Solid 4.5 - Wow what an interesting & thought provoking book! About a man who is set to be executed and it tells the story of how he came to be a murderer through the perspective of different women throughout his life. Very very very heavy at times, check TW

i hated this book. loathed it entirely. and fail to understand the hype for it. this is not the first time this has happened as i tend to be a very black & white thinker (thanks neurodivergence) and sometimes miss nuance. i am fallible for sure.but i don't understand how this book is supposed to - refute the death penalty- discuss morality- critique the criminal justice system- rail against men's violencewhen the way it was written undermines all of that. the main issue for me was the charac...

5 ⭐️ 3rd time reading it 1 year. That's how incredible it is to me. Favorite book of 2022. Stunning. Poetic. Heart breaking. Evocative. Just an overall stunner.5 ⭐️ wowowowow this writing is SUPERB. Who is this author and where has she been all my life??This is the most thought provoking book I’ve read all year. Maybe even this decade. It deals with so many principles so deftly and with such expansive perspectives. I am blown away.I love how every perspective in this book is different and none o...

I was debating between rating this 4 or 5 stars, because I found the middle parts to be less engaging and also felt like the policewoman’s story leaned too far into a stereotypical crime drama rather than a literary novel. However, I was really absorbed in the last ⅓ of the book, and after finishing it, had a long discussion with my partner about the themes explored, whether people are deserving of the death penalty, if redemption is possible for people who do terrible things, etc. These types o...

This is a book that somewhat defies definition, and makes me feel a bit powerless to capture my feelings about it with words.It is an exquisitely written tale, allowing the reader to have a glimpse into the minds and motivations of people. At its core, it's an examination of people, with the end realization that we are all much more alike than we want to admit, yet we have our own uniqueness that separates us from each other.There are parts of this book that are incredibly difficult to read. The...

I had extremely high expectations for this based on so many friends’ enthusiastic reviews, and while I liked it, it didn’t move me quite the same way as it has others.It’s the story of Ansel Packer, counting down on Death Row to his execution, and the story, more importantly, of the women whose lives he ended or impacted. It elicits questions about why people make the choices they do. Why did Ansel choose to kill? How do our pasts define who we become? Why do some turn their pain to good, while ...

Ansel Packer, Prisoner 999631 is on Death Row at Polunsky Prison in Texas and it’s twelve hours until his execution. It’ll be painless they say but of course he leaves much pain behind. The story is told via a countdown and mostly through various women whose lives Ansel touched and through them we ‘see’ Ansel and his origins and what leads to him becoming a serial killer. There is Lavender his mother who gave birth to him in a barn aged 17 in New York State. Here we get to delve into the nature ...

Danya Kukafka’s brilliant sophomore novel, Notes on an Execution, took top honors as the best book I read in 2021. (Out of 200+.)It’s the rare unicorn of a novel that is masterfully written, has a page-turning plot, and manages to make a statement about our society all at the same time. I savored every word. I reread paragraphs to make sure I’d fully absorbed them. I wanted to get back to it whenever I had to put it down. As author Kukafka sees it, America has a serial killer problem. It’s not t...

This book is a masterpiece and I do not say that lightly. This is a story based on Ansel Packer. Abandoned by his parents and left alone to fend for himself and his newborn brother. Once discovered he's put into the foster care system. This is a story about Ansel Packer and who he grew to become. With four dead women as evidence. Ansel Packer is due to be executed and the clock is ticking down. We hear from the women that knew him throughout his life. The women he killed and the women that s...

HAPPY PUBLICATION DAY!Powerful. Emotional. Haunting.Just a few ways to describe Notes on an Execution by the uber-talented Danya Kukafka. The story starts with 12 hours to go until Ansel Parker’s execution. He has killed four women, but never thought it would have come to this. He always thought he’d be able to explain himself.This story isn’t just about another serial killer and his perspective. It’s about the women he has come into contact with...those who knew him.Lavender was very young when...