A review by graveyardpansy
All the Living and the Dead by Hayley Campbell

4.0

as a whole, good book!! i love multifaceted exploration of death and this is certainly that. my central dislike is the lack of any nuanced or meaningful critique of the multiple corrupt systems the book interacts with (most notably police, prisons, and the death sentence). i think this would’ve been a stronger book if it was less apolitical and journalistic. however, there’s still a lot of valuable conversations! i also rly love that she included maternal death / bereavement ward workers in this, definitely an overlooked aspect of the death industry and death care.

also, side note, as someone who consumes a lot of death nonfiction books/videos/etc, why is everyone so into bentham’s head? i swear everyone wants to talk about it all the time