Skip to main content

Notes of an Execution by Danya Kukafka Book Review

Reasons For Reading This Book:

I was in a bit of a situation where I could not get the next book for my book club from the library so I started looking at different book Instagram accounts for recommendations. This was my first time taking a recommendation from @jkslibrary but her page had so many books I had never heard of I started adding them to my life. In a stack of books the title of Notes of an Execution by Danya Kukafka stood out to me. I looked up and read the description of the book and instantly checked it out from my library. I have read one other book about someone of death row and that was The Sun Does Shine by Anthony Ray Hinton which was a five star read for me in 2023. I was excited to read a fictional account of death row as The Sun Does Shine is an autobiography. 

Content of This Book:

Ansel Parker had been on death row for murdering those girls and is not twelve hours from execution. He knows what he's done but he is seeking to be understood and celebrated. Through the narration of women Ansel's story and the women's stories are told. Ansel's mother Lavender was a young mother in a terrible situation who made the unthinkable choice. Hazel is the twin sister to Ansel's wife Jenny. Unable to step in Hazel watches as her sister and Ansel's relationship change her sister and their sisterly bond. Saffy who is a detective who is getting closer to pinning down Ansel for the murders. In the hours leading up to his execution the women share their stories and how one's choices can lead to tragedy and destruction. 


"Blending breathtaking suspense with astonishing empathy, Notes on an Execution presents a chilling portrait of womanhood as it simultaneously unravels the familiar narrative of the American serial killer, interrogating our system of justice and our cultural obsession with crime stories, asking listeners to consider the false promise of looking for meaning in the psyches of violent men."

What I Liked About This Book:

For started I was hooked from the start. Not only did the plot pull me in instantly but so did the writing style. Danya likes to write in short descriptive sentences. They also like to say something in a sentence and then add two more words following in another sentence to add emphasis or even more adjectives. It did take a little time to get used to this style of writing but once you pick of the flow it becomes easy to read. I knew going in from the book's description that their were multiple narrators. There is Ansel's narration that is broken into the hours leading up to his execution, but within his narration he is also reliving the past to inform the reader of his life before death row and how he got there. The other narrators are women who are tied to Ansel. One his is mother who abandoned him in a farm house as a child. Another is his sister-in-law and the third is a detective who is working on his case, but who also lived with him in a foster home when they were children. I loved that the women's narrations but told their stories, but also gave more detail into Ansel and how the pieces come together to get to present day. I did not mind the switching from past to present within each chapters because they author separated the chapters into smaller sections. I also loved that there were smaller sections within the chapters because sometimes a specific chapter would be quite long. When it comes to the plot I was pretty much invested in all narrators and did not specifically favor one over the other. If I did have to chose one it would be Saffy the detective. For the conclusion of the book and all aspects of the plot I was very much satisfied with how the author concluded each one. I was not left wanting more or with unanswered questions. I am someone who is intrigued by mysteries and thrillers, but cannot stand violence and gore, so I was pleased when the amount of detail relating to the murders was limited and only stated when needed to be know without too much gory detail. The last praise I will give this book is that the pace was fantastic. I was getting just the right amount of new information and entertainment each time I read. 

What I Disliked About This Book:

There is not much I disliked about this book. One comment I can make is that there was a lot of fantasying done by Saffy about where the three girls would be in life if they had not been murdered. These were not my favorite parts of the book but I see how they were important to Saffy as they gave her reason to keep investigating and showed her level of motivation to close the case. In the end I did enjoy her imagination and creativity for how she saw their live's playing out. I was also a little confused by Ansel's theory but did not find it was that important to the plot so I don't mind that I don't fully understand it.

Would I Recommend This Book?

This is my first 5 star book of 2024. I have both raved about this book to coworkers and my mom because I enjoyed reading this book so much and think it is worth the read. If you haven't already read it, get yourself a copy, you won't regret it.

  
Check out my book reviews for 2024!!


Check out my book reviews for 2023!!

