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cseibs's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Murder
erinbarton's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
3.0
not sure the blending of true crime and memoir aspects was entirely successful. the blurb definitely overinflated the “unsettling, uncanny familiarity” between the two stories - there were some parallels but only of small details. I definitely feel duped by the premise and expected much more of a personal connection between the author and the main criminal case rather than just she became extremely interested in it.
i feel some aspects repeatedly came up ie the author’s twin sister that died in early childhood, that didn’t really seem to hold any relevance to the book’s argument, however some details like the way her parents chose to ignore the sexual abuse from within the family seemed like such major revelations and was never addressed or reflected on? surely the covering up and continuation of a cycle of childhood sexual abuse is more relevant and holds more parallel to a true crime sexually motivated child murder case. the pedophile and convicted murderer is given an EXTREMELY sympathetic portrayal, while i agree with the authors anti-death penalty argument i’m not sure Ricky Langley deserved quite so much allowance and empathy.
while it’s hard to review a memoir of someone’s traumatic past and say it wasn’t interesting enough, i do feel like true crime elements were more engaging and the memoir portions became somewhat repetitive once the author had reached adolescence.
while it’s hard to review a memoir of someone’s traumatic past and say it wasn’t interesting enough, i do feel like true crime elements were more engaging and the memoir portions became somewhat repetitive once the author had reached adolescence.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, and Pedophilia
iblyth's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death and Sexual violence
Moderate: Child abuse
cpeters2384's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
3.5
This was an uncomfortable read. A fact of a body resonates beyond the individual and ripples along anyone who knew the person and within that family, often becoming generational. I was ready to share passages from the read, that I thought pertinent to the character and the author, but I’m just having trouble doing it. Our experiences shape the way we see the world and what is done to us and others. Being a mother, and a childhood victim myself, my experiences shape me as overly protective and, may be sad to some, unforgiving to these criminals. Silence hurts, indifference hurts. Learning and consequences cause and allow change in my eyes.
books_with_brandon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
3.5
amyhungerford's review against another edition
4.0
This book is part memoir and part true crime and 100% heavy.
I won't go too much into the story it can be quite hard to read at times. There are triggers through out this whole book so it may be not suited to all readers! If you're interested in the story, I can say I did enjoy it (even though I was horrified and disgusted 95% of the time).
Ugh, using words like enjoy and like seems so inappropriate given the subject matter.
I won't go too much into the story it can be quite hard to read at times. There are triggers through out this whole book so it may be not suited to all readers! If you're interested in the story, I can say I did enjoy it (even though I was horrified and disgusted 95% of the time).
Ugh, using words like enjoy and like seems so inappropriate given the subject matter.
naharobed's review against another edition
5.0
Finally! I think I’ve read a little over 50 books so far in 2022 and this is my first 5-star read. This book is excellent. It blends murder and memoir and creates something genre-defying. The author who is also a former attorney details the case of Ricky Langley, a serial pedophile and murderer of six-year old Jeremy Guillory. She relays court transcripts, trial documents, police records. She also does a deep dive into Ricky Langley’s past, his family and his fraught adolescent years. The author also reflects on her own past and her own trauma and why it drew her to this specific case.
This book is packed with so much substance and is extremely thought-provoking. It makes you think about the legal system and mental health while also bringing up questions about morality and the complexity of truth. It deals with really tough subject matters and often doesn’t shy away from any of the details. It’s about how our pasts shape us and shape how we view the world and how we treat others. My one minor gripe would be even though everything about the murder case was based on fact, she definitely took some liberties and fictionalized aspects of it. But because she was very open about this and cited her sources, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book as a whole. It’s a heart-breaking book—everything about the case and everything that happened to the author as well. But it’s also about resilience and compassion and forgiveness. The book will leave you with more questions than answers, but I think that’s an apt reflection of life in general
This book is packed with so much substance and is extremely thought-provoking. It makes you think about the legal system and mental health while also bringing up questions about morality and the complexity of truth. It deals with really tough subject matters and often doesn’t shy away from any of the details. It’s about how our pasts shape us and shape how we view the world and how we treat others. My one minor gripe would be even though everything about the murder case was based on fact, she definitely took some liberties and fictionalized aspects of it. But because she was very open about this and cited her sources, it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book as a whole. It’s a heart-breaking book—everything about the case and everything that happened to the author as well. But it’s also about resilience and compassion and forgiveness. The book will leave you with more questions than answers, but I think that’s an apt reflection of life in general