Reviews tagging 'Gore'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

20 reviews

santaggy's review

challenging dark emotional reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

One of the best books I've ever read in my life.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Forced institutionalization

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Gore, Mental illness, and Murder

Minor: Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug use, and Excrement

lovememore_'s review

emotional reflective sad slow-paced

• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

The only reason I’m not rating this book 5 stars is because of Saffy and where we end with here. Other than that, my god this book is brilliant. If I don’t talk to someone about it I will die.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Gore and Misogyny

ellenisntcool's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

 I believe that this book was really good, truly. However, I think we could have taken out Ansel’s chapters and bring even more focus onto the women as I feel they weren’t given a chance to speak as Ansel would slip in with his weird stuff about his theory that I really don’t care about as I don’t care for that man and never will.

I’m struggling to know how to rate this, so I’ll come back later but or right now I’m on the fence about giving it anything higher than a three as the ending felt off especially with one of the women spoken about almost forgiving him, and we don’t get to see why. 

(As I’m writing I’ll probably give it that three anyway.)

Edit: dropping my rating to two stars, the more I think and talk about this book the more I dislike it.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Death, and Domestic abuse

Moderate: Gore

Minor: Grief and Pregnancy

vanessa_black_03's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book will make you think and think. It should be read by everybody who has ever thought about the person behind the unmistakable cloud of death by a killer. 
Shows us how circumstances lend to our making but justifying anything you do with it and not acknoledging a problem within you is all that makes the difference

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Medical content, Medical trauma, Death of parent, Murder, Abandonment, and Alcohol

Moderate: Blood and Stalking

Minor: Car accident

savreads28's review

dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Sexual harassment

juliesleseecke's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Blood, Vomit, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

haileyeh's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Child death, Misogyny, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Medical content, Car accident, and Abandonment

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Gore, Xenophobia, Vomit, Islamophobia, Death of parent, and Alcohol

butle2em's review

dark reflective sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Gore, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Vomit

sunshine_sophia's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

It has taken some time to compile my thoughts on this book, and I am not entirely sure if I will be able to articulate them well enough in this review.

This book made me very emotional. It was a rollercoaster of emotion. From anger to sadness to heartbreak, and grief, this book touches on many emotions. As an emotional girlie myself, I felt them all to a large degree.

I am not an advocate for the death penalty. My thoughts are: if we as a society believe murder and homicide are bad, why do we punish someone who committed those crimes with the same fate as their victims? It has always felt backward and inhumane to me. I felt torn between wanting Ansel to die via lethal injection or staying in prison for the rest of his life. I was especially sympathetic when

Saffy confronted him after he killed Jenny. When she asked him why he took the trinkets from the girls he killed, and he responded, "to keep me safe" my heart SHATTERED. That what is mother told him with the locket she had given him as a boy.

I am not trying to glorify serial killers by feeling sympathy towards him in this moment, I am simply reflecting on the trauma that he experienced as a child, and how he carried that with him through his entire life.

It was also interesting seeing the juxtaposition of Saffy and Ansel - they both had traumatic childhoods, grew up in the foster system, and lived in the same foster home for some time. While Saffy still carried her trauma with her, she was able to mobilize and become a functioning member of society as a member of law enforcement.

This was a heartbreaking, raw, and brilliant story of trauma, and showcases the flaws within the criminal justice system.

As someone who got psychology and criminology degrees in college, I am fascinated by the why. Why do people do what they do? Why do people commit crimes? Why do people kill? This book taught me that there may not always be a why, sometimes things just are because of a plethora of decisions, biology, and countless other factors. There is no cut-and-dry reason why people do what they do. There are countless possibilities and reasons for everything. 

Overall, while this book made me emotional, it was a brilliant dive into the way we view serial killers, the families impacted, the criminal justice system, law enforcement, and so much more. This book made me think and reconsider, which as a Gemini, I always appreciate. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Gore and Blood

rebeccadiv's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is heartwrenching and hard to look at sometimes, but important nonetheless.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Stalking, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail