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A review by orcamagicka
Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-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
5.0
For anyone interested or at all curious of the nuanced complexities of the death penalty, abolition, the prison industrial complex, morality, how tiny choices affect others, the American justice system, the ethics of true crime consumption, and society’s (primarily cis women’s) obsession with men who abuse and kill women.
The audiobook is gorgeous, the writing is gorgeous, everything about this book is beautifully disturbing and tragic.
What I liked most is the multiple POVs and viewpoints. It never felt like the author was trying to push a specific message, but rather giving you different views and perspectives and letting you form your own thoughts and conclusions. I don’t know what I think. If anything I just feel sad over the fate of every character in the story. Could there have been a reality where those women lived and led long happy lives? Where Lavender had a happy marriage and raised two healthy sons? Where Ansel never strayed down the dark path laid before him? Could one tiny choice have led to a different, better fate? We’ll never know.
The audiobook is gorgeous, the writing is gorgeous, everything about this book is beautifully disturbing and tragic.
What I liked most is the multiple POVs and viewpoints. It never felt like the author was trying to push a specific message, but rather giving you different views and perspectives and letting you form your own thoughts and conclusions. I don’t know what I think. If anything I just feel sad over the fate of every character in the story. Could there have been a reality where those women lived and led long happy lives? Where Lavender had a happy marriage and raised two healthy sons? Where Ansel never strayed down the dark path laid before him? Could one tiny choice have led to a different, better fate? We’ll never know.