Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Still Life with Bones by Alexa Hagerty

20 reviews

stravabutforbooks's review against another edition

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challenging emotional informative reflective

5.0


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greendog95's review against another edition

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challenging emotional sad medium-paced

4.25


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finnickdeservedbetter's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

5.0


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kingkiller99's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad medium-paced

3.75

This book so hard to read. Learning every bit of information about the massacres and disappearances in Argentina and Guatemala was heartbreaking and soul crushing. Some of the things I read made me horrified that this  is what humanity has created. However I was also in awe by the work that other people did to help try and bring people to justice and the disappeared home. Definitely read like a scholarly book at times but worth the read. 

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artisjoke's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0


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cmisich's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

5.0

A well written detail of not only the recovery, identification, and aftermath of genocides and the horrors in Argentina and Guatemala. It also covers the impact and hard work of those trying to bring the horror to light, identify the desaparecidos, and the challenges when those responsible still live among them. 

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lcdavenport's review against another edition

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4.75


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savvy999's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative slow-paced

4.5

Informative, devastating and beautiful. It’s a haunting reminder of the fragility of life and importance of dignity in death. 

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kerishma's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

4.0

Part memoir, part history, part existential musings, Still Life with Bones is a thoughtfully written exploration of the discipline of forensic anthropology and the unspeakable acts of violence and rebellion that spurred its creation. It is a heavy read to be sure, but is also marked by beautiful moments of community grief, catharsis, and healing. I found parts where Hagerty brought in philosophers like Freud and Mbembe a little clumsily executed, but that's probably a personal style issue.

Not included in my rating, but: After completing this book, I perused Hagerty's website and social media and was disappointed to see that she hasn't commented or written publicly about the war in Palestine. I understand that her focus area of study is Latin America (at least, that's what I assume from the book), but as a public expert on human rights and genocide, and firsthand witness to the consequences of unchecked violence, I find it strange that she has had no public comment that I could find. It's especially disappointing because her book is a lesson not just in the memorialization of the dead, but in the efforts to fight the injustice that resulted in death and disappearance in the first place. 

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apiologee's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

4.5


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