So I get what she was doing with this book. Truth is subjective. Nothing is black and white, there are always a bunch of Blah blah blah blah blah.....
So I get what she was doing with this book. Truth is subjective. Nothing is black and white, there are always a bunch of different factors. People aren't all good or all bad. It's impossible to ever really pin anything down to one specific cause, or to really ever know the whole truth.
But she used WAY too many words to get there. She wasn't telling a story. She was letting everyone know that she's a WRITER. "I'm a writer, you guys!" she basically screamed on every page. Uck.
The story of the actual murder takes up about one chapter. The rest, you keep waiting for some sort of twist, some sort of connection, some sort of SOMETHING that never comes. It's just blah blah blah....more
I really try to write a review of every book I read because it drives me crazy when I look back on books I read a few years ago and I didn't leave a rI really try to write a review of every book I read because it drives me crazy when I look back on books I read a few years ago and I didn't leave a review. But I honestly don't have a lot to say about this book. It was fine. The actual case is fascinating. All the extra stuff about James Renner's life is less-so, and this book was kind of all over the place. But I guess he had to fill the rest of the pages somehow....more
Ok, so this book is poorly written. It's all over the freaking place. The first large chunk is just the author talking about watching the documentary.Ok, so this book is poorly written. It's all over the freaking place. The first large chunk is just the author talking about watching the documentary. It's repetitive. It's highly biased. There's, like, an entire chapter of him whining about the Amazon reviews of his first book. It's really ridiculous.
But honestly, you need to read it.
There is a lot of information provided in this book that gives a more well-rounded view of the case. It's clear that the Netflix documentary was extremely prejudicial, with lots of slick editing to make things look a certain way when it wasn't actually that way at all. I think this book pretty thoroughly debunked any accusation that the police planted evidence.
I'm confident that Steven Avery is guilty and the world is a safer place with him behind bars. Even if he didn't kill Teresa Halbach - which he did, you guys, he did - but even if he didn't, he's a sick, sick, sick individual who should not have contact with the general public. Especially women. And cats.
2 stars for the writing. 4 stars for the information. Average = 3 stars....more
If you listened to Serial then you have to read this book. Period.
It's a very engaging and well-written book providing a very clear explanation of theIf you listened to Serial then you have to read this book. Period.
It's a very engaging and well-written book providing a very clear explanation of the case that sometimes got very convoluted when listening to Serial and especially Undisclosed. It also has a lot of interesting information about Adnan and his family. If you haven't listened to Undisclosed, then there's also plenty of new information to be learned about the case that was either never mentioned on Serial, or not discovered until after it aired.
The book is written by Rabia Chaudry, a close family friend. I have to admit, the more I listened to this book the more weirded out I was by her obsession with this case. I honestly have to wonder if maybe she's secretly in love with Adnan. It just seems strange to me that someone would basically give their entire life to exonerate a family friend. I didn't necessarily feel that way at first, but the more I listened, the more I had to wonder.
I was also a little irritated with her at times, particularly when she would express frustrations she had with Sarah Koenig during the airing of Serial. It was seriously like she was personally offended that Sarah approached the case like a journalist would - with an open mind, and providing as unbiased a narrative as possible. Rabia wanted Sarah to ignore anything that didn't paint Adnan as a saint and use the podcast to be a cheerleader for his case, which I don't think any reasonable person would have expected but she was just too close to it. It sounds like Serial, while ultimately extremely successful in helping Adnan, caused her a lot of distress because it wasn't biased in his favor enough for her tastes.
But Rabia's clear bias notwithstanding, it's a very interesting book and I thought her writing was great, and her narration even better. I usually don't like listening to audiobooks, but listening to her read her book was addicting. I couldn't stop. I think maybe it's because most book narrators are Acting with a capital A, and I just don't feel like they capture the natural cadence of regular speech, whereas with Rabia, she's reading her own words so she knows what the inflections should be. It felt natural instead of performed.
This was a quick audiobook, you can listen to it in the time it would take to watch a movie. Very easy to listen to. Narrated by the author herself, aThis was a quick audiobook, you can listen to it in the time it would take to watch a movie. Very easy to listen to. Narrated by the author herself, and she does a great job. Crazy, super sad story....more
It's a really fascinating serial killer story, and the way the story was organized and all the details presented was First half of the book: 5 stars.
It's a really fascinating serial killer story, and the way the story was organized and all the details presented was perfect. I was completely glued to the story, and when the author revealed his suspect, it had just the right impact.
Second half of the story: 3 stars
Some crazy shit happened after Douglas Preston got involved in the whole thing. Turns out the Italian justice system isn't any better or more ethical than the US one. The way they twisted and contorted "facts" to fit their narrative was absolutely shocking.
But all-in-all, it wasn't quite as interesting as the first half, and it actually detracted a bit from how I felt about Preston and Spezi. I suppose it's inevitable, but they latched on to their own theories the same way the police did to theirs, and refused to have open minds about any other alternatives which kind of irritated me. For example, he completely disregards everything he is told by this blogger lady who started emailing him. Now, there's a 99% chance that he's right and she's completely nuts. But how do you know for sure if you just completely disregard it and don't look into any of it at all? You're no better than the police who refuse to listen to any of your theories.
Based on the information provided in the book, I think Preston and Spezi's theory of who the killer(s) is/was is probably correct, but then again, I only have the information they have given me, so who knows what more there is that I don't know? That's always the problem with true crime. I can't read it without that grain of salt, so maybe it's just the nature of the genre that I won't ever be able to give five stars.
Ultimately, though, I really enjoyed this book and would highly recommend it.
Oh, quick note about the audiobook: The narrator cracked me up. He did a very convincing Italian accent, and at least half of the book was quoting Italian people, so he had a chance to use it quite a bit. What cracked me up is that he often forgot when to switch back to "Douglas Preston's" voice which is a regular American-accent, so for a lot of the narration, he had a tendency to weave back and forth. Luckily it was more funny than annoying. ...more