Great Narrator, Untrustworthy Writer

I read/listen to a lot of true crime, or a certain type of it, anyway. I'm drawn to the genre not for the prurient aspects, but because the extremes of human behavior and thought fascinate me. Good true crime manages to retain a certain impartiality while still delving into the personalities, motivations, and flaws of the killer and other characters in a way that feels "inside." I won't say it's sympathetic, exactly, but my favorite true crime writers seem to have a desire to understand, and that brings humanity to the work.

I wanted to find a book about the Arias case, and chose this one over one written by the prosecutor because I thought an outsider perspective would put forth a less biased portrait of the killer than the law enforcement view would.

I was wrong. At first I wondered if the writer might be a relative of the victim, her tone was so bitter right from page one. In pretty much the first paragraph, she says, "She has earned her reputation as a pathological liar." Well, I remember the case, and I remember that Arias made up some whoppers in her attempt to first proclaim her innocence and later explain her actions. But does that make her a pathological liar? Pathological liars lie irrespective of social pressures or avoidance of consequences. Arias lied, like so many criminals do, because she was in trouble, because she was obsessed with the man she ended up killing, etc. etc.. I know she's a hard girl to like, considering her open courting of the media, but here the liar accusation is used simply to throw large, sharp stones at Arias. That tone continues throughout, as the writer follows the familiar path of painting Arias as the manipulative man-eating lioness to Travis' innocent lamb. It's hard for me to put any real trust in a writer who seems to be holding her nose in disgust toward her subject throughout. She doesn't even try to get inside the head of Jodi Arias.

At least, she doesn't try to until she calls in Dr. Drew. When she introduces the celebrity therapist near the end of the book, the writer gushes over him as if he were a venerated psychological authority instead of the ill-informed and ethically challenged internist he actually is. He "diagnoses" Jodi by talking to some of his psychologist friends about her without ever having met her, then goes off on a diatribe that makes it seems like all bipolar sufferers are a breath away from homicide. This is the expert opinion this writer seeks.

I'm not defending Jodi Arias, not at all. But I don't think it's so unreasonable to expect a writer to maintain some writerly distance on the one hand and to explore the flawed human being she's writing about on the other. Without that, there's no reason to read a book about a case as well documented in the press as this one. A good true crime book reveals something that's alternately relatable and deplorable. A bad one - and I'd put this in that category - doesn't reveal anything I didn't already read in the paper.

On a positive note, kudos to the narrator, who made it tolerable.

9 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Siri sounds smoother than this!

This is not cool Audible! I could have just used the narration feature on my Kindle and not wasted my money on this! I heard Elizabeth White's narration before and it's fine but this is total bull!
Bad business.

6 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

More Tabloid Than Literary

The sordid crime and lurid sexual details described in this work would have been more suitable for a piece in Vanity Fair, where one might distractedly read it while waiting for a dental appointment. At its essence, the book describes the murder of a young man by his habitually distrustful girlfriend, an occurrence barely noticed in our modern world. Excursions into the the family history and psychological profile of Jodi Arias, as well as that of her victim - Travis Alexander - were confusing distractions that further obscured the point of this work.

The author seemed to rely on a rehash of publicly available documents and evidence produced at trial in a beleaguered effort to sensationalize a routine homicide caused by a relationship gone bad. Interestingly, and in the author's preface to the work, Ms. Velez-Mitchel displayed an unseemly personal distaste for Ms. Arias that seemed unprofessional and out-of-place.

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Nothing new in this book

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

If you didn't follow the trial, this would be a good read. If you followed the trial, this is just a summary of the murder case and court coverage.

What could Jane Velez-Mitchell have done to make this a more enjoyable book for you?

Done some more background research on Jodi Arias. There has to be some "family secrets" out there that formed her twisted personality.

What do you think the narrator could have done better?

Nothing

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

Probably not.

Any additional comments?

Basically this book was an HLN summary of their trial coverage.

5 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Intriguing!

Jane Velez-Mitchell may not be my pick as a TV journalist, but she writes an amazing nonfiction book. The author represents both parties fairly, new details I had not heard following the trial were very compelling. If you were intrigued by the Jodi Arias trial, you will enjoy this read. Still sends shivers down my spine...