Horse by Geraldine Brooks  
Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens
Friday Night Lights by H.G. Bissinger
Luckiest Girl Alive by Jessica Knoll
Hester by Laurie Pico Albanese
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
Environmental and Sustainability Book Reviews 2022
Self-Improvement Book Reviews 2022
American Dirt by Jeanine Cummins
Know My Name by Chanel Miller
The Paris Apartment by Lucy Foley
Not All Diamonds and Rosé by Dave Quinn
The Hate U Give by Angie Thomas
Golden Girl by Elin Hilderbrand
Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus
Everything I Know About Love by Dolly Alderton
A Flicker in the Dark by Stacy Willingham 
Girls With Bright Futures by Tracy Dobmeier and Wendy Katzman
Run, Rose, Run by James Patterson and Dolly Parton
The Summer Series by Jenny Han
A Stolen Life: A Memoir by Jaycee Dugard
The Housewives: The Real Story Behind the Real Housewives by Brian Moylan
Verity by Colleen Hoover
All Rhodes Lead Here by Mariana Zapata
Such a Fun Age by Kiley Reid
Our Country Friends by Gary Shteyngart 
Homegoing by Yaa Gyasi
Majesty: American Royals 2 by Kathrine McGree
Every Last Secret by A.R. Torre

Check out my book reviews for 2021!!

2021 Book Rankings

Beach Read By Emily Henry
People We Meet on Vacation by Emily Henry
Maybe In Another Life by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Educated by Tara Westover
The Simple Wild by K.A. Tucker
The Midnight Library by Matt Haig 
The Kitchen Front by Jennifer Ryan
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins 
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid
A Slow Fire Burning by Paula Hawkins 
We Are the Brennans by Tracey Lange
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
Klara and the Sun 
The Nature of Fragile Things by Susan Meissner
American Duchess by Karen Harper 
Detransition, Baby by Torrey Peters
Girl With No Job by Claudia Oshry
Down the Habit Hole by Holly Madison Book Review
My Story by Elizabeth Smart
Layla by Colleen Hoover

Check out my book reviews for 2020!!

Check out my book reviews for 2019!!

Check out my book reviews from 2018!!


Don't forget to stay up to date on my blog by following my social media accounts!
Instagram: @whenishouldbestudying


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Reasonable Dorm Room Cleaning Schedule

Reasonable Dorm Room Cleaning Schedule After my first semester of college I have developed a cleaning routine that I have been able to keep up with. You can read my previous blog post about What I Learned In My First Semester of College . Over the past few months I have experimented and I am confident in the routine that I have created.  Personalize When it comes to personalizing the schedule you could add or take out the different chores. For example I also wash my retainers weekly and monthly my roommate and I decorate the marker board on the outside of our door. We also only clean our mirrors when needed since we have found that they do not seem to become too dirty regularly. Something that I would make sure you sanitize every week would be the surfaces that you are constantly touching. That means light switches, door handles, and your desk. By doing this I managed to avoid getting sick when my roommate and other floor mates go sick. Another task that you could add ...
94 comments
Read more

Bullet Journal Fitness and Workout Spread Ideas

If you want to purchase some of these spreads you can buy the digital bundle from my Etsy shop: Simply Paperless .  I had created six different bullet journal fitness and workout trackers/spreads. These spreads were made in my digital bullet journal using the GoodNotes App.   I highly recommend to use a stylus when using GoodNotes as a digital bullet journal. For this project I used the Adonit Dash 3 Stylus , which I highly recommend. I also recommend the Bargain Depot Stylus 2 Pack  from Amazon. Daily Workout Plan This first spread can be used to plan out what exercises you plan to workout each day of the week. I would recommend this spread for those who are just starting to workout. I did not created the workout that is used as the example for the content of this spread. The workout is from Pintrest Workout Plan .  Workout Tracker This next tracker is in the format of a monthly calendar. In order to track the different workouts...
63 comments
Read more

Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus Book Review

Reasons For Reading This Book: Lessons in Chemistry by Bonnie Garmus was Jackie's choice for the month of October. Jackie is the host of The Readheads Podcast Book Club. This is a monthly podcast book club that I have been apart of since it was established in 2020. I love getting to hear the thoughts of the hosts each month.  Content of the Book: Elizabeth Zott is a chemist but is much more than meets the eye. She is not only beautiful but also extremely smart, confident, strong, and not afraid to beat to her own drum. Elizabeth is one of the only female chemists working at Hastings Research Institute. She is viewed as different by everyone there. It's there that she meet Nobel-Prize nominated chemist Calvin Evans. Calvin who falls in love with Elizabeth is described as a loner, grudge holder, and extremely brilliant. Fast forward a few years and Elizabeth is now a single-mother working as the host of the most watched cooking show, Supper at Six . With Elizabeth's ways of ...
2 comments
Read more