Thank you NetGalley and Grove Press for this ARC in exchange of my review!
I thought this book was well researched and gave a great overview of the Slenderman stabbing case. I think the author was very sympathetic towards the two perpetrators. I wanted to know more about Peyton and her healing journey and her survival. While I realize Morgan was suffering from mental health issues that caused her to commit this crime, and the ages of the perpetrators, the amount of sympathy the author gives to them vs. the lack of talking about their victim didn’t sit right with me.
This case is all around very sad, and I feel if Morgan had received mental health treatment prior to this it would have not occurred. How she was treated in the justice system is awful. I hope she continues to get the help she needs. I don’t have much to say about Anissa, because my thought may not be a “popular opinion”.
I think the book ended pretty abruptly, though this is sort of ongoing - and left me worried for Morgan’s current mental state. I think something at the end from the author would have made it feel like a less abrupt end.
Overall, the research put into this book definitely shows. I do think there was some filler that didn’t need to be in there (i.e. the thing about the religious/sex store billboards, and Morgan’s lawyer catching men having sex). I felt those additions were unnecessary and had nothing to do with the case. This book was a quick read and left me feeling sad about the state of mental health treatment in our prison system. The book provided a lot of insight on what our justice system lacks and what we need to work on.

I've always been interested in the Slenderman case so when I saw this one I immediately requested it. The author does a wonderful job when it comes to giving her readers all the critical details about the case and I was truly riveted from beginning to end. If you're a true crime fan then you won't want to miss this one.

When I selected this book to read, I did so based on the subject matter and didn’t notice the author’s name. Unfortunately, when I started to read, I then noticed the author’s name and my heart dropped. She’s…problematic.

Still, I decided to give it a fair shot. I chose to skip Hale’s introduction and go right to the narrative.

I enjoyed much of the book. I was extremely interested in the crime and the background of our victim and her assailants. But at 61%, I paused. See, the book started feeling very lopsided. I felt like I was reading a defense of Morgan Geyser, but not a whole lot about Anissa Weier…and almost nothing about their victim, Bella. I began to get more curious about Hale’s research and decided to go back and read that introduction I’d skipped. And it started making sense.

It seemed like the people willing to talk to Hale were the people most interested in making Morgan seem misunderstood and as much of a victim as poor Bella. Bella and her family refused to talk to Hale. Anissa and her family refused to talk. Teachers and other witnesses refused. Morgan, however, talked to her. As a result of the aforementioned refusals, the author relied on extensive research to complete the story. I was truly impressed by the amount of research she did – the author did attempt to tell a full story. I’m just not sure it was possible when the most important person – the victim wasn’t part of things.

I returned to the book, growing more and more uncomfortable with the way the story was told. It started to feel like we should believe that nothing was Morgan’s fault – and that we should somehow empathize with her obsession. In the book, Morgan seems like the victim. She’s described as a victim of society, of the system, and even, to an extent, of the people online who were mostly interested in the scandal and drama of the case.

Honestly, there was only one victim here. Her name was Bella.

I also started to wonder if Hale would ever mention the elephant in the room – her own obsessive behavior. I won’t get into that here – a quick Google search will do you – but, it does make a reader wonder at the book’s excuses for Morgan’s crime. Oh, and if you’re curious, no. She doesn’t mention it at all.

In the end, I didn’t feel the book was an objective reporting of what happened. While I acknowledge that my own bias and that knowledge of the author’s past obsessive behavior may have played a part in my opinion, I did try to give this a fair read. I’m also not a true crime writer, though.

I found that the author did the best she could with the sources available to her, but I did feel like so much was missing and I’d be very interested in reading a more objective view of the case. The author did pique my interest.

3 Stars.

• ARC via Net Galley

True crime lovers will fall hard for this book but have their hearts broken in the process.

It's a heavily absorbing, heart-wrenching read about an often misunderstood, complex case. It's about two barely teenage girls who brutally stabbed their classmate claiming to have been following orders from the fictional Internet horror figure, Slender Man. But more importantly, it's about the Venn Diagram of undiagnosed mental illness, a deeply flawed judicial system, and the absolute mess that occurs when those circles overlap.

