Rebekah Holland &
Killers of the Flower Moon by David Grann

Take this rating with a grain of salt because I rarely read nonfiction for leisure. If you frequent nonfiction books, you’ll give this a higher rating than me, guaranteed.

The information in this book is invaluable. Obviously, I knew some of the details beforehand, but it doesn’t get any easier being walked through it like this. The relenting greed and violence that colonizers possess never ceases to amaze me in the most negative way possible.

My gripe with this is the pacing and how some of the information is parsed out. Some of the story is told in nonlinear fashion, which is typically not an issue for me, but with all the dates and names, I was getting confused. This read almost like a textbook at a few points, and I found my mind wandering before I had to tell it to focus and come back. I appreciate all the research that clearly went into this, though.

I had to continuously remind myself I was not reading fiction. An incredible story.

I am glad I read this so I could learn and understand more about Native American history. It did feel very much like I was reading a textbook though. Extremely detailed with quotes and many people mentioned, which made it somewhat hard to follow.

A pretty incredible read, aggravating and horrifying. Can’t wait to see the movie

This is one of those “so unbelievable it is astounding” true crime stories that just makes you want to weep for humanity.

It always feels crappy to be riveted by a book like this – but it's important to learn about our nation's prejudices, especially when they allow such crimes to go on so long. The layers of injustice endured by the Osage Indian Nation are innumerable. It's devastating. "History is a merciless judge. It lays bare our tragic blunders and foolish missteps and exposes our most intimate secrets, wielding the power of hindsight like an arrogant detective who seems to know the end of the mystery from the outset." Now if only we could learn from this merciless judge.

A piece of history I didn’t know 😟

Very entertaining, frequently chilling. A good read, and it makes me want to know more about J. Edgar Hoover after the shadowy, critical look Grann gives him. Tom White is another great character, my favorite part of the book overall. Tracking his life from beginning to end made me empathize with his person, and knowing he was a real man made it all better. This was an enjoyable book, and I'll have to start reading more nonfiction stories like this one from here on out. I would compare this book to The Devil in the White City by Erik Larson, though I think I appreciated that one a bit more for the scope of the World's Fair and the contrast between the two main characters (one the Director of Works for the fair, the other a prolific serial killer). Back to this book, I think I would give it a high B rating. I liked it a lot, but it's not my favorite or anything. I'm glad I read it, though. As made clear in the book, this is a story that was disappearing from U.S. history, though many still remember it and the harm it brought on hundreds (if not thousands) of people's lives.

such incredible writing. the events are so crazy that you almost think this is fiction. interested to see what scorsese does with this

haunting. can’t wait to see what marty does with this

a brutal story, but one that feels morally imperative to read.

This was a great page turner! The level of detail Grann took to cover these events was staggering, sometimes overwhelming with direct quotes from many bureau reports and old-timey newspapers. I was hooked all the way through until he inserted himself into the final act of the story 😔 why must historians always do this?? Otherwise I was super into it the whole time and can’t wait to watch the film now. Hopefully this Scorsese guy knows what he’s doing.

As a student going to a university in Oklahoma, this book has been so hard for me to read because it is astonishing how much the history of the Osage Nation and the Reign of Terror has been brushed under the rug. I grew up in Tennessee, and these tragedies that happened in the 1920s were something I had never heard of before. Much of history has painted Native Americans and Indigenous peoples as savages when they have repeatedly watched their land be taken from them and been attacked by the white man. I saw the movie first, and it made me angry. The book only made me angrier. If you haven’t read the book, I recommend it and hope that you will. I also recommend reading about trigger warnings if you’re sensitive to gruesome/gory details or description of dead bodies before you begin reading the book.

Tons of research went into this book and Grann’s persistence and attention to detail shine. Sad, but interesting read.

Read after seeing the trailer for the upcoming Scorcese adaptation. It's an incredible story - at first I didn't realise it was true. A shocking tale of how the Osage Indians were treated and chaotic origins of the FBI, set in the real "wild west". The audiobook form is great, as the book is written in a fact heavy report style.

it's a grim story and the narrative doesn't spare details, so its textbook-like prose can be off-putting to some (but as someone who is used to reading history books i very much enjoyed it) and its myriad of names can sometimes be confusing. it's not an easy read by any stretch - be it due to the gruesome tale it tells or just for the sheer volume of information - but still a very necessary one.

This is an important story that needs to be told and remembered. I had a hard time reading it, though. This wasn't due to the subject matter, which recounts events I would call nightmarish if they weren't so horribly true. It's something about the writing style that kept putting me to sleep. I suppose it's probably that most of the non-fiction I enjoy is written in a novelistic style. This book is definitely a more typical non-fiction style. It took some time to get through, even though it isn't too long.

This is a very interesting set of cases but the writing is a bit lackluster. I am excited for the film release later this year. I'm sure it will be riveting and will bring much needed awareness to these crimes against the Osage people.

An important story is told here, but it was the toughest read I’ve experienced in a while. This read like a textbook. I think this information would be better served via a podcast or some sort of media.

David Grann's "Killers of the Flower Moon" isn't just a book; it's a gut punch. It peels back the layers of a horrific chapter in American history, exposing the brutal murders of Osage Nation members driven by oil greed.

Grann's meticulous research reveals a shocking truth: the scale of the injustice is far greater than many realize. The sheer number of lives stolen leaves you reeling, the anger palpable.

But like the Holocaust, this story demands to be heard. It's a stark reminder of the darkness humans are capable of, but also a testament to the enduring fight for justice.

I would have known nothing of this travesty had this book not been chosen by my Facebook book group. This book sheds light on a situation that negatively impacted hundreds if people across multiple generations. In the year 2020, Americans have been hit head-on with examples of institutional racism and its deep-seeded history in our country, and this is yet another account of how bad it's been. While I felt this book was unnecessarily repetitive in many areas, the extensive research and effort are felt throughout.

This book is mind-bogglingly good and the story is one heart breaking example of the horrific crimes committed against First Nations people in North America. It gripped me from start to finish. The characters, insights into the frontier, historical info about the FBI , and the terrible mysteries in the middle are almost unbelievable and utterly compelling.

This book is really well written and the story was interesting throughout, but I have to say that it is one of he most heartbreaking frontier stories I’ve ever read, and I’ve read a lot of frontier history. As I think about the Osage in this story, the emotion that I feel is fear. I can’t imagine living in a time and place where virtually every individual and institution is out to steal your money by any legal and illegal means including murder. It reminded me of the book “Slavery by Another Name”.