Reviews with content warning for Gore - Helter Skelter

Looks like I'm still on my true crime kick. And honestly, I'm not sure why I read this book over one about a more obscure case. Goodness knows Manson gets more attention than he deserves, and yet here I am reading this book anyways. Don't worry, my therapist and I are working through why I enjoy books like this so much(and no, I do not glorify these disgusting people and if you do, go fuck yourself).

Anyways, this was a well written book for the most part. There's a lot of information about the murders, the reasoning, and inside court details. What really got me was the respect for the victims in this book. I find that a lot of books on true crime forget that the victims are people with families, lives, dreams, fears, and everything like that. This author doesn't forget it.

It was good over all. Not too graphic for people who might be new to true crime, but still doesn't shy away from how disgusting Manson is.

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rickyogix's review against another edition

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dark informative medium-paced

5.0

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angelicathebookworm's review against another edition

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dark informative tense slow-paced

4.0

Since Bugliosi was the prosecuting attorney in the Mason trial he had unique first-hand insight into the case and all of the proceedings. Because of this fact, this is probably the most meticulously written, well researched and presented True Crime story I have read to date. I don’t think anybody else could’ve written this book better. It is so detailed, in fact, that the actual crimes are described in such graphic detail and even saying that isn’t enough to prepare you for how shocking and heinous the content of the text is. Bugliosi uses clear and simple language in an incredibly objective way which is not only important for factual accounts but helps the reader to navigate this detailed text as easily as possible. While it is an insightful read, I do need to stress the graphic nature of the text as that’s an important factor to consider before adding it to your TBR.

This isn’t actually a criticism but rather something important to note about this book. While the book covers the actual crimes in vivid detail, the majority of the text covers the trial with all of the evidence and witness statements etc. It’s definitely not the True Crime read to start off with if you’re new to the genre. It’s a beast of a text and so I’d recommend taking your time with this one as it’s quite dense and there’s loads of information that you’ll need time to digest properly.

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