Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Red Parts by Maggie Nelson

17 reviews

bookaholics_anonymous's review

emotional reflective medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

relf's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

4.0

A poet's memoir centered on the resolution--well, at least partially, and legally--of a 35-year-old cold case, the murder of the author's aunt, whom she never knew. Beautiful writing about the effect of violent and unresolved loss on a family over time--including on the next generation. The author brings in a recent romantic breakup, the long-ago break-up of her parents' marriage, and the subsequent death of her father. A lot of sadness in this book, but also an appreciation for the absurd and some discussion of the current public thirst for true-crime stories. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder

Moderate: Grief and Death of parent

karli_reads's review

dark slow-paced

3.5

This book is not only about the brutal account of the murder of Maggie Nelson’s Aunt. But it is also about life post tragedy, fractures of such events on a family, and a memoir like description of Maggie Nelson’s life. This book is advertised as an autobiography of a murder trial, but it delves much deeper into events Nelson experienced through her life and the subsequent aftermath that culminates in the experience and verdict of this trial. 

Content Warning for everything: Sexual/Physical Violence, Rape, Drug Abuse, Suicide, Loss, Grief. An extremely heavy read. Do not recommend if you’re not in healthy mental space.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Physical abuse, Body horror, Grief, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Infidelity, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

dorottyagoston's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Drug abuse, and Grief

Minor: Rape, Pedophilia, and Sexual violence

arsenic_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Incest, and Pedophilia

nixiethepixie's review

dark emotional informative reflective slow-paced

4.5

I enjoyed the form and style of this - melding journal, essay and fact, across the trial of Nelson's aunt who was brutally murdered. Nelson captures this period of time with sharp and observed reflections, whilst reflecting her memories past and present, particularly with the death of her father, relationship with her mother and grieving a lost love. Loss and grief creates a web of mystery and what could have been. I particularly enjoyed the reflections on the act of writing and storytelling itself, and who and what the act is ultimately for. To immortalise, or let go of experiences? Is either possible? Why is she writing this book - for the live or for the deceased? And what does justice look like 30 years after the fact? 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Grief, Murder, and Sexual violence

lauradvb's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad slow-paced

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, Murder, and Death

dorsetreader's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad slow-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Death, Death of parent, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Medical content

dylan2219's review against another edition

dark informative slow-paced

4.25

Maggie Nelson's most focussed book I've read thus far, and while it didn't dazzle me intellectually as much as The Argonauts did, it's a more measured, considered examination than that book. Nelson is best when she weaves her immensely interesting personal life and experiences with broader social trends and theories, and here, the murder case of her aunt, who she never met and later obsessively researched herself, is an axis around which she meditates on grief, misogyny, true crime, violence, criminal justice, and the interlinking, knotty problems of these themes in contemporary America. She's more detached and less lyrically rapturous here than in her later books, but it fits the penetrating, often visceral gaze that she applies to her subject matter, which often gives way to emotional or upsetting memories, feelings, and real-world developments. The greatest section here for me is "On the Tracks" where in an image from a single night, Nelson seems to grab at the heart of the matter that she finds herself evading elsewhere, and giving genuinely profound insight and voice, demanding the right of women to feel safe and independent where and whenever, in an often indifferent and masculine system that attempts to overpolice them as a means of trying to protect them. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder and Sexual violence

remib's review

dark informative sad medium-paced

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder