Desperately Boring

I found myself thinking about anything else while listening to this book. The title is misleading. The author focuses on the back and forth between she and a murderer but it's all very uneventful. There are spattering of her personal life during this time but each time it is about to get interesting, she moves on to another topic. It took me months of trying before giving up with hours left to go.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Interesting except for the white guilt

Rowe is a very skilled writer and it's a compelling book. But I could have done without her annoying insertions of her liberal white guilt. It's an uninteresting and unproductive way to discuss the racialized aspects of this story. Also the narrator does a terrible I guess...attempt at a black accent? When she's reading as Kendall. It's pretty cringe worthy. Overall, a good true crime type memoir with some faults.

3 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Boring, Problematic, & Lacks Depth

As a lover of true crime I was thoroughly disappointed. The author seemed intent on making the banal (communicating w a manipulative serial killer who never opens up) into something more profound. Mostly it was boring and repetitive. Everything in the book was about her, she compared herself to the serial killer, to the victims, and to the cops with little context or reason. Her treatment of the victims was at best surface level. She called them “broken” and said they were, “all damaged” and referred to them as, “prostitutes.” TREAT SEX WORKERS BETTER AND THAT INCLUDES YOU CLAUDIA. More than that she utterly failed to examine structural reasons for the poverty and other pressures that some of sex workers may have experienced. She came off as judgey when it came to addiction while also presuming to understand because she was addicted to talking to the killer (wow). In upstate New York having no critique of the flight of manufacturing jobs and safety nets for the working poor is lazy and irresponsible writing. She likewise has little analysis of why a mainly white school would have a failed a student, esp a Black student who was a minority. She claims the victims were attracted to the killer because they recognize something kindred, which is not only unsubstantiated but also an offensive assumption. Maybe she thinks it makes her sound profound to make such announcements? She does not discuss sexism or patriarchy in a case where women were murdered during rape. Her discussions of the serial killers’ race (he is Black) are even worse. She unselfconsciously discusses the killer’s big lips and mouth, refers to him as her “beast in the cage,” and was surprised that the killer (Kendall) did not listen to jazz. She refers to Attica as, “peaceful” and for someone who does so much bellybutton gazing seems to have no view of her own white privilege. As a white women writing about a Black serial killer who killed mainly white women, she needs to do better at examining race and racism (or she should stay in her lane). This author is so completely self involved her tone deafness is astounding. She seems to feel that her youthful angsty “anger” or “loneliness” is unique. It’s not. It’s all about her and she is boring. I don’t usually write such harsh reviews but this was a doozy and I recommend a HARD PASS.

4 personnes ont trouvé cela utile

Very intriguing

this story definitely left me wanting more. The acts of the guilty are disgusting. however, the attempt to peer into his mind and learn his plight were captivating. the reader and author did a great job. I couldn't give the story a 5 bcuz of the unanswered questions. 😔 But well worth the purchase

1 personne a trouvé cela utile

Definitely recommend

i loved being able to see a person seperately from their behavior and the examining of one's own pathology.

Problematic

The author appears to be aware (and even bothered by the fact) that her story construction is racist, but she published it anyway, fully equipped with a cringe-worthy attempt at a ‘black accent’ by the narrator. This book made me feel a little sick, and not because of the descriptions of the featured serial rapist and murderer. Aren’t we better than this by now?

good story

enjoyed listening as I drove to and from work also while running errands. need to get more

Riveting

One of the best true crime novels I’ve ever read. She writes with a mix of stark clarity and dreamy pathos that really works for me. I truly identified with what she experienced as a child, and I found so much of myself in this book. I think I learned more about myself and why I consume so much true crime than about Kendall Francois.

wow

Chilling and intriguing. Can't imagine what she went through. I couldn't stop listening. Very good book

Not as profound as it wants to be

There is interesting stuff here. Those of us who have grown up also a little obsessed with what goes on the in mind of a monster will relate to some of her internal thoughts. However, Ms. Rowe attempts to make a simple story of corresponding with a serial killer from whom she never gets much insight into a bigger story about herself. That could have worked if there was something truly profound to have uncovered. Instead, she learned her boyfriend was an asshole and her childhood made her particularly prone to acting out. It's not exactly a revelation.