Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

A sangre fría by Truman Capote

28 reviews

bludgeoned_by_hail's review against another edition

challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

3.5

Simultaneously good literature and good investigative journalism, casting a long shadow over its genre. 

It conjures a story, characters and themes from a list of facts and testimonies, while still managing to refrain from sensationalism and approaching the events with a surprising degree of empathy and tact. Its style of oral history/mosaic/reconstruction amalgam feels surprisingly current (no doubt because of its impact) and clearly recognizable in the thousands of hours of true crime mini-series and documentaries on any given streaming service nowadays. 

Unfortunately, just like many of its inferior successors, it also feels a bit repetitive, stretched thin or unable to prioritize some content over other at points. I understand that if you conducted this much independent investigation, cutting things must feel like pulling teeth, but that doesn't make segments like the in-depth description of the crimes of each inmate who happened to be on death row alongside Dick and Perry or the endless circumstantial opinions of the locals any less excrutiating to read. On the other hand, this "boring" meticulousness is also one of the biggest strengths of the book, especially when bringing the killers' portraits to life without leaning into voyeurism or romanticization.

Not the quickest or most fun read, but still timeless and fascinating nontheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Torture, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Hate crime, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Racism, Sexual violence, and Suicide

Minor: Religious bigotry

awalsh1212001's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Gun violence, Racial slurs, Suicide, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Emotional abuse, Homophobia, Mental illness, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Alcohol, and War

abicaro17's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious tense slow-paced

2.75

This took forever to finish because it was boring. Perry and Dick are two ex convicts who after going on parole, decide to attempt to rob a family in Kansas. The beginning of this book tells you that not only did that not happen but all four members of the Clutter family were brutally murdered. Capote goes on to describe the Clutters home life, Dick and Perrys childhoods/home lives, and their lives in and after prison. The reasons this didn't work for me are that the audience knew who killed the Clutters from the beginning, I didn't care about anyone in this book, and this book is so incredibly long for only being about one night of murder. This could have been a good short book but the length of this was so unnecessary. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Car accident, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

lumigues's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Murder, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

alexisvana's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

Fantastic, complicated, gruesome. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Minor: Sexual violence

savduggan's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence

Minor: Animal death and Sexual violence

ibby2's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Animal death, Body shaming, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Homophobia, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Self harm, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Xenophobia, Blood, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

sylviea28's review against another edition

mysterious reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Cursing, Death, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Car accident, and Abandonment

s_mivsek's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

3.5

Well written, would recommend to people who enjoy real crime; just not my cup of tea

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Violence, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Sexual violence, Grief, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, and Dysphoria

Minor: Animal death, Cancer, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

calamityin's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

1.5

While it's one of the cornerstones for True Crime as a literary phenomena, it's incredibly insensitive to the victims and those around them.  It's frankly a bit disgusting the way that Capote describes these horrible acts as if they didn't happen to real people who had real hopes and dreams and lives.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Gore, Gun violence, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Blood, Grief, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Toxic friendship, Alcohol, and Classism

Moderate: Pedophilia, Racism, Car accident, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, and Fatphobia