REVIEW: COLUMBINE by DAVE CULLEN

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Click here to read the book synopsis on Goodreads.

This may be the hardest review that I write all year, so here goes…something. I know I am definitely going to struggle to get the words out.

“…kids felt as if their identities had been stolen. ‘Columbine’ was the name of a tragedy now. Their school was a symbol of mass murder.”

As I read this book, I realized that over the last 20 years, I’ve done exactly that. I’ve referred to Columbine as a tragedy, a massacre, a horrible day in our nations history. How unfair of me. 

This book so eloquently explained the months leading up to an event that rocked the world of so many people. The Columbine high school massacre was all over the news, but despite constant media coverage, a lot of the important facts were left out and a lot of theories materialized that had no substance to them. It also broke down the events that happened in months and years afterward. Dave Cullen researched and meticulously reported back details of the assailants, the victims, the survivors, and the community. This book chilled me to my core, broke my heart, and also gave me clarity on just what happened that day.

I think this book should be required reading – for parents in particular. And I don’t say that because we need to scare ourselves, but because we need to educate ourselves. And we also need to never stop talking about what happened, because when we stop talking is when we become complacent…and when we become complacent, we will never spark change.