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gladiolus17's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
2.0
Well, this book was certainly out of date. In some places it is very progressive, but then others it is … questionable.
Some points:
- psychologists say everyone who has attempted suicide has thought of murder first. (What psychologists, I wonder.)
- pornography is actually good for young men because it can be used as an educational material. (Lol)
- “transvestites” are mostly harmless but some cross dressers are deadly serial killers (yes the book lumped “transvestites” with cross dressers without differentiating the two)
Other than that, I found the stories profiled in here very interesting. The main point is that children don’t kill for no reason, as mostly they are abused.
Some points:
- psychologists say everyone who has attempted suicide has thought of murder first. (What psychologists, I wonder.)
- pornography is actually good for young men because it can be used as an educational material. (Lol)
- “transvestites” are mostly harmless but some cross dressers are deadly serial killers (yes the book lumped “transvestites” with cross dressers without differentiating the two)
Other than that, I found the stories profiled in here very interesting. The main point is that children don’t kill for no reason, as mostly they are abused.
amyw_97's review
2.0
The book was written in a rather awkward way. I feel like this book only breached the surface on certain cases, and I was confused as to why Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold were not included in this book- since Kip Kinkel was, and he was a school shooter whose fame due to his shooting pales in comparison to the incident at Columbine. The author also seems to point fingers at the fact that all these children came from troubled backgrounds (violent families, dysfunctional families, etc)- though many do- but at the same time, there are often other reasons that lead people to kill. I felt there was no true depth to this book. It was a decent read to pass the time, but as someone who enjoys true crime, this was a disappointment.
ashvaberle16's review against another edition
1.0
This could have been an interesting book... but the author's style of writing was so bad that fifth graders could do better. I couldn't even finish it.
theremightbecupcakes's review against another edition
informative
sad
2.0
Interesting, but I think it's telling that I forgot that I had already read it. I read it on the heels on her Women Who Kill book, and she made the same erroneous statement in both books, without sourced material. I say it's erroneous as a former (disabled) therapist, who has studied this material in great detail, and I quote directly:
Psychologists say that everyone who attempts suicide has at one stage wanted to kill someone else.
What psychologists? Who? This is a false, dangerous, and hurtful statement, and again, it's in both books. There can be anger and even rage involved in some suicidal ideation. Not all. And those feelings are not always aimed at other people. This really disturbed me, to the point of almost DNF.
unjustlyher's review against another edition
2.0
this book was okay. definitely dated. would love to see an updated version with more cases and examples. seems like it was written with no experience - i am under the impression she has no background as a psychologist but i may be wrong. despite her saying ‘not an excuse but a reason’ it comes across as she is almost giving an excuse. it is hard though as they were children and it was terrible what happened to all. would like to have seen more evidence behind what she was saying and the use of references. the formatting was also a little strange? at first it’s a bunch of cases then groups them into categories. then changes to categories with cases for each one.
lilis_land's review against another edition
5.0
An absolutely amazing read. This book has made me want to read more from this author, as she truly points out the flaws in society that turned these children into gruesome murderers.