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xxstefaniereadsxx's review against another edition
informative
slow-paced
3.0
I have opinions about this case, so bear with me.
Jodi Arias was born in 1980 in California. She, by multiple accounts, was a manipulative, lying, scheming person. (A parade of red flags.) Her family had multiple issues with her throughout the years, prompting her to move out and in with a boyfriend at the time. She had severe trust issues, and was known to search through people's emails, messages, and other personal documents. (More red flags for the parade.) She struggled with money, as she was working waitressing jobs, and eventually became interested in Pre-Paid Legal Services. It was during a conference for Pre-Paid Legal Services in September 2006 where she met Travis Alexander.
Alexander and Arias began some type of relationship. Arias believed that she was his girlfriend, though Alexander behaved differently with her around his friends. (That was a scumbag thing to do.) Alexander was mostly interested in a sexual relationship with Arias, while Arias was fully obsessed and committed to Alexander. She converted to his Mormon religion, in hopes that would make him love her, be public with her, and marry her. Alexander was continuing to date other women while engaging in a sexual relationship with Arias (a scumbag thing to do) in hopes of finding a "proper Mormon bride" to fulfill his religious and life goals of having a wife and family. Arias confronted Alexander multiple times about seeing other people, which he denied. (A scumbag thing to do.) Arias moved closer to Alexander after he called the relationship off and continued to lurk around his home and sneak over in the night for sexual encounters. (Red flag central.) When Alexander started seeing another woman, Arias sent her crazy emails (red flag) and slashed the tires on both of their cars (double red flag). She got into his email, his social media, and his phone. For whatever reason, Alexander was never able to just sever ties with Arias. (My opinion is that he was not entering into sexual relationships with Mormon women he deemed marriage material, and was keeping Arias around to use for sex, which is a scumbag thing to do.)
Arias rented a car to go visit a friend. She told multiple people of her plans. She borrowed gas cans for her trip in case of emergency. (Red flag.) She told her friend that she had gotten lost and had driven 100 miles in the wrong direction (red flag) and then went to sleep in her car (red flag) before getting back on the correct path. She arrived a day later than she originally planned. (Red flag.) Her phone had been turned off, so it was not bouncing off of any towers, and she claimed it was dead and she couldn't find the charger. (Red flag.) When she showed up to the friend's house, she was wearing long sleeves and had bandages on her fingers. (Red flag.) When she returned the car to the rental agency, it was missing floor mats and had weird substances and stains. (Red flags.) In actuality, she had made a little side trip to Alexander's house. She had some sexual encounters with him, before stabbing him dozens of times, slitting his throat, and shooting him in the head with a gun she stole from her grandfather. She left him in the shower.
Alexander's roommates believed he had gone on a business trip that was planned, so didn't notate his absence as particularly unnerving. However, the girl he was going on the trip with began raising the alarm when she couldn't get him to answer her messages or calls about when to leave for the trip. I realize he was shut in the bathroom, in his room, with the doors shut, but I cannot understand how his roommates didn't smell a smell in that house for the week he was rotting in the shower. A group of his friends went to his house to look for him, discovering his body. In multiple statements to the police, Arias was listed as a person of interest. Obviously, Arias is not the world's smartest criminal, so she was found out pretty quickly. She was eventually convicted of first-degree murder and is currently serving life without parole.
Arias apparently had a photography business yet didn't know very much about cameras. She had taken pictures of her and Alexander in various stages of undress. She had taken pictures of Alexander in the shower moments before his murder. She had taken pictures during the actual murder. She put the camera in the washing machine but didn't take out the memory card and toss it out along the interstate or something. None of his friends liked her, and had warned him about her multiple times, and she claimed to not know why everyone was pointing the finger at her. Stupidity. Arias was a walking red flag, and everyone could see it...except Alexander apparently. She allowed this man to use her for sex and as a companion on trips or to talk to at night when he was bored. She had no respect for herself and allowed herself to be used in this way. She should have yelled at him, blocked him, and moved on with her life. Instead, she ruined her life, ended his, and ruined the lives of the people in their orbits who cared for them. Stupidity. She was also later diagnosed with a host of mental illnesses: borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, sociopathy, and narcissistic personality disorder. This woman needed medication, not boyfriends.