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Hienous Vile and Unnecessary

One of the things that should separate us from humans like Jodi Arias is our compassion for those we love and those we are challenged by. We don't know what turns people into sociopaths or psychopaths but we do know no one wakes up devoid of human empathy because they want to. Most don't even know they are different or they know they are different to hide it and try to emulate behaviors they think are correct which makes them appear disingenuous. However that trait is not inherent in all of us, that trait/those traits are only inherent in sociopaths and psychopaths. Unless you were in Ted Bundy's mind you will never know what got him there. I don't excuse the murder of Travis. I don't know if he attacked her, it is not likely given the forensics of the murder scene or the statements Jodi made to hide what she had done. Almost all self defense killings are immediately reported and most self defense killing don't have attempted clean ups and extreme coverups! I'm not a murderer, or a killer. I'm not a sociopath or a psychopath, I can't even eat dead meat let alone knife a living being. Studying someone who could and can would be paramount in my mind to see if there had been anyway to have avoided killings or murders like this. That doesn't mean that Travis was not abusive or that he didn't have sexually deviant proclivities. He had grown up abused and tragic and typically those poor children are left with deep deep scars and repeat the same behaviors in adulthood unaware of how their trauma has infected them. His little life was so tragic and I am sure it left him vulnerable in ways we will never know. I believe he treated Jodi badly, like a whore and told people one thing and her another. His actions prove this. It isn't an excuse for what she did, a lot of guys get away with this and a lot of women pretend to be sexually aggressive because they think that is how to get and keep a man (especially once you've been cheated on.) A lot of women pretend to like debasing sex again to keep the man or they equate debasing sex and abuse with true love. I can see Jodi falling prey to that only to suddenly realize she WAS being used and he did regard her as only a "3-hole wonder." How terrible to swipe that under the carpet and not show Mormons or other religious men that it is NOT okay to treat women this way, no woman. While Jodi has had a lot of boyfriends and a life of making poor decisions your depiction of her is completely unnecessary! It will be God's responsibility to judge her and I am sure he won't do it in an offensive and hateful way - I have never read a passage in any doctrine that would support such a vile book of pointless words. None of us have the right to hate Jodi. Her actions, YES, I hate her actions. Her actions are unforgivable but then, it isn't up to me to forgive or not forgive her. Travis isn't my relative and I am not God. If Travis were my relative, I don't think I could get past what she has done and how she has destroyed him yet I would never be onboard with type of hateful drivel. I would think you and the people you purport to support would rise above. You don't need to and don't have the right to assassinate someone's character. I was raped as a child, I was abused as a child, I was cheated on as a young woman and a wife. I was beaten as a wife and I was always told it was my fault. Before I became well, before I began investing in my own well being I truly believed statements that "I had brought it all on myself!" I hadn't and I was a victim but as a victim my behavior was bad. I was easy, I believed I had no value, I tried to get men to love me in very destructive ways. I kept journals but never wrote about my foster father molesting me, chasing me around the parsonage with his member out or finally raping me. When he was finally caught molesting a 3-year old, the church protected him as a minister because that is what the church inspires. I was the bad one, he was the good man that had a "problem," which god apparently found acceptable and I was the one who needed to go. It just isn't okay to state things about Jodi Arias whether you believe them to be true or not. You could have discussed her disgusting murder without all this hate! I hope to get a refund as this book! It is not well written or healthy for anyone to hear.

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A Biased view of Jodi Arias

Would you try another book from Jane Velez-Mitchell and/or Elizabeth White?

No

Has Exposed turned you off from other books in this genre?

No

Any additional comments?

This is a very biased portrail of the Jodi Arias case. The author is infatuated by the prosecution and give scant time the to defence. I had not heard of the this case prior to reading this book and I still have not learned a great deal about it other then what people wore in court each day.

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Slanted

What disappointed you about Exposed?

This is for surely one of the worst books I have ever bought
Any good who done it book should be neutral on delivery and let the reader decide for themselves. For the intense hatred the author feels for the defendant.. It's amazing as she has doubtless made a fortune by using Jodi's name in her book?!

What do you think your next listen will be?

Also interesting how amazon asks useless questions that doesn't even apply to the book review.

How could the performance have been better?

I would hate to see what a 13 hour book looks like physically.WOW must be as big as an encyclopedia. Way too long should have been abridged .... That is if it was actually worth buying and reading which it certainly wasn't!

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from Exposed?

Again this so called author was way too biased for my taste.. I mean there are only two people that know the true facts of the case.For someone to profit from anothers misery and misfortune is as sick and sad as it gets

Any additional comments?

only gave it one star because you have to
Picture perfect by Shanna Hogan was much better
Even the youtube clips were better than this book

9 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Interesting chronicle of a horrific crime

The jury has decided Jodi Arias is guilty of the murder of Travis Alexander. The background of Jodi and Travis's relationship, Jodi's previous relationships and her ever evolving story was interesting. the descriptions of the trial were fascinating.

All this being said, within minutes of starting the book the total bias to one side became evident and carried through to the last. Ms. Velez-Mitchell seemed to spend the entire book telling me why her opinion was the only correct one rather than just conveying what would have otherwise been a compelling story

I wont be reading her other book. On the other hand, Elizabeth Whites performance was very good.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Wonderfully narrated, unabashedly biased

I recommended this audio book to anyone who enjoys delving deeply into one of the most mesmerizing and intriguing true crime stories of the last 10 years. The story is well written and wonderfully narrated. This is not a neutral accounting of the case in any way. The author is very clear in her bias against Jody Arias and her part in this brutal crime. But, this is not to be unexpected as Jody was convicted by a jury of her peers.