nedjemet 's review for:

The Feather Thief: Beauty, Obsession, and the Natural History Heist of the Century by Kirk Wallace Johnson
5.0
This story was equal parts fascinating, horrifying, and depressing. I absolutely recommend it, but will warn that there are a lot of upsetting elements to the story so make sure that you're in a good headspace before diving in. I'll give two trigger warnings below, but they're both spoilers, so read at your own risk!

Trigger warnings relating to autism:
SpoilerEdwin Rist gets off with nothing more than a slap on the wrist due to an aspergers diagnosis. The UK court claims that those with aspergers - now considered a form of autism - are unable to understand right from wrong so therefore can't be blamed which is pretty darn insulting to those with autism. There's also some pretty strong evidence that Rist faked symptoms and behavior to get his diagnosis specifically to avoid jail time as he wasn't diagnosed until after he'd been caught.


Trigger warnings relating to what happens to the stolen birds:
Spoilersome are recovered, but many are not. The books goes into detail about their mutilation and the callous attitude of the Victorian fly tying community when it comes to endangered species.