Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

Killers of the Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI by David Grann

31 reviews

cyberhavok's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Death, Medical trauma, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child death and Death of parent

omair's review against another edition

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

WARNING TO THOSE READING THIS BECAUSE OF THE FILM ADAPTATION:
After all of the hype and excitement I had for the film adaptation, I knew I had to read the source material as soon as possible. I had thought I would take to the book far more than the film, which I did thoroughly like, because I went into the film expecting more police procedural and less story of love

and betrayal

.

Yet as I read this book, I found myself agreeing more and more with the decisions the film made. This is not a slight against the book, but further praise for the film. The purposes of the film and the book are not one and the same, and so it is vital to anyone that, like me, is coming to read because/after the film to understand before they begin.

REVIEW THE BOOK INDEPENDENT OF THE FILM (which is what I intend to do)

Killers is as informative of a book as I could've imagined considering the personal story the primary focus is on. The book is overflowing with descriptors that will make you feel sorrow and anger, leave you wondering what humanity is and why it is missing. While only covering a handful of incidences, the cold factual presentation will leave you reeling, as if sensing how small a fraction the sample is compared to the population. All totaled, the official death count may

only be a couple dozen

but Grann will easily convince you that there were hundreds more victims during the Reign of Terror, and he may well be right.

If you can make it through the pain and sadness, there is a beautiful story here of a people's survival. The heart to endure and rally is as much a light as the era is an inky darkness. The book may focus on Thomas White, his team of agents, and their investigation that finally tore down the veil behind which the atrocities hid, but the real heroes are the Osage people.

For as strong as the book is in its cold, clearly well-researched, tone, I also found this to be a slight undoing. The voice can feel rather impersonal at times, leaving the reader as a student of history rather than immersed in the moment. This is why I agree with the decisions made for the film adaptation. Maybe I would feel differently not having known the details from the film first, I can never know for sure. But the progression of the book, and some of the detours along the way, played loose with risking a reader to set the book down only to never return and finish.

Ultimately, I will recommend this read to anyone with an interest in the Reign of Terror, interest in the era, an interest in the realities of White American Exceptionalism, or a morbid curiosity of a casual genocide. Sticking through some of the uneven pacing is well worth it for the resulting reverence of the Osage, and Mollie in particular, all carrying inside of them something no man could ever kill.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Chronic illness, Confinement, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Cultural appropriation, Toxic friendship, Colonisation, and Classism

Minor: Addiction, Animal death, Child death, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Medical content, Kidnapping, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Cultural appropriation, and Gaslighting

ghesscaple's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Genocide, Hate crime, Racism, and Gaslighting

blaketisdebest's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

5.0

Truly one of the best books I’ve ever read. Chronicles the grotesque history of abuse and extortion of the indigenous in the americas as a legacy that continues today. The author approaches the nonfiction tale as a narrative beyond reality by how shocking and inane the story of the Osage truly is.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

vixenreader's review

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

A non-fiction book that moves with the urgency of a murder-mystery, this account of a forgotten injustice will boil your blood, especially since the crimes were saturated with racism against the Osage First Nations. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, Blood, Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Moderate: Ableism, Child death, Infidelity, Medical content, Stalking, Car accident, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Pregnancy

Be warned that there is a graphic bombing episode, medical content involving diabetes, covering up crime scenes, frequent poisoning, financial abuse, policies preventing First Nations from accessing their accounts, court scenes, and mention of “burning human flesh” from an electric chair.

fkshg8465's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad slow-paced

5.0

I saw the movie first and was really impressed - both from a point of awe (of the film's accomplishment) and also from the point of disbelief (of the evil portrayed by the film). I couldn't believe it. Turns out the film was true to every word in the book - at least the portions storytold. The last few chapters were left out, but that's because the movie was focused on Hale. Just like Kate Moore's The Woman They Could Not Silence made me hate weak men, this book makes me hate greedy men. It's like they were the ones the Bible was talking about when it said money was the root of all evil. I'm so deeply saddened for the Osage. I'm also grateful David Grann decided to investigate this story and tell it. I have no idea how long it took to get to the bottom of all these murders, but I sure hope he gets a crapload of money from the movie and lots of awards so that he can continue telling these important stories.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Hate crime, Infidelity, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Colonisation

atalea's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gun violence, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death and Physical abuse

jhbandcats's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

5.0

David Grann is one of our greatest nonfiction authors alive. Every topic he chooses is brought to life no matter how many years have passed since the events took place. His writing is smooth and unobtrusive, describing the past in a matter-of-fact, approachable way. If history books had been like this in high school, we’d all have gone on to be scholars. 

Killers of the Flower Moon is an especially difficult book to read, not because of the writing but because the subject is so painful. Grann documents how literally hundreds of Osage were murdered for riches in the early 20th C. As American Indians, their lives were worth less than that of dogs. An entire corrupt and venal society was arrayed against them. Well aware they were systematically being murdered, they had no recourse. The authorities, both political and legal, were complicit in the murders. No one would help save them from eradication. 

This is an excellent telling of a dark and shameful time in our history. If only this much attention had been paid a hundred years ago some of the Osage who were murdered might have lived. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Chronic illness, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gore, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Classism

kimmykelly's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Gore, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, Cultural appropriation, Gaslighting, and Alcohol

tiffyd's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Colonisation

Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child death, Drug abuse, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Alcohol, and Classism

Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical trauma, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail