Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

81 reviews

mmmsnacks's review

dark emotional reflective 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Domestic abuse, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Alcoholism

leahhslibrary_'s review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Death, Physical abuse, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

jvanwyen's review

challenging dark reflective sad 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

4.0

Dark, but made me think. Author did a good job of making Ansel’s story layered. Despite his “manuscript” being written off in the story by other characters, the questions posed were interesting for me to think about. 

I wonder why Lila’s voice was excluded in the last chapter in favor of her daughter, when we got to hear from the other 3 victims directly. I didn’t like that choice. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

Moderate: Drug use and Murder

raefoth's review

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.0

Beautifully written and important take on how serial killers affect the lives and women around them. Touches on the death penalty, and themes of good vs evil. I loved the female characters’ perspectives in contrast to the male serial killer’s. A heavy read, check your trigger warnings. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Murder, and Abandonment

nclausel25's review

challenging dark emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment

Minor: Pregnancy

mand_al_orian's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Stalking, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

queenofvrything's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

4.5

Disturbing, thought-provoking, and sad. Danya Kukafka shows the complexity of humanity through this non-linear tale, where honestly I didn’t feel much more than sadness by the end. The themes that stuck with me begs the questions: what is evil, are the choices made by some fully their own, and if fault can ever be put on just one person?

I’ll admit, adult Ansel made my skin crawl, but a small part of me couldn’t stop thinking of the poor child in the farmhouse, and how different his life could have been. Was he born a psychopath, or did the brain damage from the doorframe cause it? I enjoyed the insight to how his brain worked, how there was indeed both good and bad in him and that he had a core lack of understanding of who he was. Ansel felt like a boat untethered throughout life, until finding the blue house. 

I do love the focus on the victims, both living and dead, and the refusal to forget them as the story progressed. I also love that there was no one way to feel. Danya made the POV characters flawed and real, without pushing a specific narrative.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Murder, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Grief, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Child death

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Death of parent

izypup's review

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Pregnancy, and Gaslighting

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Terminal illness, Toxic relationship, Blood, Police brutality, Stalking, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

lunalorenne's review

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

While the prose ran a bit too purple at times making certain passages sound pretentious in their reach to sound intelligent and profound, this book gave me chills. I actually appreciated having Ansel’s POV and I thought putting it in second person was an interesting creative choice. I liked the push and pull his story had on my heart where I hurt for the child and burned with rage for the man he turned into while understanding that society and the system failed him and thus failed those women. I appreciated how the women’s voices were the focus of the story and that it explored the complicated and messy feelings that they grappled with throughout their lives. The book truly explores the ways that violent men’s actions ripple out into a collective female trauma that is both unique to each woman and universal in its impact. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Murder, Pregnancy, and Abandonment

Minor: Addiction, Alcoholism, and Blood