Reviews

Notes on an Execution by Danya Kukafka

mmmcgowan's review

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes

5.0

madsmacmath's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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

4.0

Wow, what a morally grey book. The social commentary is brilliant; it feels a lot less like commentary and a lot more like questions.

Read it with a bookclub because I’m desperate to talk about it.

myco_rrhizae's review against another edition

emotional informative reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

lisa_does_booksta's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-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

3.75

ungles's review

challenging dark emotional 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

4.75

There is so many beautiful quotes is this. A wrecking study, how much of us is actually our choices and how much is just a product of our circumstances, of our little worlds? And how much of our worlds are just the result of the choices we made? Could I be totally different? Or at least a little bit?

chywan's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.75

mcsmartypants's review

5.0

An empathetic exploration of morality and the ontology of human nature. Notes on an Execution discusses the inner workings of the criminal legal system, fetishization of serial killers, and depravity of the voyeuristic true crime genre. The message is portrayed over 46 years through the perspective of four characters, main character Ansel and three women in his life. When in Ansel’s perspective, Kukafka writes in second person, forcing the audience to witness Ansel’s life as if it were their own. I have never seen second person written so well, without feeling like a gimmick. Along with being well-written, this thoughtful novel ultimately addresses an often overlooked question in true crime: what about the victim? 

potzak's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

5.0

helenehannailona's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Two of my favorite quotes:

„There are millions of other moments Izzy has lived, but he has eaten them up one by one, until she exists in most memories as a summation of that awful second, distilled constantly in her fear, her pain, the brutal fact.“

„There are millions of men out there who want to hurt women - people seem to think that Ansel Packer was extraordinary, because he actually did.“

fant_ine's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

4.0