True

I was the first person shot in the first school shooting in the United States in 1966. I laid there for 90 minutes until someone was able to get me. I was 18 and 8 months pregnant. the shooter shot for my baby in my womb. Then he killed my boyfriend.

This was one of the most therapeutic books I've ever read. I cannot explain why this is. But hearing what others went through and the careful detail that the author used was very affirming and healing.

49 people found this helpful

Heart wrenching and informative

I decided to listen to this book because I wanted to know more about the case. What I ended up with is a much clearer understanding of Norway's social and political structure. Being from Minnesota, I'm basically one of the only people I know who doesn't have Norwegian or Swedish ancestry. Learning about Norway was fascinating and I'd love to travel there someday.

The author describes the perpetrator, the victims, the survivors, and the many people indirectly impacted by this crime with such care and respect. Yes - even for the perpetrator. Through his own words - his blog, his "book", his testimony - he showed what a bigoted, misguided monster he is. The author simply presented the facts in a well organized, thoughtful way. The performance was excellent - she did an amazing job pronouncing Norwegian words and didn't "Americanize" anything. I appreciated that. This book is difficult to get through. It's painful. It's unbelievably sad. Your heart will break for the parents of these children. But it's also very well written and extremely well performed.

15 people found this helpful

You can't be in the heads of dead people

I understand creative nonfiction and like it, but it can go too far even if (as the author says at the end of the book) she did extensive research. Too many times I found myself thinking that the person she was writing about was dead and even if she did intensive interviews with family members, writing "s/he thought" or "s/he felt" or describing what the person was doing when alone crossed the line because she couldn't have known. The person is dead and you can't interview a dead person. Perhaps I'm wrong. The problem with audio books is it's difficult to go back and find examples. As well is all the reconstructed dialogue, which I find somewhat problematic.

The book was twice as long as it needed to be. For instance the chapter about tagging was ridiculously boring and didn't contribute much of anything. The description of the perpetrator's childhood, however, did.

I did find the political context of the book quite interesting.

The other thing that really bothered me is how she returns again and again to one of the teens who appears to be dead but always leaves a bit a doubt that the teenager is actually dead. It felt like she was trying to create suspense (well, she did), but it felt icky.

The narrator was not great--she sounded far too pompous, proper, and/or dramatic depending on the section she was reading. You don't get much more dramatic than a crazy man shooting 69 teenagers, so I felt the drama that she read with as the perpetrator mowing kids down was distasteful.

12 people found this helpful

A Thoroughly Researched and though provoking Book

This is the shocking story of Anders Breivik, who, alone, killed 77 people in a one day terror attack on his fellow citizens of Norway. Many of these victims were teenagers who were attending a summer camp. This book is very well written and tells, not only the progression of this mass murderer's life , but also weaves in personal stories of the progression of many of the victims' lives. I thought this was a very important part of the story...so the reader can get a better understanding of the impact of this event.
This is really a very thoroughly investigated book and this writer tells a complete and thought provoking story.
Although the courts found this man sane, I think his own writings and actions prove differently. He is truly a madman with a murderous rage and no empathy for others. He also has an extremely high opinion of himself. The book that he was writing is an example of his disorganized, bizarre and grandiose thought. I was shocked to find that he was only given 21 years in prison... the maximum penalty in Norway. He is most certainly a danger to society and I am not sure what Norway will do with him upon release.
The narrator has a very pleasing voice and is a positive addition to the audio version of this book.

11 people found this helpful

Long, can be hard to follow

I was interested in learning more about this tragic event but this book was too much! There was so much that wasn’t pertinent to the story. As an American I also found it very hard to follow because simple things like names and places were hard to distinguish. That combined with the story generally being drawn out made it really hard to keep my interest.

1 person found this helpful

disgusting feminist propoganda exploits a tragedy

I couldn't even finish this useless tripe about females trying to overcome "male power" and those "evil politicians" trying to cut welfare benefits. ie government no longer forcing unrelated parties to pay for the poor life choices of poor people.

I was really hoping for an insight into this horrible event as it's a half world away from me but I'm so utterly disgusted that this event was used as a pulpit for political parties.

This author has preached about her unrelated causes while standing on the dead bleading corpses of innocent shooting victims.
This is so disrespectful of the people who died and useless political propoganda to anyone actually wanting information on the event.

1 person found this helpful

Best podcast I have listened to!

This is a story that needed to be told. Its structure, incorporating stories of some of those affected by this atrocity, is first rate. I cannot recommend this enough.

1 person found this helpful

Good, but long

Excellent insight into a horrifying mass murder in Scandinavia and beautifully written. But some parts, i.e. the life story of the perpetrator, could have been dramatically condensed. Nonetheless, I would wholeheartedly recommend this book to anyone interested in the Norway massacre and what led up to it.

3 people found this helpful

the scarey part is this is a true story

Very interesting account of this man's life. Was his psychopathy the result of his early childhood, lack of loving parents or innate? I sometimes got lost in the timeline and as it was done on audible, I couldn't go back and reread to better understand where we were. I would still recommend listening or reading this book.

Very sad and disturbing true story

A very sad and disturbing story. I don't want to say "I loved it" because that's not right. But It's a story that you must know and must listen to to understand. It was a very well written book. At times very graphic. It took me some time though to figure out the layout of it as it jumps between characters without a notion of who it goes to until you hear a name and than try to remember who that is. And it takes about 10 hours in to the book before the bad happens in the story. I highly recommend you all to take a listen for the lost souls sake😢