Scan barcode
grlmama5's review
2.0
I was bored.... To say the least. I skipped over a lot of pointless details that seemed to just be fillers to make the story long enough to be a book.
judithdcollins's review
3.0
A special thank you to Penguin First to Read for an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Review to follow.
jhaubnerreads's review
4.0
This is one of the those books that you go into expecting drama, intrigue, and revelations of the Dateline variety. But, it's really just the story of a girl whose friend did something terrible and how she learns to live with it - not directly involved but directly affected. I think that there is such power in that kind of a story, as we now all seem to live in a world that binds us to tragedy without us having experienced it firsthand. A quick but incredibly thought-provoking read.
dramatrice's review
4.0
Dark but interesting account of survivor guilt and the impacts to those left behind.
creiland17's review
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
3.75
A lot of people are harsh when it comes to critiquing this book. Initially, I was annoyed that so many people called this book insensitive and self-serving. First of all, it’s a memoir, obviously the author will be reflecting on her own experience. Secondly, I think Butcher did well when it came to painting herself with just as much complexity and nuance as Kevin. However, by the end of the memoir, I did wonder if this was really her story to tell. Overall, I’m glad I read this book and thought it was well-written and well-researched, but I’m definitely left with the question of whether seeking truth is ultimately good if you are writing about another’s tragedy. Idk.
namsmommy09's review against another edition
reflective
sad
medium-paced
3.5
This one was different then I was expecting. It is not only the story of a girl dealing with the aftermath of her friend killing someone, but her dealing with the idea of being friends with a murderer. It isn't something many of us think about, what we would do if someone we loved committed an unspeakable crime like murder... but Amy has to do just that when her college friend Kevin stabs his then girlfriend to death. This book is her reflection of how she dealt with the trauma of that night and how she felt like she failed him when maybe he needed her most... I think we all wonder what we could have done differently when bad things happen. This would be no exception. I found it really interesting to hear the facts about mental health and violence. Though I knew many of them, hearing them aloud in this context is always shocking, heartbreaking because we allow this to happen with the limits we place on access to mental health resources.
snowbenton's review against another edition
4.0
Butcher's prose makes this memoir feel more like a poem than anything. It's introspective and haunting, begging the question, how well can we ever really know another person? How well can we ever really know ourselves?
lazygal's review
2.0
There was so much promise here, so much more along the My Friend Dammer continuum than actually appeared. Amy's friend Kevin commits a horrific murder, apparently having suffered a psychotic break. Okay. Amy, being a good friend, doesn't want to lose touch with him, despite being traumatized by this (who wouldn't be, given that the murder came mere hours after Kevin dropped Amy off at her house). Also okay. But instead of exploring some of that more, or talking with others who might have been equally friendly and also affected, at times this meanders into the me-me-me and that's when it lost me. This is less a "memoir of friendship and murder" than someone working out their trauma and issues in a public forum.
ARC provided by publisher.
ARC provided by publisher.