I won't get political in my review, but I will say - even though it doesn't need to be said - the American judicial system is fucking atrocious. Anyways. This is a difficult read. Not only is it a frustratingly complicated case involving complex personalities, it's just painful to read.

The perpetrators were twelve year old girls, one of whom was suffering from a rare form of early onset schizophrenia while the other was suppressing psychosis of her own, and the victim, whose story was unjustly overlooked by the media while the case was ongoing, was a pure soul who loved her best friend and couldn't imagine that one day that same best friend would stab her nineteen times and leave her for dead in the woods.

Added to that: majorly intricate family dynamics, a pair of whom involves a father with untreated, debilitating schizophrenia pretty much left alone to raise his daughter, who would later develop the same illness. It is the definition of "heartbreaking" for me, and I haven't even gotten to the part involving Wisconsin's fucked laws about charging minors as adults for homicide cases.

It's a lot. The writing style is casual but informative and leans a tad biased, in my opinion, though it could be interpreted as empathetic. But if you were intrigued by this case or are a die-hard true crime junkie, this is worth the read.

Thank you to NetGalley and Grove Atlantic for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

On May 31, 2014, in the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha, Wisconsin, two twelve-year-old girls attempted to stab their classmate to death. Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier’s violence was extreme, but what seemed even more frightening was that they committed their crime under the influence of a figure born by the internet: the so-called “Slenderman.” Yet the even more urgent aspect of the story, that the children involved suffered from undiagnosed mental illnesses, often went overlooked in coverage of the case.

Slenderman: Online Obsession, Mental Illness, and the Violent Crime of Two Midwestern Girls tell that full story for the first time in deeply researched detail, using court transcripts, police reports, individual reporting, and exclusive interviews.

This was a very interesting true crime book to read. I used to play Slenderman the PC game and thought it was funny but never that he was real. The movie from 2018 was just bad and boring. I never knew that there was a crime involving Slenderman. So when I found this book on NetGalley I had to request it straight away and I'm not disappointed at all. This crime book was really easy to read and a page-turner. I liked that we get to know the background story of the parents of the girls so we get a better understanding of what the home situation was.

This book doesn't just only focus on the crime that was committed but also on the mental health issue and how the law system handles crimes with mental health. Morgan did a terrible crime but due to her mental health issue just locking her up doesn't help her. She needs professional help with therapy and medication.

Anissa got a lesser punishment than Morgan due to that she didn't hold the knife but just watched everything.

The writing is very easy to follow and everything has been described clearly and I wasn't bored one bit. Kathleen Hale did a really good job of telling this story.

I would recommend this to any crime/ true crime lover out there!

Thanks, NetGalley and Grove Press for sending me an advance copy to read and review.

Slenderman by Kathleen Hale is the true story of a twisted friendship between three 12 year old girls. On May 31, 2014, Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier lured Payton Leutner into the woods. There she was stabbed by Morgan Geyser 19 times while Anissa looked on. What could have spurred 2 12 year old girls to commit this horrific crime? Kathleen Hale takes us through the details of each of the girl’s lives. Morgan Geyser suffers from a rare form of early onset schizophrenia. Anissa and Morgan are obsessed with an online site called Creepypasta. Creepypasta specializes in horror related legends and stories. Anissa and Morgan became obsessed with the legend of Slenderman. Slenderman essentially became their master in their own fragile psyches.
Miraculously, Payton Leutner survives the attack. The case gets global attention due to the age of the perpetrators and the victim. This influences how it is treated in the courts. Hale describes the legal process of charging these children as adults and what ultimately happens. It is a startling case that exposes the weakness of our legal and mental health system. It is well researched, readable and quite a feat of investigative journalism.
Recommend to fans of true crime and investigative journalism.
4 stars.

