and Stalking

Minor: Car accident

imogenlj's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

When I finished this I felt like I'd been punched in my diaphragm- it's devastating, righteous and empathetic, yet hopeful. I felt tense the entire time I was reading. I want to push this into the hands of anyone fascinated with True Crime and say 'Look! It's not about the killers!' It doesn't dwell too much on anything but this is a dark book so check trigger warnings if you're keen to avoid something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Physical abuse, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Alcoholism, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Grief, Murder, Child death, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Police brutality, Suicidal thoughts, Sexism, Self harm, Drug abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, Racism, and Sexual assault

haileyeh's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Death, Murder, Stalking, Violence, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Animal cruelty, Medical trauma, and Grief

Moderate: Medical content, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Car accident, Child death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, and Sexual content

Minor: Gore, Adult/minor relationship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Vomit, Alcoholism, Islamophobia, and Alcohol

wholesomeghost's review

dark sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Animal death, Violence, Murder, Sexism, and Stalking

Moderate: Alcoholism, Car accident, Addiction, Confinement, Death, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Injury/Injury detail, Cancer, and Emotional abuse

desiderium_incarnate's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

There are millions of men out there who want to hurt women - people seem to think that Ansel Packer is extraordinary, because he actually did. 

This book was amazing! Yes it's incredibly dark and it hurts but it is so skillfully written and immersive and makes so much sense, I am pretty much in awe. The cover also makes so much sense when you read it and that's really cool. I didn't give it 5 stars because of a principle I have, if animals get unnecessarily hurt or die in a story, it isn't 5 stars,but yeah otherwise I fully recommend it. It really gives you a new perspective on the obsession people have with murderers or serial killers specifically - is the murderer really the most important thing about that? Is it most interesting, what made them like this? How their psyche works? What would be if they wouldn't have made those decisions? How they impacted the people around them and vice versa? 
The book is not pro death penalty or police it shows flaws in the system, it also isn't against reporting on serial killers, it is just in some ways a comfort, hope, warning and another perspective from death row as well as from impacted outsiders left behind and I think that is all it should be. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Blood, Body horror, Cancer, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Alcohol, Addiction, Child abuse, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Car accident, Confinement, Eating disorder, Sexual content, Violence, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Grief, Murder, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Stalking, Suicide attempt, and Toxic relationship

toofondofbooks_'s review

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-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

This book was an absolute stunner. The writing was beautiful and the structure of the storytelling was just *so* the right way to do it that I felt spoiled with every page. Every character felt extremely real to me both in good and bad ways. This book asked so many questions and challenged me with every new piece of information. I loved the focus on the women affected by the main character's actions in this story as opposed to just the pov of the perpetrator and the themes that surrounded them. This was the most solid read that I've read in a long time. Absolutely brilliant.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Sexism, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Blood, Confinement, Misogyny, Sexual content, Body horror, Car accident, Death, Grief, Murder, Racism, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Cursing, Animal cruelty, Domestic abuse, Medical content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, and Stalking

augustinedreams's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gore, Physical abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Abandonment, Addiction, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Animal death, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, Violence, and Child abuse

Moderate: Car accident, Stalking, Sexual content, and Bullying

mooshake's review against another edition

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

4.0

saffy's chapters felt a bit bloated in comparison to everyone else's but other than that...... man..... much to think (and cry) about

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual content, Murder, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Animal death, Child abuse, Misogyny, Stalking, and Grief

Moderate: Racism, Death of parent, and Police brutality

Minor: Car accident

minxtte's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Death, Grief, Animal death, Domestic abuse, and Confinement

Moderate: Stalking, Alcohol, Sexism, Drug use, Child abuse, Child death, Racism, Misogyny, Pregnancy, Sexual content, Alcoholism, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, and Drug abuse

Minor: Car accident, Kidnapping, Medical content, and Homophobia

classicpseudonym's review

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

this was a very meaningful read as it gave me a new perspective on murder and crime. even though ansel is the bad guy here, the perspectives and narration of the other characters that were somehow intertwined within his life added so much to this book. thrillers about murders have been done many times before, but the mind of a serial killer isn't often covered, and the lives of a criminal and the lives of the people around them aren't ever the main focus (i feel like books tend to focus too much on the criminal and his crime, almost like a newspaper headline). kukafka seamlessly incorporates these characters' thoughts into the plot, and the whole book has an eerie, suspenseful feel to it, which kept me engaged, especially nearing the end of the book. lastly, book also grapples with the question of evil vs. good and what someone truly deserves for what they did or did not do. i appreciate how this topic recurred through ansel's thoughts, saffy's investigative work as a policewoman, blue acknowledging the other sides of ansel besides the evil within him, and many more examples. i'll probably be thinking about how some things are unfair but others aren't and how and where to draw the line now. and also how the system is fucked but i have no idea how to fix it so maybe i'll just keep my mouth shut.

i will say that i got a bit bored around the middle of the book, and this book didn't make me want to keep reading all the way through. it took me quite a bit to finish reading because of this. i felt like i was looking for more during the action packed parts of the book, but it never quite got there. things seemed to move slowly, calmly almost, which interesting considering the topic and plot of this book. at times, i thought this haziness was done very well (ex. in hazel and blue's perspectives), but other times, it made the book drag on for too long.

anyway, this was a good read overall, and i recommend it if you're interested in criminal law or the systems in general. or if you like reading unique perspectives like i do.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Violence, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Alcohol, Alcoholism, Drug use, and Toxic relationship

Minor: Cursing, Car accident, and Death of parent