Reviews tagging 'Violence'

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

1 review

tuesdaydg's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, and Sexism