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A review by sauvageloup
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
challenging
dark
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
A very well executed (lol) book but somehow missed the mark slightly for me.
pros:
- it was gripping, especially as it got going more in the second half
- the women were complex and i liked them and how they were written, especially Saffy
- it did all tie together cleverly, with Blue and Saffy coming together and all of it folding back onto itself into the past.
- Ansel was presented as complex too, with his possible capacity for love shown with Blue.
- the writing was technically very good and there were some lovely turns of phrase and descriptions.
cons:
- I understood what Kukafka was trying to achieve (reviewer on book said it flipped the power from serial killer back to victim), but I didn't feel it quite got it, though it made good pushes towards it. Ansel doesn't get to spread his nonsense Theory, or escape, or get to control his death, but he also gets large swathes of the book dedicated to his thoughts and I felt this went against what she was trying to do. Some chapters, absolutely, but not the huge chunk of book he was given. Rather, I would have liked to learn more about Izzy, or the other Girls, who we got one speculative paragraph about at the end.
- I also found the imaginations a bit annoying, I guess it was meant to be accepted as real, being a bit meta inside the book, but it annoyed me that all these assumptions were made about the girls' future would have been lives that could have been totally wrong.
- I also personally didn't relate to the almost feeling of pressure that she stresses about mothering and babies, and the compulsion they cast on women. she doesn't have Saffy not feel it, but theres a lot of 'women feel a divine connection when they have a baby' which didn't work for me at all, women are more than that.
- also many of the girls imagined lives included high flying jobs, that ansel robbed them of I guess, but everyone has value without some amazing glass breaking job.
- ALSO I felt the attempts at mentions of politics (which I agreed with!) were v heavy handed, with racism in the police discussed by Saffy and the public's obsession with serial killers, and misogyny in general. completely agreed, but felt like it was shoved in the readers face a bit, without trusting them to understand at all.
so I don't know, I enjoyed particular chunks a lot, and found other bits quite frustrating, but I have given it 4, bc it was so compulsive reading and well written. just didn't connect with me emotionally at all rly.
pros:
- it was gripping, especially as it got going more in the second half
- the women were complex and i liked them and how they were written, especially Saffy
- it did all tie together cleverly, with Blue and Saffy coming together and all of it folding back onto itself into the past.
- Ansel was presented as complex too, with his possible capacity for love shown with Blue.
- the writing was technically very good and there were some lovely turns of phrase and descriptions.
cons:
- I understood what Kukafka was trying to achieve (reviewer on book said it flipped the power from serial killer back to victim), but I didn't feel it quite got it, though it made good pushes towards it. Ansel doesn't get to spread his nonsense Theory, or escape, or get to control his death, but he also gets large swathes of the book dedicated to his thoughts and I felt this went against what she was trying to do. Some chapters, absolutely, but not the huge chunk of book he was given. Rather, I would have liked to learn more about Izzy, or the other Girls, who we got one speculative paragraph about at the end.
- I also found the imaginations a bit annoying, I guess it was meant to be accepted as real, being a bit meta inside the book, but it annoyed me that all these assumptions were made about the girls' future would have been lives that could have been totally wrong.
- I also personally didn't relate to the almost feeling of pressure that she stresses about mothering and babies, and the compulsion they cast on women. she doesn't have Saffy not feel it, but theres a lot of 'women feel a divine connection when they have a baby' which didn't work for me at all, women are more than that.
- also many of the girls imagined lives included high flying jobs, that ansel robbed them of I guess, but everyone has value without some amazing glass breaking job.
- ALSO I felt the attempts at mentions of politics (which I agreed with!) were v heavy handed, with racism in the police discussed by Saffy and the public's obsession with serial killers, and misogyny in general. completely agreed, but felt like it was shoved in the readers face a bit, without trusting them to understand at all.
so I don't know, I enjoyed particular chunks a lot, and found other bits quite frustrating, but I have given it 4, bc it was so compulsive reading and well written. just didn't connect with me emotionally at all rly.