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A review by becandbooks
When She Was Bad: How and Why Women Get Away with Murder by Patricia Pearson
Did not finish book.
DNF'd @ 40%
Trigger warnings:
As someone with an avid interest in true crime, I jumped on the chance to check out this popular republished work from Pearson. Women in crime is a topic that is often complex and filled with various nuances. However, the lack of recognizing this complexity was one of the key reasons why I was incredibly disappointed with this non-fictional work.
Pearson covers many topics throughout this book, from spousal violence, 'angels of death' and infanticide, providing stimulating questions and pondering about the truth behind such actions. However, in every single conversation it felt like Pearson was attempting to force something incredibly difficult and complex into a black and white idea. And honestly, it was incredibly uncomfortable to listen to.
Perhaps I am simply too conditioned by the 'gender bias of violence' that Pearson discusses in the book, but the narrative feels like it is very much missing some nuance and understanding about the issues discussed.
At times, the writing feels simply accusatory and playing devil's advocate just for the sake of it, rather than offering the reader with a critical exploration into the subject.
Additionally, the topic of mental health is treated incredibly poorly - in particular the chapter dealing with infanticide. While the author is discussing people who have committed horrific crimes, she is incredibly dismissive of people dealing with postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, BPD and chronic depression to name a few. She insinuates that these disorders can be a key factor in violence in women in a way that is incredibly stigmatizing. The discussion results in some very invalidating opinions which truly put me off the rest of the book.
Trigger warnings:
Spoiler
child/infant murder, poisoning, medical content, religious bigotry, conversion therapy (mentioned), substance use/abuse, addiction, suicide (mentioned), overdose, homomisia, adulteryAs someone with an avid interest in true crime, I jumped on the chance to check out this popular republished work from Pearson. Women in crime is a topic that is often complex and filled with various nuances. However, the lack of recognizing this complexity was one of the key reasons why I was incredibly disappointed with this non-fictional work.
Pearson covers many topics throughout this book, from spousal violence, 'angels of death' and infanticide, providing stimulating questions and pondering about the truth behind such actions. However, in every single conversation it felt like Pearson was attempting to force something incredibly difficult and complex into a black and white idea. And honestly, it was incredibly uncomfortable to listen to.
Perhaps I am simply too conditioned by the 'gender bias of violence' that Pearson discusses in the book, but the narrative feels like it is very much missing some nuance and understanding about the issues discussed.
At times, the writing feels simply accusatory and playing devil's advocate just for the sake of it, rather than offering the reader with a critical exploration into the subject.
Additionally, the topic of mental health is treated incredibly poorly - in particular the chapter dealing with infanticide. While the author is discussing people who have committed horrific crimes, she is incredibly dismissive of people dealing with postpartum depression, postpartum psychosis, BPD and chronic depression to name a few. She insinuates that these disorders can be a key factor in violence in women in a way that is incredibly stigmatizing. The discussion results in some very invalidating opinions which truly put me off the rest of the book.
Note: Review copy (audio) received via Libro.FM. This does not impact opinions within this review.
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Happy reading! ❤