Reviews tagging 'Alcohol'

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

71 reviews

nc_unknown_user's review against another edition

dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

3.5

It often feels difficult or unfair to review books like these. The story is heartbreaking and to know real people experienced these things is terrible. Especially because this still probably doesn’t even cover half of it and there are so many stories that will left untold or forever unknown for many of those who were among those lost during these times. Unfortunately, the writing felt lacking in some ways. Not that I expected it to be some page-turner for my entertainment… it just felt disjointed in its presentation and hard to follow. I found it difficult to keep track of the information being presented and even now that I have finished the book, I feel like I only vaguely know what happened and how it took place. The story itself is interesting so I feel it was just the style of writing that takes away from it. It felt unnecessary to break the book up into three separate parts. All in all, I would be interested in doing more reading on this subject, but not by this author. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Alcoholism and Alcohol

Minor: Fire/Fire injury

emmaemooney's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Gun violence, Racism, Murder, and Alcohol

hannahbee_97's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative sad medium-paced

4.25

The narration on this was well done. I didn’t know anything about the Osage murders before reading this, it left me absolutely horrified and irate. It’s so important to remember the disgusting history of oppression that the US is built on and to take action against the ways that oppression continues to exist. The last third of the book hit me hardest.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, Xenophobia, Grief, Murder, Alcohol, and Colonisation

Moderate: Gun violence, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

doreneemi's review against another edition

dark informative sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racism, Forced institutionalization, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Grief and Alcohol

Minor: Chronic illness, Infidelity, and Forced institutionalization

sierrah_2101's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.25

 

"Virtually every element of society was complicit in the murderous system." -David Grann

I read Grann's novel in tandem with watching Scorsese's film, which only intensified both works' emotional impact on me. Grann's novel, which he spent over a decade researching, focused on Tom White's investigation into the 20-year terrorization of the Osage Nation. White recognized 24 murders associated with this reign, but Grann offers a significantly higher total: 60+. Throughout the novel, Grann offers many options for motives to these murders, but he offers you the above quote: money, power, greed, stolen through a government, a culture that was not only blind to it but complicit to it.

Although passionately researched by Grann over many years, my main gripe with the novel matched the opinion of DiCaprio: Upon reading the screenplay directly adapted from Grann's novel, DiCaprio realized how focused on White, and the true crime/procedural aspects of the novel. Thus, for the film, he offered that the story focuses more on the Osage themselves, specifically on Mollie Burkhart. This, emotionally, is where Grann stumbles the most. While packed with true crime intrigue, the novel focuses the vast majority of the pages on White, his history, and his contributions to the growth and development of the FBI.

This isn't to say that it was poorly written or didn't have a clear emphasis on empathy and self-awareness (of ourselves and the privileges we receive from our culture and system of government). Grann leads us through the mystery in such an intriguing way I could not put the book down for two days straight. His writing style, while simple, was straightforward in all the ways it needed to be. There was no beating around the bush on how horrible these people were. Not to mention, Grann pressed on to meet and interview many Osage families and connect tens more murders to the original "outbreak". It felt cathartic as a reader, and I hope it was even more so for the families that had been waiting a century for closure.

"Killers of the Flower Moon", the film and the novel, are heavy, heart-wrenching works that every American should be exposed to. The sheer nakedness of greed is still occurring today, with the same amount of deeply ingrained racism. Grann's novel taps into these ideas with beauty and tact, and both his and Scorsese's work. I only wish one day these stories will be told by American Indians themselves. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Hate crime, Racism, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Police brutality, and Medical trauma

Minor: Chronic illness, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

gabbyeleene's review

dark informative mysterious sad slow-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Racism, and Murder

Moderate: Alcohol

Minor: Animal death, Child death, and Colonisation

sheriffrockyraccoon's review against another edition

dark emotional informative mysterious sad fast-paced

4.0

While I am a movie person and obviously watched the Oscars this year where its movie adaptation was frequently nominated, I had managed to avoid knowing much about the Osage murders before reading this book.

David Grann’s writing is fantastic. He manages to keep his language accessible and fluid while also not deviating too far from the facts of the case. This book is part thriller, part nonfiction, and while it is easy to cross that line into sensationalism, I believe Grann worked incredibly hard to make sure the families of the victims were heard and not drowned out by the “true crime” aspects of the case.

The last chapter, “A Case Unsolved”, devastated me. Just when you think there has been justice for these people ignored by the U.S. government, you see how far the conspiracy goes. It was heartbreaking and real, which I appreciated considering how easy it is today to write a true crime story in the form of a ghost story. This book served as a brutal reminder of the treatment Indigenous Americans have endured- and still endure- at the hands of the government.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in U.S. history, especially that of the Wild West. While it may be after the period we consider “Western”, it holds the same ideology even as the country moves into a different era. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Racism, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Medical trauma, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

alexisgarcia's review against another edition

informative reflective sad medium-paced

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Death, Genocide, Racism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, and Classism

hi_itsnatty's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

A fantastic story that is one of many on Turtle Island that needs to be consistently investigated all over. Overall, a good book to reflect and think about the stories still needing to be revisited and solved for families affected by MMIW cold cases.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Body horror, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Genocide, Gun violence, Hate crime, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Police brutality, Medical content, Kidnapping, Grief, Religious bigotry, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Injury/Injury detail

prettiestwhistles's review against another edition

challenging informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Emotional abuse, Racism, Murder, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Hate crime, Racial slurs, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Car accident, Pregnancy, and Alcohol