I received this book through the Early Reviewers program.

This book is not what I expected at all. From the blurb and the cover, I was expecting and looking forward to an insightful academic treatment of toxic masculinity, but McConnell’s analysis fell short here. Instead, as other reviewers have said, this is more of a true crime genre presentation of several murders of gay men.

That being said, the journalistic styling delivers an emotional gut punch underscored by the gray ambiguity of McConnell’s profiles.

The descriptions of each murder are extremely graphic and I did have a hard time getting through the entire book for that reason as well. ( )

An exercise in complicating the stories of hate crimes, from the well-known to the obscure. McConnell frames these stories of the murders of gay men by other men (frequently of ambiguous sexuality) as "honor killings" rather than hate crimes, pointing out that there's usually a lot more going on than simple gay panic or distaste for gay men. This is rough going - there's a lot of graphic description of the murders - but interesting and valuable in its careful treatment of masculinity. ( )

I really enjoyed this book. It was well researched and very well written. Sometimes it is hard to read but well worth the time. ( )

I got this book through the Early Reviewer program. It was a great read, with clear and powerful writing that was a good balance between journalistic clarity and emotional power. I thought that the ambiguity of David McConnell's overall theme worked well, and his inability to find deep meaning in the crimes he depicts is compelling and useful. The stories chosen were different enough from each other to make each one interesting as the book progresses, and similar enough to be worth comparing and contrasting. There are moments of American Honor Killings that I won't soon forget... like depictions of one of the killers walking in the desolate midwest contemplating his surroundings.... chilling and wonderful. ( )

I tried to read this book and it was pretty tough to read. I skipped the blah blah blah at the beginning and went to the story part and that part was ok, so the author can write and be interesting, but then it got back into the blah blah and I just couldnt get into it. It was dry and he talked above my head. Just not interesting to me and I had to stop. ( )