Reviews with content warning for Sexual content - Notes on an Execution

Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

38 reviews

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

There are millions of men out there who want to hurt women - people seem to think that Ansel Packer is extraordinary, because he actually did.

This book was amazing! Yes it's incredibly dark and it hurts but it is so skillfully written and immersive and makes so much sense, I am pretty much in awe. The cover also makes so much sense when you read it and that's really cool. I didn't give it 5 stars because of a principle I have, if animals get unnecessarily hurt or die in a story, it isn't 5 stars,but yeah otherwise I fully recommend it. It really gives you a new perspective on the obsession people have with murderers or serial killers specifically - is the murderer really the most important thing about that? Is it most interesting, what made them like this? How their psyche works? What would be if they wouldn't have made those decisions? How they impacted the people around them and vice versa?
The book is not pro death penalty or police it shows flaws in the system, it also isn't against reporting on serial killers, it is just in some ways a comfort, hope, warning and another perspective from death row as well as from impacted outsiders left behind and I think that is all it should be.

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misspashx's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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homebodywitch's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

This is truly an incredible work of fiction. It’s viscerally disturbing and haunting. At first, I did not like the second person perspective as I did not want to be in the mind of this serial killer. I also find that perspective really tends to feel like self insert fan fiction and can read as very juvenile. But as the story progressed and we got to experience the other perspectives from a more omniscient point of view, I grew to understand why the author chose to show the character Ansel that way. It separated him from the women that were impacted by his actions. I do appreciate that while the book didn’t shy away from depicting the horrible things Ansel Packer did, it didn’t make them into overly gory spectacles. There is animal cruelty depicted, but not the cruel actions themselves. He obviously murders women, but it doesn’t spend too much time spelling out the gory details of the killing. The spectacle is unnecessary and again, I appreciated the author for not going there when it wasn’t needed. I did find some of the thoughts of the characters towards the end a little heavy handed while trying to hammer the author’s point home, but it wasn’t too bad. It was just clear the author had some things to say and just kind of shoved them in there. But they were things that needed to be said about the state of the world and the way the whole true crime spectacle focuses on the actions of men instead of the women they killed. I didn’t give it a full 5 stars because of some things that fell flat (I’d have really liked at least one chapter from the perspective of Shawna- I was so intrigued and then confused by her behavior), but it’s really worth a read especially if you are a woman that is exhausted of the true crime obsession permeating pop culture.

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sprout_monster's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

I didn't find this book entertaining. To me most of the characters are crazy in a way that I can't relate to and the book has parts that are weirdly sexual and I hate that in books. However, not only was this not my type of book, but I feel like it didn't really do anything. I was excited to read this book because I thought it would be giving a voice to women and showing the impact the killer had on the women in his life and in those of his victim's lives. It didn't. But it also didn't create a conversation on potential, the metaverse, the use of the death penalty, or anything like that. Imo only Blue was relatively normal/relatable and showed a complexity of emotions that fit the situation. I wish the author had fleshed out the book a bit more and had tried to say something rather than being all over the place. Maybe I just don't see it, maybe other people can relate to these characters, but I can't and so this book was not for me.

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toofondofbooks_'s review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was an absolute stunner. The writing was beautiful and the structure of the storytelling was just *so* the right way to do it that I felt spoiled with every page. Every character felt extremely real to me both in good and bad ways. This book asked so many questions and challenged me with every new piece of information. I loved the focus on the women affected by the main character's actions in this story as opposed to just the pov of the perpetrator and the themes that surrounded them. This was the most solid read that I've read in a long time. Absolutely brilliant.

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myretromeltdown's review against another edition

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kananineko's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I think this book was very well written and very well done. Every perspective felt necessary and added to the story. Crime/thriller isn’t my usual genre which is why I’m not rating it 5 stars (I just don’t enjoy these types of books as much as other people do) but it was still an incredibly good and important book. I did shed a tear in the last chapter, which is rare. I also wish Lavendar had more chapters, but overall great book. The writing was phenomenal.

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