inameitlater's Reviews (1.85k)

I have mixed feelings about this book.

The first half (mostly about rapists, pedophiles and racists) gave me food for thought. 

Then a chapter about mothers abondoning their children came up. This confused, and frustrated, and angered me. The same with Sylvia Plath's suicide. Being mentally ill does not make you a monster. 
Leaving your family is not a sign you are a monster. And I say that as a someone who's mother left the family when I was eleven. It sucked, but my mother is not a monster. 

Generelly the second half feels like the writer lost focus. 

At the beginning Dederer said she realised that the audience and their reactions are the topic. But for many parts of the books the case studies of the "monsters" take all the space and audience reactions are forgotten. 

Delightful