Alexander is lauded by his friends as a wonderful friend, a smart businessman, and an all-around great person. When someone we love or care about dies, especially in a horrific way, we tend to only want to think about the great things about them. Alexander, by all accounts, overcame a lot in his life and really took the lemons to make lemonade. He seemed like a fun, genuine person, and I can see why he had so many friends and coworkers that enjoyed his company. Alexander also did some scumbag things, like using someone for sex. These illicit sexual activities went against his religious doctrine as well. He also obviously had terrible taste in women, at least where Arias was concerned, and that cost him his life. He did not deserve to be murdered, despite his unsavory treatment. He deserved to be yelled at and blocked, sure, but never murdered. Certainly not murdered in this brutal way. Certainly not left to decompose in his own shower. This whole entire thing could have been avoided.
This book is currently available on Audible Plus to listen to for free. It was about an eight hour listen. I had read another book about this case prior to this one, but it mostly focused on her. This book had a lot of information about Travis Alexander and the people close to him in it. If you are interested in this book or case, and you have not looked at images for it, this is your fair warning to be careful when you google them because the autopsy photos are on Murderpedia and show up on the Google search. If you aren't into autopsy photos or grim images... look out. They show up when you look up the pictures that were on the memory card that Arias tried to destroy in the washing machine. This book was written in a way that was tasteful, yet informative. It provided a lot of insight into the relationship between Alexander and Arias.
Jodi Arias was born in 1980 in California. She, by multiple accounts, was a manipulative, lying, scheming person. (A parade of red flags.) Her family had multiple issues with her throughout the years, prompting her to move out and in with a boyfriend at the time. She had severe trust issues, and was known to search through people's emails, messages, and other personal documents. (More red flags for the parade.) She struggled with money, as she was working waitressing jobs, and eventually became interested in Pre-Paid Legal Services. It was during a conference for Pre-Paid Legal Services in September 2006 where she met Travis Alexander.
Alexander and Arias began some type of relationship. Arias believed that she was his girlfriend, though Alexander behaved differently with her around his friends. (That was a scumbag thing to do.) Alexander was mostly interested in a sexual relationship with Arias, while Arias was fully obsessed and committed to Alexander. She converted to his Mormon religion, in hopes that would make him love her, be public with her, and marry her. Alexander was continuing to date other women while engaging in a sexual relationship with Arias (a scumbag thing to do) in hopes of finding a "proper Mormon bride" to fulfill his religious and life goals of having a wife and family. Arias confronted Alexander multiple times about seeing other people, which he denied. (A scumbag thing to do.) Arias moved closer to Alexander after he called the relationship off and continued to lurk around his home and sneak over in the night for sexual encounters. (Red flag central.) When Alexander started seeing another woman, Arias sent her crazy emails (red flag) and slashed the tires on both of their cars (double red flag). She got into his email, his social media, and his phone. For whatever reason, Alexander was never able to just sever ties with Arias. (My opinion is that he was not entering into sexual relationships with Mormon women he deemed marriage material, and was keeping Arias around to use for sex, which is a scumbag thing to do.)
Arias rented a car to go visit a friend. She told multiple people of her plans. She borrowed gas cans for her trip in case of emergency. (Red flag.) She told her friend that she had gotten lost and had driven 100 miles in the wrong direction (red flag) and then went to sleep in her car (red flag) before getting back on the correct path. She arrived a day later than she originally planned. (Red flag.) Her phone had been turned off, so it was not bouncing off of any towers, and she claimed it was dead and she couldn't find the charger. (Red flag.) When she showed up to the friend's house, she was wearing long sleeves and had bandages on her fingers. (Red flag.) When she returned the car to the rental agency, it was missing floor mats and had weird substances and stains. (Red flags.) In actuality, she had made a little side trip to Alexander's house. She had some sexual encounters with him, before stabbing him dozens of times, slitting his throat, and shooting him in the head with a gun she stole from her grandfather. She left him in the shower.
