A review by cass_lit
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

3.0

I think I went into this expecting something different. It tells the story of a serial killer from the women in his life’s points of view, but it’s not a psychoanalysis. 

I’m of the opinion that America needs prison reform and I’m anti-capital punishment. But when Ansel says it, I have no sympathy for him; I struggle with the idea of even giving him a POV intertwined with the women he hurt. It’s hard to reconcile these things. The only thing I’m certain of coming from this is that these women are such strong characters whose lives were broken by the actions of mediocre men. 

I don’t really know how to review this because, as *was* expected, the topics discussed are really nuanced and complicated. I think they were touched on well, but I’m not necessarily someone represented in this book, so don’t take my word for it. It was dark and hard to read (check the TWs!) but I think it provides a valid criticism on the media fetishization with true crime. Serial killers are so often these days given leading men roles when they’re not anything special, before or after getting caught. They’re not the ones who deserve our attention; the hurt they leave behind does. 

As a final grammatical comment, the switching voices was a little odd - Ansel’s POVs were in second person (not my favorite) while the women were all in third person. 
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