Heart wrenching story. I couldn't wait to read a book on this story. The details were accurate and I felt like I was living through this

This is a book that once I started it I could not put it down. The author definitely did a ton of research and has compiled a very detailed account of the attempted murder of an 11 yo girl in the Wisconsin woods. Morgan Geyser and Anissa Weier were fifth graders at the time and best friends, also friends with the victim Payton Leutner. It is so incredibly interesting to read about where these girls lived and how they managed to plan a murder between home and school on the bus. The whole story is shocking, having never even heard of Slenderman let alone the stories about him. Then to learn all the specifics, especially about Morgan having early-onset schizophrenia, with her parents missing all the signs, in spite of the fact that her father also has schizophrenia and is unmedicated. As a mother of two daughters, I can not even imagine my daughters reading any of those crazy pasta stories on the internet, writing their own stories, while making violent drawings and also mutilating dolls. It would have been impossible to miss. This is a true crime story that also deals with how children are treated by the judicial system, in prisons and mental hospitals, and how they can slip also through the cracks so easily without the right doctors, medication, counseling and supervision. This is a fascinating, clear, concise and well-written book. I definitely recommend it to true crime readers and also parents whose children might be having any types of similar mental health problems.

Slenderman is the true crime account of the titular attack that drove a media circus back in 2014-2016. Kathleen Hale does an admirable job drawing from interviews, transcripts, and court documents to paint a picture of a crime of delusion and the frustrating failure of the American justice system and media to recognize mental illness and provide help and rehabilitation as opposed to draconian punishment and willful ignorance.

Many reviewers have so far commented that they believe this book and the author focus too much on painting the attackers in a "better" or "more sympathetic" light. First, if anyone had bothered to read the synopsis of the book, that is clearly in the author's stated intent so there shouldn't be any surprise. Second, it is an uncomfortable fact that these girls, even in light of their heinous and violent actions, were indeed victims of a backwards society and justice system eagerly champing at the bit to demonize and lock away twelve year old children instead of taking in the full circumstances and offering help and rehabilitation. I applaud Kathleen Hale for stripping away the sensationalist headlines and telling the complete picture of the crime.

**I was given a copy of this book by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. My thanks to Grove Atlantic and Netgalley**

This was a very interesting and detailed account of a true crime. I had heard of slendernan before from my son. He wanted to dress up as him for Halloween one year. I didn't realize that this was a true crime until reading this book. It was very detailed and thorough.

I couldn't finish this book.

I've read other true crime novels and I have enjoyed a few but everyone that I haven't have had the same vibe as this one. From the start of this book this author makes it feel like the killer was the true victim. I prefer the unbias books. Ones where the author can remove themselves and give you the facts for you to do what you will. I really didn't like where this book was heading so I had to just put it down.

I have heard about Slenderman but had never hears of this case. Ofcourse I had to read about it.

The first half of the book follows the lead up to the crime and the actual crime. The second half follows the aftermath, a lot of waiting around and court details. I enjoyed the first half and found it very interesting but the second half dragged on. Its clear there was a lot of research and it was well done but I felt there wasn't much in regards to the victim and her survival.

Special thank you to Grove Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review this digital ARC of Slenderman

This was a very well publicized case out of IL back in 2o14 but this book really dives deeper into the details. This was incredibly well written and researched! I thought I knew a lot about the case but learned a few things that I didn't anticipate and hadn't heard when it was prominent in the news. You can't help but feel for the girls involved. Overall a very insightful and well constructed read - great for true crime lovers

I received an ARC of Slenderman, by Kathleen Hale. I did not care for this book. I found the author to be very sympathetic to the criminals, and not the victim. The criminals and their families are not the victims, and should not be treated as such.

The first half of this book was excellent. I felt it went above and beyond the documentary, exploring mental health, the internet, and the toxic friendship and ill intent of two disturbed minds coming together to plot a heinous crime against a trusting 12-year-old girl. I found it deeply upsetting and difficult to read, particularly due to having a daughter of the same age. I couldn’t fathom two girls of that age plotting such a terrible thing. I had to brace myself to read as she went off to the sleepover with her little overnight bag, American Girl doll, and stuffed toy, after just having read the awful thing these girls planned to do to her.

However, I ended up finding this book a little infuriating as it seems to sympathize with the perpetrators, insisting they be referred to as children too- not just the victim (Jamie Bulgar’s killers were children too, one in particular has never rehabilitated, has been in and out of prison and continues to be considered a danger to children.) It seems to condemn the police for initially believing the detached answers and lack of remorse from one of the perpetrators was down to psychopathy and not undiagnosed schizophrenia (could it be both?) Bearing in mind, they are investigating the attempted murder of a child that was found stabbed in the woods- their priority quite rightly being with the victim. Parents (one who had schizophrenia himself) also missed warning signs of their own child so one can hardly expect the police to become mental health experts all within a few hours.