Alexander's roommates believed he had gone on a business trip that was planned, so didn't notate his absence as particularly unnerving. However, the girl he was going on the trip with began raising the alarm when she couldn't get him to answer her messages or calls about when to leave for the trip. I realize he was shut in the bathroom, in his room, with the doors shut, but I cannot understand how his roommates didn't smell a smell in that house for the week he was rotting in the shower. A group of his friends went to his house to look for him, discovering his body. In multiple statements to the police, Arias was listed as a person of interest. Obviously, Arias is not the world's smartest criminal, so she was found out pretty quickly. She was eventually convicted of first-degree murder and is currently serving life without parole.
Arias apparently had a photography business yet didn't know very much about cameras. She had taken pictures of her and Alexander in various stages of undress. She had taken pictures of Alexander in the shower moments before his murder. She had taken pictures during the actual murder. She put the camera in the washing machine but didn't take out the memory card and toss it out along the interstate or something. None of his friends liked her, and had warned him about her multiple times, and she claimed to not know why everyone was pointing the finger at her. Stupidity. Arias was a walking red flag, and everyone could see it...except Alexander apparently. She allowed this man to use her for sex and as a companion on trips or to talk to at night when he was bored. She had no respect for herself and allowed herself to be used in this way. She should have yelled at him, blocked him, and moved on with her life. Instead, she ruined her life, ended his, and ruined the lives of the people in their orbits who cared for them. Stupidity. She was also later diagnosed with a host of mental illnesses: borderline personality disorder, bipolar disorder, sociopathy, and narcissistic personality disorder. This woman needed medication, not boyfriends.
Alexander is lauded by his friends as a wonderful friend, a smart businessman, and an all-around great person. When someone we love or care about dies, especially in a horrific way, we tend to only want to think about the great things about them. Alexander, by all accounts, overcame a lot in his life and really took the lemons to make lemonade. He seemed like a fun, genuine person, and I can see why he had so many friends and coworkers that enjoyed his company. Alexander also did some scumbag things, like using someone for sex. These illicit sexual activities went against his religious doctrine as well. He also obviously had terrible taste in women, at least where Arias was concerned, and that cost him his life. He did not deserve to be murdered, despite his unsavory treatment. He deserved to be yelled at and blocked, sure, but never murdered. Certainly not murdered in this brutal way. Certainly not left to decompose in his own shower. This whole entire thing could have been avoided.
This book is currently available on Audible Plus to listen to for free. It was about an eight hour listen. I had read another book about this case prior to this one, but it mostly focused on her. This book had a lot of information about Travis Alexander and the people close to him in it. If you are interested in this book or case, and you have not looked at images for it, this is your fair warning to be careful when you google them because the autopsy photos are on Murderpedia and show up on the Google search. If you aren't into autopsy photos or grim images... look out. They show up when you look up the pictures that were on the memory card that Arias tried to destroy in the washing machine. This book was written in a way that was tasteful, yet informative. It provided a lot of insight into the relationship between Alexander and Arias.
birdloveranne's review
4.0
This is the third book I've read about this case. It was very good, and did bring out some details that the others didn't. There were some glaring editorial errors. But overall, a good read about a terrible, terrible event.
thatnerd's review against another edition
4.0
This is MUCH more informative than JVM's book. Even though I watched the trial and followed the case closely, there were plenty of details in here that were news to me. I also like that the author didn't constantly insert her opinion throughout the book. She stuck to the facts. She did, however, give her thoughts on the case in the afterword. If you're going to read a book about Jodi Arias, I'd definitely recommend this one over JVM's.
booklovinalicia's review against another edition
3.0
If you have followed the Jodi Arias trial this is a decent read or listen, but nothing great. A 3 star read for me. Read my full review at www.booklovinalicia.blogspot.com
noelleishere's review against another edition
4.0
Overall, this was a great read.
Check out my full review on my blog: https://alittleadult.com/book-review-picture-perfect-the-jodi-arias-story/
Check out my full review on my blog: https://alittleadult.com/book-review-picture-perfect-the-jodi-arias-story/