Review of Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy by Alex Mar

*Seventy Times Seven: A True Story of Murder and Mercy* by Alex Mar (2023). Published by Penguin Press

Those familiar with my blog posts here know that I have a plethora of ways of finding out about books. Sometimes I’m literally wandering my local library when I stumble across a title, name, or cover that looks interesting, and I add it onto my usually large pile to read sometime. That tends to be the outlier of books I read, though, out of passion.

The books I’m typically most passionate about come from my curated blogs and social media feeds, which means I get a steady stream of recommendations for things that probably will be right up my alley. I don’t remember where I first saw this book, but I know that it was on one of these lists.

I ended up checking this one out immediately, putting a hold in at the library for it, because the story was fascinating in the context of the time I was reading it (it was the beginning of 2023, and about the time when this book was published). I asked my mother, who’s one of those big news people that has a tendency to go for the doom and gloom kind of content, if she had heard about the case described in the book and she had not.

So I dug in deep, and over the course of three days, I wrapped up this book pretty quickly. I do have my reservations about it, though, but we’ll get to that.

Onwards with the review!

A look into how a group of teenage girls can end up murdering an elderly woman.

This is a nonfiction book, which I feel a need to clarify. The other day I was talking to someone about a book they’d read that I also had read several years back, and I was astonished to realize halfway through our conversation that they didn’t realize it was a nonfiction book. For some reason they had convinced themselves it was a fiction book that was just weirdly specific and related to the real world.

Guess the writer was that immersive with the prose, but I did bring up it was nonfiction and they were so confused, so I feel a need to clarify. Anyways, this is the case of a group of teenagers who come to an elderly woman’s home.

It was a targeted attack, as one of the girls in the group knew the woman and the fact she would let them in. She was a Bible teacher in the community and the girl had gone for her to study the Bible, and when they ended up in the home the second time they visited, they murdered the woman. They didn’t really steal any valuables, although they tried to take some objects, and were caught fairly quickly.

The focus in this book is on one of the girls, Paula Cooper, and how she came from a broken background. All of these girls were young, and Paula was in the tenth grade. It’s very important to note all of the girls are Black, and the victim was white.

This then becomes a national sensation when it becomes a debate over the death row, as Paula, in her trial, becomes condemned to die for her crime. A chunk of the book is about the outcry that comes up because of this, and how the victim’s grandson, Bill, breaks the wishes of his family and ends up publicly forgiving Paula.

This creates a correspondence that would continue throughout the rest of their lives, and their fight to keep Paula going and alive would even reach the Vatican. Fascinating story right there, and it’s contained within the pages of this book.

Seventy Times Seven is well-researched throughout, and it’s straightforward in how it presents all of this research. I felt like I wasn’t lost in the details when I was reading it, although I did struggle to get through the book a little over the halfway point.

I think it would’ve benefitted perhaps to cut it a bit shorter, just to keep the reader’s attention, as the prose begins to drag—and the story, to be honest, even if it’s important—at this point. I began to struggle to keep reading, but I did end up finishing the book, or I wouldn’t be writing this review right now.

One of the more admirable elements is how Mar goes in-depth to humanize these girls that were seen as symbols or demons. It depends on who you ask, really. Although Paula is the focus of the book due to how her case blew up around the world, I think we see that each of the girls had their specific issues and reasons to do what they did, and that each and every one of them was capable of growth when in prison.

Paula’s story does have a tragic ending, but she immensely smart and talented when given such an opportunity. If she had not come from such a broken way of living, we might’ve had a completely different story in our hands.

Overall Thoughts

My verdict is that this is a fascinating book. I mentioned how I had not heard of the case, but now I know way too much about this case and the circumstances that led to certain decisions being made about Paula and the death penalty. I think if you come into this book though with the expectation of it being about the court case solely, you’re deeply wrong.

This is about the reactions, the debate around the death penalty, the girls in prison and their backgrounds, and the politics going on behind the scenes. There’s a lot packed into this little book, and it can come across as dry at times, but informative overall. I’m glad I read it.

You can follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more content.