Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Say Nothing: A True Story Of Murder and Memory In Northern Ireland, by Patrick Radden Keefe

65 reviews

222abbi's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.75

This book is incredible, it’s a non fiction history book but reads like fiction. It is amazing how it is weaved together key characters from the troubles into a story. It sympathetically told a complicated history in a understanding, entertaining and enlightening way. It is genuinely such an interesting and engaging look at history and present. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Police brutality, Mental illness, Death, Confinement, War, Torture, Physical abuse, Mass/school shootings, Kidnapping, Injury/injury detail, Gun violence, Grief, Genocide, Excrement, Eating disorder, Blood, Pedophilia, Murder, Death of parent, and Colonisation

travisppe's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.5

Very interesting narrative, almost reads like a novel. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Ableism, Child abuse, Confinement, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Cancer, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Deportation, Eating disorder, Injury/injury detail, Mass/school shootings, Emotional abuse, Excrement, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Murder, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Panic attacks/disorders, Religious bigotry, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, and War

rcsreads's review against another edition

dark emotional informative reflective fast-paced

5.0

Say Nothing is advertised as though it's a true crime but the case of Jean McConville's disappearance is just a loose binding to what is essentially a history of The Troubles. From other reviews I've read a lot of people go into this expecting a true crime novel and are disappointed. But if you go into it as a narrative nonfiction history then it's incredibly readable and well written. Patrick Radden Keefe has clearly done his research and, mainly, stays impartial. You will kind of hate Gerry Adams by the end though!
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 I think this would be a good introduction to The Troubles for people who weren't around for this particular part of history, or just as a more detailed look if most of your knowledge came from Newsround in the 90's.
 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Eating disorder, Hate crime, Religious bigotry, Suicide attempt, Torture, Violence, War, Excrement, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/injury detail, Murder, Police brutality, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Forced institutionalization, Colonisation, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Physical abuse

ecb_15's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, War, and Violence

arrianne's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death of parent, Colonisation, Death, Suicide, Alcoholism, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Child abuse, Eating disorder, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Gun violence, Incest, Murder, and Religious bigotry

plumpatio's review against another edition

informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

4.5

 A compelling narrative about historical events which I know very little about, I was grateful for the audiobook (read by an Irish narrator, which drew me in). I would recommend the book to anyone who enjoys narrative nonfiction with multi-faceted storytelling, but caution that the book is long. I'm not sure I would have finished it so quickly without the audiobook, the only downside of which is the lack of footnotes and images 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Torture, Kidnapping, and War

Moderate: Alcohol, Stalking, Eating disorder, Addiction, Suicide, Police brutality, Mental illness, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Murder, Death, and Alcoholism

A significant portion of the book centers around what are now considered war crimes including

Spoiler

force feeding and "disappearing" people (i.e., murdering people and hiding their bodies)

. There are also discriptions of counterintelligence methods utilized during the conflict.

tracey1981's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A meticulously-researched well-written book about the disappearance and murder of a mother of ten that brings to light many aspects of The Troubles in Northern Ireland and key players in same. I was impressed by the empathy, nuance, and broad-mindedness of the author. In a story where it would be easy to paint a picture of pure heroes and evil villains, the author frames a much more complex narrative about what moves people to political violence. Quite an accomplishment.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: War, Gun violence, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Sexual violence and Child abuse

emmanem's review against another edition

challenging dark informative sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Violence, War, Death, and Death of parent

Moderate: Eating disorder and Kidnapping

rebekistan's review against another edition

challenging emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Violence and Eating disorder

cassimiranda's review against another edition

dark informative tense medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Murder, Pedophilia, Police brutality, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Violence, Rape, Eating disorder, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Mental illness, Racial slurs, Trafficking, War, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Genocide, Grief, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting