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jackie_tee 's review for:
Notes on an Execution
by Danya Kukafka
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I listened to the audiobook, only because it was more readily available for me. I often struggle to focus when attempting audiobooks, but this one grabbed my attention right from the beginning. Jim Meskimen was phenomenal in his narration –the perfect portrayal of arrogance and smugness, then disbelief and fear.
Overall I didn’t particularly care for any of the characters, which I found shockingly appealing. Every character was so authentic in their imperfections and insecurities. Each one of their stories had so many different layers. In the beginning of the book, I felt that the story focused a little more heavily on Ansel than what I was expecting. But as it progresses, there is far more depth and feeling through the perspective of the women. The story didn’t focus on the dead victims, but the living ones – and it was brilliant.
Without going into a whole summary of the book, I’ll just say this book made me feel such a range of emotions. I was so angry with Lavender. I was so disgusted by Hazel and Jenny both. I pitied Saffy. I raged about Ansel.
There were so many different aspects to this story, I could go on forever. The last chapter put the “multiverse theory” into perspective so well, without overly complicating it. At different moments of the book, it made me pause and reflect on my impact as a mother. And then immediately I would be baffled and even enraged at how easy it was to deflect blame from the true wrongdoer. And then noted so perfectly in the last chapter, there was the aspect of how our society tends to focus more on the criminals than the victims. We don’t typically watch documentaries on TV about victims crimes, but the perpetrators.
“The tragedy is that she is dead, but the tragedy is also that she belongs to him. The bad man, who did the bad thing.”
5 stars, hands down.
Content Warnings
Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder