Welcome to Litsy!

I picked up this read earlier today based on the fact I live about 25 mins away from the Chain of Rocks Bridge on the Illinois side of the river. The victims would be my age had they lived. This was a very good book regarding the crime and the aftermath. Heartbreaking to be sure.

3.5⭐/5⭐ I found this one a little hard to get through, and I'm not sure why. I usually like the true crime/memoir genre... this one took me days to read.

I finished this in a day. I couldn‘t stop reading even though the subject matter is horrific. Toward the end I felt there was a lack of empathy which was very understandable but jarred with the overall tone. However any criticism feels like sniping because the book is a very intimate insight into the wider family when a truly evil crime is committed.

I was still reading this book at 2 a.m. on a school night. What more of a recommendation can I offer than that? Written by the author of American Dirt, this one is memoir/true crime which tells the story of something that happened to the author‘s older brother and two of their cousins. Total page-turner. Read my full review here: https://theludicreader.com/2021/05/07/a-rip-in-heaven-jeanine-cummins/

A little trip to the bookstore because why in the heck not? #sorrynotsorry

This tragic and beautiful memoir offers a candid view of the horrific crime committed against the author‘s brother and cousins. Cummins does a wonderful job of providing a complete look at the crime, both the immediate and infinite aftermath, the roles of law enforcement and the media, and the importance of acknowledging and remembering the victims. Worth the read, even though it‘s hard to read about and stomach the revolting crime.

💙💙 Thankyou for sharing your families story xx

Ms. Cummins is an eloquent writer and provides an amazing story honoring her cousins and brother, educating the world that we often forget the victims and truth in our need to follow a tragic story.

This is incredibly devastating and heart breaking. That being said it is also beautiful in its own right. I‘ve yet read an author that evokes the emotion in me that Jeanine Cummins can. This was so distressing it had me physically shaking. I‘m saddened her family had to endure all it did but I‘m happy knowing she‘s made an impact with this book.

We‘ve made it a quarter of the way through the #readathon! I hope everyone is relaxing and enjoying themselves. Remember that it‘s supposed to fun, and any amount of time spent reading is a win! 💙

I have moved on to this true crime book by the author of AMERICAN DIRT, which is going to be one of the biggest novels of 2020. I‘ll catch you littens again in a couple hours. 😘 - @Liberty

Ooof... this is a heart-wrenching #TrueCrime slash #Memoir! Written in a novel-like style, this is hard to put down as this horrific 1991 crime comes to life from multiple angles. I am looking forward to discussing this one tomorrow with the rest of my book club!