A review by maello
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

dark emotional reflective sad tense 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

Notes on an Execution is an excellently written book that travels through multiple POVs. It uses 2nd person 'you' pronouns for the killer which kind of draws you into his mind. It is uncomfortable, and you do not want to be there. You may find yourself trying to make sense of it, to ask why, to indulge in this attempt to humanize him. You may find yourself repulsed by it when you realize it. Along with his POV, there's also the POVs of the women related to him, or the ones he's killed. The emotions in this book are brilliantly written, some of my favorite quotes are listed in the spoiler below.

The book lets you come to your own conclusion about what makes a person good or bad, about whether people who do bad things can be saved. It looks our criminal justice system and the weird cultural obsession with serial killers right in the face, and it makes you really think if it's really worth trying to look into these people. You are constantly reminded that these people he killed were not just names. They were people, with memories, families, things that they loved, things they would be doing if they were alive. Their impact, the lives they may save, the children they could've had. These things that made them human are taken away, their prospects removed. They become names in a paper, etchings engraved in stone. And the serial killer becomes a renowned name. He gets to be remembered, for all the cruel things that he has done. He gets to feel important.


This is a beautiful book, and combines wonderful prose, interesting and suspenseful plot, as well as a stance on society. Everyone is human, everyone has these ugly emotions, and this book delves deep into examining people, and this definitely is a book that will stay with me for a while. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Child death

Moderate: Animal cruelty and Child abuse

Some of my favorite quotes:

- "His smile melted instantaneously off his face the second he did not need it--he held Jenny with a rigid back and a shallow happiness, impermanent as wet paint." - “…and she thought how sad it was that a single bad thing could turn you into a story, a matter to be whispered about. Tragedy was undiscerning and totally unfair.” - "She knew violence, from the lifetime she had spent chasing it—she knew how it lingered, how it stained. Violence always left a fingerprint."