Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Catch the Sparrow: A Search for a Sister and the Truth of her Murder by Rachel Rear

2 reviews

tuesdaydg's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious reflective medium-paced

2.0

I feel torn about this novel. On one hand, I fully admire the author’s determination to tell Stephanie’s story for both her own personal purposes and to give voice to the countless women who, like Stephanie, have lost their lives at the hands of truly sick (in more ways than one), misogynistic individuals. On the other, I can’t help but feel uncomfortable that Rear shared the intimate details of Stephanie’s murder
without (and against) the consent of Stephanie’s living biological sister. As a result, I leave this reading experience feeling unsettled, as am aware that I now have knowledge of intimate information against the wishes of those closest to the victim.
I don’t know how I feel about the author’s decision to expose these details and that, along with the pacing issues, is what prompted such a low rating. I want to emphasize that my rating is in no way meant to invalidate the author’s experience, Stephanie’s story, or the accounts of those surrounding this horrific crime. My rating only reflects my experience of the novel, my opinion on its structure, and my ultimate conclusion about how much I took away from reading it.
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thehappylittleelf's review against another edition

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dark informative mysterious fast-paced

3.5

This is a well-written true crime book that will keep your attention. It covers a variety of topics surrounding the murder of Stephanie kupchynsky, including domestic violence and the corruption of police in Greece, NY. It’s well-constructed and engaging. I liked how Stephanie as a victim got to be represented as a full human in the book. Too many true crime books either don’t address the victim at all, or treat them as saintly martyrs. “Her smile lit up the room” is the cliche on any true crime story, and that’s about as much depth as you get. But we get to know Stephanie in this book as a wonderful flawed individual — as we all are! We shouldn’t have to be perfect angels for our deaths to be tragic. She struggled in life, which made her story relatable. 

The memoir aspect of the book might turn off readers. Rachel Rear has a very personal connection to this case, and sometimes may project herself onto Stephanie. It does sometimes make you wonder if what’s being told about Stephanie is actually just Rachel’s using Stephanie as a mouthpiece almost. The author really tries hard to convince you of a spiritual connection between the two even if they’d never actually met. However, I do believe there is a connection — how do you live with the family through their greatest tragedy and there *not* be? — so I don’t think it’s insincere, but it might be off-putting to a lot of readers, especially since the author openly admitted to disrespecting Stephanie’s bio-sister’s wishes.
Stephanie’s sister Melanie did not want the details of her murder to be published, but Rachel said she was going to do it anyway.


I really would love to hear Melanie’s (Stephanie’s bio-sister) side of the story.

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