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A review by robbiclaire
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
There is no denying the precision and beauty of Kukafka’s writing. Plenty of times throughout the book, I felt myself moved just by the words themselves - poetic, laced together, brilliant in many ways. The narratives belonging to Hazel, the twin sister of the condemned man, and Saffy, the detective, are particularly well crafted. Their characters are multifaceted and feel like real, knowable women.
That being said, I find the inclusion of the murderer’s perspective here to be unnecessary and actually antithetical to the implications that the book seems to leave us with. In fact, there are times where characters reflect on how little attention the victims of violence receive because of our cultural fascination with the perpetrators of violence. Isn’t this book doing exactly that? I don’t disagree with the need to present characters as more than just the sum of their actions but the man is presented as a sociopath - unfeeling, incapable of genuine connection - only to be offered as a figure worthy of our sympathy. On that same note, I think there is too clear a line drawn between the actions of his mother, whose POV is also included, and the kind of man he turned out to be. That felt unfair and also not an accurate depiction of how violence evolves.
The strength of this book is in the stories of the women. Those are the only ones we needed. A full four stars for the quality of the writing; three stars for the troubling inclusion of a violent man’s POV. Let’s leave it at 3.5.
That being said, I find the inclusion of the murderer’s perspective here to be unnecessary and actually antithetical to the implications that the book seems to leave us with. In fact, there are times where characters reflect on how little attention the victims of violence receive because of our cultural fascination with the perpetrators of violence. Isn’t this book doing exactly that? I don’t disagree with the need to present characters as more than just the sum of their actions but the man is presented as a sociopath - unfeeling, incapable of genuine connection - only to be offered as a figure worthy of our sympathy. On that same note, I think there is too clear a line drawn between the actions of his mother, whose POV is also included, and the kind of man he turned out to be. That felt unfair and also not an accurate depiction of how violence evolves.
The strength of this book is in the stories of the women. Those are the only ones we needed. A full four stars for the quality of the writing; three stars for the troubling inclusion of a violent man’s POV. Let’s leave it at 3.5.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Child abuse, Animal cruelty, Blood, Murder, and Domestic abuse