I felt that the story should have had a more consistent narrative (with most thoughts with the actual victim). This doesn’t mean it couldn’t also explore other facets of the case such as undiagnosed mental illness, and how children are treated under the law in Wisconsin (which I agree is frightening), but I felt that after the 50% mark, it began to veer off course. As a reader, I was still emotionally reeling from the account of the crime and what they did to her so hearing about how one of the girls lawyers said she wasn’t offered counselling after a girl at the juvenile centre called her a bitch, didn’t resonate with me and I began to disconnect from the narrative.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this in exchange for an honest review.

When this case first came out, I was baffled. A fictional creature from horror stories convinced these girls to stab their friend? And after reading this…I’m still baffled, but the details definitely shed some light on what was going on the girls’ heads. It was shocking to read about the actual crime and how nonchalantly both girls talked about it while being interrogated. I feel terrible for Morgan and how the health care/prison system (and, sorry, kind of her parents too) failed her. And of course I feel terrible for Bella, who came off as such a sweet and kindhearted girl. An intriguing and quick read.

Slenderman is a wonderfully written true crime nook about the infamous Slenderman-motivated stabbing of a young girl in Wisconsin in 2014. This book is not only very interesting but important in understanding not only the incident, but the motivations and reality behind the media sensational story as well as its aftermath. While I have read news articles and seen the HBO documentary on the stabbing, I was guilty, as the author points out, of believing the victim died at the time, even though she survived, So goes the reporting and myth of incident. Though I'm sure some will criticize the fact that this book focuses more on the main perpetrator of the crime, Morgan Geyser, and more on her compatriot, Anissa Weier, than it does stabbing victim Payton "Bella" Leutner, there are two reasons for this: 1. the author states that Geyser and her family were the only ones she was able to directly interview - whether attempts to interview the other parties were rebuffed or not isn't said; 2. The majority of the previous reporting, including the documentary, focused on the crime and the delusions of the two girls who committed the act without bothering to detail the fact that both were mentally ill and emotionally unstable. While the majority of what was reported came out years before, the author's tracking what happened in the years since have painted a very different and important figure. Slenderman stands as not just a deep accounting of the crime and its aftermath, but also calls out deficiencies in the country's mental health treatment and justice system. The only minor issue I had with the book is that it ends rather abruptly, but at some point the author had to stop writing and publish a finished product. 4.5/5*

This author has researched extensively for this book...it reads like fiction, at times, but it is nonfiction...true crime...teenagers gone awry...mad...angry...family dynamics...friends...events that are so horrible that they can't be imagined...this book was sent to me by Netgalley for review.

The Slenderman case was all over the media when it happened and I was appalled and shocked like everyone else that two 12 year old girls could plot to murder a friend and then try to carry out that plan. This book does a great job explaining the mental illnesses and issues that were working against both of these girls and how this crime likely wouldn't have happened without the two of them coming together. Thankfully the victim survived, although she suffered a huge trauma that will probably follow her for the rest of her life. This book gives a lot more insight into the perpetrators and into the case itself. This is a must read for anyone who followed this case.

I am not a reader of True Crime novels, but this book drew my attention based on the comments I have heard my nine-year old make about characters from games and videos from the Internet. I wanted to know what happened to two girls obsessed with one of those characters.

This book details the before and after of a crime that took place involving three girls and the internet character Slenderman. Morgan is a young girl who is undiagnosed with schizophrenia and is experiencing visions. These are her friends. She eventually makes a friend in Bella, who sees that Morgan has strange behavior, but accepts her anyway. Morgan makes another friend later on, Anissa. These girls eventually believe that Slenderman wants them to kill Bella for him. They carry out a plan, but Bella survives.

The majority of the book details the girls' time in jail awaiting trial as adults and time being treated for mental issues. I felt the flow of the book was choppy after the crime occurred. I know that the writer did not get cooperation or information from a lot of sources that would have provided needed insight, so I"m not sure if that is why I felt the disconnect.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.